Baby It's Cold Out There: Aspen (Love in the City Book 2)

by Victoria H. Smith

  “You’re probably right. I am a creep,” he said, pausing a moment to force the laughter out of his voice. “Which makes what I was about to suggest even more ridiculous.”

  “What?”

  Pushing up on his legs, he sat tall. “I guess I figured with the storm you’d need a place to stay. That is, if it lasts too long into the night. You wouldn’t be putting me out or anything. And this place has plenty of rooms. At least from what I was told when I booked it.”

  A question of many about him. He’d been the life of the party before, popular and yet, he was here, secluded in his snowy cabin like an enchanted prince.

  I took notice that he’d been alone when I arrived, but I let it go for the sheer fact that I was glad I wouldn’t have to intercept anyone. I assumed either no one was here or up on the second level, the place two stories from the outside.

  But now he confirmed. He was alone. He was by himself and why? I mean, where were his friends… his women?

  They didn’t seem to be of concern to him now as Asa’s hands came together.

  He faced me. “I know suggesting such a thing is probably inappropriate. And I’m almost certain the very prospect probably freaks you out. Especially, considering how we met before, how forward I was with you.”

  Truth be told, what he asked probably should bother me. He’d basically skipped the introductions and went right in for first base, which screamed “stranger danger.” It didn’t matter if his actions had been well-intended. He’d overstepped.

  But I’d be lying if I didn’t take any responsibility for how everything went down during that impromptu kiss. I’d definitely kissed him right back. He said I could move away.

  I just chose not to.

  “And on top of everything inviting you in here now,” he continued, like any decent human being would have left another in a non-moving car in the middle of a blizzard.

  Flaxen colored strands moved when he shook his head. “You know what? I’m sorry I even suggested. You wanted a refrigerator for the stuff in your bags so…”

  He reached down, going to get the few bags near my feet. He got the handle of one, but I got him, at least stopping him, as I grabbed the other handle of the same one.

  Blond lashes flickered up and I studied them, his green irises underneath. He had such nice eyes, the fire catching every emerald-colored fleck.

  So much player in there… I thought. I’d seen it firsthand. This man was definitely desired and I found myself understanding that with every minute that passed with him. But he had helped me, though, been kind.

  “You haven’t given me a reason to be scared,” I said chewing my lip. “So how about we play it by ear? We can watch and see how the storm reacts, go from there accordingly?”

  This seemed like the best solution and way better than sitting out in a car covered in snow. The temperature growing artic tundra-like, my groceries would have frozen out there along with myself when all I needed was a fridge, his fridge.

  I took it this solution felt right by him, as well. Nodding, he took the rest of my plastic grocery sacks, standing with the bags. He said he had to find the kitchen, as he just arrived before I did, so I asked if I could take a moment to call my friend on the cabin’s phone. Willa was asleep when I left, on the phone late with her son, but I’d leave her a message.

  After doing so, I put my coat on the coat rack near Asa’s parka. I’d be here for a little while at least. I followed Asa’s path after that and soon found the kitchen, an expansive room with marble counter tops and a beautiful island. Asa had my groceries there.

  And also had his hand inside one of them.

  “Um, doing something special with this?” he asked, picking up a bag of shrimp and not just any shrimp, fresh. He faced me. “Usually, when people go on vacation and decide to cook, they choose the easy stuff.”

  I supposed I wasn’t most people. I thought to explain myself, but didn’t want to come off as unusual or odd. He was right. Most people would cook easy things, not battle a storm to make shrimp and grits. I even made my friend book a special room before coming down here, one with kitchen amenities so if I chose to, I could cook. I liked doing it.

  I slid the bag of shrimp out of Asa’s hand, palming it.

  “I actually think I can handle this,” I said, nodding toward the fridge. It was right in the corner, a chrome finish.

  I shrugged. “I’m sure you have other things to do.”

