Winter Heat

by Kennedy Fox

  Despite its familiarity, now, the entire house felt spooky and dark and decidedly cold. “Fuck.”

  Thea must not’ve known the power was off. I didn’t know what to do. Should I call her? Double fuck. I hadn’t brought my phone in. It was sitting in my warm car, plugged into the charger.

  I closed the heavy front door behind me, leaning against it and taking a deep breath. So much for my escape to the Maine coast.

  I unclipped Matilda’s leash. She was going to sniff like crazy. Her claws skittered on the floor as she dashed forward. She was sniffing so hard, the sound of it echoed in the quiet space. If there was a serial killer hiding somewhere in this house, she would find them.

  Taking a deep breath, I pushed away from the door. My eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and I could make out the shape of the staircase, and the very banister I used to slide down with Thea when we were little girls. It was a most excellent banister for that, wide and glossy. The curve made it fun.

  Once upon a time, we’d dragged out a mattress and put it at the bottom. We’d landed in a giggling heap. Those were the days. Our childhoods were anything but perfect, but our friendship had been just about perfect. We didn’t see each other much anymore, but we stayed in touch. Thea was one of those friends, the kind I could call no matter how much time had lapsed, and we could fall into conversation as if we’d just spoken the day before.

  When my teenage daughter had begged to go on a ski trip with her aunt for the holidays, I had hemmed and hawed because it would be my first Christmas without her. As a single parent who’d become a mother at the scandalous age of sixteen, it was hard to let go. Thea had told me it was the perfect time for a vacation and some time to myself. I couldn’t argue against that, and I didn’t want to be the kind of mom who clung too hard. My daughter, Quinn, was on her way to Vermont, and I had a week here on the windswept coast of Maine.

  Thea had said, “It’ll be perfect. You can have the house to yourself and finally enjoy the pretty views again.”

  At the moment, it wasn’t looking so perfect. I had no power and wasn’t quite sure what to do. Blessedly, it wasn’t actually Christmas. It was a week before so I had time to salvage this.

  I decided to venture outside to get my phone and use it as a flashlight. It had one of those flashlight apps on it, although I hadn’t ever imagined needing it.

  I could still hear Matilda sniffing about, so I stepped out quickly, dashing through the snow again, following the tracks I’d created before. I grabbed my down coat out of the passenger seat and my phone before rushing back in. I knew where the fuses were in the basement. I also knew this house didn’t have one of those scary old basements.

  The year before I was banished from town because I got pregnant, Thea’s parents had upgraded the basement. Matilda followed me as I made my way carefully down the stairs in the darkness, the carpeted stairs quiet under my footsteps. Memory was a funny thing. It kind of surprised me that I knew the old fuse box was in the back corner of the basement by the door that led to a set of stairs and another door that went outside.

  Shining my phone flashlight on the fuse box, I scanned the rows of fuses. As far as I could tell, they were all on. My hopes for power tonight were dimming.

  Turning, I made my way back up the stairs with Matilda dashing ahead of me. Her claws clicked on the hardwood flooring once she crested the top stair. I closed the basement door behind me and stood still in the middle of the hallway, wondering what to do.

  Just then, I heard a soft click, followed immediately by Matilda’s sharp bark.

  “Who the hell are you?” the voice was male, with the words delivered in a low, commanding tone.

  Great. There was no power, I was alone with my exuberantly friendly dog, and now there was a strange man here. I was pretty sure I was being held at gunpoint. In the dark. I was also getting cold.

  Chapter 2

  Noah

  The woman squeaked. Her dog started sniffing my feet, its tail thumping my legs as it circled me excitedly. After its initial bark, this dog didn’t appear inclined to be intimidating.

  “You know, it’s bad form to bring your dog to a break in,” I commented.

  Even though I didn’t know who this woman was, I was pretty sure she was not a threat. But she was in my family’s old home, deserted and quiet in the darkness. Considering that the driveway was long enough that the front of the house wasn’t visible from the road, it didn’t really matter that she’d left the headlights shining on the house outside.

