Snowbound

by Deborah Cooke

  And just in a couple of hours, he’d be at her mercy. She gripped her phone tighter.

  “I am going to puke,” she said.

  “Use it,” Lexi said, showing her typical lack of mercy. “If he thinks you’ve been inconvenienced, too, you’ll start with something in common.”

  “Got it.” Liv ended the call and dropped her phone into her purse. She jammed her hands into her pockets and balled them into fists, reminding herself to stay calm. She was the queen of composure. She was impassive. She could do this. Her heart was skipping and her stomach was jittery, but Spencer didn’t need to know that. It seemed like her new tattoo was heating up, like she could feel Chynna’s tattoo gun burning its outline all over again.

  But that was irrational.

  As irrational as moon magic.

  And true love lasting forevermore.

  The doors slid open and three passengers emerged. Strangers.

  Liv took a steadying breath.

  The doors slid open again, and half a dozen passengers stepped into the terminal. Some were clearly expecting to be met, because they surveyed the crowd. Others trudged away to taxis or to the parking garage.

  Six more.

  Eight more.

  What if Spencer had missed the flight? What if he’d guessed his sister’s plan or somehow sensed trouble and canceled his flight? What if he didn’t turn up at all? Liv wasn’t one to worry but her imagination was churning out possibilities when the doors opened and the man himself strode into the terminal.

  Spencer Wolfe, live and in person.

  Liv’s heart stopped cold, skipped, then raced. He was on his phone, so she had a chance to ogle him.

  She hadn’t seen him for a while, but he was still as gorgeous as ever. Dark hair, a little long, and a little tousled. He was wearing a leather jacket and jeans, a hoodie under the jacket. He frowned as he talked into his phone. His lips tightened before he said something curt, then he glanced up, his gaze sweeping over the crowd.

  Their gazes locked.

  Her tattoo exploded in fire and Liv almost fell over at the sudden burst of heat. Was she going crazy? Or was this just stress? The sensation faded as abruptly as it had come on and she could dismiss it. She waved at Spencer and tried to look cool and composed.

  It had to be better than looking like she was going to hurl.

  She knew Spencer’s eyes were a sapphire blue with long dark lashes. She knew they had to be snapping with annoyance. She knew which tattoos he had where, that he worked out daily, that he was an amazing chef, that he was part owner of a successful restaurant and bar, that he seldom drank alcohol, that he had a wicked left hook and a killer smile. She could hear the rumble of his voice as he told Gabriel off, but could only stare back at him, her heart thumping as he strode directly toward her.

  Perfection made flesh.

  The only man she’d ever wanted.

  It was just raw biology. He was the best male specimen she’d ever seen. That was all. Natural selection. Survival of the species. May the best genes win. Plain old biology getting things done.

  It was too late to back out. This was going down. She was going to do it.

  And as Liv watched Spencer approach her, she had to admit that she was really, really excited.

  This wasn’t like Gabriel.

  Which was saying something.

  “What do you mean, you have a date?” Spencer demanded. “You had a date already. You were supposed to pick me up.”

  “Sorry,” his partner said, not sounding very contrite at all. “This is important.”

  “Well, I think getting a ride home from the airport is important. What am I supposed to do now? Get a cab? Rent a car? It’s hours from here to Honey Hill!”

  “Olivia said she’d give you a ride,” Gabriel said, interrupting Spencer smoothly.

  “Olivia? How did she get dragged into this?”

  “It was Lexi’s idea.”

  That didn’t do anything to soothe Spencer’s temper. “That’s hardly fair, Gabriel.”

  “On the contrary, once she knew the situation, she offered. She was driving up from Harvard today anyhow.”

  “Just because Olivia’s nice doesn’t mean you’re not an asshole.”

  Gabriel laughed. “God, I hope not.”

