Snowbound Read online

  Spencer looked around his cabin, looking for the right words but didn’t find them. He decided to just dive in. “So, what’s going on here, exactly?”

  “A one-night stand,” Olivia replied. There was a catch in her voice, as if she couldn’t believe what she was doing. She pushed off the blindfold and put it down on the counter. She didn’t meet his gaze, though, but reached for the mugs. Spencer didn’t tell her which was which.

  “An hour, or even three, is a lot less than a night.”

  “I thought you’d figure it out if it was longer than that.” She sipped the one from mix, frowned and put it aside, then wrapped her hands around the other mug. She took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the cocoa as if they weren’t discussing something important.

  Then she flicked a glance at him, her eyes very green, and Spencer knew she was just pretending not to care.

  It was defensive.

  But why?

  “I thought this was a beginning,” he said with care.

  She shook her head, resolute in a way he didn’t appreciate. “I thought it was a one-off.”

  “Why would you want that?”

  “Because I wanted to know before I left.”

  “Know what?”

  “Know what it was like to be with you.” She sipped her cocoa and smiled tightly. “It was a lot better than I ever imagined it could be. Thanks.”

  Spencer was annoyed by her confession. “Then why are you leaving? Why not stay and make something of it? Why not give us a chance?”

  She seemed to be puzzled by his question. “Because we did it. Because it was good. Because I’m booked to go to England and continue my work.”

  “I thought you might change your mind.”

  “That would make no sense.”

  “I don’t think leaving makes any sense, not when even you admit it was really good.”

  Olivia finished her cocoa and put down the mug. “But nothing is static, Spencer. It can’t stay good. Nothing lasts forever.”

  “I think love does last forever. Or it can.”

  “Love?” She shook her head. “No, nothing lasts forever, especially love. Even this cocoa is gone. It was great and I loved it, but it’s gone.” She pushed the mug closer. “Even if you made me another, exactly the same way, it wouldn’t be as good as this one was. It’s the first experience that has the power. After that, everything fades. It’s inevitable. It’s how life works.” She held his gaze, completely convinced of her view.

  Spencer felt irritable. “That’s the most defeatist thing I’ve ever heard.”

  “No, it isn’t. It’s the way we’re made. We crave new sensations. We seek new opportunities and experiences. It’s what helps us to learn and to invent and to live fulfilled lives.”

  “I’d argue that without love, it would be hard to live a fulfilled life.”

  Olivia smiled. “Then we disagree.” She was a lot more comfortable with that than he was.

  “Does that even apply to making love?” Spencer asked.

  “Especially making love!” Olivia said. “Attraction is the urge that compels us to mate. It’s about the continuation of the species. We’re attracted to someone, we become intimate, maybe there’s a child, but either way, the attraction fades. It’s served its purpose. Genetic diversity is encouraged by multiple partners so we find different people attractive all the time. Nothing is static.”

  “That’s the most depressing philosophy I’ve ever heard.”

  “It’s not depressing. It’s reality.” She leaned closer. “What’s depressing is when people put a romantic gloss on what’s really just sexual desire. They pretend or hope that something will last forever that’s been designed to be fleeting. You can’t hope for something to be more than it is. It is what it is, and we should face that. Spending your whole life with someone because once upon a time you thought he or she was sexy is a sad prospect. Sticking together because you had kids together is even worse.”

  Spencer was startled. “So, the whole family life is a false construct?”

  “In a way. It might be a survival mechanism—two parents can care for and defend children better than just one—but in our society, we don’t need that construct anymore.”

  Her argument made Spencer feel as grumpy as the steady passing of time. One hour was all he had left. “But I think love lasts forever. My parents are still in love with each other.”

  “Are they? Or have they made a life together? Does it make more sense for them to be together, economically and socially, than to be apart? I’ll believe that, but I don’t believe in enduring love.”

  “So, this was about sex?”

  Olivia nodded. “Great sex as it turned out.”

  “And scratching an itch?”

  She grimaced. “Exploring a fantasy sounds better.”

  “And so, as far as you’re concerned, it’s over.”

  She nodded. Her gaze flicked to the clock again, and Spencer had the urge to smash it to bits.

  He had one hour.

  He was going to make it count.

  “How about starting an experiment?” he said, hearing the challenge in his voice.

  “An experiment?”

  “Let’s quantify how long attraction lasts.”

  “It’s done.”

  “Is it?” Spencer leaned closer and noticed how Olivia inhaled. “Because you don’t feel any attraction any more?” he murmured. “That wouldn’t be rational. You know what it’s like to be with me now, so you can’t be curious.”

