Page 6 of My Greatest Joy

“Go to the listing now and see if it’s still there. A hundred bucks says it’s gone.”

She furiously types on her phone. When the color drains from her face and her nostrils flare, I’m convinced she might self-destruct. I’ve never seen someone get worked up so quickly. But I try to give her the benefit of the doubt because I’m sure this is stressful for her, too.

“Motherfucker,” she mutters, inhaling a deep breath as if she’s contemplating throwing her phone out the window.

“I’m sorry someone took advantage, but you can see I’m telling the truth. This happens in touristy small towns sometimes.”

She gives me an unamused death glare. “Great. I’ll grab my things and leave. I’m sure I can find another place.”

“That’s a good idea. It’s a full-on blizzard out there, and the road conditions are bad in this whiteout. You can sleep in my guest bedroom tonight. There’s a bathroom down the hall you can use, too. We’ll figure out what to do in the morning.”

“Fine.”

She slams her laptop shut, picks up her phone and weapons, and snatches the handle to her suitcase. Without saying another word, she storms off. Seconds later, a door slams shut, and I think she locks it.

Shaking my head, I call Dasher up to give him a quick bath. As I scrub soap over his back and belly, I think about the crazyevents that happened and wonder how the hell I’m going to navigate having a stranger in my house.

When I woke up this morning, the last thing I expected to find was a beautiful woman in my bed who thought I was there to kill her.

Who knows, with her salty attitude, I might want to before she leaves.

CHAPTER THREE

FALLON

DAY 2

I wakefrom a dreamless sleep without an alarm. I’m not a morning person by any means—Ihatemornings—but I’m an early riser. I swear my internal clock syncs with the sun no matter where I am in the world.

Once I slide out of bed, I open the curtain to see everything covered with a blanket of white. If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have none.

After I go through my morning routine and get dressed, I check my phone to see if Sierra responded to the strongly worded email I sent last night.

It sends me into a tailspin of rage when I realize she hasn’t. I’m tired of her making mistakes like this, especially ones that put me in a dangerous situation. Because of her, I’m now in an uncomfortable position with a strange man.

With my phone tightly in my grip, I go downstairs and call Sierra. I don’t care about the time difference. Not when she’s responsible for my predicament.

“Sierra,” I bark out when she picks up.

“You realize it’s four in the morning, right?”

“Did you read my email?”

“Um…no.” I hear scrambling as if she’s reaching for her computer.

Groaning, I explain what happened. She makes a few excuses and tries to get out of this being her fault, but I interrupt her.

“I went to the website myself. It was obvious that it was a phishing site. Half the page was filled with ads and pop-ups. And now, I’m stuck staying at a strange man’s house in the middle of a snowstorm. Not to mention, my card has to be canceled. When I checked the statement last night, it showed several charges I didn’t make.”

“I’m so sorry,” she says. I know she’s being genuine, but this was a dumb mistake, even for her. “I looked everywhere, and that was the only rental available within a fifty-mile radius.”

I let out a long sigh, my heart racing over how worked up I am. “Take. Care. Of. It.”

Once the words leave my mouth, I end the call. As I set my phone down on the counter, I groan.

A chuckle rings out behind me, and I glare at Levi. His dog trots toward me, but I ignore him.

“Where do you keep the coffee?” I ask around a yawn.

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