Page 18 of Snowed In with her Mountain Men
This in turn hurt my eyes; especially with the yellowish, overhead fluorescents that were constantly flickering at annoying intervals. Still, I had a computer again. I had a place to write, a spotty but cheap internet connection, and a roof over my head that wasn’t leaking. Currently, anyway.
KNOCK. KNOCK.
I froze, terrified of who could be at the other side of the reinforced metal door. I’d been approached twice outside by two different men, both trying to strike up conversations I wasn’t looking to have. And then there was the not so savory-looking guy who hung out near the vending machine. He’d asked me for change before I even got near enough to smell him, which was no small feat because his smell was overpowering.
Dragging the blanket I kept over my shoulders, I moved cautiously to the door. The peephole was so scratched up, it was impossible to see. I hadn’t cared much when I first got here, but now I cursed myself for not asking for a different room.
“Hey! It’s me.”
I peered even harder, willing myself to see past the blur of random scratches. Vaguely, I could make out the hulking form of someone standing just on the other side of the door. Whoever the guy was, he was enormous. My heart began thundering away, now at double speed.
“Camryn! It’s Oakley. Open up.”
It took a second for the words to register. My mouth dropped open, and my eyes lit up. I threw open the door and got blasted by the cold, but I barely even felt it. The surge of joy and relief flooding over me wiped out everything else.
“Hey,” he smiled. “I—”
His sentence died as I flung myself into his arms. A moment later I was hugging him tightly, wrapping my whole body around him like we’d known each other all our lives. I lost myself shamelessly in the warmth of his hard chest, the security of his broad shoulders, the strength of those two big arms. Oakley stepped inside, carrying me with him. The door swung closed as he wrapped his own arms around me, and gave me the best hug in the universe.
“Thank God you’re here,” I sighed. “I was just—”
And then he was kissing me, those beautiful lips rotating softly against mine. He did it full on, without hesitation or reservation or anything other than pure, undiluted confidence.
And shit. I found myselftotallykissing him back.
It was the kiss I’d always wanted. The kiss I’d needed, right now more than anything, to set my world even remotely right again. Oakley’s hands slid to my hips, squeezing me possessively as he took what he wanted. I shivered with excitement as his tongue slid past mine, softly but boldly exploring my mouth.
Oh, wow…
His boldness seriously turned me on, eliciting a soft coo that I couldn’t help but moan into his hot mouth. And then just as suddenly as it began, the kiss was over. We broke apart and stepped back, each of us still breathless with the heat of the moment.
“What died in here?” he murmured, sniffing the air.
“Hope,” I shot back. “Dreams. Shit, it could be anything, really.”
“Yeah.”
We stared at each other for a long moment. It should’ve been awkward, yet it was anything but.
“Sorry about that,” Oakley said, scratching at the back of his head. “I don’t know what came over me, really, but—”
“You’re acop?”
He broke eye contact to look down at his uniform, as if seeing it for the first time. As well as the badge that went along with it.
“Deputy sheriff, actually.”
“Oh.”
“When we first settled in here, I really didn’t know what the hell I was going to do,” Oakley explained. “But then I met the sheriff, who has three sons in the military. He’s a Marine too, so Semper Fi and all that. He took an immediate liking to me, and so…”
He flicked his badge with a long finger.
“Got it.”
“So yeah, sorry, I didn’t mean to kiss you,” he explained again. “I mean, I totallydid, if I’m being honest. But I probably shouldn’t have. And I—”
I shushed him with an outstretched finger, then stood on my tiptoes to plant my lips on him again. The quick kiss left him pleasantly surprised.
