Page 55 of Out of the Cold

Chapter Ten

Gabe plowed throughthe snow to the pile of wood he’d been chopping, put a log on the stump, and split it in half. He did another and another, continuing on as if Lucy had never interrupted. It was going to take at least a cord of wood to kill what he was feeling.

Lust, frustration. Tenderness and affection.

All of it simmered together. Rationally, he knew he should be grateful she’d had the presence of mind to stop before things went too far. He had no business falling into bed with her again...or for the first time, since they never even made it to a bed before.

They’d been making progress, and he was glad they hadn’t destroyed it. If only he didn’t remember her warmth when he held her, her slick heat when he slid inside her.

He was going to have to forget what she looked like in nothing but her long underwear, her nipples pebbled from the cold and showing through the white fabric. He hadn’t dwelled on it at the time, not with her on the verge of hypothermia, but it was all he could think about now.

He was fairly sure she almost never wore a bra. She was small and perfect, and his one regret about having sex with her was that he hadn’t put his mouth on her. Hadn’t even gotten her shirt off.

If he had the chance to do it again...but that wasn’t going to happen.

She wanted to be friends, and though that was the last thing he’d had in mind when she arrived, he’d come around to her point of view.

By the time he finished the pile of wood, he was in control of himself again. And there was something he needed to do. Grabbing his wallet and keys from inside, he climbed into his truck and headed to town.

The bell on the door rang as he entered the store.

“Welcome to Tree Line,” Matt, the manager on shift, greeted from the winter coats. “Can I help...” His voice trailed off when he saw who it was. “Oh. Hi, Gabe. I didn’t realize you were coming in today.”

“Just need to grab a few things for a friend.”

“Cool.”

Matt always got nervous when Gabe came in, which he did rarely. The store was in good shape and didn’t need him sticking his nose in. He had people who did that for him, anyway. But Lucy needed the right base layers, and he was pretty sure she didn’t have the money to get them herself.

It didn’t take him long to gather together what he wanted, and ten minutes later Matt was ringing up seven sets of silk long underwear and seven pairs of wool socks. Remembering her chapped cheeks, he grabbed a pink ski mask as well, then threw in a handful of hand and foot warmers for good measure.

The real issue was how to get her to accept it all. He could clearly imagine how she’d push the bag back at him, her delicate jaw stubbornly set. She wouldn’t want to feel beholden to him, and he didn’t want her to think she needed to be grateful.

Best to pass it off like it was no big deal. Which hopefully wouldn’t be too hard, given her total ignorance of all things related to winter.

Grinning to himself, he grabbed a pen and scrawled on the outside of the bag:Wear these if you want to live.

There, he was being funny. She would appreciate that, even if it seemed out of character for him. He was a pretty serious bastard these days, especially when he started thinking of all the ways she could get hurt. This wasn’t the greatest way to show he believed she could take care of herself, but she was going to have to live with it because he wasn’t taking any of it back.

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