Page 40 of Love in the Storm

Asa grinned. “A woman after my own heart.”With a wink, he stepped around her toward the pantry. “I saw everything we need earlier. Meet me at the fireplace with plates and skewers.”

“Skewers?”

“I saw some in the silverware drawer,” he called over his shoulder.

After taking a moment to shake off the chill his wink had given her, she grabbed the things they needed. Somehow, Asa always knew how to cheer her up when she was sinking into a pity party about the unfairness of her situation.

Stranded in a snowstorm: not great.

Stranded with a stranger: not great.

Stranded with Asa: great and terrible at the same time.

Sinking to her knees at Asa’s side in front of the fireplace, she started opening the snacks. “Are you a slightly toasted or burnt to a crisp kinda guy?” she asked.

“Perfectly toasted. It takes patience, but it’s so worth it when you get that even gooeyness all the way through.”

Lyric laughed. “Are you serious? How long does that take?”

Asa snatched the skewers from her. “Laugh it up, but you’ll see. This first one is for you.”

She scoffed and reached into the marshmallow bag. “Fine. Then my first one is for you. If I have to try yours, you have to try mine.”

Asa scrunched his nose. “Do I have to? I can already tell you it’ll taste like ashes.”

She flipped the marshmallow and moved it closer to the flame. “How does Jacob like his marshmallows?”

That earned her a heart-stoppingly handsome grin. “Perfectly toasted, just like me.”

“Did you teach him the art of toasting?”

“I didn’t actually. He’s a patient kid. Way more patient than I was at his age. He likes to build model cars, so he’s used to focusing on one thing for hours at a time.”

“Hours?” Lyric mouthed “Wow” as she pulled the stick closer to inspect the doneness of the marshmallow on the end. A black, bumpy crispiness had formed over the entire thing, hiding any trace of white that lingered in the middle. “I think it’s done.”

She swung the stick toward Asa, and the marshmallow slid right off the end, crunching against the front of his shirt.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry!”

Asa grabbed the collar and pulled the front of the shirt away from his chest as the gooeyness slid down. “It’s okay.”

“Did it burn you?” Lyric asked as she grabbed a plate and tried to peel the marshmallow off his shirt with the skewer.

He put his marshmallow and stick down beside hers. “Nah. I have good reflexes.”

“Tell me about it. I’ve never seen anyone move that fast.” She picked at the sticky mess on his shirt, but it kept spreading.

Asa held up a hand. “Wait. Let me get it.”

Lyric rested back onto her heels as he reached behind his head. Grabbing the collar of his shirt, he pulled it off in one quick motion.

And just like that, his bare chest was on full display. Suddenly, she wasn’t too upset about almost charring his skin with molten goo.Knowing he had broad shoulders was one thing. Knowing everything beneath his shirt was stacked with muscle was serious torture.

He balled up the shirt and stood. “Looks like this shirt gets another wash. Seriously, my clothes have never been so clean.”

“Uh-huh.” Lyric stared up at him, holding the plate of marshmallow mess like she had no idea what to do with her hands.

“We’re gonna need a redo on both of those.” He pointed to the mess on the plate. “I’ll be right back.”

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