Quinn is cute as a button, like a sugarplum fairy, some sort of present wrapped up just for me. She's wearing a bright red coat. She has long blonde hair, eyes somehow lit up from the snow, even though the sky is turning dark. She looks like an angel dropped down from heaven and, hell, I'm not one to get down on my knees and pray, but I'll thank God for her.
In fact, I'll thank God for drumming up this snowstorm and bringing her to my doorstep right when He did. She's everything I didn't know I needed right now. Right here. Tonight.
"I see you brought the wine," I say, stepping closer to her. She laughs.
"Yeah, I did. The rest of the food is in the car. I was hoping you might be able to help me carry it up? I couldn't drive any closer because of the snow," she said. "It's crazy out there."
I look around us, the whirling white a blanket. “I’m glad you made it up here safe.” The snow is falling hard, and I reach out toward her, taking her hand. "I don't want you to blow away."
"I've got on boots, it's you I'm worried about. You don't even have on any shoes."
I chuckle. "Sorry, I got caught off guard. I saw you walking toward the cabin and I thought it was some sort of figment of my imagination. You look like an angel.”
"I swear to God, I'm not an angel," she says, wiggling her eyebrows.
"No, more like a devil?"
"Let's not get crazy. I'm a good girl," she says. "Now, you need to put on some shoes and then you need to get the food."
"And you," I say, smacking her ass, taking some liberties, "need to get inside and warm yourself up. I'm not going to have you freezing your ass off out here."
She giggles. "My, a little handsy, are you?"
"Do you mind?" I ask her.
She widens her eyes. "Honestly? No." Then she licks her lips as she steps inside my cabin.
My feet, I admit, are freaking frozen. But I'm not going to tell her that. Hell no, I'm not going to say anything that brings my attention anywhere but between us. I want these sparks to keep on flying, because I feel something real right now.
"Girl, you need to warm yourself up. How about I open that wine before I go get the groceries?"
She shakes her head. "I think you're crazy. I should probably try and get back down that mountain before it gets too dark."
I growl, running a hand over my beard. "You're not going down that mountain right now. You see the weather out there? That's fucking crazy."
"So? I can't stay here. Tomorrow's Christmas Eve, and–"
"Exactly. You can't get stuck in a snowstorm in the middle of the night, in the dead of winter. I'm not going to have that on my conscience. What will your granddad say?"
"My granddad? Oh no. Shoot! He'll be so worried if I don't come home."
I smile. "So you're already considering staying over? I like this," I say. I walk to the kitchen and grab a corkscrew and a glass for her wine. I open the bottle as I walk back to the living room. She's already sitting down on the couch and she's pulled out her phone.
"Hey, Granddad," she says. "I made it to the cabin okay, but the snowstorm's crazy. Are you home? Oh good. Thank God Matt helped you back. He's such a good kid. Yeah. Well, anyways, there's no way I can get back down the mountain tonight. I know, it was probably stupid of me to come up here, but the last thing I wanted was someone to be without any food, especially with it being Christmas. I know. I know."
I'm doing my best not to eavesdrop, but the cabin's small, and damn, she's sitting right here. Honestly, she's looking at me the whole damn time, watching as I pour her wine. I give her a nice liberal pour and then I hand her the glass. She accepts it and smiles.
"I'll be safe. Nicholas seems like a real nice gentleman," she says matter-of-factly. "Yes. He's about my age, maybe a few years older, and he seems pretty responsible," she says slowly, taking me in, twisting her lips as she speaks. "He has a vineyard in..."
"California," I mouth.
"California," she tells her grandfather. "Yes. Mm-hmm. I'll call you if anything changes. And I'm sure I'll be fine. I'm just going to sleep on the couch and as soon as the snow passes, I'll come straight home."
In my head I'm thinking Like hell is she sleeping on this couch, but we'll discuss that later. She ends the call and I tell her to drink her wine while I go get the food. "You haven't even put on boots," she says.