Oh my God.
I could’ve been killed.
My hands are shaking. I blink a few times, still in shock. Okay, it’s okay. I’m alive. That’s the important part.
My brain starts to function again. I can’t drive around this tree. It’s too massive, cutting across his front lawn. It just missed the lighthouse too. If I can’t drive around it, that could only mean…oh no. No, no, no. I can’t be stuck here.
He is the very last person I want to see right now or ever again.
I pull out my phone and call Drew. He has a pickup truck that’s good in the snow. As soon as he answers, I blurt out, “A pine tree came down in front of my car, and I can’t get around it. Can you pick me up?”
“Where are you?”
I wince. He’s going to want to know what the hell I’m doing at Satan’s house. Last he heard, that’s what I called him. Probably should’ve stuck with my instincts there. “Still in town. At a friend’s house across Route 15.”
“Route 15 is a mess. Trees and heavy branches all over it. Eli’s out there with the highway department right now. It’s not safe. And I don’t want you walking home either. Just stay put. Which friend?”
He knows Jenna and Audrey live close to the center of town. I hate to admit the truth. I feel so foolish risking going out in a storm just because I was mistakenly attracted to the wrong man.
“Syd, what friend?”
“Wyatt,” I admit.
“Are you going to be okay there? I could talk to him, give him a warning.”
I fidget, embarrassed at the thought of my big brother intervening on my behalf. I can handle Wyatt. I don’t want to handle Wyatt, but I can. “No, it’s fine. His sister is here. I’ll just hang with her.”
“What were you doing out in this mess anyway?”
Following a man with tampons.
I sigh. “I was visiting his sister. She’s going through a hard time.”
“Check in with me or Eli tomorrow. One of us will get you as soon as the roads are cleared.”
“Okay, thanks.”
I hang up and stare at the pine tree that did me the favor of not killing me, and then forced me to spend more time with the last person on earth I want to see. It’ll be a while before a tree guy can get out here to remove the tree. I take a few deep breaths, attempting to calm down so I can face Satan like a rational person.
I can’t believe I have to spend the night with my mortal enemy! Damn you, tree!
I startle at a knock on the window.
Wyatt stares at me. “Are you okay?”
9
Wyatt
That horrific noise I heard was a giant pine tree crashing across my driveway. It landed inches from Sydney’s car. She could’ve been killed.
She’s not responding, just sitting there, staring at the tree in shock. No blood. Thank God. Snow pelts me, thrown by the roaring wind, the trees creaking in the gusts. The snow must be weighing down the trees, making it easier for them to break or topple.
I knock on the window again. “Sydney?”
She keeps staring at the tree in front of her car. Maybe she got whiplash from slamming on the brakes.
I open the door. “Sydney, are you okay?”
She slowly turns to me. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
I offer my hand and help her out of the car, stopping to go back for her purse and shutting the door. She shivers, crossing her arms against the cold. “I can’t get around this tree. Drew says the roads aren’t passable either.”
“Okay. Come back inside before any more trees come down.” I drop my arm around her shoulders and guide her into the house.
I shut the front door behind us just as a huge tree branch crashes nearby. She grabs me, hugging me tight around the middle. Pure instinct. Nothing personal. She must be terrified.
I drop her purse and wrap my arms around her, holding her head to my chest. She feels right in my arms. No one has ever felt so right. Okay, think. What does she need? No question she’s spending the night. It’s not safe out there. I loosen my hold on her, suddenly realizing the strength it’ll take to keep my distance. I’m not taking advantage of the situation. She’s upset and probably not happy she’s stuck here. Is it bad that I’m glad she’s here a little longer? I get a second chance to connect with her, even if the circumstances aren’t ideal. I like her.
She pulls away. “Sorry.”
“No problem. I’m sorry about before. I shouldn’t have said that stuff about your restaurant and your sense.” Though one could argue it wasn’t very sensible to visit us during a major snowstorm, but I’m glad she did, so I keep my mouth shut. And her business is failing, but now is not the time for inconvenient truths. I’m mending fences for a long night ahead. I don’t want a war.