  Maybe coming inside was overkill, but then, when I came in the back of the house, I didn’t know she had a dog, nor that she was a woman. I watched her hands slowly lift in the shadowy hallway.

  “My hands are up,” she said in a shaky voice. “I promise I didn’t break in. I have a key. Thea gave it to me.”

  The second she said my little sister’s name, I lowered my gun, tucking it into my holster. I shouldn’t have even been wearing my holster, but old habits die hard and all that. I’d left a shift at the FBI in Boston and come straight here. “Who are you?”

  “Sasha, Sasha Hilts.”

  “Sasha?”

  “I think it’s only fair you tell me who you are,” Sasha returned.

  “It’s Noah, Noah Tate. You know, Thea’s older brother.”

  Sasha let out a giant sigh which echoed in the hallway. Her dog was still circling me, and I leaned down to stroke the dog’s head. “What’s your dog’s name?”

  “Matilda.”

  “Hey, Matilda,” I said conversationally as I scratched behind her ears. Matilda loved that and leaned into my hand.

  “There’s no power,” Sasha announced.

  “There’s power. I just have to turn it on outside.”

  “Oh. Well, that’s good. What are you doing here?”

  Sasha followed me as I turned and walked toward the back of the house. I went through the archway that led into the kitchen and straight to the screen door at the back. I’d left it open when I came inside.

  “Do you need help?” Sasha asked as we stopped at the doorway.

  “Nah. Give me a sec.”

  The snow was still falling as I tromped through it to the outside power box about ten feet away from the back kitchen doorway. Using a flashlight I’d slipped in my pocket for the sole purpose of doing this, I held it in my teeth and quickly turned on the main switch to the house. Since my siblings and I who shared our childhood home were rarely here, we always turned off the power outside at the main circuit. We also drained the pipes and turned off the water main. I’d turn the water on once we had some light.

  In a few seconds, the hallway light Sasha must’ve switched on when she came through the front turned on, along with the kitchen lights. Sasha held the door open for me as I walked through and closed it behind me. I knocked the snow off my boots. Matilda was busy sniffing around the edges of the kitchen.

  I lifted my head, and my eyes collided with Sasha’s. I hadn’t seen Sasha in years. She was one of Thea’s closest childhood friends and four years younger than me, just like my sister. She’d been cute when she was a teenager, but now, she literally grabbed my breath and snatched it right out of my chest.

  Her dark hair was pulled up in a messy bun with loose tendrils dangling around her face. Her cheeks were pink from the cold, and her green eyes were bright as she stared back at me.

  I gave myself a mental kick. “Well, long time, no see,” I finally said.

  Her eyes searched my face. “It’s definitely been a while.”

  After a beat, I noticed she had her arms wrapped tightly around her waist and was shivering slightly.

  “Let me make sure the boiler is up and running. We need some heat, and I’ll turn on the water.”

  Striding past her, I crossed into the hallway and down the basement stairs. Matilda followed me, with Sasha coming as well. I flicked on the switch to fire up the boiler. Like the power, we turned it off when we weren’t here.

  After a minute, I
nodded as I heard the sound of it starting up. Turning, I looked at Sasha again, startled at the jolt that sizzled through me.

  “Let’s get a fire started in the living room and kitchen. It’s probably gonna take a few hours for the house to warm up.”

  “I had no idea you were going to be here,” I called over my shoulder as I walked up the stairs.

  “Obviously, I didn’t know you were going to be here,” Sasha replied. “Thea offered to let me stay here for a week. I guess I need to make other arrangements.”

  We crested the top of the stairs, and she followed me into the kitchen. This home was old enough that we actually had a freaking fireplace in here. When I was growing up, my parents had updated it with a woodstove insert for efficiency. This, in addition to the large fireplace in the living room, would do a nice job of throwing off some heat.

