Page 40 of A Wrong Bed Christmas: Ignited\Where There's Smoke

“We’ll have to. It’s getting dark and looks like snow is on the way. We’ll stay here and then tomorrow morning we’ll head back to the road and try our luck finding help. Now, let me get that fire going. I’m frozen.”

Emma plucked the matches from his hand. “You walk back to the car and get my luggage while I start the fire. I have some cookies and a wrapped tin of chocolates. It won’t be much to eat, but it will be better than old Spam.”

Erik looked as if he would argue, but instead shrugged. “Okay. Check the flue and stack the wood. We’ll light it when I get back.”

“I can manage lighting a fire, Erik.”

He pressed his lips into a line. “Look, I’m a firefighter and that’s a fireplace that hasn’t been used in years. Just let me have control of this one thing. Please.”

She started to argue because he treated her like the kid she used to be. The awkward twelve-year-old who wandered into a beehive on the campout she’d gone on with his family, the newly licensed driver who had to call him to bring the gas can, the graduating senior who’d accidentally started a fire in the Matheson side yard on the Fourth of July. But Emma wasn’t that gauche girl any longer. She could build a freaking fire without burning the place down.

But something in his expression stopped her.

Here was a commanding man accustomed to being in control of all things. At that moment he had none.

“Yes, Firefighter Matheson,” she said, saluting and trying out a smile. If she was going to be holed up with a bossy firefighter in the middle of a potential snowstorm while missing her parents’ award presentation, she needed to find her sense of humor.

And some self-control.

One bed, a roaring fire and the sexy guy she’d always had the hots for felt like an assload of temptation.

He looked hard at her and for a moment she wondered if he could see her thoughts. Did he know she wanted him...that she’d always wanted him?

No. She was the master of hiding feelings. Besides, Erik had never seen her as anyone other than his younger sister’s nerdy friend.

“Okay. Stay here. Be safe.”

A blast of cold air roared in when he opened the door. “Be careful,” she called as he walked back into the world of white. If he was going to give orders, so was she.

Thirty minutes later, Erik pushed back in. While he’d been gone, she’d scoured the cabin looking for supplies. There wasn’t much left behind in the place, but she’d found pillows, sheets and a few wool blankets in the bathroom closet. She’d aired them out, snapping them over the two tweed chairs centered in front of the fireplace. She’d also found some old rags under the sink along with a near-empty bottle of cleaner and had wiped down the counters and tabletop. The place still felt grimy, but at least now spiderwebs and dust weren’t adding to the ambience.

“Jesus, it’s cold outside,” Erik said, rolling in her suitcase and dumping her emergency car kit on the floor. Inside, she had a first-aid kit and a few other things like bottled water, an extra blanket and a pack of tampons.

“And snowing hard,” Emma said, watching as he unwound his plaid wool scarf from his head and shrugged out of his jacket. Snow coated his dark hair and he brushed it off. He wore a navy cable-knit sweater underneath, worn jeans and work boots. He’d been better prepared than she had. Her poor suede boots were ruined and the leggings she wore a flimsy barrier against the cold.

“You cleaned up a bit,” he said, his gaze sweeping the place. When he looked at the bed, something hot slithered into her belly. “Brr, let’s get that fire lit.”

Emma dragged her damp suitcase toward the table and wiped away the excess moisture, glad she’d gotten a hard-shell case. Hoisting it, she pulled out the box of homemade chocolate-chip cookies along with the cylinder containing the expensive bottle of wine she’d gotten for her epicurean father. A flat box of handmade chocolates for her aunt Della also joined the stack. And as a plus, she found two protein bars she’d tucked into the pocket lining the case. Not the best dinner, but it would do until they could get back to civilization tomorrow.

The crackle of the lit fire drew her attention and instantly made the space cozy and—she licked her lips—intimate.

“Ah,” Erik said, stripping off his gloves and warming his hands in front of the blaze. “Good thing this wood is aged and dry. Instant warmth. Come on over and warm up.”

Emma hesitated for a moment, trying to regain a calm, less amorous demeanor. So they were alone in a cabin in the middle of nowhere with a bottle of wine, chocolate and a double bed? Big deal. She could handle it. After all, she’d never allowed her attraction for him to show through.

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