“Okay,” she says quietly.
Snowball wanders over. She must’ve been too scared of the tree crash to bark. I scoop her up. “You want to hold her?” A fluffy buffer. Perfect.
“Sure.” She takes Snowball and cuddles her close. Snowball wriggles happily, her tail wagging. Sydney is Snowball approved, and I should take that seriously. She’s growled at most of my girlfriends. Not that Sydney’s my girlfriend, but there is definitely chemistry, even if it sometimes blows up.
I gesture for Sydney to follow me into the sofa room. She follows at a slow pace. Kitchen’s empty. Kayla must’ve read the situation and figured I had it taken care of. She probably watched through the window and, knowing Kayla, she was giving us some time alone together. She’s been saying it’s time I stop wasting my time on women who don’t deserve me. She worships her big brother. Rightly so.
“We can watch something on my laptop if you want,” I say once we reach the sofa room. “You can sleep on the sofa later.” I don’t bother to look back for her reaction, which I’m sure is horrified. She left in a hurry because I pissed her off, and now she’s spending the night with me. Not with me. Adjacent to me.
The normally fiery Sydney remains silent. She’s starting to worry me.
I gesture for her to take a seat. “I’ll get a fire started.”
She points at the sofa. “I can’t take your bed. Where will you sleep?”
I’m so relieved she sounds normal again I nearly smile. I shrug one shoulder like I couldn’t care less. I should’ve bought a sleeper sofa, but how was I to know Kayla would show up and need my bed? And I know she’s my sister, but it feels weird to even think about sharing a bed with her. “I’ll figure something out.”
“Like what?”
I crouch in front of the fireplace and toss some kindling on the log. “I can sleep on the floor with a throw pillow and use my winter coat as a blanket.” Feeling downright Dickensian in here. That’s me, a billionaire Oliver Twist.
The obvious solution, which I’m not going to mention, is putting petite Kayla on the sofa, while Sydney and I take the queen-size bed upstairs. But that’s not going to happen. She’s upset by her close call. And it was only a few short weeks ago that Sydney seethed at the mere sight of me. Just because I gave her some constructive criticism on her failing restaurant.
I glance back at her over my shoulder.
She sits on the sofa gingerly. “Well, uh, thanks for having me.”
“Of course.” I add more kindling and light the long match. I love having a fireplace. I could never do this at my apartment in the city. “At least we have ice-cream sandwiches.”
I light the kindling and shake the match out. I look at her over my shoulder. “Believe it or not, I’ve got real food too.”
“Yeah, like what?”
I turn back to the fire and retrieve the iron poker to shift the kindling a bit. Looks like the fire’s burning on the log now. I put the tool back and stand. “I’ve got leftover Chinese and the makings for two kinds of sandwiches, turkey or PB&J.”
She flashes a smile, and my gut tightens. She’s stunningly beautiful when she smiles. “What else do you need?”
I point a finger at her. “Ice-cream cookie
sandwiches.”
“We’re all set, then. Thanks again for having me. I know it’s an inconvenience.”
“Corpse in the driveway is an inconvenience. Your company is a pleasure.”
Her jaw drops and then clamps shut.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” I add.
“Me too,” she says quietly.
A beat passes in silence, the only sound the crackling of the fire and the wind ripping through the trees. My pulse thrums through my veins, the moment suddenly feeling charged.
Snowball jumps down from Sydney’s lap and trots over to me.
Sydney gets up and goes to the side window, peering behind the temporary shade I put up. “The snow’s really piling up.”
I look around for my laptop and realize Kayla must’ve taken it upstairs with her. “You want me to get my laptop? We could watch something.”
“That’s okay.”
So I guess we’re talking. Probably best to do that from a distance. Snowball is curled in front of the fire now. I go to retrieve her bed from the side of the sofa just as Sydney settles into the corner of the sofa. She peers over the arm of it, watching me.