  “No need to make other arrangements,” I said as I began to gather wood stacked neatly in a rack right beside the stove. I presumed my older brother, Dallas, who had been here last Christmas, had enough sense to leave the wood behind. He was that kind of guy, always organized and always planning ahead.

  “Are you sure? Are other people coming?”

  “Nobody else will be here until next weekend. Lord knows, there’s plenty of room.”

  When I straightened, Sasha was chewing on her bottom lip. Fuck me. She had a mouth made for sin. Her lips were plump and full, and there was a little dimple right in the center of her bottom lip. Her teeth dented the smooth pink surface as she stared at me.

  “Are you sure?” she repeated.

  “Absolutely.”

  At that moment, her stomach growled. She slapped her palm over it, her cheeks flushing pink. This woman was a walking distraction. In the corner of my mind, I wondered if it was crazy that I’d just told her it was no problem for her to stay here. But she was one of my sister’s best friends, so I wasn’t about to kick her out in the snowy darkness.

  “Hungry?” I asked dryly.

  “Apparently,” she said with a sheepish smile.

  “I picked up a pizza on the way through town. I’ll help you unload what you have, and then we can heat it.”

  By the time Sasha set the empty paper plate on the coffee table and leaned back into the couch cushions, the living room was warm and cozy. The snow was still falling outside with gusts of wind buffeting the house while we ate. She’d fed her dog, Matilda, in the kitchen, and then Matilda had trotted into the living room with us and was currently napping in front of the woodstove.

  “So, what are you doing here a week before Christmas?” Sasha asked.

  Thus far, we had covered the basics. We’d investigated the options for bedrooms. Only one room actually had a bed in it. My two brothers, my sister, and I were slowly getting the house furnished after almost losing it in a legal mess our father created, but the house had been stripped of everything by the time Dallas had managed to save it from the creditors.

  I’d insisted Sasha take the room with the bed, and I would sleep on the couch. Maybe we didn’t have the whole place furnished yet, but Thea and I had picked out this cushy sectional last year. I had no worries about sleeping comfortably on it.

  I’d helped Sasha carry her things in, and in return, she’d argued and insisted on helping me with mine. All the while, I managed to notice far too much of Sasha. She was wearing jeans, and the fabric hugged her lush bottom. My palm itched to slide over her curves and savor the feel of them.

  Considering that she thought no one was going to be here, I knew she wasn’t dressed for my attention. Unfortunately for me, and decidedly inconveniently, Sasha in jeans and a faded V-neck T-shirt did nothing but rev my body’s engine.

  I remembered Sasha being attractive before, but I was four years ahead of her in school, so I didn’t pay too much attention. Now, she was fucking gorgeous in a sort of messy, haphazard way.

  “Noah?” she prompted.

  Oh, right. We were having a conversation. “I needed a break from work. You know I work at the FBI, right?”

  Sasha nodded. “Yes. You and Dallas. For a while, Thea thought she might do the same, but she decided it was probably more stress than she preferred.”

  I chuckled with a bitter twist in my gut. I was too close to that stress these days. “No, she wouldn’t have appreciated the stress. I like my job, but I needed a break, so that’s why I’m here.”

  Sasha nodded and brushed a loose hair off the side of her neck, drawing my eyes there. My brain went to another place it wasn’t supposed to go, wondering what she would taste like. I wanted to nibble on that sensitive skin and see how she reacted.

  “Noah?” Her prompt punctured my inappropriate train of thought again. While nothing was technically wrong with me thinking my sister’s now thirty-year-old best friend was hot, somehow, I didn’t think that’s where Sasha’s mind was at the moment.

  Chapter 3

  Sasha

  Noah gave his head a slight shake, lifting his eyes to mine again. Oh wow. I’d forgotten how intense Noah Tate’s gaze was. His chocolate brown eyes perfectly matched his hair. Back when I was in high school, just getting old enough to notice guys, he’d been hard not to notice. I doubted I even registered on his radar back then. But as one of the older brothers of my closest friend, he’d been the star of a few fantasies. Luckily for me, I’d been a sensible girl until that one time when I was spectacularly not sensible.