  Spencer scanned the crowd in the arrival area and spotted Olivia, as pristine and perfectly groomed as ever. There was a reason they’d called her the Ice Queen in high school: most of the time, Olivia didn’t seem to have any emotions at all. Still, it really pissed Spencer off how his sister used her friend, who was too nice to give back as good as she got. Reyna, at least, put her foot down and said no to Lexi. Olivia never did.

  She gave him a cool little smile and waved her fingertips at him.

  As if she’d rather be anywhere else in the world.

  Sometimes, it bit the wall to be treated like a brother. Spencer would love to make Olivia smile, using means that she would probably find shocking. He’d always wondered about shattering that frost that seemed to surround her, about breaking her free, warming her up, introducing her to pleasure that would make her moan. In fact, he’d love to shock her, to hear her come, to feel her come when she was locked around him.

  Oh yeah. He’d fantasized about Olivia for years, but that wasn’t going anywhere. She seemed so virginal that he felt like a jerk for even having fantasies about her. He hoped she’d had sex, but doubted she’d ever shouted out loud, awakened the neighbors, or come back for another round. The idea of her being desperate for sex, being hungry for more, demanding what she wanted, was the source of many satisfactory dreams. It was probably wrong that he wanted to be the one to introduce her to such pleasures.

  She wasn’t interested.

  “It’s not funny, Gabriel,” he said sternly. “You’re taking advantage of Olivia.”

  “Not as much as you think,” his partner said, a strange undertone to his words.

  Spencer frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  “Never mind.”

  “Wait a minute. How am I going to get my truck back from you? I’ll be just as stranded at my place once Olivia drops me off.”

  “Hey, gotta go!”

  Spencer stopped cold, knowing evasion when he heard it. “Did you wreck my truck?”

  “A dent. A small one.” Gabriel was talking fast, never a good sign. “Should be fixed by tomorrow. Or Tuesday. Wednesday latest.”

  This was why Gabriel hadn’t wanted to be alone in the truck with Spencer for hours.

  “Gabriel! I trusted you!”

  “Big mistake, my friend.”

  “You’ve been talking to Lexi too much,” Spencer accused, but Gabriel broke the connection. Spencer stared at the phone unhappily. His truck was damaged. It couldn’t be a small dent, not if Cameron hadn’t been able to fix it by the time he got home. And now his only way home was with Olivia, who had to have a hundred things she’d rather be doing than driving him around on a Sunday night.

  Spencer shoved his phone into his pocket and sought Olivia in the crowd again. Her hair was hidden beneath a green wool hat. The color probably did awesome things for her eyes. She had hazel eyes, which seemed to change color all the time. More than once, he’d resisted the desire to just stare into them. She always wore her hair in a ponytail, and while he loved seeing the back of her neck, he’d wanted to untie it and spread it over her shoulders for as long as he could remember. It was wavy and kind of chestnut colored. He was always surprised that she kept it long, but maybe it saved money at the hairdresser. There had to be a logical reason.

  Of course, Olivia was on time. Of course, she was doing the responsible thing. Spencer just wished she was a little more excited to see him.

  It made him feel like a dick to be putting her out like this. It would be three hours driving, easily, for her to take him home and then she had to get to wherever she’d been going in the first place.

  How had Gabriel talked her into doing this?

  Spencer smi
led, though, as he walked toward her. “Gabriel just called,” he said. “Explaining that he talked you into doing this drive. I can’t figure it, though. Does he have charm that I don’t know about?”

  Olivia laughed lightly. Her eyes were green now. “Maybe I wanted to do it.”

  “I doubt that. It’s a ton of driving.”

  “I don’t mind. Really. And I’m already doing a ton of driving today.”

  “All the way home from Cambridge? On your own?”

  “Yup.” She stretched up and gave him a sisterly kiss on the cheek. Spencer thought it would be a bad move to give any sign that he’d be glad of more contact, given how long their drive together was going to be. “Welcome home.”

  Even knowing it might not have been a good idea, Spencer couldn’t completely hide his reaction. Having Olivia so close was a temptation he couldn’t deny. He turned into her kiss, treating himself to a deep breath of her scent and a nuzzle that might look accidental.

