Chapter 6

Ryder

Saturday 7.13am

Christmas Eve

I blink away the remnants of sleep and frown at the blonde hair spilling over my chest.

Rather than ease my arm out from under Millie and risk waking her, I stare at a mole on her shoulder and wonder how this happened.

I’ve had my share of one-night stands, but I’ve never woken up with my arm wrapped around a woman before let alone a woman I’m pretty sure just used me for some dirty sex.

Not that I care. In a few hours she’ll be gone, and I can go back to my solitary Christmas. And back to the way things are supposed to be.

At the slight rumbling sound coming from the floor, I realize why I woke.

My cell is on the floor where I left it last night, and as I crane my head I can see multiple missed calls from Cindy last night and probably this morning.

With a pang of guilt, I realize she’s probably been worrying about how I’m treating her old friend.

I wriggle my arm out from under Millie’s head. She mutters something, sounding sleepy as I reach for my phone.

As I read the first text messages, it’s obvious she’s thinking the worse. Given Millie’s cell is still in pieces and drying out where she left it, it’s not surprising.

If I were a half-decent brother, I’d have sent her a text before I fell asleep last night.

But I wasn’t exactly in the mood for a text war, and I sure as shit wasn’t going to call her after plowing her old friend after she nearly died.

As far as looking after someone goes, I’ve done a lousy job of it so far, so when I see Cindy’s last text I curse loud enough to wake Millie completely.

She jolts upright, rubbing at her eyes and giving me an eyeful of two incredible tits.

I swallow and ignore the way my cock is tingling and flip the cell around so she can read it.

Heavy snow overnight. No chance I can get to you.

Millie isn’t answering her phone and I’m going out of mind here!

Please reply and let me know you’re both okay.

Millie’s mouth slackens before she seems to realize she’s sitting naked in my bed.

She yanks the sheet up with one hand and slaps the other against her forehead. “I’m going to be stuck here with the grinch for Christmas day.”

I raise my head and fold my pillow in two so I can put it behind my head. “I don’t like it any more than you do. I never would have fucked you if I knew you’d still be here.”

Her eyebrow arches and her cheeks flush. “That makes two of us. You are the last person I want to spend any time with let alone a day celebrating everything you apparently hate.”

When she yanks the sheet off me and stumbles out of my bed trying to keep herself covered, I watch her with far too much pleasure given I don’t like her one little bit.

I keep my eyes on her as she checks her clothes on the hanging rack and frowns at me like it’s my fault they still aren’t dry. “I’ll need to wear some of your clothes,” she snaps.

I gesture to the chest I keep all my gear in. “Help yourself.”

She glares at me then chews on her lip. “I don’t suppose you at least have a shower?”

I shake my head. “Told you last night. The bath is outside. If you want one, you’ll have to go light a fire now so it’s warm in a few hours.”

Her eyes pop, and she looks so indignant I think she’s going to throw something at me, but she just looks at her phone lying on the hearth. “You really don’t care about anyone, do you? If you did, you realize that helping me might actually help your sister. I still have a review to write and since I can’t get to the retreat…”

Her voice trails off, but at the ice in her tone I know she’s had enough. “I’m not a complete bitch, but you are making it hard to find an upside to all this.”

“Not what you said last night,” I mutter.

Her eyes narrow. “Last night was a mistake. And one I will not be repeating.”

I yawn and throw the sheets off me before I stretch my back out. “Suits me. It was lousy anyway.”

Her mouth puckers and I have to fight the urge not to smile at how indignant she looks.

But instead of the verbal retaliation I expected, she stomps across the floor and slaps me. Hard.

Cheek still stinging, she raises her hand, and I grab her wrist before she makes contact again.

“Do not do that again,” I growl.

She lifts her chin and can almost see her gearing up to hit me again. My heart is thrashing against my rib cage, and heat is blazing through me.

Whether it’s her stubbornness or stupidity, I have to grab her other wrist before she gets in another slap.

As I jerk her closer, the sheet drops and despite being pissed she managed to hit me, my cock reacts as she struggles to get out of my grip.

Her tits are jiggling, her breathing rapid, and her eyes are wild, like an animal trapped by a hunter. “Let me go,” she whimpers.

A surge of blood rushes to my cock as her nipples press against my chest.

She lets out another whimper, and her gaze travels down to where my cock is stiffening against her stomach. “I could, but there’s nowhere for you to go. You have to stay here, with me,” I growl.

She stares at me, breathing so fast, and looking so angry I’m still holding her captive I think for a second she’s going to spit in my face, but she does the one thing I’m not prepared for.

She cries.

A tear spills down her cheek and her voice comes out shaky. “I missed out on being with my family to be here with Cindy and now I can’t even call my mom,” she says.

She looks so miserable, so utterly deflated, my cock wilts, and something akin to guilt snaps in my chest.

I release her wrists and bend down to grab the sheet for her. If she recognizes it as a peace offering, she doesn’t acknowledge it, just holds it to her body.

The words tumble out before I can stop them. “Use my phone to call.”

From the way her face is contorting, she’s struggling to keep her emotions under wrap. “Okay.”

I manage a nod before I back away, feeling shittier than I have since I got here.

Even though I’m not sure I even know how to, or why I need to, I’m ninety-nine percent sure, I’m going to have to make this up to her.

The only question is what is it going to cost me?

