Wolfe woke early the next morning, his thoughts already conflicted.

He sat up, blinking groggily at the sunlight that filled the small bedroom through the large windows on the far wall, before looking over at the fantasy come to life that was still fast asleep in the bed beside him.

Shelby’s long blonde hair—still wild from their lovemaking the night before—was strewn across her pillow, the sheets tangled enticingly around her naked body and her full lips parted softly in sleep. She was so extraordinarily beautiful; it was hard for him to believe she was real sometimes, even now.

When she suddenly emitted a soft snore, Wolfe smirked, thinking of how he would tease her about it when she woke.

But then, slowly, the smile slid from his face as his eyes went reluctantly back to the window.

Carefully extracting himself from the bed so as not to wake her, Wolfe bent down to retrieve his flannel pajama pants, putting them back on before walking over to stand in front of the wall of windows.

The deal had been that he would leave as soon as the snow melted, and now it looked as if it finally had.

Wolfe could see the dark patches of earth and rock peeking through the last remains of snow, the surrounding forest no longer a solid expanse of pure white as it had been before.

A few days ago, I would have been pleased. But now… Wolfe’s thoughts trailed off morosely as he looked back at the sleeping Shelby on the bed.

Now I’m not so sure I can even make myself leave.

Wolfe was fairly certain that he was in danger of losing himself completely to this girl, but it troubled him to think that she might not feel the same way toward him.

That she might not want something more.

Sure, they’d had sex. And they’d certainly become close friends over the past few days that they’d spent together.

But Shelby didn’t live here. She had a life to go back to outside of this cabin, and Wolfe wasn’t sure if she would still want him in it once her trip was over. He wasn’t naive enough to believe that a vacation hookup would lead to an actual relationship, but still…

He hoped for it all the same.

Making up his mind, he left the room, scooping his discarded shirt up off the floor as he went.

Once out in the living room, he changed clothes before quickly going about and gathering up his things, stuffing them haphazardly back into his duffel bag.

When he’d finished that, he tidied up the cabin a little bit, folding the blankets that he’d used while sleeping on the couch and rinsing out the mugs from their Truth or Dare session at the breakfast bar.

He smiled sadly as he looked at them, thinking about the incredible turn of events that last night had presented, and wondering if that was all that there ever would be between them. He shook his head, annoyed by his own sappiness, as he tucked them away inside the dishwasher.

Turning back to the living room, he went over to his duffel bag and fished out his cellphone. The battery was nearly dead, seeing as how he’d been too caught up in playing house here with Shelby to even remember he owned the damn thing, let alone actually charge it.

He had a few bars of service, so he quickly looked up a tow truck company and dialed the number, holding his breath on the off chance that they were actually open on Christmas Eve day.

Somebody answered on the third ring.

“Terry’s Towing,” answered a gruff male voice.

Wolfe felt his chest deflate in disappointment. Okay, so maybe he’d actually been kind of hoping that no one would answer, if only because it meant spending a couple more days alone here with Shelby.

“Hello?” the man—presumably “Terry”—said impatiently when Wolfe didn’t speak right away.

Wolfe quickly recollected his thoughts, shaking off his melancholy musing.

“Uh, hi. I’d like to request a battery jump; or even a replacement, if you guys do that sort of thing.”

“What’s the make and model of the vehicle?”

“It’s a Ford F-150,” Wolfe answered, running a hand back through his hair.

There was a short pause on the other side of the line as Terry went to check something.

“Yeah, we can replace the battery for you,” Terry said, coming back to the phone. “But there’s going to be an additional holiday fee on top of the normal replacement price.”

“That’s fine,” Wolfe agreed, nodding to himself. He’d suspected as much.

“Okay, then. What’s the truck’s location?”

Wolfe gave the man the approximate coordinates of where his truck was.

“Alright, sir. I’ll have somebody out there within an hour or so.”

Wolfe thanked him and ended the call, sighing as he looked around the small cabin, his time here officially up.

He spotted a notepad and a pen sitting on the counter in the kitchen, giving him a sudden idea.

He walked over to it, scribbling down a note for Shelby, explaining where he had gone. He added his phone number at the end, figuring that if she wanted to see him again after this, then all she would have to do is call and he would be there, even if he had to haul his ass all the way down to Louisiana.

Even if it was just as friends.

Wolfe placed the note where it would be easily visible to her, before going back into the living room to grab his bag.

He hauled the strap over his shoulder, his eyes lingering on the bedroom door down the hall as he crossed to the front door.

Wolfe shook his head and looked away. He didn’t want to wake Shelby.

What was more, he wasn’t so sure he could handle an awkward let’s be friends conversation so soon after what they had shared last night.

Forcing his eyes forward, Wolfe left the cabin, willing himself to not look back with every step he took away from the woman who’d saved his life…

Only to steal his heart.