  She didn’t wear perfume. She smelled of moisturizer and soap, a clean scent that got him right where he lived. Everything about Olivia made him tight and hard. He met her gaze when she stepped back, worried that he’d given himself away. Her smile was still in place and he couldn’t tell if she’d noticed his indulgence. “Thanks for giving me a ride.”

  “No problem.”

  “You’re not going to drive all the way back here tonight, are you? It’s supposed to snow.”

  Olivia gave him a look. “I like driving.”

  “Still, taking me home is a lot of extra time on the road for you.”

  “Not really. I’m going to stay at my mom’s in Honey Hill tonight.” She shrugged. “It’s kind of on my way.”

  “But it’s Monday tomorrow. Don’t you have classes?”

  “Nope. I fly out tomorrow night.”

  Spencer blinked. “Fly out?”

  “I’m trading one Cambridge for the other one. I’m joining a research program in England as my post-grad work.”

  Olivia was leaving. Soon.

  Really soon.

  At least, she didn’t have as much driving to do as he’d feared. That made Spencer feel better. “Oh. I feel better about the driving.”

  “Don’t worry about it. My mom’s expecting me.”

  They walked together toward the exit. “But your car doesn’t run for free. Let me give you gas money at least.”

  “Gabriel already did.”

  “Still, it must have messed up your Sunday. Did you cancel a date for me?”

  She laughed. “On a Sunday?”

  “I thought you might be saying goodbye to someone before you left.” He was fishing and he knew it, but Olivia didn’t seem to get it.

  “Not a chance of that,” she said.

  Spencer could have been pleased by that revelation, except that her attitude seemed to indicate that there was never going to be a love interest.

  He must have misunderstood her.

  He knew just about nothing about her love life, after all. Maybe some jerk had broken her heart.

  She tugged on her gloves and he zipped up his jacket as they approached the doors. He’d always thought she was the perfect size, small enough to tuck under his arm, light enough to carry, but curvy in all the right places. Sensible. Funny. Easy to get along with.

  And smart. Wicked smart.

  Too smart for him.

  “You might have been at your mom’s by now if you hadn’t stopped here.”

  “Not me. I’m really not a morning person.” She cast him a smile as they stepped into the night. “How was your vacation?”

  “Not much of a vacation, helping Joshua pack up and move,” Spencer admitted. “I hurt in places I didn’t know I had.” Was she interested in Joshua? He didn’t want to think about that. “For a guy who likes to think he’s footloose and free, he sure has a ton of stuff.”

  “You must have had some fun.”

  “Some, but it’s good to be home,” Spencer admitted and Olivia laughed again. Her eyes sparkled when she laughed, and she looked so mischievous that he wanted to kiss her.

  As usual.

  “Always the diplomat,” she teased. “One day, Lexi’s going to drag you off on vacation and she won’t let you come home until you’ve surrendered all the secrets you keep hidden away.”

  Spencer was intrigued. “What secrets did she get out of you?”

  “I’ll never tell. It’s bad enough that Lexi knows.” She opened the back gate of a blue 4WD with a flourish before he could ask more. He put his bag in the back.

  “Mindy,” Spencer remembered. He found himself smiling, again, that she named her car.

  “Mindy.” Olivia frowned a little as she patted the car and he wondered what she wasn’t saying.

  “What are you going to do with Mindy while you’re in England?” He thought she’d say that she was leaving the car at her mom’s.

  “I’m selling her. The guy’s coming to get her tomorrow at my mom’s.”

  Spencer was shocked. “I didn’t think you could sell a car after you named it.”

  Olivia didn’t smile. “It’s stupid to keep it.”

  “Won’t you be back?”

  “I don’t know.”

  That news was unsettling, but Spencer didn’t comment. It wasn’t his business, after all.

  “All gassed up and ready to rock. Let’s go.”

  Of course, she was prepared.

