Page 27 of His One True Wish

Eyes still wide open, I fixated on the wooden beam that spannedthe ceiling instead of the snow. This couch was not comfortable. Had Billie really slept here growing up? I told her I slept out here with Cam sometimes, but that was bullshit. This couch was uncomfortable as fuck. I needed to buy a new one.

I sat up and glanced down the hall. A thin bar of light pierced the darkness, which meant Billie might still be awake. I wondered if she was open to sharing that big bed with me, but then the light flipped off.

I fell back against the cushions of the couch. It was a terrible idea. Plus, there was no way she’d go for it. I sunk back into the couch, resigned to my situation. Billie was in bed, and I wasn’t going to disturb her. I set my phone alarm for six a.m. It was after midnight, and I figured I could get up early and start digging before Billie woke up. If the storm blew through, I’d have the morning light. If Billie was going to get to Denver, she needed to get on the road as early as possible. Storms often paused and returned. We’d find her a window and get her home.

I closed my eyes, my mind replaying the moment I walked naked into the kitchen and saw Billie standing on the counter. She’d glanced down at me, her expression wild but focused. I was impressed when she threw the bottle at me. I would have done the same. Once she realized I wasn’t there to hurt her, something shifted in her gaze, and I saw a spark of wonder in her eyes that made me smile.

Billie Prescott was a woman who made me smile. It had been a long time since I’d felt something like that.

When she talked about the cabin, her gran, and the sense of home she felt here, the spark in her eyes made my hands ache to touch her. It was clear the love she felt for her family and this place was a part of her being, but I sensed something sad inside her, too. I wondered what that was.

I sighed and stretched out my toes, wiggling them in the heat of the fire. Billie was a mystery, but she wasn’t going to be here long. I didn’t need to worry about what feelings she did or didn’t stir up, because come morning, she was getting the hell out of my house.

I awokeat some point in the night to the sound of steady banging. I sat up on the couch, trying to determine where the sound was coming from. It wasn’t inside, and it didn’t sound like it was on the back porch. What the fuck? I’d finally fallen asleep. The fire still going. I wrapped a blanket around myself and stood in the center of the room and listened.

Another bang sounded close to Billie’s room. I peered down the hall, light shone through the far window, and I immediately saw the trouble. The exterior shutter was blown wide open. It clapped back and forth in the wind, banging against the house at a steady beat.

Her light was still off. I couldn’t believe Billie hadn’t woken up from the noise.

I needed to secure the shutter, so I walked down the hall and raised the window. Snow blew inside the hall. I shivered as the wind and snow hit my skin. I had nothing on but my black briefs, and it was freezing cold outside. I reached out into the cold, gripped the shutters, and managed to pull them in and latch them shut with an interior hook. I gripped the window frame and jerked it closed. I almost had it down when it stuck about an inch from closing. Damn it to hell. I tugged on the window frame as the bedroom door opened.

Billie stood in the doorway looking at me, her dark eyes wide and unfocused. She looked half asleep as she stepped into the hallway. I spun around, and she tumbled against me. Her body felt warm against my cold skin. My palm brushed over the top of her breast and the sweet nub of her nipple. Her hands gripped my back as she steadied herself. Her hips brushed against my rock-hard cock, and I gasped.

“Hey, there,” I said, my body tingling.

She stepped back, her eyes still unfocused. She wore a long-sleeved tee-shirt that hit her mid-thigh. She crossed her arms and stepped backward.

“I heard a noise,” she mumbled as she glanced down at her bare legs and gave a shiver.

“Yeah, I had to open the window. Sorry.”

Her head cocked to the side as she looked at me, then she glanced at the floor as if noticing the melting snow there for the first time.

“The shutter blew open … noisy damn thing.”

“Same thing happened at my house,” she said, looking past me.

“What?”

“Gran always said to wish on the wind,” she said softly.

“What?” I asked again, not following her.

“Never mind.”

“Go back to bed,” I said, holding her shoulders and turning her toward the door. “It’s not even light out.”

“Yeah?” She looked at me with sleepy brown eyes and shrugged.

“Let’s get you back in there,” I said, guiding her by the arm. I figured she was somewhere between asleep and awake when she didn’t object to my help or touch.

I held up the covers for her. “Go on,” I said, waving her along.

“Thanks,” she murmured, crawling into the bed. Her cute little ass was high in the air, and I looked away as her shirt fell forward.

She was not fully awake, and catching a glimpse of her tits made me feel like a voyeur spying on someone through an open window. I kept my eyes focused on the comforter until Billie had scooted completely under the covers. She deserved privacy.

“Nighty-night.” She yawned, sinking deep into the bed, her dark hair spilling out across the pillow. “That snow is wet like me. You make me wet. Nighty-night.” She made a mewing noise and rolled over on her side.

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