“It’s sort of my fault.” Calder speared his pancake. “I kinda pushed them together. Accidentally. But now they’re stupidly happy together, so I guess it’s working out well.”
“Are you going to come play in the snow too?” Charlotte asked Calder, turning toward him. “Uncle Felix says there’s a sled in the shed.”
A funny expression crossed Calder’s face, a softening of his rugged features. “Not sure my ankle is up to it, sadly. I better save my energy for digging out my car and driving back to base.”
“There’s no sense in digging out until the plow comes through.” I should have been in far more of a hurry to get Calder on the road than I actually was. Maybe I was merely being realistic about the weather, but my neck prickled like more was going on. I didn’t like that. I had no reason to keep Calder here. “I need to call the maintenance company about the driveway, but they may not want to send someone until it’s actually done snowing.”
“Better be today.” Calder’s firm tone was more the attitude I needed to adopt too. “No offense. I just don’t want to impose on you a second night.”
“I get it.” Not hating the guy’s presence wasn’t the same as wanting him to stick around. “Maybe you should try a hot shower or bath for your ankle while we’re outside? That might help with being ready to drive. The old hot tub needs replacing, but the downstairs bath is pretty serviceable.”
“Thanks. That sounds great.” There was nothing overtly sexy about his grin, but somehow that smile had me thinking all sorts of thoughts about Calder in the shower, thoughts I didn’t need to be having.
“Maybe the weather will break by afternoon.” I kept my tone even and bright, doing an awesome job of not letting my voice give away all those soapy, slippery thoughts I kept having.
“Here’s hoping.” Calder nabbed another pancake. I desperately needed those wishes to come true. This was the worst possible timing for my sex drive to come back online, and I needed Calder on the road ASAP before I said—or did—something I’d surely regret.
Chapter Seven
Calder
I very carefully did not think about Felix while I took my shower. It was one thing to enjoy cooking with the guy a surprising amount and to find him appealing on several levels, and another to perv on him, even in the privacy of my own mind. So I didn’t, mainly because I had a long history of being able to tune certain desires out, but unlike ordinary stray horny thoughts, Felix kept creeping back into my brain.
After my shower, my ankle was a little looser, so I went to the window, trying to decide whether to start digging out my car. Beyond the trees, what little I could see of the main road still looked unplowed, and maddeningly, the snow continued to sprinkle down. The driveway too needed plowing. I hoped that management company of Felix’s was able to get someone out because I needed to get away from here and away from pesky thoughts like how a second night wouldn’t be so bad now that Felix appeared to have stopped hating me.
“Wheee!” Outside the window, Charlotte squealed as Felix pulled her on the wooden sled. Like the walking stick I’d been using, the sled looked old and likely handmade. Felix had such a history here. A clammy sensation gathered in the small of my back. I hated that Tim had likely tricked me, but I also wasn’t the kind of person to try to pry Felix loose from somewhere with these kinds of roots. My own family had moved around often enough that I truly envied people like Felix who had a deep connection to a particular scrap of earth.
Wasn’t ever going to be me, but it was nice to watch from a distance. Felix laughed right along with Charlotte, a rich sound that made me want to hear more of it. Leaping off the sled, Charlotte raced over to where Madeline was building a snow family. They were going to be cold when they came inside, so I checked the fire in the woodstove, stoking it hotter with some extra logs. And Charlotte looked like she’d likely been making snow angels as well with snow clinging to the back of her coat and snowpants, so I laid out a couple of towels near the door before heading to the kitchen.
We might not have had one particular place to come back to, but we’d had my mom, and I channeled her as I made two mugs of hot chocolate and one of coffee. I discovered a bag of marshmallows and was adding two to each of the hot chocolate mugs when the front door swung open and the three of them came stomping in.
“Boots off by the door,” Felix ordered the girls, brushing snow off his shoulders.
“I put towels out for you.” I gestured to where I’d set them. “And the fire should help you dry off too.”
“Thanks.” Felix darted his pink tongue out as if he wasn’t entirely sure what had brought on my gesture. I didn’t blame him. I wasn’t sure what to make of this new side of me either. Maybe his whole natural caretaker thing was rubbing off on me.
“There’s hot chocolate for the girls. Heated you up some coffee too.” I held out the steaming mug for him. Our hands brushed, something that seemed to keep happening, and that my body liked way more than it needed to.
“Wow.” Felix’s little gasp was probably simply surprise that I could be thoughtful, but my ego wanted to believe that the potent energy between us affected him too. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know. But I remembered getting all cold playing outside and my mom having snacks ready for us. And I figured you wouldn’t want snow and mud all over the floor. Charlotte looks like she went swimming in the snow.”
“That she does.” Felix pointed at the stairs. “Charlotte, go get into dry clothes before you have the cocoa Calder made you.”
“I’m going to change too. My socks are wet.” Madeline trooped up the stairs after Charlotte, leaving me alone with a rather befuddled-looking Felix.
“Thanks,” he said again. “This was sweet of you.”
I couldn’t remember the last time someone had called me sweet. Or that I’d liked it. But I did, a warm, peaceful feeling snaking up my torso. Felix was easy to do nice things for, and he made me want to do more of them. Not that I’d likely get the chance.
“How was it out there?” I grabbed my own coffee off the counter. “Think I’ll be able to leave soon?”
“Both of us working together should be able to clear your car. That’s not as big an issue as the fact that it’s still snowing off and on, visibility isn’t great, and neither the road nor the driveway has been plowed. And I’m not a car guy, but the clearance on your car isn’t the best. Even if we dig you out, I’m not sure how far you’ll get without plowed roads.”
“F—fudge.” I corrected my language as the girls returned to collect their hot chocolates.