Shelby shimmied herself into a pair of jeans, trying not to think about Wolfe doing the same thing in the other room.

Jesus, that man is hotter than the seventh circle of hell, she thought as she pulled on a soft green sweater that she knew flattered her figure, before turning to look at herself in the mirror mounted on the wall above the dresser.

She scowled at her reflection.

Her hair fell in loose blonde waves to just past her shoulders, and her skin was clear and unblemished, if a little paler than its usual golden tanned glow.

But that hadn’t been the cause of her sudden annoyance.

No, it was her eyes. Her blue eyes were brighter than Shelby had seen them in a while, and she knew the reason why.

“No need to look so damn eager,” she grumbled to herself. “You know next to nothing about the man.”

He could be an ax murderer, for all she knew.

Or…married.

Shelby’s nose wrinkled at that thought and she shook her head, exasperated with herself.

Come on, lover girl. Let’s go see what the man is up to.

Shelby wandered back into the living room, finding a fully dressed Wolfe leaning over some papers he had spread out on the breakfast bar. He looked up when he heard her approach, his eyes giving her a quick once-over as he smiled at her.

Hmm, Shelby thought slyly as she returned his smile, joining him at the counter. Looks like the attraction might be mutual.

Still doesn’t mean he’s not married…

Shelby impatiently shooed away the unhelpful reminder as she perched herself on one of the barstools, curious to see what he was looking at.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Wolfe said as he turned back to his papers, or maps, rather. “But I found these on the bookshelf in the living room. I thought I could use them to figure out how to get back to my truck from here.”

“Oh, okay,” Shelby said, feeling her heart sink a little at his words.

Well, what did you expect? That the man would just stay here?

“My truck is somewhere along this area,” Wolfe said, oblivious to her internal disappointment as he pointed to a spot on the map. “I was headed to my friend’s hunting lodge up here,” he added, his finger tracing a short distance on the map. He tilted his head to look at her, his dark eyes questioning. “Do you know where your cabin is located on here?”

Shelby’s mouth screwed off to the side as she leaned over to consider the map.

“The cabin should be right here,” she said after a moment, indicating a spot that was about a mile or so away from where he said his truck was.

Wolfe leaned back, nodding slightly to himself as if he’d suspected as much.

“Alright, good. I should be able to get back there within an hour then,” he said, gathering up the maps and returning them back to their spot on the small bookshelf.

Shelby swiveled in her seat, contemplating her options as she watched him go about putting on his boots.

“How are you going to be able to drive with all the snow?” Shelby asked, genuinely curious. “I’d offer to drive you there myself, but I know my little car won’t make it three feet out of the driveway.”

Wolfe finished lacing up his boots and looked up at her, his face twisted in a slightly embarrassed grimace.

“Well, I wasn’t planning on actually driving anywhere. My truck’s battery died last night while I was on the road, so I was just going to go back to the truck, grab my bag, and walk the rest of the way to the lodge. I figured I could stay there until the snow melted enough for a tow truck to come up and jump my truck.”

“Oh, I see,” Shelby said as he turned back away to unhook his coat from where it was hanging near the fireplace. “Well, you can borrow my cell phone so that you can call your friends if you want? Let them know that you’re okay? I didn’t have any reception last night, but it couldn’t hurt to try now.”

Another grimace.

“Actually, I was going to be staying there alone for Christmas.”

That was something Shelby understood all too well.

But she still couldn’t help fishing a little when she asked, “Well, is there a girlfriend or wife that you want to call? Or your parents?”

Wolfe just shook his head, not meeting her eyes as he slid his arms through the sleeves of his coat.

“Nope, it’s just me,” he said, too preoccupied with putting on his gloves to face her.

He doesn’t have anyone to call that would be worried about him? Shelby thought sadly. She couldn’t even be happy about confirming that he was single, the revelation overshadowed by the fact that he seemed to be so alone.

Just like me.

But that wasn’t quite true.

Shelby may still have been living the single life, but at least she had friends and family that loved and cared about her. To have no one was just…

Unimaginable.

Shelby felt her resolve form just as Wolfe was pulling on his wool stocking cap.

“You know, Wolfe, you could stay here at the cabin with me, if you want. At least until you can get your truck back on the road.”

To his credit, Wolfe didn’t openly balk at the forwardness of her offer, as she had feared he would.

Though he was hesitant about accepting.

“Oh, I don’t know,” he said, reaching up as if to run a hand through his hair before belatedly remembering that he was now wearing a hat. His arm fell heavily back down to his side. “I’d hate to put you out like that.”

Shelby shook her head, sliding off the stool so that she could stand.

“Oh, nonsense,” she said, waving a hand as if doing so would dispel his doubts. “There’s plenty of room for two people here, and I’ve got more than enough food and supplies for both of us to live off of for the next nine days, at least. And besides,” Shelby added with a conspiratorial smile that made Wolfe’s eyebrows rise. “It’d be handy to have someone around to haul in all the firewood from outside.”

Wolfe seemed to mull it over for a moment, but Shelby could tell that the offer was starting to appeal to him.

“Are you sure?” he asked eventually, his dark eyes leveling her from across the room.

“Absolutely!”

Wolfe nodded slowly.

“Alright, then; I’ll stay. But only until I can get a tow truck up here,” he added with a wink. “My manly pride couldn’t take imposing on you longer than that.”

Shelby laughed.

“Great, then it's settled,” she said, clapping her hands together in finality. “I’ll just go grab my coat, and then we can be off.”

That gave Wolfe pause.

“What do you mean?” he asked, his eyes following her as she walked past him toward the hall. “You don’t have to come with me to get my stuff.”

Shelby turned to face him, walking backward toward the bedroom door. She gave him a taunting smile.

“Oh, yes I do. I’m not entirely convinced that you can survive out here without me just yet.”

And with that, Shelby spun around and walked into the bedroom, closing the door behind her with a satisfied little snick.

Leaving a speechless Wolfe gaping after her.