Light My Fire: A Contemporary Winter Romance

by Lucy Snow

  Nothing worked.

  I couldn’t stop thinking about her. And I couldn’t stop thinking about how she riled me up and frustrated me, how I had to constantly keep from teasing her and collapsing around her.

  And maybe, just maybe, the list of places I wanted to go next didn’t hold any appeal to me anymore because I wasn’t willing to admit to myself that where I wanted to be was right here.

  I wasn’t used to even the idea of letting someone in. And now for the first time in years I’d found someone that intrigued me enough to think about it, to consider it.

  That scared the shit out of me.

  And now that the thought had occurred to me…what was I going to do about it?

  I knew one thing — what I was doing wasn’t working. Even if I didn’t know what exactly I wanted from her.

  I had to change things up.

  I just didn’t know how.

  CHAPTER 09 - NAOMI

  Closing the door to my room felt like sealing myself off into my own cocoon of warmth and safety. I paced around for a bit, watching the snow fall out the large window across from the bed, wondering just how much snow the world could gather all in one place before the entire state of New Hampshire just collapsed and sank into the ground under all its weight.

  Clara knocked once as the evening set in to see if I needed anything, but I told her I was all set. She gave me a warm smile, which faded a bit as she saw the look on my face, then she quietly closed the door behind her and left me alone again.

  The next time I looked out the window it was dark, and in the middle of nowhere like this, there weren’t any buildings lit up to light the night up, only a few streetlamp that weakly proclaimed that this wasn’t completely forgotten wilderness.

  The snow kept coming down, a soft sound as the building whined and moaned every few minutes as if adjusting to larger people sitting on either side of it on an airplane.

  After a few minutes more of watching snow fall, I shook my head and browsed the shelf of books, picking one to read while lying on the bed. I didn’t have a plan, didn’t know what I was doing; all I knew was that I wanted to be alone right now.

  I especially didn’t want to be around Alex. I loved the way he looked at me, and thoughts of those strong hands running up and down my body made me moan to myself, but everything else about him, just…ugh.

  Even though we’d had a late lunch by the time I heard sounds coming from downstairs my stomach had started rumbling again, and as exciting as the romance novel I’d picked up was, I knew that I had to get some more of Clara’s incredible cooking in me before the night was up.

  I lay there on the bed, trying to read and ignore my protesting stomach as more of the smells of her cooking wafted their way through the porous walls of the old inn. This must have been how Clara announced mealtimes when more people stayed here — just open the lid of the pot and everyone would eventually find their way down to the dining room.

  It was an effective plan, and after a while it worked on me - I couldn’t resist any longer and threw the book onto the bed, jumping up and checking the dress again in the mirror before taking a deep breath and heading downstairs.

  Keep it together, Avery. Be nice, be cordial, eat your food, and come back upstairs. The sexy duke in the romance novel was just about to confess his love to the distant maiden, and I didn’t want to leave them hanging too long, as if the plot of the story would change if I did. I couldn’t deny those two lovebirds their happily ever after, now, could I?

  I crept down the stairs, trying to announce myself as little as possible, which I realized at the bottom of the steps was weird, since as far as I knew there were only 3 other people in the building.

  Marty and Clara were nowhere to be found, but the kitchen lights were on, and the smells came from in there. Alex sat in the same place as a couple hours ago, a big plate of food in front of him. He perked up when I entered the room. “She made lasagna,” he said, after taking a huge bite. “It’s the best I’ve ever tasted, but don’t let my mother hear me say that. They should have a restaurant in downtown Meridian.”

  “Maybe they like it out here in the middle of nowhere,” I said, peeking into the kitchen and seeing the heaping tray of mouth-watering lasagna sitting there next to a pile of plates, like they were expecting more than just Alex and I.

  After scooping as much of the goopy mess onto a plate as I thought I could stand, I filled up a glass with tea and headed back to the dining room. I glanced at the table I’d sat at before, away from Alex, then thought different and moved to sit across from him.

  Small steps, right? I was at least trying. We were going to be mostly alone together for the next couple days, it was the least I could do.

  A peace offering, of sorts.

  Alex watched me through his dark eyes, gleaming, as I sat down in front of him and started to eat, nodding after my first bite. “And?”

  It was the best lasagna I had ever had. Just the right consistency and temperature. I never wanted to eat anything else ever again. I looked down at my plate like it was…unlike anything I’d ever seen. “This is amazing,” I said, quickly taking another bite so I didn’t have to waste any more time talking about how great it was.

