Page 49 of Cabin Fever Baby
Kent’s eyes went hard and disapproving. “I just bet she is. Good thing we taught her to take care of herself.”
“Oh, enough posturing. It’s boring,” she said flatly.
“You throw him out in a snowbank if he gets?—”
“If you say handsy, I’m hanging up now.” Ocean stiffened, the irritation in her blazing eyes somehow making her even more beautiful. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”
“I know you are.” Kent sighed. “You’re always taking care of all of us. He’s a stranger, O. That’s all.”
“Stranger is right here,” I muttered. “We’re bunkering down until the snow lets up. Period.”
The unsaid statementwhat are you going to do about it?was implied—heavily.
Ocean rolled her eyes. “Enough, you two. I’m perfectly capable of making decisions on my own, Kent. It’s nice having someone here with me.”
Kent’s face softened. “We’ll get there, kiddo. I promise. Even if I have to drive up there.”
“There are storms up and down the coast. Just wait it out there. It has to spin out sooner or later.”
“Yeah.” Suddenly, he turned his head. “Look, I gotta go. They finally found a room for me. I need a shower and at least five hours of sleep. I’ve been up for two days.”
“I’m sorry, Kent.” Her voice thickened and I curled my arm around her middle, out of range of the video.
“I’ll see you soon.” Kent gave me one last hard look before the video went black.
She dropped her arm, and I turned her around to hug her tightly. “It’s okay.”
“Did you really have to do all that?”
I tucked her under my chin. “I really did.”
“He’s just being protective. All my brothers are, even the ones who are younger than me—which is most of them.”
“Yeah?”
She pressed her cheek to my chest. “Yeah, Kent is the oldest, then me.”
I rubbed her back, hoping to get her to keep talking.
“Kent is a carpenter.”
“A traveling one?”
She eased back and dashed away wetness from her eyes that made me want to haul her right back into my arms. Instead, I moved to the food on the stove and made sure it wasn’t burning.
Instantly, she went into action, grabbing big bowls and a pair of forks. “How about we eat in the living room?”
I nodded. “Sounds good. So, what does he actually do?”
“He specializes in rehabbing old houses. Especially bringing them back to their historic glory. People pay him stupid amounts of money. He’s been written up in a ton of magazines, even though it makes him crazy that people want him to actually talk about his work.” She shook her head and held out her bowl for me to scoop out a serving. Her eyes went wide at the big pieces of chicken I gave her.
“We worked up a healthy appetite playing in the snow, didn’t we?”
She nibbled on her lower lip and looked up at me. “Full belly will make me less apt to jump your bones.”
“Why, oh why did I say that this morning?”
Her smile spread into a bright grin. “It is a question. But now that it’s said, I do love to keep it competitive.” She trailed her finger down my bearded cheek before she twirled away and headed into the living room.