“You got your dog a pink monogrammed bed?” she asks.
I can hear the laughter in her voice. “She came with it. Besides, how would she know which bed was hers if her name wasn’t on it?”
She laughs, a throaty sound that grabs me by the balls. I might like that as much as her flashing eyes and fiery temper.
I cross the room, scoop up Snowball, and place her in her bed by the hearth. She sighs. Not too close for sparks to reach her, but close enough for the heat. Then I take the large plastic cup with her grooming stuff from the mantel and sit cross-legged on the floor next to her.
“First things first,” I tell Snowball. “You know the drill.” I pull her into my lap, and she gives me an annoyed look. I add a dab of poultry-flavored toothpaste to her toothbrush and get to work.
“You brush your dog’s teeth?” Sydney asks.
I stay focused, making sure I get her fangs up to the gum line. “She can’t do it herself, can she?”
“I guess not. I just didn’t know that was a thing.”
“It’s especially important for shih tzus because of their underbite. It’s easy for her teeth to rot, and then the vet has to pull ’em.” Her previous owner told me everything I needed to know.
Sydney gets quiet. I sense she’s watching our nightly routine. I need to get it out of the way before I get distracted by Sydney and forget. Besides, it’ll give her time to get comfortable being here with me. I think this is the longest we’ve talked without a glare from her end. I never glare. I smirk. Mostly when something entertains me. Sydney goes crazy for my smirks.
After I finish with Snowball’s teeth, I get out the soft wipe to clean her eyes and ears. She tolerates it well. It’s a ritual she’s had since she was a puppy. “Looking good,” I tell Snowball once I’m finished. “Now you can snooze by the fire.” I set her back in her bed, and she curls up, looking content.
I put away the grooming stuff and turn to Sydney, who’s looking at her phone. “I’ll wash my hands and get started with dinner. Still just the one bathroom. It’s upstairs if you need it.”
“Thanks,” she says softly.
I’m tempted to follow up on that softness, the first I’ve ever heard from her, but I need to wash up first.
After washing my hands in the bathroom upstairs, I check myself out in the mirror and smooth my hair back. I need a haircut. My hair can get unruly with the thick waves. If I ever grew it long, I’m sure it would look just like Kayla’s. Speaking of…
I knock on her door and then open it when she doesn’t respond. She’s sitting up in bed with my laptop on her lap and earbuds in.
She takes one earbud out. “How’s it going with Sydney? Is she recovering from her near miss?”
“Yeah, and she’s spending the night. Can’t move the tree or go out in this storm. Come downstairs with us and bring the laptop.” I need someone between us so I’m not tempted to make a move. Sydney is vulnerable and shaken, forced to be here. I can’t take advantage.
A smile plays over her lips, her brown eyes sparkling. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe you’d like to get to know each other a little better.” She gives me a big exaggerated wink.
A lick of panic goes through me. “She’d be more comfortable if you were there. Besides, you have the laptop.”
“God forbid you actually talk to a woman and get to know her.”
“I know her plenty. And you want dinner, right? So, come down. You can talk to Sydney while I get it ready.”
She waves in the air. “I can grab a sandwich whenever, or some of that leftover lo mein.” She cocks her head. “So what are the sleeping arrangements?”
“She gets the sofa, and I’ll take the floor. Would you please just come down for a while?”
“But you don’t have any extra blankets. How will you stay warm?”
Clearly, she’s not joining us.
I give up. “I’ll use my winter coat.”
Her brow furrows in concentration before she brightens. “I know. I’ll ask her if she’d like to have a slumber party with me. We can share the bed, and you can have the sofa.”
“Fine.” I turn to go.
“Are you mad because you wanted to have her all to yourself?”
I turn back. “I’m not mad. I asked you to join us.” I didn’t want temptation within reach, and now it won’t be. It’s a slumber party night for the women. I’ll be alone with my furry companion like usual. Fine.
