Page 70 of Snowbound
“Why so glum?” I startle and nearly topple my chair over when I turn to see Emma standingright behind me.
Did she see the damn screen?
“My god, don’t scare a man like that. Here I am, minding my own damn business, and you damn near shocked me to death.”
Her giggle is contagious. I can’t hide my own smile.
“Did you see that screen?” I ask, my heart thundering in my chest. There wasn’t much she could’ve seen, but…
“Not a thing,” she says, two fingers in the air. “Scout’s honor.”
“Not sure that’s a real salute.” I pull her, screaming and scrambling to get away, onto my lap. I wrap my arms around her and kiss the side of her temple. When she stands, I give her ass an appreciative little smack.
The fire crackles, the cabin still faintly scented with pine and cedar. And for a moment, I pretend… this is real. That she’s mine. That it’s just a normal workday with her focused on her words and me focused on my jobs. In just a few minutes, she’ll peck me on the cheek, and I’ll head out to do my job. She’ll stay safe, and so will I.
“Penny for your thoughts?” she says, sitting back and stretching.
“I’m thinking of how pretty your arse will be after your punishment. I’m thinking it’ll match a good Christmas cherry red, hmm?”
With a cute little grunt, she sticks her tongue out and goes back to her work.
“Watch it, woman,” I warn her. “No cheek from you.”
She gives me a withering sigh, and I shake my head, rising to put the kettle on. Caitlin McCarthy, family matriarch, insists there’s nothing a good cup of hot tea doesn’t cure, and she’s not wrong.
The kettle whistles, and I pour her a cup of tea, careful to let it steep just right before I pour in cream and sugar. She stands beside me and takes a long pull.
“Mmm. Perfect. Just what I need to get me through the last chapter. It’s all about theyearning,Owen, you know?”
Of course I fucking know.
“I have every confidence you can do it with perfection,” I tell her. “Woodpile’s getting low. You finish your work, and I’ll get some more. When I come back, I’ll check how many words you’ve got so I can decide if you’re going to be punished or rewarded.”
She leaps up, narrowly escaping a smack to her ass, runs to the computer, and plunks it back on her lap. I kind of hope she doesn’t get them again.
And when I open the door, I hate the growing dread I feel about being apart from her. I don’t know if it’s my own damn need for her, or some fucked-up intuition that tells me she isn’t safe alone.
I ought to know. I deal with criminals who live by a whole different playbook than nearly anyone else.
I make quick work of splitting the logs and stacking them, since we only need a few for tonight, when I hear the deep timbre of a man’s voice in the distance.
I’m instantly alert, axe hanging by one hand, moving toward the cabin, when I see the footprints. They’re heavy, big, and man-sized—two pairs.
Then the high-pitched sound of a woman’s scream.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Emma
The words come easilyat first, probably because I want to see that pleased look on his face and hear his praise when I hit that word count. And I really,reallywant that reward.
But beyond that, something’s clicked. Being with Owen really has made the words start coming again, and I’m easing back into who I am—I’m a writer, through and through, and I’m not really myself unless I’m crafting a new world.
I wasn’t joking when I said sex unblocks the creativity for me. And sex withOwen?I’m onfire.
I sip the hot tea he gave me when I come up for air after writing for another straight hour. I remember the way he kissed my temple like it meant something, pulling me onto his lap like it was the most natural thing in the world. And I think I wanted to be there.
No, I definitely wanted to be there.