***

Millie

I leave Ryder fiddling with things in his poky little kitchen, wearing his clothes, his socks, and his jacket and boots as I tramp through the snow to the outhouse.

I’m so upset, I sit on the frozen toilet seat, and burst into tears as I hide my face in my hands.

In my wildest dreams, I could never have contemplated things going from bad to worse.

As if having sex with Ryder wasn’t bad enough, now I have no choice but to spend more time with a man I’m pretty sure loathes me.

What makes it even worse is that I don’t even have my bag, just my travel backpack, and since it was wet, I’m not sure if my phone is going to work ever again.

My plan to escape has backfired in the worse possible way. Without my backup digital camera in my bag, I can’t even do the job my boss sent me here to do.

I pull out Ryder’s phone, and can’t resist seeing if he’s left any evidence of who he makes contact with regularly.

I’m slightly disappointed when I find nothing but messages, and phone calls from Cindy to him.

His phone is so basic and so old, the camera is low res, and he doesn’t even have Bluetooth.

I blow my nose on toilet paper and try to figure out how I’m going to explain to my mom.

She’ll want to know I’m having a nice time, and aside from several earth-shattering orgasms last night, this entire experience has been the most accident plagued trip of my professional life.

I’m not sure I can find the energy to fake being okay this early in the morning, and Iowa is only three hours ahead, so I have a little time to find a positive spin on this.

I was supposed to be waking up in a luxury retreat this Christmas Eve, not hiding in an outhouse, wondering how my life has gone so wrong so fast.

Even though I don’t feel like it, I know I owe Cindy a phone call, and since Ryder hasn’t called her, I hit dial and try to force a cheer to my voice for her sake.

“Ryder? Why haven’t you called me back?”

I clear my throat and find it even harder than I thought to lie. “It’s me. I’m sorry I didn’t call earlier. My phone got wet, and then I was so tired I just fell asleep.”

She pauses, probably wondering how my phone got wet, which I’m still not sure if I want to tell her.

It’s embarrassing enough that Ryder had to pull me out, let alone Cindy knowing I did such a dumb thing. But thankfully, she seems so relieved she doesn’t even ask.

“Oh, thank God. I was so worried. Did Ryder tell you about the weather? I’m doing everything I can to get to you. I’ve called our local search and rescue pilot to see if we can fly in and pick you up.”

I run my frozen fingers through my hair and a little cheered she may be able to get me out. “Can a helicopter fly in this weather?”

“No, but Jason has agreed to be on standby. As soon as visibility improves, he says he can come if I cover the fuel costs. But you’ll have to hike to a safe landing spot as soon as the weather clears, and you’ll have to be prepared for a bumpy flight.”

I flinch at that. “Doesn’t the pilot mind?”

I can hear the strain in her voice when she replies. “He’s willing to do it as a favor for me. But he could get in trouble.”

I chew my lip as I consider how many people I’ll be putting out if I agree to be rescued.

Not to mention the risk to the pilot who will also be forced to leave his family on Christmas just because of me.

“But there’s no guarantee he can even get here before tomorrow?”

“I’m sorry. No. The weather is forecast to ease, but it’s one of the downsides of living in such an isolated spot. Your other option is to hike here, or to his closest neighbor to borrow a snowmobile, but you’d absolutely need Ryder if you were going to do that. And in this weather, it could take you four hours even with a snowmobile.”

I close my eyes and somehow manage to force myself to sound upbeat. “It’s okay. I’ll stay here until the weather clears.”

She sounds about as convinced as I would be given the circumstances. “I’m so sorry. I really am. And I’ve already emailed your boss about a refund and we’ve scheduled another weekend for whenever you want.”

She sounds so disappointed for me, I infuse my tone with mirth I don’t feel. “Thanks, and please don’t worry. Ryder’s doing everything he can.”

“Hmm. Well, I’d like to speak to him too. I gave him a care package a week ago. Can you put him on so I can make sure he uses it?”

I swallow hard. “I’m in the outhouse at the moment, but I’ll ask him to call you when I get back.”

“Okay. Have him call me soon so I can coordinate a few things to make your stay a little more pleasant. And thanks for being so great about all this.”

After a forced goodbye and a promise to call her later, I release a sigh as hot tears start to stream down my frozen face providing a moment's reprieve from the cold.

I drag out my moment of solitude for as long as I can without risking further exposure, before I step out into the snow, grab a handful of it to cleanse my hands before I reluctantly head back to Ryder’s cabin.

I desperately want a shower, and to check my phone, but when I open the door and find Ryder sitting at the table, with the scent of bacon and coffee in the cabin, I forget all that in favor of filling my empty stomach.

He gestures to a plate of food opposite. “Food’s getting cold,” he says.

I’m so surprised to find he’s made me food without asking, I just strip off his coat and boots and take a seat.

I place his phone on the table and slide it towards him. “I spoke to Cindy. She’d like you to call her.”

He grunts a response. “I’ll do it later. You call your mom?”

I shake my head, pick up my fork, and scoop up a mouthful of eggs as I eye him. “Not yet.”

As I swallow down my eggs, he finishes his, and gets to his feet, his plate in his hands.

I think he’s going to leave me to eat alone like he did last night, but he surprises me by taking his plate and grabbing a coffee pot and plonking it on the table along with two mugs then sitting opposite me again.

He’s not smiling, but when he pours me a cup of coffee it’s impossible not to notice he’s at least trying.

Given how volatile he’s been so far, how long it lasts is anyone’s guess.