  But me being sensible or not so sensible had nothing to do with Noah. I just had enough sense to realize he was four years older than me and was never going to bother with me, so I hadn’t let myself get too hung up on him. Of course, I did wonder curiously why I’d never gotten hung up on Ian, who was the youngest of Thea’s brothers but only two years older than us. All her brothers were handsome, but I’d only fantasized about Noah back then. Seeing him years later in the flesh was almost overwhelming.

  The years had only been kind to Noah. His once boyish good looks were honed and sharpened. He had a jaw sharp enough to cut glass and sculpted cheekbones with an aquiline nose. His dark intense gaze added a dash of intimidation. I giggled, thinking he’d pulled a gun on me in the hallway. I would’ve been terrified if I had much time to think about it or seen what I imagined the look in his eyes had been at that moment.

  One of his brows rose in a slash while one corner of his mouth kicked up in a bemused grin. That look sent my belly wild, butterflies tickling as they spun inside.

  “What’s so funny?” he asked.

  I shrugged. “I was just thinking it was probably good I didn’t see your face when you had a gun on me earlier. I think it might’ve terrified me.”

  His grin stretched to the other corner of his mouth, and my pulse cheered, taking off in a mad dash. “Sorry about that. I honestly had no idea who was here. I didn’t figure it was all that bad because most burglars don’t bring their dogs, but my habits kicked in.”

  “Are you carrying your gun now?” I couldn’t help but ask.

  He shook his head. “Nah. I put it away. I literally came straight here from our offices in Boston. I know Thea offered you the house, but what are you doing here all alone? You have a daughter, right?”

  Even though Noah had graduated and left town by the time my life became the mini-teenage drama of Haven’s Bay High School, there was no way he hadn’t heard the whole story. I got pregnant when I was fifteen and had a baby when I was sixteen. And—oh!—what a scandal it had been.

  “Quinn’s on a ski trip with her aunt for Christmas. It’s my first whole week without her. I needed a change of pace, and Thea offered me the house. If you really prefer for me to get a hotel, I’ll find something tomorrow. I hate to intrude. I don’t think Thea knew you were planning to be here.”

  My body was going flat out haywire around Noah. Between my pulse, and these waves of heat rolling through me, and my belly working on some kind of gymnastics routine, I didn’t even know what to think. But now, genuine worry and anxiety spun into the mix, and it wasn’t
a good combination. I didn’t want to drive back to Boston. I really needed a change of scenery just for a reset and to get my bearings. I also didn’t have money for a hotel. This wasn’t working out how I had hoped, but I really didn’t want to impose on Noah.

  “Thea definitely had no idea I’d be here. Because I didn’t tell her. I made the decision in my head this morning,” he said, tapping his temple before leaning over to lift his beer off the coffee table.

  “You sure came prepared,” I observed, my eyes drawn to the motion of his throat as he tilted his head back.

  Sweet hell. Apparently, I had a thing for his throat. And his wrist. I watched the flex of it, my gaze lingering on his fingers as they slid along the bottle when he lowered it. I wondered what his hands would feel like on me.

  Despite my scandalous teenage drama, my one and only scandal, I’d lived a rather staid and definitely boring life since then. Being a young single mama didn’t lend itself to the dating world easily. I was always scrambling to make ends meet, just to keep my head above water. Half the time, I felt like I was treading water madly only to slip below the surface every so often. Most of the guys around my age were shocked—shocked, I tell you—that I had a teenage daughter. They weren’t even ready to think about having a baby, much less navigating the treacherous waters of parenting a teenager, especially one who wasn’t theirs.

  When you had a child, dating necessitated brutal honesty up front. Because I didn’t have time to waste at all, much less getting to know someone who had zero interest in dating someone with a child. It wasn’t like I went into dating looking for Quinn’s imaginary stepfather. It’s just I couldn’t imagine putting time in with someone who wasn’t into kids. Long story short, I didn’t get much action. At all.