The smart mouth on this woman will be my undoing, Wolfe thought ruefully to himself as he stood out on the little front porch of the cabin, waiting for Shelby to come and join him.

The woman was a complete enigma to him, and all the unanswered questions he had about her were beginning to drive him a little crazy.

Chief amongst them being: Just who the hell was Shelby River?

She was insanely beautiful, to be sure. And Wolfe figured a lot of men in his position would stop wondering about anything more about her once striking gold like that. But Wolfe couldn’t help it; there was something about Shelby that had hooked him from the start, and he wasn’t ready to let go of the mystery just yet.

It wasn’t just that she’d saved his life, though that was certainly impressive. Shelby was obviously smart and compassionate, and he could tell already that she had a wicked sense of humor, which Wolfe found remarkably refreshing in a woman.

But what he couldn’t wrap his brain around was why she would be out here in the mountains all alone like this. A girl like that had to have a boyfriend hidden away somewhere; there was no way she could be single.

But what sort of “taken” woman would invite a male stranger to stay in a vacation cabin with her?

The only viable answers to that question that Wolfe could come up with all fell on a spectrum somewhere between cheater and crazy, which didn’t sit well with him in the least bit.

Wolfe shook his head, as if doing so could physically dislodge his current thread of thought.

You’re way overthinking things, man, Wolfe scolded himself, just as the front door opened and Shelby stepped outside.

Wolfe couldn’t suppress the sudden burst of laughter that escaped him when he caught sight of her.

Shelby was completely bundled in multiple layers of clothing from head to toe. She had to have at least four layers on, if not more. Wolfe was just amazed that she could still walk while wearing so much thick fabric.

“What?” Shelby said, her voice muffled slightly by the heavy scarf that was wrapped around her neck, concealing the bottom half of her face. Her crystalline blue eyes narrowed suspiciously at him from beneath the oversized wool stocking cap that she had pulled low over her head.

Wolfe quickly recovered himself from the initial shock of her appearance, though he couldn’t help the smile that tugged persistently at his lips when he looked at her.

“Nothing,” he said, poorly feigning nonchalance.

He had to clear his throat to cover another laugh when Shelby tried to cross her arms in a display of sternness, only to realize that she was wearing too many clothes to execute the movement. She settled for hands-on-hips instead, raising an eyebrow at him in silent challenge.

“It’s just that…don’t you think you’re overdoing it a little?” Wolfe said cautiously, waving a hand at her getup for emphasis. “You’re going to overheat within your first twenty minutes of walking dressed like that.”

“Says the man who nearly froze to death last night,” Shelby shot back, defiant.

Ouch, that one stung a little.

But before he had a chance to reply, Shelby’s shoulders sagged and she let her hands fall back to her sides, defeated.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her eyes downcast. “That was too far.”

Aw, hell, Wolfe thought as he saw her dejection. It was a look that he never wanted to see her make again, not if he had anything to do about it.

“Hey,” he said consolingly, taking a step forward and gently grasping her arm in his gloved hand.

Her eyes slowly lifted to meet his, still contrite. Wolfe had to fight back the irrational urge to ask her for her forgiveness, if only to make her sassy smile return again.

“It’s fine. I know you were just joking,” he said, giving her a smile and reassuring squeeze on the arm. “Besides, you do have a point.”

Shelby shook her head, but Wolfe was pleased that she looked less morose than she had a moment before.

“It’s just that, I’m not very familiar with weather like this. I’m used to the perpetual warmth and humidity of Louisiana, not this insane winter wonderland,” she said, her gaze flicking over to assess the endless world of white around them. “All this snow kind of freaks me out.”

Wolfe chuckled softly and Shelby’s eyes snapped back to his face in silent question.

“I’m just surprised to hear that, is all,” he said by way of explanation. “The way you knew how to combat my hypothermia last night made me think that you had experience in the mountains.”

Shelby shook her head again, a wry smile creeping onto her lips.

“Nope, this is my first time. Everything I did for you I learned from books or movies.”

Wolfe felt his eyebrows rise in surprise at that.

“Well, let me give you a few pointers,” he said smoothly, taking another step toward her so that they were now standing toe-to-toe.

He heard Shelby intake a sudden breath, but when she didn’t protest the close proximity, he continued on. “First off, wearing a lot of layers is a good idea. But if you overdo it, like what you’ve got going on here, you’ll start to sweat. If that happens, your sweat will cool and make you even colder than you were to begin with. So maybe we should remove a layer or two?”

Shelby just nodded, wide-eyed as her cheeks began to turn rosy with a blush that Wolfe was already starting to become familiar with.

He decided that he rather liked being the cause of it.

Watching her eyes for any hint of discomfort for what he was about to do, Wolfe released her arm so that he could take ahold of the zipper of her puffy coat.

“May I?” he asked.

Shelby nodded in mute consent, her eyes never leaving his.

Wolfe slowly unzipped her coat, the intimacy of the otherwise innocent action taking him by surprise. He slid the coat from her shoulders, trying not to make more physical contact than was absolutely necessary as he did so.

Once off, he hung the neck of the coat off the doorknob so that it would stay free of the snow, balancing her scarf and hat on top of that once they were also removed.

“Okay,” he said, turning back to face her. “Arms up,” he commanded, his voice a little huskier than it had been before.

Shelby silently complied, raising her arms as he grasped the hem of the thick fleece pullover she was wearing.

Again, Wolfe met her eyes, looking for any signs of protest. He found none.

Ignoring the sexually charged tension between them, Wolfe pulled the fleece up and over her head, revealing the form-fitting green sweater she’d had on earlier that was hidden underneath.

Wolfe tucked the fleece under his arm as he offered back her hat and scarf. She took them with a quiet “thanks,” putting them on as he grabbed her coat. Once she was ready, Wolfe helped her back in to the coat, zipping it back up and adjusting the scarf so that she could breathe easier.

“There,” he said, taking a step back to admire the final result. “That feels better now, doesn’t it?”

Shelby nodded, flexing her arms to test her new range of motion.

“It’ll have to do, I suppose,” she said haughtily, before throwing him a wink to let him know she was kidding.

Wolfe was relieved to see her teasing nature return. He sketched a bow, enacting the role of southern gentleman once more.

“Anything to please my lady,” he replied, straightening back up and grinning at her.

Shelby just rolled her eyes, but Wolfe didn’t fail to notice the lingering blush on her cheeks.

“All right, mountain man,” she said with a smirk, taking her discarded fleece from him and tying it around her waist. “We’re losing daylight just standing here playing dress up. Let's go get your bag so we can return before we have to relive the events of last night all over again.”

Shelby waved out her arm in a silent demand for him to lead the way.

So he did, fairly certain that he’d do anything she asked of him at this point.