Page 15 of Holiday Hijinks

“You’re all the present I need,” he told her, his gaze possessive as it briefly raked over her body. Ashleigh wanted to shiver in delight. He locked eyes with her, then turned his attention back to the stove again. She stared at him for a moment, watching him cook breakfast. Slate’s broad shoulders and back tapered down to a narrow waist. The jeans he had on hugged his ass and muscled thighs to perfection.

Her man was most definitely in peak physical condition.

“How much snow was out there?” she asked, finally crossing the kitchen to get out silverware before setting the table.

“Just a couple of inches. I’ll head out and shovel later to clear the driveway.”

“You’re not going to want me to help, are you?” she asked, wrinkling her nose.

His low chuckle filled the room. “I’ll handle it, Ash.”

She pantomimed wiping her brow. “Whew! You know cold weather and I don’t mix.”

“And yet you came here alone last winter.”

“To write by a cozy fire, not ski down black diamond slopes before I winterized the cabin and hiked through the snowy woods. Although really, sometimes I do wonder what Anna was thinking. What if I’d fallen outside when I was bringing in firewood or something? No one would’ve been around to help me. I couldn’t even get a cell signal that first night.”

Slate’s face darkened. “We’re lucky they set us up—in more ways than one.”

A few minutes later, they were both sitting at the table eating their steaming hot omelets, filled with veggies and melted cheese. “These are delicious,” Ashleigh told him before taking another bite. “I’m impressed.”

“I’m improving my culinary skills now that I have someone to cook for,” Slate admitted. “And since I’m the morning person between the two of us, starting with cooking breakfast makes the most sense.”

“Good point. But in my defense, I like to stay up late writing. There’s really no reason for me to be up early every morning.”

“No reason?” he teased, waggling his eyebrows as she flushed. Slate often woke her up before he headed in to work, burying his head between her thighs and feasting on her. After making love, sometimes hard and fast, other times slow and sweet, she’d fall back into a blissful sleep while he got ready and headed into base for the day.

“Well, maybe just a few,” she conceded, warmth washing over her.

Slate smirked. “I even ordered the groceries myself and arranged for them to be here when we arrived at the cabin. Of course, Lena prepared the dinners in advance.”

“You didn’t pack any MREs this time,” she teased.

“Jett has a stash here,” Slate said with a straight face.

“Really?”

He nodded. “It makes sense to keep canned goods and supplies at the cabin. What if we were snowed in? Stranded? The delivery truck got through now, but if we get heavy snow, it can takea while for the roads to be cleared. And a blizzard? We’d be snowed in for days.”

She shivered. “That’s a good point. Last year, you were going to stock their deep freezer with deer. Did Jett give up on that idea?”

Slate nodded. “Anna wasn’t ever a fan of his hunting, and honestly, Jett’s too busy nowadays for that. He’s got work and family responsibilities. He came out here more when he was single. It doesn’t make sense to fill the deep freezer. Canned goods will last longer.”

“I wonder what’ll happen to the cabin?” Ashleigh mused. “Do you think he’ll keep it?”

“Well, he technically sold it so that it’s no longer in his name. The corporation that purchased it is a shadow company, however. He still owns it. After everything that happened last year, Jett wanted to make it more secure without getting rid of the cabin entirely.”

“Are you serious?” she asked in surprise. “He set up a shadow company just to purchase the cabin?”

Slate nodded. “Or he used one already in existence. I’m sure Anna knows about the sale of the cabin but doesn’t care too much about the details. She’s busy with those three boys of theirs now.”

“She does have her hands full,” Ashleigh agreed.

When they’d finished eating and cleared the table, Slate pulled out his pocket knife to cut open the packaging of the box that had arrived. “The gift inside isn’t wrapped,” he warned. “There was a delay in shipping. As much as I thought through the details, I don’t think there’s any Christmas wrapping paper here for me to use.”

“I’m still surprised any of the gifts were wrapped and waiting here,” she admitted. “Let alone the Christmas tree, lights outside….” She beamed at him. “I love it so much.”

“Lena flew out last week to help get everything ready.”

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