  I really appreciated everything he’d done so far, but like I said, I’d come off weird enough since meeting him, awkward, and I decided avoiding another potential occurrence was best.

  He pulled his hand out of the bag. “Are you sure? I don’t mind.”

  “Yeah. You do something else. I really am good.”

  He looked to argue with me, push more, but upon opening his mouth, his eyes flashed.

  And something had him putting his hand on the counter.

  He stared at it, long and hard like he was trying to refocus. When his fingertips went to his forehead I came over.

  “You okay?” Because he didn’t look well, not at all. He had both hands on the counter now.

  And his skin was paling white.

  His smile was crooked when he looked up at me.

  “Like you, I’m good,” he said. He let go of the counter, and then mentioned something about working on the fire.

  His back to me, he left the room and I was left standing there, completely confused with a bag of cold shrimp in my hands.

  “Asa? I know you said you were okay, but… Is everything all right? I thought you said you’d be working on the fire.”

  She caught me near the fire, my hand in my duffle bag and resting on one knee. I had my other hand on the cabin’s hearth.

  I’d been using it for support.

  Over my shoulder, I caught Noni herself, her hands together, one of her big curls sweeping across her brown cheek. She was always so flush. That rose tone never left even though we were inside.

  She removed the curl within the cabin’s firelight, pushing it past her ear. “Asa? Are you okay?”

  I wasn’t sure, afraid to move, afraid to find out even more. My hand had been shaking before I even put it in the duffle bag, the room spinning, which had been why I got on my knee. I waited, too, long. I messed up and now here I was, at a remote cabin with a woman, one who didn’t ask to be witness to me not taking care of myself, to getting sick.

  And one who didn’t ask to be kissed either.

  My vision hazed when I saw her with that guy and that’s all I could really say. I heard her tell him no. She told him to stop, but he wouldn’t. He hadn’t so I stepped in. She’d been hassled, vulnerable… innocent.

  So what did that make me kissing her? I could only come up with not a far cry from the guy who wouldn’t lay off.

  No matter how good the intentions.

  I couldn’t think about that now, my head tearing itself apart from the inside. It was even getting harder to see and focus on anything.

  That was until my senses caught something else.

  A wash of what could only be described as peaches filled my lungs, a woman with big, brown curls and bright, glossy eyes before me. She’d squatted down, right beside me.

  Noni put her hand on the hearth, the firelight around her, making her glow.

  “Asa?”

  Before I even pulled my hand out of my bag, I knew I couldn’t tell her I was okay. I’d been in my bag, searching and ripping it apart to find something, anything to help me. But I’d left too fast, my suite too fast. I’d been in such a hurry to get away from everyone, everything.

  Well, I guess I really was alone now. That was except for Noni, an innocent stranger.

  Using the hearth, I pulled my hand out of my bag, needing the stability of the fireplace to keep myself upright.

  My hand free, I closed my fist to avoid a shake. I didn’t want Noni to see. I didn’t want to scare her.

  I actually tried to smile at her when I sh
ifted on my knee, attempting to make eye contact with her.

  But that was made hard when I doubled over.

  “Asa? Asa—!”

  I fell to my hip, the stable floor not so stable. Focusing, I attempted to use it to sit and lean back to the side of the fireplace. I got on my knees, making the shift.

  And what a surprise I had at a second set of hands.

  Smaller than mine, they guided me, helping me to sit back against the logs of the cabin’s wall. I got more of the scent of those peaches, ripe and pure.

  “I’m diabetic,” I told her, told Noni. She sat next to me when I put my hands on my head.

  I faced her, using her big eyes to focus.

  “I need sugar,” I said. “Something with sugar to eat. I need…”

  Something I didn’t have. I lost the only source I usually carried with me for emergency lows earlier that day and forgot to put more in my bag before I left the lodge. I’d been trying to leave so quickly, get away.

  I was paying for that now.

  Lifting my legs, I attempted to force the room to stop spinning when I rested my head on my arms. I had no idea I was by myself. I only realized when the smell of peaches returned.

