Page 25 of Scotch & Shortbread

“I’m sorry, lass, but nobody is going anywhere for a while.”

The words were exactly what her perked-up nipples and tingling nether regions wanted to hear, but from the look in his eyes, she knew the intent was far different from her body’s interpretation.

“How long is a while?” she asked, feeling her stomach knot.

He shrugged casually oblivious to the emotions whirring inside her. “Hard to say exactly.”

“Mm-hmm. Right.” She tried to comprehend what that meant, and then in the next breath, she completely dismissed what he’d said. “Obviously, staying here is not an option. I need to get back to the inn tonight, so how do we make that happen?” She looked at him expectantly.

And there it was, his disapproving cold, Mean Cop look. The one that made her want to kick him in the shins. Without a word, he turned and casually strode back to the kitchen. Quinn felt frustration bubbling in her as she noted that clearly the uniform had nothing to do with the attitude after all.

“There must be a way to get back into town.” She didn’t even try to keep the exasperation from her voice.

Was the woman mad? She’d just narrowly been rescued from freezing to death in the worst blizzard in a bloody decade, and now she expected to be somehow magically transported back to her inn?

“Have ye looked outside?” he said in a clipped tone.

“Yes, but can’t we drive? You must have some kind of four-by-four. This is the mountains. The weather gets bad. You must have a way to get around. Surely things don’t just come to a standstill.” She ended on a shrill little laugh that made him want to ring her perfectly creamy neck and kiss her senseless all at once.

“We would get stuck before we even started, and it’s no’ like being in town. We are halfway up a mountain. Visibility is next to zero. Nobody is going anywhere.”

“Well, when do you think we can get back to town?” He could see she wasn’t going to give up easily.

Alex looked out the kitchen window as if assessing, but he knew the answer without looking, “Depends on when this finally lets up and they get the ploughs going.”

“You mean I’m probably going to have to stay the night?” she asked indignantly as if the thought was completely unacceptable.

God, this woman. He took great pleasure in his next statement because he knew it would irritate her pretty little head. “I’d count on staying at least three nights, maybe more.”

“What?” she shrieked. “Don’t be ridiculous! It’s the mountains. It snows. We are not in the dark ages, you know. We’re not just at the mercy of the snow gods.”

He had to hide a smile. The lass was bonny, but when she was fired up? Christ. For such a tiny thing, she was feisty, and the flush on her cheeks made him want to push her farther.

“Last time it snowed like this, it took them five days for them to get up here and do some clearing. So aye, little lass, we are at the mercy of the snow gods.”

Those big brown eyes gave away her every emotion, and right now, she looked as though she was going to cry. Alex certainly didn’t want that.

“But it’s almost Christmas.” Her argument was futile, and they both knew it. A growl of frustration erupted from her as she seemed to finally accept the reality of the situation. “And don’t call me little.”

Alex barely held in a laugh. “Did ye have plans for Christmas then? Ye have a laddie waitin’ on ye?” He was mocking her, but something about the idea that it might be true bothered him. Did she have a man in her life?

“No, no, it’s just, well, I…” She seemed flustered. Then she abruptly walked over to where she’d abandoned her backpack at the front door. Unzipping it, she pulled out her phone looking at it with sudden desperation, and then she slumped.

“There’s no signal up here,” he stated, to her utter annoyance.

“Yeah, got that,” she said with more sarcasm than she’d intended. Her mind was racing. Was she seriously stuck here with Mean Hot Cop? While he may not be a complete jerk as she’d originally thought—he had rescued her after all—she still found him to be annoyingly mean. Worse yet, he was definitively hot, like superhero hot. Much too hot to be stranded in a cabin with for God only knew how long.

She studied him with a crinkle between her brows. Sergeant Mackenzie now stood in his kitchen, washing their mugs like some kind of domesticated Adonis. It was impossible not to be impressed with his incredibly broad muscular shoulders and those massive biceps tight in his shirt. Jeez Louise. If he were any other guy, she’d jump at the chance to be stuck here with him, but no, this was Mean Hot Cop. The mean part was not to be forgotten about!

“You never said if you had a landline or not. I’d like to make a call,” she huffed, less than impressed with this whole ordeal.

He pointed to a phone on a table beside the couch. Immediately, she went over and picked it up. “There’s no dial tone,” she said in disbelief.

“Guess the storm must have knocked down the phone lines.” He shrugged as if it was insignificant.

“How are we supposed to get a hold of anyone to let them know we are here?” she asked, feeling her stomach clench, as anxiety pricked at her.

“The ranger knows there are a few of us that live up the mountain, and he knows that we all stay prepared for a snow in.”

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