"Right," I chuckle. "I was a little distracted."
"By what?" she asks, taking a sip of the wine.
"By you."
"By me?" she repeats in disbelief.
"Yeah, by you. I mean, hell, girl, you're looking pretty damn cute and it's distracting as hell."
"I'm distracting? I'm a small-town girl from a mountain village."
"You really have no idea how sexy you are?"
"None," she says.
"Well, I'm going to get those sundae toppings from your car and then I'll show you just how sexy you are. I think you're going to taste sexy too."
4
QUINN
I've never been a high maintenance kind of girl, but the moment Nicholas leaves the cabin, I make a beeline for the bathroom. Once the door's locked behind me, I take a good hard look at myself in the mirror.
The snow's made my hair wet and frizzy, my cheeks are extra pink, and it's not just because it's freezing outside, it's because I'm all spun up from the conversation I've had with Nicholas.
He is handsome in ways I was not prepared for. I unzip my parka and consider what I'm wearing, a simple long-sleeve black T-shirt that says Linesworth Marketplace. Not exactly cozy-by-the-fire attire. My jeans are form-fitting and I know they make my ass look good, so there's that. But I pull my T-shirt out from my chest and examine my underclothes. At least I wore a good bra today. I unzip my jeans and look at my panties. Black lace thong. I smirk. Well, I guess some higher power was looking out for me when I got dressed.
Feeling slightly more confident, I run a hand over my hair and give myself a pep talk.
You got this, Quinn, this is the night you've been waiting for your whole damn life. You're here alone with a man who actually gets you excited. Enjoy yourself, be happy. Lean into the life you've been waiting for.
I hear a noise in the cabin and I realize Nicholas is already back. "Where did you go?" I hear him say. The timbre of his voice is low and sexy and it melts me in ways that normally would embarrass me, but I'm not embarrassed right now, I'm energized. I'm perked up in a way that feels like I've just had a double espresso, or two double espressos. I'm hopped up on energy and I feel good. I feel on fire.
I open the door and I practically run right into him, forgetting how small this little cabin is. Good, I want it to be cozy, intimate, just the two of us.
"Everything okay in there?" he asks.
"Yeah," I say. "I was just..." I lick my lips.
"What?" he asks. He sets his hands on either side of the doorway, blocking my ability to dart past him. Not that I want to, I like being trapped by him. It's not creepy, it's alluring, like there's nowhere for me to run and hide, there's only one option for me to stand right where I am, face to face with this man.
"I was making sure I didn't wear anything too embarrassing under this puffer jacket."
"I don't think you could be wearing anything embarrassing considering your ass looks pretty fine in those jeans. I’d say you're looking okay."
I laugh tightly. "Right, well, I've actually never spent the night at a guy's house, so I was just slightly nervous that I wasn’t going to be, you know, presentable." I smile coyly.
"Really?" he says. "You've never spent the night with a man?"
I shake my head. "Nope, never, not once."
"And your granddad, he's okay with you staying here?"
"Well, considering there's a blizzard outside and my car is stuck in the snow, I don't think I have much choice." Wanting to change the subject, I ask, "Did you get the groceries?"
He nods. "Yep, they're all in the kitchen. It's a pretty big package, but I managed to carry it in."
"Yeah, probably because you have such big hands." The moment I say it my face flushes. Could I be more on the nose?
He grins. "I have other things that are big too. You want to see?"
I laugh. "Wow, coming on strong considering I just told you I've never even slept over at a man's house."
"Well, just because you've never slept over at a man's house doesn't mean you're not comfortable being with men."
"Well, for the record, I'm not. I'm a virgin, if you want to know."
He eyes me more seriously. "You telling me the truth, Quinn?"
I nod. "Nothing but the truth, so help me God. Though I'm not sure what God has to do with this situation.” I smirk. "Well, you did say I look like an angel."
"That's true."
"So what happens next?" I ask. "I thought you said you were going to make me a sundae?"
He shakes his head. "I'm not making you a sundae, I'm making you into a sundae."
Once again, the space between my thighs burns with need. My core tightens and my heart pounds. "So you're not scared of the fact that I just told you I was a virgin and have never slept over at a man's house?"