Chapter 2
Ryder
Whatever I expected to find waiting at the airport, it wasn’t a leggy blonde, looking at me like I’m some kind of monster.
I don’t need to look at her to see she’s worse for wear, but from the odd time I’ve stumbled across one of Cindy’s guests, this one is not the usual basket case who shows up here.
As she struggles to keep pace with me, I wonder if Cindy purposely omitted her old friend just happened to be incredibly pretty.
She climbs inside my truck and when the subtle hint of her perfume fills the cab, it’s impossible not to react.
Stupidly, I find myself glancing at her as she settles in beside me, looking pale, and fragile in a way that I don’t want to acknowledge.
Cindy must have warned her not to talk because she’s sending me wary looks, and making sure she doesn’t look at me directly.
I’ve barely spoken to a woman apart from my sister in months, let alone a drop-dead gorgeous one.
It’s no surprise that when she buckles her seatbelt, my eyes ignore my protest and drift over her body, and like a reflex, I’m mentally undressing her.
With a grunt and a mental head slap, I switch the engine on and pull out of the parking space.
I don’t make any small talk or try to set her at ease, I’m too busy trying not to think about how good she looks, so I just do what I came here to, and drive.
Thankfully, she’s so tired, she just slumps against the door, eyes ahead, leaving me to watch the snow scattering the road.
After thirty miles of silence, I check to find her eyes closed and her fast asleep.
Grateful she’s not going to talk to me, I glue my eyes to the road and watch the distance between my truck and the driver ahead.
I need to get back before the weather really gets bad. The highways will always be clear, but the smaller roads leading into my cabin, and then the retreat, don’t get enough traffic to bother clearing them during winter.
With nothing else to do but hope the weather doesn’t turn before I make it back, I ignore the woman asleep beside me and spend the next ninety miles simultaneously checking the roads and trying not to look at her.
I’m so busy watching the road and trying to keep my thoughts on things to distract me, I jump slightly when her phone rings.
It takes a few seconds of stretching before she sighs wearily and glances at me. Her voice comes out a croak. “It’s my boss. I need to take it.”
Since it’s a statement and not a question, I don’t bother with a reply as she answers. “Terry, I’m not at the retreat yet.”
I can’t make out what Terry is saying but it’s impossible to miss how tired she sounds when she replies. “I’m not sure yet. I’ll have to check. But I can still take photos then email you them.”
I can feel her gaze slide to me as if she’s expecting me to be listening in. “No, I didn’t know they had an outdoor sauna…”
She mutters under her breath. “Terry, you’re cutting out, the coverage is patchy.”
As we reach the turn-off, I exit while she keeps blabbing to her boss, back in Sacramento, I assume.
“You don’t need to babysit me, I’m fine. I’ll make sure I get lots of pictures of a non-traditional Christmas for Insta and have the review ready for Monday okay?”
I glance at her and find her staring vacantly out the window, when she stiffens slightly the next words out her mouth don’t help me in the least.
“I don’t care if hashtag Christmas in the buff is trending. It’s not happening,” she whispers.
I grip the wheel a little tighter as my heart rate cranks up a notch. Her voice comes out an indignant squeak. “No way am I taking a naked picture, Terry. I came here to snap the retreat and the Northern Lights…”
Heat rushes around my body as her words slice into me. Naked. When was the last time I saw a woman naked? Let alone a beautiful one?
She seems to either lose the connection or get tired of arguing with her pervy boss and pushes her phone back inside her backpack.
“Sorry you had to hear that,” she says quietly.
I shrug and find myself answering despite not wanting to start a conversation with her. “Is he always trying to get you naked?”
She snorts a laugh. “No. Just when he thinks it’ll get more likes.”
I frown and shoot a look at her. “Likes? I thought you reviewed for a magazine?”
She smiles and runs her hand through her hair. “I do. But the travel company I work for has a big Instagram following. The more trending hashtags we can utilize the more interest we generate.”
I’m not a moron, have more experience with social media than I’d like and I’ve already talked more than I intended to, so I jam my lips shut and slow down to turn off to the exit to the retreat.
As we drive through the tree-lined road, the snow is coming in so heavy I have to switch my windscreen wipers on.
But the time we’re only ten or so miles out, I’m leaning forward and have the wipers on full speed.
To confirm things are getting worse, my phone buzzes on the dash where I left it.
I’m not dumb enough to read it and drive, so I pull over and ignore the nervous glance Millie is sending me and the way she’s gripping the handhold and check to see who’s calling.
When I see three missed calls from Cindy, I read the last message she sent and curse I didn’t read it before I left the highway.
Road closed due to ice.
Find a good motel to stay in, charge it to me and I’ll have Jenny to come get her ASAP.
Tell her she can have anything she needs while we wait.
And be NICE.
I toss my phone back on the dash and scowl as my luck goes from bad to worse.
Cindy must have contacted her too because she’s holding up her phone and offering me a hesitant smile.
“We can’t get to the retreat? But we’re going to find a motel?” she asks.
I shake my head as I force myself to look at her. “We can’t. I can barely see the road. I could have made it to the retreat, but I can’t risk driving back to the highway.”
Her eyes widen a little and she looks like a deer in headlights. “So, what do we do? Wait here until it stops snowing?”
I check the outside temperature on the dash before I say something I know is going to come back and bite me on the ass.
I glance at the coat she’s wearing and the boots on her feet. “My cabin isn’t far. We walk there and wait for someone to come get you.”
At the look of horror on her face, I know she likes this idea of trudging through the snow even less than I do.
But to her credit, she just blows out a sigh. “How far?”
I’m not entirely sure, but I estimate based on the last thing I recognized on the road. “In this weather? An hour, maybe more.”
Her lips press together, and she rubs at her temple. “Marvelous. Just marvelous,” she grumbles.
