Chapter Five
Sophie
I was nervous, and I hoped that Connor couldn’t tell. When we were in the car—and then the ditch—I’d been scared, but that had forced me into survivor mode, pushing aside any concern that wasn’t focused on getting us to safety. Now that we had adequate shelter and I was no longer fearful we’d freeze to death out in the storm, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about how I was literally trapped in a little cabin with my hot boss—with nowhere to escape.
For who knew how long.
After taking off his coat and hanging it on a hook by the door, he strode over to where I’d left the duffle on the tiny bed, and everything in my body seemed to clench as I drank in the gorgeous, if not ruffled, sight of him. My eyes traveled from his broad shoulders, down to his lean waist, and along those strong legs encased in wet denim. The dark fabric clung to his body, enabling me to see the definition of muscles, those tight glutes, and if he turned around, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to pry my gaze away from the front zipper of his jeans.
I bit my bottom lip as the desire I’d spent the past year trying to keep hidden away now burned bright inside me, as if I’d already taken a shot of the bourbon I’d found.
God, I was so screwed.
My fingers curled around the neck of the bottle of liquor as I stared at his perfect backside a little longer. Deep down, I knew that introducing alcohol into this situation was probably not the best idea I’d ever had, but what else was I supposed to do to calm myself down? Putting distance between us, like I did at work, wasn’t an option.
I watched as Connor dug around in his emergency bag for some matches. I’d never give him a hard time about that thing again, no matter how heavy it was. When he found the box of matches, he went to the fireplace and knelt down.
I busied myself with finding two cups and opening the bourbon. Connor hadn’t been out in the elements for long, but I’d gone through the small cabin already. I figured that he was right about it being a caretaker’s place because there was a closet full of things like shovels and rakes. There was nothing in the refrigerator—in fact, it wasn’t even plugged in—and the cabinets were nearly bare. I’d found a couple of canned soups, and of course the alcohol. There were actually two bottles of the stuff, which would come in handy if we were stuck here for days, like I feared.
Connor stood from the fireplace, revealing a small flame licking over the logs. I walked over, handed him his drink, and the two of us stood there for a long moment, sipping the bourbon and staring down at the fire as it grew and spread until all the wood was engulfed and warmth radiated out toward us.
“We need to get out of these wet pants,” Connor said after a short while had passed.
Want and need roared through me at his words. This was bad.Reallybad. The fire was making this whole situation feel even more romantic, especially the way that we were huddled so close to it, desperate for the warmth.
“We’ll never get warm if we don’t,” he continued, and glanced at me. “Do you think there’s anything we can wear here?”
“Oh, yeah.” I shook my head to clear my mind, which felt clouded with lust. “I saw some clothing in the dresser by the bed.”
I sipped my bourbon, which was way stronger than the wine I usually drank and burned all the way down my esophagus, as Connor pulled open the dresser drawers, one after the other, until he found pants for us.
He handed me a pair of soft, cotton sweatpants. “It’s all men’s clothing and on the larger side, but I think you can use the drawstring to make them work.”
“Thanks,” I said, accepting the huge bottoms and a pair of thick white socks. I had discovered the bathroom during my exploration—it was the only separate room in this cabin—and I went inside of it to change.
Connor was right. I had to use the drawstring, pulling it tight to get the pants to cinch around my waist and rolling up the bottom until they stopped at my ankles. It felt great to replace my soaking wet socks with the warm, dry ones that Connor gave me, and I felt a million times better when I walked back out into the main part of the cabin.
Then, I caught sight of Connor, who had apparently decided to change his shirt as well, because he had pulled off the dark blue sweater he’d been wearing while trudging through the snow a short while ago. I froze in place, unable to stop my eyes from devouring every inch of smooth skin on display.
His torso was made of lean muscle, and his six-pack abs seemed even more defined than usual with the firelight dancing over them. I had never seen a man in real life with that delicious V-shape at the hips that drew attention to the dark trail of hair starting at his belly button and traveling downward until it disappeared into the waistband of the jeans he’d found in the dresser.
My mouth went dry, and I suddenly wanted more of the strong bourbon, maybe the whole bottle. Or maybe I needed to go out and roll around in the snow. Whatever it took to cool my heated blood.
Connor hadn’t noticed that I’d emerged from the bathroom yet, so I gathered my willpower and averted my gaze as he pulled a grey T-shirt over his head. I couldn’t quite decide if I was relieved or disappointed as he covered himself up. I closed the bathroom door, drawing his attention to me. I hoped he couldn’t tell what I was thinking as I handed over my wet pants for him to hang on a piece of twine that he’d tied along the front of the fireplace.
Heading to the couch, I took a seat, doing my best to relax as I continued to drink my bourbon. The fire had warmed up the whole interior of the cabin now, giving the place a cozy feel. It was late afternoon, and the chances of someone realizing that we weren’t back before night fell was probably slim to none.
“I’m sorry about all this,” Connor interrupted my thoughts as he took a seat at the other end of the couch. “Maybe when the storm stops, I can try to get to the lodge again.”
“Let’s just wait and see how much snowfall we get first. The weather report said that it would be up to four feet.”
He stared at me incredulously. “Are you shitting me?”
I grinned. “‘Fraid not.”
I finished off my drink and stood up to bring the bottle back to the couch, refilling both glasses. I was already feeling a little tipsy, since I wasn’t much of a drinker, but it was helping me to relax, so I embraced the mellow sensation. I put the bottle on the low coffee table in front of us, and crossed my legs as I turned to face Connor.
“So, what are we going to do if no one comes to rescue us?” I asked.