Page 25 of Cabin Fever Baby
I looked around at the cabin in a mansion’s clothing. “Is this your place?”
“It is for the next few weeks. I rented it for a family holiday gathering.” She nodded to the window. “Maybe.”
The fact that she could rent this kind of place was nearly as incredible as owning it. I knew a thing or two about real estate since my brother Finn was an architect.
“This is even a little over the top for Central New York. This county can get over a hundred inches of snow a season.”
“A hundred…” She sputtered and trailed off. “It’s not all at once, right?”
I laughed. “Not usually.”
She peered down at her phone. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that. The weather tracker says we could get another two feet by tomorrow afternoon.”
“Two?” I peered out the window again and the drifts were so high it looked like the porch simply dropped off.
“Is anyone worried about you?” She peered up at me. I couldn’t tell the color of her eyes in the dim light, but she was staggeringly beautiful.
“No, actually.” I stepped away from the window, and my equilibrium took a nosedive. When I bumped into her, she grabbed my arm.
“All right, let’s get you back to the couch. You took a serious hit.”
I let her lead me back to the couch, and gratefully, I took a seat. She crossed to the coffee table and picked up a tablet.
“Can we skip the lights?”
“Oh, sure.” She set the tablet down. “Headache?”
“Splitting, actually.”
She crouched in front of me, and I quickly tugged the blanket in front of me. She smelled like her namesake with a hint of lemons. Knowing she had her hands on me when I was an unconscious mess with airport funk on me should have killed any annoying lust, and yet…it had not.
She brushed her fingertips over the bandage. “It wasn’t a terrible knock, but I’d say it’s pretty concerning that you were unconscious.” She pulled back her hand and twisted them together. “Do you want to sleep down here, or can I help you upstairs into a room?”
“I’d literally kill for a shower.”
Her eyebrow spiked.
“I’m harmless.”
She narrowed her eyes. “A killer would say the same.”
“My name is Hudson MacGregor. My brother is Callum, and he lives on the lake. I think I was about a mile away from his place when the snowplow tried to mow me down.”
She collapsed on her butt in front of me, folding her legs under her. “Is that what happened?”
Slowly, I lowered onto my side and propped myself on my elbow. “Yeah. I just flew in from Chicago, actually. Visiting my folks for Christmas.”
“Little early.”
“Which is why they aren’t expecting me yet. I got a little extra time off, and I thought I’d surprise them with a longer visit.”
“Surprise!”
“Yeah, exactly. So, I don’t have to worry them until the plows come through.”
“Ones that don’t try to terrorize your mini car?”
I collapsed down onto the cushions of the couch and wanted to weep at my stupidity.Ouch.