I head for the door.
“Not everyone is like Julia,” Kayla says softly.
I stiffen and then shake my head and walk out the door. My sisters believe Julia screwed with my head and that’s the reason I haven’t had a serious relationship in three years. That’s not why. Did she betray me? Yes. But I’m over it. In fact, after two years with her, I realized my biggest mistake was settling down too soon. You should enjoy your twenties and meet lots of different people. Have fun, all that shit.
Now that I’m thirty, same deal. Why the hell not?
10
Sydney
Wyatt returns with an irritated expression on his face.
It must be because of me. He’s annoyed he has to put up with an unexpected overnight guest booting him from his own bed. “I won’t be a bother to you.”
He jolts like I surprised him. He must’ve been deep in thought. “What?”
“I don’t want to be an inconvenience. I’ll just make myself a sandwich and play games on my phone. You won’t even notice I’m here. And I’ll sleep on the floor with my winter coat, okay? You can still use your usual stuff and sleep on the sofa.”
He stares at me. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Me not being a bother?”
“You’re not. And I’m not making you sleep on the floor either. Ridiculous. Come on. We’ll get dinner.”
He still seems pissed off about something. Maybe Kayla got on his nerves. I know siblings can get under your skin super quick.
I follow him into the kitchen. “Your sister seems cool.”
“Yeah.” He taps the island with both hands. “So what would you like for dinner?”
“Whatever you don’t want.”
He shakes his head, muttering to himself as he walks over to the refrigerator. He takes out four containers of Chinese food and sets them on the island, rattling off the contents. “Pick.”
“Can I have a little of everything?”
“Yup.”
He takes out plates and utensils. Then he gestures for me to serve myself first. He’s being monosyllabic in that guy way, when they’re trying not to share what’s bothering them. We don’t know each other well enough for me to push, so I let him stew, figuring it’ll pass soon. That’s how it is with my brothers and the three guys I got serious enough about to get to know their moods.
I help myself, careful to leave
enough for him and Kayla.
He sticks my plate in the microwave without a word and helps himself, piling food on his plate. After our dinners are warmed up, we eat sitting at the kitchen island in silence. It’s a cozy silence, actually, the room warm and bright compared to the raging storm outside. I can hear the roar of the wind through the trees in the distance.
“I hope we don’t lose power,” I say.
His forkful of broccoli halts halfway to his mouth. “That would suck. Does it happen a lot around here?”
“Do you consider three or four times a year a lot?”
“Yes.”
“Then yeah.”
“Why didn’t the Realtor tell me about that? I would’ve taken precautions.”
I twirl some lo mein around my fork. “They were probably so happy they finally sold this place, they didn’t want to mention anything bad. It’s the wind that’s the problem, taking out tree branches and whole trees—as you’ve seen—that knock down power lines. And it takes a while for the power company to get to us here. Even before the power company can go to work, our highway department has to clear out the downed trees, and then the power company can deal with the wires. We have a generator at The Horseman Inn for the basics. You should get one here.” I chew lo mein. I’m surprisingly hungry considering I had an ice-cream sandwich not long ago. Guess nearly dying sparked an appetite. I’m just so grateful to be sitting here, warm, fed, safe from the storm. Who knew I could feel so good trapped with Wyatt Winters?
He makes a face. “We’re really in the sticks out here. First I find out I’m on well water and septic, and now I have to make my own electricity. What’s next? We have to cook our food over an open fire?”
“Be prepared for anything. Obviously you were never a Boy Scout.”
One corner of his mouth lifts in a small smile that has me smiling back. His earlier mood is passing, replaced by the Wyatt I know and love. Like. I like. Sometimes. “I was too busy taking apart computers and building something better.”
“Ah, you were one of those indoor cats holed up in your basement cave, working on computers.” I cough out, “Nerd.”
Fetching: A Frenemies to Lovers Romantic Comedy (Unleashed Romance, Book 1) Page 8