  Alex nodded. “I’m gonna be a blimp by the time we get out of here.”

  I highly doubted that, considering just how chiseled his body was, but I didn’t want to say anything, even though I felt my cheeks bloom red. Alex definitely caught it, and gave me another look at that smug smile of his. I quickly picked up a napkin and tried to cover my face under the guise of wiping my mouth.

  We both ate in silence for a while, Alex polishing off his plate quickly and going back for seconds. I found myself to be just as ravenous as I’d felt before, and quickly went through my plate, bumping into Alex as he came out of the kitchen when I went back in for more.

  We settled back in and ate, and before I realized this was the longest we’d been in the same room without getting angry at each other since we’d met.

  That was progress, right?

  “There isn’t much to do around here,” Alex said, in between mouthfuls, breaking an uncommonly comfortable silence.

  “Well, yeah, it’s kinda more of a one night stop on the way through the hills. I doubt too many people spend more than a night or so here.”

  “I saw some board games in the living room.” Alex wrinkled his nose. “They looked like they might crumble into dust if you looked at them funny.”

  “Did your room have any books in it?” The look on his face suggested it didn’t. “Mine did.”

  “Anything interesting?”

  “Absolutely. More romance novels than I know what to do with!”

  Alex rolled his eyes so hard I was momentary worried he’d hurt his neck in the process. “Hard pass.”

  I chuckled. “What? What’s wrong with enjoying a little fantasy now and then?”

  “Those things are so fake. Real life is nothing like that.” Every time he said something like that I wondered just what dark things he’d seen before he found me. Sure, he talked a big game, but I could see a profound sadness in his eyes that shook me to my very core.

  But I wasn’t going to let him challenge me on my romance novels. Nope, this was my turf, and I was going to defend it till the bitter end. That was my happily ever after. “Who said it had to be? They’re harmless fun. Everyone’s gotta have a guilty pleasure.”

  “I don’t,” Alex said, softly, looking down and away. I drew a sharp breath in — that was probably the most revealing thing he’d said to me yet.

  “Come on,” I replied. “You’ve got to have something that you do, you know, for fun?”

  Alex kept staring far off, and for the first time, even through all the hiking through the blizzard we’d done hours ago, he looked uncomfortable. “I don’t have a lot of free time,” he finally mumbled, and I could tell he hoped I didn’t press him any further on it.

  I put in a mental pin in that — we were not d
one with that part of the conversation, but for the moment I took the high road and went back to eating to let him settle his thoughts, and he did the same.

  When we were both done, Alex nodded toward the kitchen door. “No thanks,” I said, pushing my plate forward. “I’m stuffed. I couldn’t eat anymore even if it was even tastier.”

  “Me neither, but I wasn’t going to let you beat me.”

  Even I had to laugh at that.

  And then we settled back into silence.

  “There’s really nothing to do here?” I glanced around the room, almost answering my own question. This place didn’t look like it had that many guests even on busy nights.

  Alex shook his head, then a curious smile came over his face that quickly turned a tiny bit sinister. “I did see one thing, though. In the kitchen.” His eyes sparkled. “It’ll warm us up for sure.”

  “Huh?” But Alex was already up and heading toward the kitchen. “This place is already warm enough,” I called out to him, words I never thought I’d say in the middle of a blizzard.

  I heard Alex laugh through the doorway, and then he poked his head back into the dining room. “Wearing a dress that tight?” He grinned. “If you say so.” And then he was gone again, and I heard the sounds of rummaging.

  I was figuring out whether to be flattered or insulted by his remark about my dress when Alex came back into the dining room carrying what was very clearly a very old bottle of whiskey. “I must have found Marty’s private stash,” he announced triumphantly.

  “You can’t take that! It’s not for guests!”

  “Nonsense. There’s a note in the kitchen that says, ‘help yourself to anything, kids!’ so I’m just following the directions.” Alex sat down. “I’d have thought as a college student you’d know all about following directions.”

  Somehow Alex always knew how to say the exact thing it took to get me going. In the wrong way. “You don’t know me,” I said, mildly in disgust.

  “I’ve heard that before,” Alex said, and poured himself a double. “But I do know that you don’t have what it takes to go drink for drink with me.”

  “I should hope not, you must weigh a good hundred pounds more than me.”

  “That’s fair. How about I do 2 for every 1 you do?”

