by Anthology
Wolfe couldn’t help smiling as well.
“My apologies, ma’am,” he said, a bit cheekily, putting his southern drawl on full display.
Wolfe was entirely too pleased with himself when her small smile morphed into a full-blown grin.
Good lord, this woman is beautiful.
Wolfe looked down at himself, remembering—once again—that he was practically naked. He wasn’t shy about his body by any means, but it was a bit weird to be having a conversation with a stranger without any clothes on.
“Umm, do you know where my clothes are?”
The woman blushed again, as if she too were just now noticing his state of undress.
“Oh, sorry!” she said, obviously embarrassed as she hopped to her feet. “They were soaking wet when I found you. I had to take them off so that your body could heat up faster.”
Wolfe nodded, fairly certain that the mental images he conjured of her undressing him were sexier than what had actually went down. He was sure it had all been completely innocent.
His dick wasn’t getting the memo, however.
“I see,” was all he could think to say.
The woman’s cheeks were as red as twin cherries at this point, her eyes pointedly avoiding his.
“Uh…I’ll just go get them out of the dryer real quick,” she said, turning to flee from the room.
Wolfe watched her go, trying—and failing—not to eye her ass as she went.
Calm down, boy. You’re well on your way to making a monumental jackass of yourself.
Wolfe got to his feet as the woman reentered the room, still blushing as she handed him the armful of clothing she was holding.
“Thanks,” he said as he took them from her. “My name’s Wolfe, by the way; Wolfe Carmichael.”
“Oh, yeah! Jeeze, I’m sorry,” she said, palming her forehead as if she couldn’t believe she’d forgotten to introduce herself. “I’m Shelby River.”
“It’s nice to meet you—officially—Shelby,” Wolfe said, giving her his most winning smile.
Shelby blinked at him.
“Uh, yeah. You, too,” she said slowly, before shaking her head. “Right, okay. Uh, I’ll just leave you alone for a moment so that you can get dressed then…” She trailed off, gnawing at her bottom lip as if unsure.
“Okay, sounds good.”
Unless you’d like to stay and undress me all the way…
Shelby hustled away down the hall, giving Wolfe the privacy he wasn’t even sure he wanted as he went about putting his clothes back on.
Chapter 4
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 h
at. 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.
Chapter 5
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 v
oice 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.
Chapter 6
“Okay,” Shelby said, slightly breathless from exertion. “So tell me your story, Wolfe.”
Wolfe, who was walking slightly ahead of her, stopped and looked at her over his shoulder, eyebrows raised.
“My story?” he repeated, dubious.
Shelby nodded, coming up to stand beside him.