  I raised my head and my gaze focused on something. In fact, the very thing I’d been looking for.

  Wild curls tilted behind a red Pixy Stix and Noni… she bit her lip.

  “You dropped it before,” she said, waving the candy a little. “At the lodge?”

  Before… Before when I kissed her.

  I must have dropped it then, but God, I definitely could have before or even after. And if I had, I’d be by myself right now. I’d be here with nothing.

  She ripped the top off before she’d let me accept it and I downed the sugar, trying not to focus on any alternative to this moment, her deciding to take another route tonight, or even to not be out at all. Because if she hadn’t come out here, things would have turned out differently for me. They’d be horrifically different.

  It must have been fate.

  “Do you have a rack we can use to cook on the fire?” a soft voice said beside me, and when I turned, she was smiling at me.

  The expression widened. “I’d like to cook for you. Hopefully, make you feel better?”

  His color had returned by the end of the meal, his shakes subsiding long before. Asa scraped his bowl clean of the shrimp and grits I prepared for him and I had to say, my heart warmed. A cook could get no more satisfaction than their meal being enjoyed, and this girl couldn’t either.

  It was hard not to whenever a taste from the meal she prepared elicited a flash of intense green eyes and a deep-set dimple.

  “Tell me you don’t just like cooking,” Asa said, putting his head back. A grin overtook his lips. “Because you should definitely be doing something with this talent.”

  What a nice thing for him to say, sweet.

  I shook my head under my curls. “I actually am. I’m waiting on approval for a small business loan. I plan to open up a restaurant and yeah, serve things like this.”

  His eyes blinked wide at that, I was sure surprised by kind of how on the money he’d been.

  Nodding, he placed his empty bowl at his feet, and then rested his biceps on upraised knees. He’d taken off his sweater after all the action of before and the swell of sizable arms pierced his white undershirt, hard shoulder blades and chest muscles doing the same thing.

  “You got a place in mind?” he asked me, innocent of my gaze.

  I dampened my lips.

  “Um, New York? Manhattan specifically. It’s pretty touristy and a good place to start a new business.”

  His head tilted at that for some reason and I watched, as that gaze went curious.

  He focused hard on me.

  “I take it you’re not from there,” he said, making my eyebrows draw in.

  Large shoulders lifted and dropped. “You’re talking strictly business, like putting your restaurant there is the greater good for what you’re trying to do. Where if you actually lived in Manhattan, enjoyed living there, you wouldn’t be talking like that at all. You’d want to put your business there because it’s your stomping grounds. Because it’s your home and makes you feel good.”

  Of anything he could say, he said that, assuming that.

  At a loss for words, it took me a second to find some.

  “I’m from Brooklyn,” I admitted and he raised his head, blond strands waving with the lift.

  His smile went coy and I assumed he’d go on, but didn’t. Instead, he chose to lean away on a hip, pushing back the fine curtains covering a set of the wide cabin’s windows.

  A coat of ice covered the glass, but even through it thrashing tree branches and hard ice flurries could be seen. A winter wonderland ran rampant outside, those very branches scratching at the window covered in ice.

  Asa let go of the curtains.

  “Don’t know if you’ll be getting out of here anytime soon,” he said, the humor from before gone. “And maybe not me either if it doesn’t stop by morning. You said you called someone earlier, right? To let them know you were okay and where you were? I wouldn’t want your friend, or uh… boyfriend or anything to worry.”

  How funny he’d thought to say that now—after he kissed me, and held me hostage now in a way.

  I smiled a little. “I did call my friend. Her name’s Willa.”

  I didn’t miss when his mouth worked, like a smile had been budding, but he fought it. Instead, he moved back toward the wall, dropping his arms across his knees. He laid his head back to polished wood, his body relaxing, and I thought to ask a question.

  “Do you have someone? I mean, friends or someone you need to call? I just ask because you were with a big group earlier.”