  I looked up at the staircase leading to the second floor, and I could just barely make out the bottom of my bedroom door. I thought about rolling around in the blankets and settling back down with a pot of hot tea and a pile of those romance novels. If nothing else, it would get me away from Alex, even though a part of me didn’t want to leave…

  “Deal,” I said, taking the second glass Alex had brought with him from the kitchen. “Pour.”

  “That’s my girl,” Alex said, raising his eyebrows, and after a moment’s surprise poured me a single to his double.

  I lifted the glass and rolled the brown liquor around it. “Let’s get one thing straight, Alex,” I said before tossing back the drink and willing myself more than ever before not to choke or cough as the burning liquid went down hard. “I am most definitely not your girl.”

  The surprise on Alex’s face quickly turned to bewilderment and shock as I poured myself a second shot, then nodded at him. Alex robotically reached down and took down his entire double shot in one swoop, his head settling back as a smile curled on his face.

  “This is the good stuff. I might have guessed Marty would only stock the best.” He tapped on his glass and I gave him another double. “Slow down this time,” he said. “I’m already two in, you don’t want me under the table inside of 15 minutes.”

  I paused, letting the smile flutter across my face as I considered that possibility. “No,” I finally concluded, surprised by my own decision, “I wouldn’t want that.” Though the idea of him horizontal did have a certain appeal to it.

  Alex nodded, and we both sat back, sipping our next drinks. Alex remembered something and went back to the kitchen before returning with a huge bag of tortilla chips so we had something to snack on.

  By then I was starting to feel my liquor, getting lightheaded. The room spun a little bit, reminding me of the spinning gusts of wind and snow outside, and Alex started to look even hotter in the low light of the dining room, if that were even possible.

  “What were you doing out on the road?” I asked, staring up from the pile of chips I had built in front of me like a fort; my front line of defense. “You said something about going to see someone. Where?”

  “Meridian, where else?” Alex replied, quickly and derisively. “There’s not much out here.”

  “Yeah, but where were you coming from? I know you don’t go to New Hampshire State.” Not with that attitude, calling it a haven for rich Meridian kids.

  Alex scoffed as if the very idea was beneath him. “Nah. I was out there to do some fishing.”

  “In December?”

  “You never heard of ice fishing?”

  “I mean, yeah, I have, but…you don’t seem the fishing type.”

  Alex took a long swig of his whiskey. “I’m glad that I was able to break down your prejudices and stereotypes. Maybe after this is over you should thank me,” he burped, then added, “nicely.”

  I wrinkled my nose at him. “Not gonna happen.”

  Alex shrugged, staring into his glass. “I was staying out there, near a lake,” he finally said, not making eye contact with me.

  “And the fishing?”

  Another shrug. “Sometimes. Sometimes just hunting animals for food.”

  “A real mountain man.”

  “I’ve seen worse. Been worse.”

  “Yeah? Tell me more.”

  Alex finished his drink. “Nah, you don’t want to hear about it. Nothing exciting.” He poured himself another.

  I waved my hands around the room. “Look like I’ve got a better place to be right now? Lay it on me.” Then I threw a chip at him. The first one bounced off his head, but the second one he caught and deposited in his mouth, chewing as loudly and as obnoxiously as he could.

  “I’ve been overseas,” he said, though it was clear from his tone that this wasn’t just code for a couple weeks on the beach in Europe or in Bali. “Done some work overseas,” he added.

  “What kind of work?”

  With a pained expression on his face, Alex said, “Relief stuff. Disasters, famine, water, you know.” He grinned, but there wasn’t any force behind it. “The fun stuff.”

  I looked at him like he’d just grown another head. I barely knew the guy, but I was pretty damn sure the last person I’d ever have thought to have done relief work, any kind of relief work, was the guy sitting across from me. My jaw must have hit the ground more than once before I could crank it back up to my mouth, because Alex looked wounded.

  “Don’t look so surprised,” he said, angrily, downing his latest double shot and pointing at my own drink. I sighed and poured it back. The burning wasn’t as bad this time around.

  “I wasn’t surprised that you did that,” I sputtered after setting my glass down. “That’s just not what you hear most people say when they talk about their time abroad.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m not most people,” Alex said, reaching for the bottle and pouring us both new drinks. I stared at mine like it had become my nemesis, but thankfully, before I could do something too dumb and knock it back, Alex took both glasses and set them far away from us on the table. “Let’s take a little break from that, yeah? Looks like we’re both warm enough for the moment.”