Page 40 of Snowed In on Valentine's Day

“Then go back to sleep.”

I shook my head. “No. I’m tired of all this. It’s been, what, three or four days? Five? I don’t even know what day it is. I think it’s cabin fever, and if I’m really honest, I was already struggling with thatbeforethe storm.”

His head was slightly tilted as he replied, “You had cabin fever before we were snowed in?”

“That is what I said,” I snapped. Shaking my head slowly, I buried my face in my hands again. “It doesn’t matter. Just … can you check for updates on the outage?”

He nodded and pulled his phone out of his sweatpants pocket.

“Yousleepwith your phone in your pocket?”

“Yes,” he said absently while looking down at said phone. “As CEO, I needed to be available at all times.”

I stared at him for a moment as he swiped across the screen several times. “That sounds terrible. But you’re not CEO anymore, right?”

He looked up briefly. “No. Old habit, I guess.”

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. It didn’t matter. I probably wouldn’t see much of him after this whole ordeal; it’s not like we were going to be friends. I needed to focus on getting out of here. Walking over to the window though, I felt demoralized because the snow looked so deep. Even if the power were restored, just making the hike in that much snow would be very difficult. It had to be three feet, or much higher in some places where the drifts were.

I turned around, wondering what was taking Peter so long. “Any news?”

“Yeah, it’s just that the phone signal is a bit weak these past few days.” His brow furrowed as his eyes swept back and forth across the screen. Then he put his phone in his pocket, looking thoughtful.

“Well? Don’t keep me in suspense,” I said as calmly as I could, trying to restrain my urge to shout.

His expression was blank as he delivered the news I’d been waiting for. “Estimated fix is this afternoon.”

My eyes widened, and for the first time all day, I smiled, albeit only briefly. He didn’t return the smile though. Instead, he dipped his head and then turned on his heel. I watched him walk away from me and then out of the room.

The infuriating man had just stomped away without a word! What the heck?

OK, he wasn’t stomping. I was the one who felt like stomping. We should be celebrating—what the hell was his problem?

Feeling the irritation pumping through my veins, I turned back to the window. Maybe I should just go now. If power was being restored this afternoon, it wouldn’t hurt to get home a bit before that.

The only problem is I’d be drenched and freezing. My boots were nowhere near high enough to keep me dry through all that snow, and I didn’t have a snowsuit.

“I know what you’re thinking. Don’t.”

I spun around, my heart in my throat. “Stop sneaking up on me!” I snapped.

He had the decency to nod as he said, “Sorry.”

“And you don’t know what I’m thinking,” I mumbled.

He handed me a steaming mug. “Here, have some coffee and sit with me by the fire. We’ll talk—”

I took the coffee from his hands. “I’ll take the coffee, but I’ll pass on the fireside chat.”

I noticed how rigid his body was as he replied, “OK.” His eyes bore into mine for a long time before he stuffed his hands in his pockets. “But you can’t go.”

My eyebrows slowly rose. “Oh, I can’t?” I bit my lip. “What makes you think—”

“It’s not just a matter of being cold and wet and uncomfortable as you walk over to your house, you know.” I averted my eyes. Dammit, how did he know I was thinking that? “Once you get there, you’ll be freezing with no heat and likely no hot water. And that’sifyou get there. You could get stuck.”

“Stuck? You mean stuck here? I don’t think you get to decide that—”

He sighed loudly and gripped my upper arms. His touch was gentle, but my skin was on fire where his fingers wrapped around. “I mean stuck in the snow. Unable to climb out. It looks very deep in some places.”

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