  And as noticed before, none were here now. When I saw him before, I figured he’d be staying at the lodge like I was.

  His expression bordered on coy when he looked at me. Head still back to the wall, he smiled before closing his eyes.

  He opened one.

  “Just me,” he said, brow jumping once before he closed his eyelid. “Like I said, you have your pick of the rooms. And I think quite literally. Your food tuckered me out.”

  I actually kicked his jean-covered leg, not knowing exactly how to take that. But when he chuckled I knew my food had been okay. I think I knew that anyway, though.

  Chuckling, he lifted his lids, leaning forward.

  “I only meant that in a good way, Noni,” he said.

  Dropping his arms, he gazed around after that. He reached for his dish, but when he decided to grab mine too I relieved him of both.

  I liked cleaning up after serving. It was almost like satisfaction for a job well done and in this case, I think my food actually healed someone, which more than made my night.

  “You rest easy,” I said, using my legs to stand with full hands. “Wouldn’t want you to pass out again since my food managed to impair you for the second time tonight.”

  His hand went to his heart, a mock frown forming on his gorgeous lips. And they were gorgeous, plump and rough when they worked.

  I’d tasted them once.

  He dropped his hand to his lap. “I guess I deserved that.”

  “You did. And I’ll be right back. I’ll pick my room after that.”

  “I’d try to stop you but…”

  He resumed his position at the wall, crossing his arms over his chest.

  “I actually really am tired,” he said, laughing a little with the words.

  I was sure he was. He quite frankly scared the shit out of me before. I guess he did give me a reason to be scared after all.

  Though, the end result hadn’t been so bad.

  Smiling, I headed to the kitchen with our dishes. I washed the bowls and things I used to cook, then went the extra mile, doing a full clean up of the kitchen.

  It had been the first time I cooked in a place so nice, usually using my modest tools at the apartment I stayed in with Willa.

&
nbsp; I was so close to my dream coming true, but something made me think while I dried the dishes in that nice kitchen, then later when I put the leftover food Asa and I hadn’t eaten away.

  Did Asa really have something to what he’d said? About putting the restaurant in Brooklyn, my home instead of Manhattan?

  The whole idea was definitely a thought.

  Moments later, after drying my hands, I came out into the sitting area.

  I grabbed my purse (I’d brought it in earlier with the groceries), and then headed over to Asa. I meant to tell him I was going to explore when I saw him. I planned to find my room, but something stopped me. He stopped me by what he was doing.

  Asa really had gone to sleep, head back and lips parted while he sat near the hearth, his big arms still folded over his broad chest.

  I chewed my thumbnail, sleeping beauty incarnate before me. I could have gone upstairs, found that room, but instead I put my purse down.

  Rummaging through the sitting area, I found a couple of pillows and with them, I made myself a nice little area to sit, to rest. That place of rest ended up being right near Asa.

  There’d been plenty of room for two there on that hardwood floor.

  Curling up in my own separate corner, I gave him his space, and then went to sleep, too.

  I’d been smiling more in the past few hours than I had in days.

  Than I had since my ex… since my ex and my sister’s betrayal.

  A soft nudge pulled me from sleep.

  And the world smelled like peaches again.

  It must have been her hair, strands of wispy brown a valley around me, peaches a valley around me.

  Disoriented from sleep, it took me a moment to figure out what was happening. A wave of anger and chaos, the tumultuous snowstorm continued to beat at the cabin’s window above me and because of it, that fire blazed to my side. I had started it.

  Those things I had remembered, that and what I did before I fell asleep. It had been food to take me there. Food and conversation.

  Both from her.

  Noni had provided that nudge to my shoulder on my other side, that hair of hers going wild while she moved her head around, getting comfortable. Moving, she ran her cheek on my arm, burying her face, her heat into me, and that was where my memory unfortunately failed me. I’d gone to sleep, but I did so alone.