“Rooms are a good idea.” She moves for the door handle.
“No,” I shout. Her eyebrows shoot up.
“Sorry, it’s just, you aren’t dressed for this. I have no fucking idea how you walk in those on an average day. In the dark with all this snow, they’re not safe.”
“I will have you know, I can run for blocks in these shoes.”
“Why the fuck would you do that?” I know my eyes are wide, but seriously, why would anyone run in those? “Anyway, I’ll go. Be right back.”
I make my escape, shutting the door on her laughter, so the blowing snow doesn’t pelt her. I thought I knew what cold was, what winter was. Chicago winters are no joke. But the Colorado cold is sinking straight into my bones. The driving need to get Cara safe and warm pushes my discomfort back.
I shove open the door to the tiny office. It’s beat-up, and rundown, but clean. As long as we don’t have any creepy crawly visitors in our rooms, it’ll do just fine. A harried woman in her fifties comes out from the back room.
“Oh dear, you look frozen.” She’s radiating concerned grandma energy.
“Yes ma’am. We got stuck. Looks like a bunch of us did.” I say, waving to the cars filling the parking lot."
“Oh honey, we’ve been hopping for the last hour. We haven’t had this many guests in years.”
My stomach drops. The details I’d been cataloging all coming together. Thirty-plus cars, plus maybe twenty rooms, equals we’re fucked.
I plant my hands on the desk separating us, dropping my shoulders. “Please tell me you still have rooms.”
Her tinkling laugh rings out as she slaps an actual key on the desk. “Last one, honey. Must be your lucky day.”
It is. It really is. My head drops in relief. I have no fucking idea what we would have done. No way we could sleep in the car. We’re on a quarter tank of gas. That would not keep us warm till morning. My relief is short-lived as the reality of that one key hits me. One key, two of us. I hand over my ID and cash, nodding distractedly as the clerk gives me the rundown.
“The bar will be open 24/7 until the storm passes. We have a lot of folks in the outlying areas that have lost power. The older ones usually come and hunker down here during storms. It turns into a bit of a party, but usually nothing too rowdy. So you come by and get food anytime. My Cliff is a great cook.”
I thank her, then, head spinning, trudge through the calf-high snow to the passenger side of the SUV. Cara’s lips look almost blue through the window. I pull it open, hand her the key, then tug her out.
“Did you get roo—“ Her words cut off with a yelp as I duck down and throw her over my shoulder.
“Don’t you dare drop that key. We’ll never find it again.” I mutter against her backside. We’re in the middle of a snowstorm, I can’t feel my feet, it’s so fucking cold, but my body still reacts to having her ass right in my face. I don’t know if that says more about my attraction to her or how sexy she is.
I trudge the thirty feet to our door, putting her down right in front of it. The sidewalk is mostly bare, thanks to the overhang. “Be right back.”
I make quick work of grabbing the rest of our stuff, thankful that Jonas challenged me to that stupid bet all those months ago. I was always in shape, but never like this. I appreciate my body more than ever right now and its ability to take care of business. I hustle back to Cara. She’s just standing there, eyes wide, key dangling at her side.
Sliding it out of her hand, I pop the door open and nudge her in, then push in after her, slamming the door shut. I drop my head against it, relieved to be in the warmth of the room. My cheeks tingle from the temperature change.
“Jesus. They only had one room left. We’re lucky as fuck.” I’m shivering. Cara must be colder.
She’s cold, alright. Her lips are definitely blue, and she’s shivering. But she doesn’t seem to notice. Her eyes are locked on the bed.
The.
Bed.
Singular. A single queen-size bed, right there in the center of the room.
“Fuck.”
16
CARA
D eclan’s ass is spectacular. Grade A. I’m sure I should be worrying about the fact that we’re stranded in some middle-of-nowhere town in a fucking blizzard, but I can’t seem to care. Because Declan’s ass is staring me right in the face. I panicked for a minute when he threw me over his shoulder, but I should have had more faith. New Declan has got me just fine. So fine.