Chapter Three
River
The ache in my leg almost overwhelmed my shock at finding someone sleeping in my bed. Well, technically making hot cocoa in my family cabin. And that someone was tall, handsome, completely suave, and…did I say making hot cocoa? My cousin Maria always swore I became a professional skier because of my love for the good stuff. I spent most of the year in cold, snowy places where hot chocolate was the going thing. But even when I wasn’t in training, I ordered it. In summer. In heat waves...at the beach if the snack shack had it on the menu.
I liked the milk chocolate versions, dark chocolate…adored bittersweet. But don’t even talk to me about the white version. A man had to make a stand somewhere. To my joy, the cup the intruder brought me was dark, glossy, made with milk, and topped with tiny, delightful marshmallows. If I hadn’t been so intent on getting rid of him, I might have proposed right on the spot.
Then he came back with a plate of Oreos. Double Stuf.
“Will you marry me?” I blurted then slapped a hand over my mouth.
He looked up from his mug, an adorable cocoa mustache over that full, enticing upper lip. “What?”
“I said, pass me a napkin,” and he let that go by.
We sat side by side on the old, worn sofa all the kids in the family had bounced on at one time or another, sipping our drinks and dunking the cookies. He dunked! And it wasn’t easy with the Double Stuf, which had a tendency to fall apart or melt out the middle if not handled properly. Whoever this alpha’s omega was, he had a winner.
I glanced at his ring finger, which was naked, but that wasn’t enough to indicate singleness. He might not be actually married, or they might choose not to wear rings. Lots of alpha/omega couples had their own style. One of my friends’ alpha wore his ring in a very personal place, where it could not come off but enhanced their pleasure every time he knotted. Just the thought gave me a little shiver but didn’t have much to do with the current situation.
I glanced again at my phone, where the string of texts from my cousin continued to grow. “Maria says I should go stay at her house and leave you in peace.” I dunked another Oreo and bit into the cocoa-soaked edge. The cat on my lap purred, the fireplace crackled, and outside, the snowflakes had turned into a blizzard.
Forrest frowned. “She wants you to drive down the mountain in a blizzard with a broken foot?”
“It’s not broken. Just ligament damage. I have to stay off it for a while to give them a chance to heal.”
His disapproval grew. “That’s not the point. It would be dangerous for anyone to drive down that mountain. Even with two good feet. Visibility is not even as far as your hand in front of your face. I’m shocked she’d even suggest you try it.”
“Oh…she’s in a movie theater with that single parents group she’s involved with. No windows…and it wasn’t bad just a little while ago.” I wanted that glower to go away. Even if it was directed toward my absent cousin Maria.
He shrugged. “Okay. So she doesn’t have all the facts. Not a real excuse, but irrelevant. I’m not leaving because I paid for this weekend, and Snowflake and I aren’t going to drive home to the city in a blizzard. And you are staying because it’s dangerous out there.”
Why did it make the corners of my lips turn up, the idea of being snowbound with this alpha? “So…what do you propose we do?”
He held out his hand for my mug. “I propose we drink more cocoa and settle in for the duration. I brought plenty of food and noticed the freezer and pantry are loaded as well. We won’t starve.” He paused on his way to the kitchen. “Do you have all the medication and everything you need to take care of your injury?”
Trust an alpha to be practical when all I could think of was ripping my clothes off and begging him to have his way with me. He had a casual air of competence I’d seen in few others, especially not my ex who was a trainer at a lodge I frequented and who had a tendency to forget anyone’s needs beyond those ski related.
“River? I asked you a question?”
I can’t think with him standing there in that flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up to show such muscular forearms. And his jeans…
“River!”
“I’m sorry, what did you ask?”
“I asked if you have what you need to take care of that leg.”
“Oh…sure! In the car.”
“Is it locked?”
“No. I planned to go back out for my stuff.” Once I found out who was in here. Setting my booted foot on the floor, I moved to stand. “I’ll go do that now.”
