Howard waited until she was asleep before he let himself relax enough to close his own eyes. She had a boyfriend. She kissed him like she owned him and yet she had a boyfriend. She was going to be a teacher. Something seemed off about the company she had worked for losing that contract. They had it for a long time. It was one of the reasons she took the job all those years ago. He sent a message to Athena, one of the owners and his main point of contact for this mission, asking if she could check it out. Something didn’t seem right. He also sent info about Steven the lawyer. He didn’t have a last name, but she likely didn’t need one.

Phoebe reached out in her sleep and placed her hand on his chest. He was glad for the t-shirt barrier. She pulled and adjusted until he was settled closer to the center of the bed and her nose was pressed into his side. It was both familiar and infuriating. Did she sleep with every man this way? The thought of her with someone else, cuddled up in bed, made him so angry that he rolled to his side and shifted away from her. He’d stay in the same bed, but he would be damned if he was going to let her use him.

By the time his watch vibrated and his eyes opened, he realized how futile that attempt at showing her he no longer needed to be next to her was. He was on his side, facing her, and she was wrapped up in his arms with her legs tangled with his and her nose pressed to his neck. He shifted abruptly and removed himself from her grasp and her bed.

A sleepy Phoebe asked, “Is everything okay?”

“Fine.” He marched out and didn’t bother to look at her. He couldn’t. He would have been lured back into the siren’s trap.

He checked his messages and groaned. Could it get any worse? The fact that he might have to stay here until New Year was too much to process, so he wouldn’t tell her, and he would just focus on the here and now. The good news was that they were not on anyone’s radar, but he didn’t really believe that. He couldn’t tell if his distrust for this other guy stemmed from the fact that he still had a case of the feels where Phoebe was concerned or if it was because there was something off about a man that wouldn’t split holidays between families, especially if that guy knew her dad was known to flake on her.

He secured his gear and headed to the kitchen area. The cabin was a nice, secluded chalet and they could actually go snowboarding or skiing, or whatever she may want to do if it kept her mind off the fact that she was not going anywhere else or without him.

A cup of hot coffee in his hand, he watched a sleepy Phoebe in soft, pink pajamas wander out to greet him. She stretched causing the hem of the shirt to lift enough for him to catch sight of a sliver of skin and he frowned. He hated that just a glimpse could make him ache, but it did. She let out a breath and said, “Hey.”

He sipped the drink and replied, “Mornin’.”

She looked out the window and gasped. “Oh my God! Are we snowed in?”

“Depends. If you want to leave in a vehicle, yes. On foot, no. We could snowboard or ski, but we aren’t getting back to the town anytime soon, that’s for sure.” He watched her take in the beautiful scene outside the cabin.

“I’m not really interested in breaking my leg if I can’t get to a hospital. Maybe we can do something else. I could actually do some work if you could get the internet working.” It sounded like a plea then looked like one when she turned to face him and added, “Please. I know you can make it work if you want to. You are the tech genius, the patent king, remember? I’m surprised the military let you go without trying to detain you somewhere.”

“I did most of that on the side, remember? I’m the author of programs and I use a pseudonym except for the finances.” She had suggested that to prevent the military or anyone else trapping him. His programs were for more personal use except for the big one, the one that took forever to create and it was snatched up by the government quickly at a nice price so he felt better about taking his leave from the military to pursue other ventures in life. He wasn’t going to tell her that. Since he was the reason the internet was broken in the first place, he knew it was true, he could fix it, but he wouldn’t. “Sorry, Bee, I have skills, but I’m no match for Father Winter or the faulty wiring in this place and my gear is run on a satellite, so…”

He made sure not to look at her while he told this partial lie. She fixed her coffee and puffed out a frustrated sigh so audible he knew she was trying to get his attention. He obliged, “Hungry?”

“Yeah, what are you making?” She sounded so hopeful.

“I made dinner last night. I thought you would make breakfast.” He was her guardian not her personal chef. Phoebe was a terrible cook, so he picked up most of that responsibility in their relationship. They were not in a relationship right now.

“I’ll just stick with the coffee.” She lifted her cup to him and went to the living room space. “I guess the television doesn’t work either?”

“There are a ton of movies in the cabinet.” He wasn’t going to survive on coffee alone, so he opened the fridge and surveyed it for breakfast material. He could just eat oatmeal, but he wanted to save that in case they were going to be here longer than just the two weeks planned.

He had the bread in the toaster and two eggs in a skillet when she turned on the television and loaded in Die Hard. He laughed. She looked at him, at the stove, and he knew she had duped him. “What do you want?”

She smiled that smile he swore she only gave to him. “You called me Bee earlier.”

He let out the audible frustrated breath this time. “Slipped.”

“I’m glad you did…Holiday.” She licked her lips. This was going to be a long two weeks and he was not sure he would survive it. “I’ll have what you’re having.”

He could only hope she was having heart wrenching pains that brought up old memories and new desires. He moved the eggs to a plate and briefly stole a look her direction. She was checking him out. He smiled. Maybe she was. Maybe Steven wasn’t a fixture in her life after all.