“Here.” He lifted her to the counter, putting his hands on her thighs, pushing them open so that he could step between them. “Now.”
When Katie woke up the next morning, her shoulder was stiff and sore from her fall, her heart hurt like a mother, and the storm had moved in.
By four o’clock that afternoon, it was pitch-dark outside. The winds were whipping up a good howl at over sixty miles an hour and climbing, and the snow was coming down thick and fast.
When the lights flickered a few times and the subsequent power surge made her computer act all wonky, she gave up. She shut down for the night and headed to the kitchen, which was uncustomarily empty.
She had no idea where Annie was. Or where anyone was for that matter. She knew that a group of skiers had arrived an hour before the storm had hit, so she figured everyone was settling them in for what would surely be an epic powder day tomorrow.
She made it back to her cabin for the night; then a few minutes later, she heard an odd scraping noise at her door. Curious, she opened it to…“Chuck.”
He was scrawny and miserable, fur soaked to his skin in spots, sticking straight up in others, covered in white frost, huddling close to the doorjamb to escape the wind. “Mew.”
“Oh, baby,” she whispered, staggering back at the sharp, icy wind that sliced right through her, slapping snow into her face. She couldn’t even see outside; it was nothing but slashing lines of white as the snow was driven sideways by the winds. “It’s okay, come in…”
But he only shrank back.
Apparently, she still didn’t have quite the right touch with the skittish men in her life, but at least he didn’t run off. She hunkered down, making herself smaller, and once she did, the cat stuck his tail straight up in the air and walked past her, and right into her cabin.
He went straight to the kitchen and sat, eyeing her with very cautious care.
“So.” She looked him over just as cautiously, her heart melting at his skinny frame, at the fur that needed some serious care. She wanted to wrap him up in a blanket and warm him up, but he’d never let her get that close. So she moved to the refrigerator, got out the milk, and poured a little into a sauce pan.
Chuck didn’t move. Neither did she. And when the milk was warm, she dumped it into a bowl and set it on the floor. “Try it,” she said softly. “You might like it.”
When he just looked at her warily, she rolled her eyes at herself. When would she learn to give up? She bent to lift the bowl away, but at the last minute, he lunged forward and stuck his head in it.
And started lapping.
Katie stood stock-still, her heart feeling too full for her chest. The only sound in the room was Chuck’s tongue lapping at the milk. And then suddenly a rough rumble sounded, then stopped, then started again, like an old diesel engine cranking over for the first time in years.
He was purring.
Swallowing past the lump in her throat, she stayed still so as not to spook him. “So I finally won you over.” She sighed. “And I’m leaving in a few days.”
Chuck kept lapping up the milk.
Yeah. Her throat burned now, but fact was fact. She might have got Chuck to trust her, and even to some degree, Cam, but not enough to claim either of them as her own.
The job had been temporary. She’d gone in singing the praises of that, promising Cam just how temporary she saw it. But just between her and Chuck, she’d fallen for this place. For Wishful. For the people in it. For the character and charm, and so much more.
Chuck finished the milk. Still purring, he lifted a paw and began to clean his face.
“It’s not all bad, my leaving,” she told him. “After all, I got over myself here. I had adventure.”
Chuck switched paws and went to work behind his ears. Either this whole cleaning himself thing was new for him, or he was completely ineffective, because he didn’t look any cleaner.
“I had really, really great sex too,” she told him. “Do you think that’s odd? It took leaving my comfort zone to get the best sex of my life?”
Chuck lifted a leg and went to work on his private parts.
Katie nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. It’s odd. But most of all, I really did fit in. Or at least I think I did.”
“You did.”
She turned and faced Cam, standing in her doorway with the wild storm all around him, which matched the sudden wild storm in her gut. He wore a thick jacket with the hood up. He shoved it back now and unzipped the jacket, revealing a dark fisherman’s cable sweater and jeans.
“You left your door unlocked.” He shut it while she attempted to control the fierce leap of her pulse. “That’s not like you, Goldilocks.”
Yeah. Apparently on top of everything else, she felt safe here. She’d faced her demons and had gotten comfortable. Hell of an attractive combination. And a small part of her wished she never had to leave, because this world with scrawny cats and gorgeous men, with new friends and wide-open spaces, no traffic, and some pretty amazing adventures left to be had, felt good.
Too good.
“Chuck’s in here,” Cam said in some surprise. His gaze met hers, his soft and questing. “You conquered him.”
Her throat tightened. “It took a while. At first he didn’t feel like he could be friends with me. He didn’t think that he deserved it, what with being a wanderlust renegade and all.”
Cam’s eyes never left hers. “I suppose even wanderlust renegades deserve a bowl of milk and a sweet woman every once in a while.”
“Even wanderlust renegades who’ve gone their whole life thinking that maybe love isn’t for them because it’s never worked out. But Chuck understands now, he gets that there’s always a first time.”
Cam let out a low breath and finally looked away, the only response to what she’d just said being a muscle ticking in his jaw.
“Still, it’s not a complete success,” she said. “He hasn’t let me touch him.”
He slid his hands into his pockets. “He might never let you.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“Ever the optimist.”
“Apparently even the mountains can’t beat that out of me.”
“Speaking of that. How are you feeling? Your head-”
“Still on.”
“Your shoulder-”
“I’m fine, Cam.”
He nodded, looking through the living room to her bedroom. Her suitcase was on the bed. She’d been thinking about getting some things packed.
“There’s a big storm coming in,” he said, still looking at her suitcase.
“It’s already here.”
“No, a bigger one’s going to hit the morning. It’s going to hit hard and heavy, maybe sock us in for a few days.”
That wouldn’t be so bad, getting to see one last storm. It could match the one in her heart.
“I wanted to make sure you’re stocked with candles and batteries and everything.”
She looked at him. “So you’re…”
“Leaving in the morning, before the big one hits. Nick and I are flying a group of six hardcore snow hikers out to Desolation Wilderness. From there we’re snow hiking to the peak. It’s a four-day trek round-trip.”
“In the storm?”
“They want it that way. They want to sleep in the blizzard inside a snow cave under the Sierra stars.”
She managed a laugh. “Sometimes I’m very glad I don’t have your job.” She watched the amusement transform his face, turning it from pensive and edgy to open and so attractive he took her breath. “It’s not racing, but you’re into it,” she murmured, happy for him.
“I didn’t think I would be, but yeah. If I can’t be going balls out down a mountain, then this fits too.” His smile faded. “I just wanted to check on you.”
“I’ll be fine while you’re gone.”
“And when I’m back, you’ll be gone.”
She stared at him as the truth sank in. He appeared relaxed enough, but just beneath the surface she took in his tension. It was there in his eyes, his mouth. “You came to say good-bye,” she realized. “Tonight. Now.”