“Just stay there.” He set the cups down and more milk to heat. “I’ll bring in your things while you keep of that leg. I suspect you’ve already managed more exercise than you are supposed to just getting here,”
He wasn’t wrong.
I parted my lips to argue, but a particularly strong throb up my leg turned the words into a gasp. “Okay.”
He was at my side in an instant. “Are you all right? Do you need anything?”
“No.” I used my hands to lift the boot back to the coffee table. The pain eased at the horizontal position. “But I will take you up on your offer. Just set my duffel in the guest room. You know where that is, right?”
“I will move my things out of the master. It’s your family’s place.”
I shook my head. “Which you rented for the week? Anyway, for however long. It’s nice enough of you to not throw my sorry ass out in the snow.”
He eyed me. “If I’m not mistaken, the master is on the ground floor…the other rooms are in the loft area?”
“Yeah…”
“Enough said. When I get back we’ll put your things in the master, and then, after you’re all settled and tucked in for the night, I have writing to do. I’m on a deadline.”
He disappeared into the garage before I could argue about his talking about tucking me into bed like a child. When he returned, he put my bag in the ground-floor bedroom, whisked his things upstairs, and returned to my side. “Can you shower with that thing? Do we need to cover it with plastic or anything?”
“I can take it off to shower, but I think I’ll skip one tonight.”
“After being out in the cold and all chilled?” I hadn’t actually been chilled. “Do you need help?”
Two seconds later, he had me sitting on the closed toilet seat and eased the boot off. While I protested, it really did make my life much easier since the angle I had to move my leg to do it myself hurt. Kind of a lot. Forrest turned on the shower, ran his hand under it for temperature, and winked at me before leaving to return with a set of red-checked flannel pajama bottoms and a 2016 US Championship T-shirt, along with my travel shower bag. “Hey, did you attend that event?”
“Umm…yeah.” I won it actually.
“I was there, with my ex.” He grimaced. “Anyway, need anything else? Can you stand in the shower okay?”
My cheeks flamed at the thought of him in there with me, supporting me…naked. “I’m fine,” I blurted. I remembered the bar running along the back wall and hoped it would be enough. Still. I’d barely met the guy!
“If you’re sure.” He left the door ajar on his way out. “Call me if you need me.”
This was one weird night. “Okay…I will.”
Fortunately for my dignity, I managed to wash myself and dry off without falling on my face. In my pj’s, I hopped back into the bedroom, holding the boot in one hand. I hadn’t been able to get it on sitting on the toilet.
“Whoa.” Forrest strode into the room. “Are you supposed to be doing that?”
“Hopping is probably better than putting weight on it without support,” I whined, completely exhausted and out of the ability to defend myself.
“What if you fell?” He took my arm and eased me down on the edge of the bed. Dropping to one knee, he fitted the boot back on my foot. “Do you sleep in it?”
“Well, no…but I thought I’d be up for a while.”
He pulled it back off and helped me stand long enough for him to pull the covers down. “You have circles under your eyes and look like you could keel over anytime.”
“Thanks,” I grunted. “It’s good to know my appeal holds.”
“You know how hot you are.” He chuckled. “Don’t fish for compliments. Just settle down, and I’ll go bring you a cup of cocoa.”
My eyelids were weighted, my arms and legs even more so, but when he set the cup on the nightstand, I didn’t want to go to sleep yet. “Will you come back and have a cup with me?”
“Sure.”
“And more Oreos.”
“I think we’ve both had enough Oreos.”
“There’s no such thing,” I retorted. “But I’ll settle for cocoa with extra marshmallows.”
He’d left to get our drinks when what he said sank in… You know how hot you are. The sexiest alpha I’d ever met thought I was hot.
And he didn’t even know he’d watched me win the US Championships. For once, I didn’t want to brag about it. It didn’t seem necessary.