Page 59 of Roaring Fork Wrangler

“Clothes.”

“You’re welcome to wear some of mine. You’ll swim in them, but if you don’t mind, I won’t either.”

“Maybe just so I can wash what I’m wearing.”

Picturing Juni in nothing but one of my flannel shirts made me instantly hard as a rock. “Come here, girl,” I said, pulling her into my arms. “I gotta kiss you.” I put my arm around her waist and pulled her closer, just not enough that the lower half of our bodies touched. I cupped her cheek with my palm and stared into her eyes. “I’m gonna need you to tell me what’s okay and what’s not.”

She put both hands on my chest. “I was going to say the same thing to you.”

I chuckled. “If you leave it to me, I’ll have you naked and in my bed—the hell with breakfast.”

Her cheeks flushed, and her eyes bored into mine.

“Butthe last thing I want to do is push you into a physical relationship you might not be ready for.”

“There are so many uncertainties,” she murmured.

“I agree.” I kissed her forehead, then released her.

“When you said you had to kiss me, that isn’t exactly what I had in mind.”

I was about to give her one more like what I’d had in mind when I heard a snowmobile outside. Seconds later, I received an alert on my phone from the security system. I checked the live footage, but couldn’t tell who the person getting off the sled was until he removed his helmet and I saw it was Beau. He grabbed something from the back and walked toward us, carrying a shovel. “Beau’s here to dig us out,” I told Juni.

Based on how high the drifts were by the windows, I figured they were equally as high outside the door, so I knew better than to open it.

“Sam sent a message twenty minutes ago, saying he was on his way to check on us, but it didn’t come through until just now,” said Juni. “I guess they tried to call, but didn’t get an answer.”

I had my phone on and the volume up in case I heard from any of my crew or from one of my brothers. Iwalked over and checked, but didn’t see an alert. “Cell coverage must be intermittent.”

I could hear Beau shoveling for several minutes, followed by a knock on the door.

“Hey, come on in,” I said, looking beyond him. He’d dug out a path from the snowmobile up to where we now stood. All around it, the snow had to be piled up at least four feet. I could see higher drifts too.

He stomped his feet and brushed the flakes off his jacket. “Sam sent me down to make sure you were both all right.”

“Hey, sorry about not bringing the SUV back up to the house last night,” I said.

He shrugged. “We wouldn’t be going anywhere, anyway. The roads are all closed, which also means a plow can’t get here to clear the driveway.”

“My weather app says more is on the way,” said Juni, walking over and handing her phone to me.

“Damn. It’s saying maybe another two feet.”

“We’re in for the duration,” said Beau, who then turned to Juni. “Sam was wondering if you wanted me to give you a ride up to the house. She thought maybe you could kill some time, going through Cena’s journals.”

I had different thoughts about how we could kill time. In fact, if Juni had to stay a week or longer, I had plenty of ideas to keep us busy, none of which involved wearing clothes.

“It’s up to you,” I said when her eyes met mine.

“I could give her a lift, then come back for you,” Beau offered.

“Are there any more of those on the property?” I asked, pointing to the sled.

“At least three or four. My understanding is they’re stored in the back of the barn.”

“Which barn?”

“The one on the other side of the trees.”

---