  Olivia was a good driver and Spencer found himself quickly at ease. She should be a good driver—he was the one who’d taught her to drive a manual transmission, all those summers ago. She’d been wearing short shorts that day and he’d almost forgotten to watch the road. He watched her changing gears on this night and noticed how her coat opened, giving him a view of her legs.

  That was a lot better than watching the road.

  Some things didn’t change.

  They chatted as she left the airport and got on the highway. They caught up on mutual acquaintances in Honey Hill and talked about current events. One thing Spencer had always liked about Olivia was that she didn’t make him feel dumb for not going to college. It was easy to talk to her, and her anecdotes about lab research made him smile.

  “And now the bees,” she said.

  “The bees?”

  “We’re looking for genetic indicators that affect the transmission of parasites and disease. It’s a huge project, because there are so many kinds of bees.”

  “And they’re getting a lot of parasites now.” Spencer knew the death of bees was a big problem.

  “Exactly.” Olivia nodded. “We need to work this out and save the bees.”

  Spencer thought of Honey Hill and the hives at the big house there. He knew that they’d seen population losses in recent years and there were several people—including Reyna—who were determined to fix that.

  “Sounds like a great project,” he said. “Worthwhile.”

  “Especially if we can make some progress. I’m excited about contributing.”

  Spencer wasn’t sure he understood the details fully, but he liked how animated Olivia was when she talked about it. “It must be cool to be doing something that could change the world.”

  “Like you do?” she said with admiration.

  “Me?”

  “Wolfe Lodge is making a huge difference to Honey Hill. You and Gabriel should be proud of what you’re accomplishing.”

  Spencer was pleased that she’d noticed. “It’s not as big a deal as trying to save the bees.”

  “Ask some of the people who have jobs in Honey Hill now. They might disagree with you.”

  Spencer nodded, wondering when he’d see her again. The possibility of not seeing Olivia anytime soon made him want to spend every possible minute with her. “But the bees are calling.”

  “They’re better than fruit flies,” she said with a shake of her head. “I never want to research genetic markers with them again.”

  “Why?”

  “They breed like nothing
on earth.” She changed gears as they approached Bangor. There was more traffic and a bit of snow was falling. He figured the roads might be getting slippery.

  “Which presumably makes them good subjects for research on genetic markers.”

  “True, but you just get them sorted and start counting and they all take flight.”

  Spencer laughed at that.

  She shook a finger at him. “Then some fool brings a banana for lunch and leaves it in the lab overnight. I’ve never seen so many fruit flies in my life.”

  Soon they left Bangor behind and the night seemed darker as they drove into the highlands. The forest was closer to the highway and the exits were less frequent. There were a lot fewer cars and Spencer heaved a sigh of relief when the road narrowed again, without meaning to do so.

  “Glad I didn’t kill you?” she teased.

  “Glad to be in the country again. I’m not much for the big city lights. What about you?”

  “I like both. And there aren’t many universities with genetic research programs outside of cities.”

  “Cambridge this week.”

  Olivia nodded. “Then I’ll have to see what kind of opportunities appear.”

  “There’s the proof that you’re the opposite of my sister. She’d be making her opportunities.”

  “Well, I’m not above sending some resumés and contacting some former profs. It’s more a case of deciding what I want to do first.”

  “First or at all?”

  “First. I want to do everything,” she admitted with an ease that made him smile. “But is it smarter to teach first or to work in the field first or to do some more research first? I can’t decide.”

  Spencer took a chance and asked what he wanted to know. “No one special to sway your choices one way or the other?”

  “No,” Olivia admitted. “Not that there would be.”

  “Really?”

  “Really. All that love stuff is just propaganda. I’m not above a little sex, but I want to accomplish something with my life, something more than having babies.”

  Spencer watched her for a moment, wondering if she was really as cool as that. “Not me. I’d be good with love, marriage, and babies,” he said and she smiled. “Or no babies. I just never thought I’d be over thirty and single.” Spencer grinned. “Neither did my mother.”