Page 51 of Snowed In with the Rancher

The wood stove was still fogging away, so the house was delightfully warm and inviting.

She’d made quesadillas with cheese, chicken, and black beans for lunch yesterday, but today she was feeling like something a little different.

Digging through Asher’s pantry and freezer, she found an unopened jar of pesto and a small bag of already peeled shrimp, as well as some English muffins.

Mmm … pesto shrimp melts sounded like the perfect kind of lunch.

She was busy with lunch prep when she heard Asher come in.

Peeling carrots for carrot sticks with ranch dip, she stood over the sink but smiled when he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed the side of her neck.

“Go wash up. Lunch is almost ready.”

He nipped her neck then disappeared.

She turned the oven over to broil so that the pesto shrimp melts could get a nice crispy cheesy crust on top, then turned back to her carrots.

Asher returned smelling of soap and straw. “Do we have time for a quick …” He pushed his pelvis against her butt. “Before lunch?”

She chuckled, set the peeler and carrot down on the counter, then spun to face him, looping her arms around his neck. “Are all cowboys this insatiable.”

“Rancher. And I have no idea. Never slept with one myself. And I’m not normally,” he said, dropping his mouth to the side of her throat and pressing warm, open-mouthed kisses. “You bring out the beast in me.” His growl sent shivers rippling through her.

Lifting his head, he took her mouth, plunging his tongue inside and swirling it around until she was lightheaded, warm and with jelly legs.

Pinning her between his hard body and the counter, he gripped her hair and tilted her head up so he could better ravish her mouth. Of course, she let him.

She would let this man do anything to her that brought her pleasure—and maybe even a bit of pain.

They kissed and kissed and kissed. She couldn’t get enough.

She knew by the way he pressed his erection against her belly that he could easily take it further, and a big part of her wanted to, too. But they needed to have lunch first.

And at that thought, she remembered the melts.

“Oh shit!” she cried, peeling herself away from him and rushing to the oven. Throwing on the chicken-covered oven mitt, she opened the oven door only to be met with a thick, billowing smoke that hit her in the face.

Immediately, the smoke detector started to wail.

She turned off the broiler and pulled out the tray with the charred remains of their lunch. Shit.

“What the fuck!” Asher roared. His hands over his ears. “What the fuck?”

He was pacing the kitchen, his eyes wild, nostrils flaring as the smoke alarm continued to scream.

“How could you be so stupid? So fucking stupid!”

Opening the door to the laundry room, she stepped inside, then opened the door to the backyard that led to the hot tub. “Out!” she ordered him.

Glaring at her, he did as he was told, while she grabbed a kitchen chair, stood on it and started to wave the oven mitt in front of the smoke alarm to try to get it to turn off.

It took a while since the room was really smokey, but eventually, silence reigned once again and she let out a deep exhale in relief.

After climbing down from the chair, Triss then proceeded to open the window in the kitchen over the sink, a window in the living room, and even the front door just to let the smoke filter out.

With sadness, she dumped the black crumbly shrimp and pesto melt in the trashcan. So much for that brilliant idea.

She tugged a sweater over her black T-shirt since it was still below freezing outside and now she was letting all that cold air in.

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