LITMIR.BIZ

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so that takes care of a lot of problems.”

      “And does the lodge have a private contract?”

      “I don't know.”

      “Perfect.” Nathan blew out a breath. This month was turning into a real trial. “How long is this going to keep up?” He shook his head as he shifted his gaze across the lake, watching snow slide in sideways, riding a wind that was rattling the windows.

      “Well,” she said, giving him a brilliant smile, “if it keeps up, at least it won't be coming down anymore.”

      He glanced at her. “Oh, very humorous.”

      She moved to stand in front of him, leaning both palms against an icy window to get as good a view as she could of the blustering storm outside. “I always laughed when my dad said it.” She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Of course, I was ten.”

      Nathan wasn't amused. Nor was he charmed. He'd wanted her here last night—and he'd enjoyed every minute of his time with her. But that didn't mean he wanted her at the lodge for freaking ever. Scowling, he saw the wind spit snow at the windows and knew that she wouldn't be going anywhere. At least not today.

      As if she was reading his mind, Keira turned around, leaned back against the floor-to-ceiling windows and tipped her head to one side, staring up at him. “So, what'll we do while we're stuck inside?”

      He knew that gleam in her eye. Hell, he'd seen it most of the night. He was willing to bet they hadn't had more than a couple of hours’ sleep. Yet even thinking about being inside her, touching her, holding her, tasting her, made him hard and eager again.

      Which was clearly unacceptable.

      He wasn't a kid to be led around by his groin. And damned if he'd let himself get any more tangled up with Keira than he already was. Just because she was here, with him, didn't mean she had to be with him.

      “Uh-oh,” she said, tugging the edges of her robe more firmly together over her chest. “It suddenly got very cold in here.”

      He nodded. “I'll turn up the thermostat.”

      “That's not what I meant.”

      “What're you talking about?” he asked as he walked to the coffee pot on the kitchen counter.

      God.

      The counter.

      How was he ever supposed to walk through this kitchen again without remembering her sitting naked on that counter? Without thinking about how she'd taken him so deep inside her he'd thought he might never find his way out again?

      Crap.

      Now he had a headache.

      Rubbing his temple, he asked, “Coffee?”

      “Sure. I'll have a cup of coffee, black, with answers.”

      “Huh?” He half turned to look at her as she walked slowly across the kitchen. Did her hips always sway like that, he wondered, or was she doing it purposely now?

      “I said I'd like some answers.”

      “To what?” He was stalling. He knew it. He poured two cups of coffee, handed her one, then stalled again by taking a long sip of his own.

      “To why your eyes suddenly looked even colder than this stormy day outside.”

      “Keira,” he said tightly, “you're making too much of nothing.”

      “So you're happy I'm here,” she coaxed, taking a drink of her coffee and moving in closer to him.

      “Delirious,” he assured her.

      “Liar.”

      “Why do you do that? Accuse me of lying at every opportunity?”

      “A better question is why am I always right?”

      He set his coffee cup down, tugged at the belt of his robe and said, “You're not right. Women always say that to win an argument, but it's never true.”

      “Of course it is,” Keira said, sipping her coffee. “Women are right because we see everything and we remember everything.”

      “Sure.”

      “Just like I can see that you're trying to start a fight so you won't have to answer my question.”

      He sighed. This woman got to him like no one else ever had. And he was forced to admit that part of the reason why was because she never took any of his crap. She always called him on everything.

      “Fine,” he said tightly and met her gaze with a hard look designed to put some distance between them. “I was thinking that it would be more comfortable if you could have gone home this morning. Happy?”

      “Delirious,” she said, throwing his own word back at him. Then she turned around and pulled a chair out from under the kitchen table. Curling one leg under herself, she plopped down, propped her elbow on the table and took another sip of coffee before saying, “Was that so hard?”

      Nathan just blinked at her. Any other woman would have been insulted, giving him all kinds of frosty attitude right now. Figured Keira would react differently. She had to everything else.

      “You're not mad.”

      “Nope, sorry to disappoint.” She took long drink of her coffee, then set the cup onto the table. “Nathan, I know you don't really want me here, and that's okay. I mean, I hadn't planned on staying forever, you know.”

      “Yeah, I know.”

      “But it's really storming out there, so I'm stuck here and you're stuck with me. We might as well make the best of it, don't you think?”

      A constant surprise. Keira Sanders never failed to bewilder him with her reactions to things. He couldn't depend on what she'd do next, because she never responded to anything the way he expected her to. How was a man supposed to find his emotional footing if a woman kept changing on him?

      “I suppose that's logical.”

      “Excellent,” she said. “I've got a few ideas on what we could do today.” She hopped off her chair, stumbled over her own foot and slammed into his chest. She grabbed him in self-preservation and spilled his coffee down the front of his robe. Grinning up at him, she said, “Maybe we should do some laundry first.”

      Cold fettuccine Alfredo for breakfast, a load of wash done and in the dryer, and the snow was still blowing outside.

      Keira wandered through the lodge, peeking into closets and exploring rooms that were still standing empty waiting for the decorator. From every room, the view was outstanding and displayed the growing storm to its advantage.

      She chewed at her bottom lip and wondered how the town was doing, then reminded herself that the people of Hunter's Landing dealt with snowstorms every year. The only difference with this storm was that she wasn't there. She couldn't see for herself that everyone was fine, hunkered down to wait out the snow.

      She couldn't even call anyone to check on them. The phone lines were still down. Remembering the look on Nathan's face when he'd tried the phone again an hour ago made her smile.

      Leaving one of the bedrooms, she wandered back into the upper hall, passed the master bedroom and paused for a moment, remembering everything she and Nathan had done together the night before. Her heart filled, her body ached with tired satisfaction and the small smile on her face faded slowly. She knew that today, he was regretting their time together.

      He probably wasn't used to facing his nighttime bed partner the next day. Well, this was pretty new for Keira, too. But at least she was trying to make the best of it. Unlike Nathan, who'd buried himself in busywork on his laptop. The man had avoided talking to her for hours now and the quiet—except for his fingers hitting the keyboard—was starting to really bother her.

      The wind howled around the corners of the house, sounding as

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