Page 31 of Roughing It

She groans. “I’m sorry. I’m just kind of freaking out here.”

I smile a little more, helplessly charmed by her. I don’t know why she makes it so easy to relax. Maybe because she doesn’t know about my past or my words shit. Or maybe she’s just kind. It’s hard to say, but it’s also hard to care.

“I know, but you don’t have to worry. You’re safe here ’til the storm passes, then we can get you home.”

She stares at me, and then her shoulders sink, and she nods. “Thanks. I… There’s no chance I can get a cup of tea right now, is there?”

I offer her my right arm, then jerk my head toward the lounge doors when she hesitates. “You bet there is. And I know where to find hot water. And maybe some breakfast.”

She seems hesitant, but she still lays a hand on my wrist. Her fingers are colder than they were last night, and it’s probably the shock she’s feeling at being trapped in a strange lodge, abandoned up a mountain. If I were her, I’d be losing my mind too. I mean, that’s how horror movies start, right? Where everyone ends up butchered and eaten or turned into lampshades?

I lay my hand over hers and squeeze gently. “I understand you’re freaked-out, but I promise you it’s going to be fine. I’m comping all your room charges, okay?”

She gives me a look, then lets out a slightly hysterical laugh. “I’m not worried about the room charge, dude. No offense, but I have a life and a job. I can’t get trapped up in some mountain cabin and get murdered. I don’t have thetime.”

I can see the stress lines around her eyes and hear the little wobble in her voice, and it reminds me of all the people I once knew who cracked under the weight of being overworked—usually by people like my parents. I want to hug her, and not just because I want to feel her body against mine again.

“Sorry,” she mumbles after a long second, and she’s staring at the floor with a kind of sheepish look on her face. “That was a dick thing to say.”

I gently squeeze her arm before letting go because she’s still a stranger, and having some big-ass guy like me all up in her space is probably freaking her out. “What was?”

She looks up and offers me a shy smile. “Implying you’re all murderers.”

I can’t help a short laugh. “If we were, our targets would be assholes who complain about cotton sheets. So, fortunately, you don’t fit the profile.”

She stares, then covers a giggle with her hand. I feel a small surge of triumph because I know that nothing I say will really put her at ease, but at least I could offer her a second of peace.

“That’s fair. I mean, I’d get in that line.” She rubs the back of her neck, her hair a little wild still, and god—it’s so wrong of me to keep staring, but she is one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met. “Is it awful that I’d rather be trapped up here with a bunch of strangers than make a two-hour drive with him back to town?”

I scoff. “No. I’d be surprised if he made it back to the city alive.”

She grins at me, and a little more of that tension starts to bleed away. After a second, she lets out a puff of air and shrugs. “So what do I do?”

I raise my brows. “What do you mean?”

She waves her hand in a circle. “Well, there’s no electricity, no roads, no internet.”

I smirk at her. “You city folk and your internet.”

At that, she gives me an indignant stare and elbows me. “Don’t try to act like you don’t have better internet up here in the mountains than I do in my apartment. I bet you spend your evenings after work lying on your couch and watching videos about kittens making friends with giant animals.”

I grin sheepishly and shrug. It’s not totally accurate… but it’s also not totally wrong. “So, about that coffee?”

“Tea,” she corrects, then takes in a breath. Some of the tension is back, like she just remembered the reality of our situation. “If you have tea.”

“We have tea.” I nod my head toward the lounge doors, and she follows me without hesitation. As we pass through, I can smell bacon cooking, but I’m not brave enough to ask if she wants to join me for a meal. That’ll seem way too much like a date.

I clear my throat and try for something else. “When the rain dies down, I’m going to go check on the horses.”

She glances up at me as I press my hand to a swinging door and push. “O…kay?”

I flush. I can be so damn awkward sometimes—like I forget people can’t just read the end of my unspoken sentences. “It’ll be muddy and gross, but you’re welcome to come with. Keep your mind off the fact that you’re here without”—I fake shudder—“internet.”

She blinks, then smacks my chest with the back of her hand as she laughs. “Shut up.” She pauses, then gives me a sweet smile that makes my heart thud hard against my ribs. “I think I would like to see my new best friend, Clover, though.”

I try not to read too much into the fact that she and my oldest and most favorite horse have bonded. “Sounds good. We can head out there after we get a little breakfast.”

We move into the ballroom, where Zara, Phoenix, René, and Miguel are all crowded around a small table heavy with banquet tureens.

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