  “Exactly,” Olivia agreed but she swallowed.

  Ha.

  “We’ve done it twice, and the second time, by your own logic, must have been less powerful.”

  Olivia’s gaze slid from his. “Well, not exactly, because it was different...”

  “Every posture gives desire a new chance?”

  “Well, not exactly. You’re twisting my words...”

  “Tell me this. You were going to keep me blindfolded for three hours, then walk out that door, without giving me any clue it was you?”

  She nodded, her expression wary.

  “And go to England tomorrow?”

  “I figured I could avoid you...”

  “Because there’s no future in it anyway?”

  “No, because men are more in tune with that.” To Olivia’s credit, she looked miserable. “Lexi said you’d never know and you’d be fine with it, that it would be like a fantasy...”

  “Not my fantasy.”

  “Sorry.” She forced a smile. “On the upside, there’s nothing wrong with your truck. That was just an excuse so I could pick you up at the airport...”

  “Lexi’s idea?” Spencer asked and she nodded. “It was a chicken-shit plan, Olivia, a make-trouble-and-run scheme that’s typical of Lexi but not you. I expect better of you.”

  “Really?” She seemed to be surprised. “I didn’t think you had any expectations of me.”

  “I have plenty. Intelligence. Honesty. Integrity. A fighting chance.”

  “But, Spencer, there’s nothing to fight for...”

  “Wrong. There’s everything to fight for here.”

  “No, Spencer, no. I’m sorry. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have listened to Lexi. I’m sorry that I tricked you. But that’s not the same as believing in love and beginnings and happy-ever-after and all that stuff that isn’t real!” Olivia got to her feet, her eyes filled with the fire of her conviction. They were even greener now. “Love is a fiction. A fantasy wrapped around a biological urge. Believing in that is only going to lead to disappointment...”

  “That’s a load of shit,” Spencer murmured, interrupting her. When she fell silent, he tugged off his T-shirt. “I say we go for the experiment.”

  Olivia’s eyes widened but she took a good look.

  He saw her swallow again.

  “It’s perfectly rational...” she began, but Spencer prowled around the end of the counter. She took a step back and almost stumbled, but he caught her arm and ste
adied her. She stared up at him, and flushed again. “It was just a last chance.”

  “It was a beginning,” Spencer corrected with resolve. “And I’m going to prove it to you.”

  She had time to part her lips but apparently couldn’t think of an argument. That was fine by Spencer.

  He didn’t want to talk.

  “You’re wet and I know it,” he whispered. “You’re aroused, even though your desire for me should have run its course.”

  Olivia swallowed but she didn’t argue.

  “I’ve got an hour and I’m going to change your mind,” he whispered and her eyes widened. Then he bent down and captured her lips beneath his own, smiling into their kiss when Olivia shivered, then opened her mouth to him.

  Things weren’t quite going as Liv had planned.

  She did feel bad about tricking Spencer, but she felt a lot worse about his determination to prove his romantic goals to be right. This couldn’t lead anywhere good. The problem was that she couldn’t resist him. She couldn’t even summon a logical argument, not when he kissed her as if the world was ending and he wanted to get as much of a taste of her as possible before it was too late.

  It started with a kiss that made her forget all her inhibitions—again—and then his hands were inside the bathrobe and her breasts were against his bare chest, and there was only Spencer and the way he awakened her from head to toe. It wasn’t fair that he was so good at feeding her desire, that he kissed as if he’d invented it, that she was all wet and ready to go again—that one taste of Spencer, or even two, was only making her want him even more.

  It wasn’t supposed to work this way.

  The first time was supposed to be the most powerful experience.

  It never had worked this way for Liv.

  But Liv found herself on a leather couch, naked, with Spencer naked on top of her, and forgot everything about biology that she knew to be true. She rolled Spencer to his back and straddled him, noting the admiration in his eyes before she bent down to kiss him with every bit as much enthusiasm as he’d showed so far.

  An experiment. The man knew her well enough to tempt her the right way. Well, taking off his shirt hadn’t hurt either. And really, it would be good to know for sure that the attraction was fading and that there was a time when sex with him was less powerful.

  It was only reasonable to test a hypothesis—Spencer did something with his tongue right then that made Liv completely lose her train of thought. She heard herself moan. She heard him chuckle, then run his hand down the length of her. She shivered and moaned again, knowing she hadn’t had nearly enough yet.

  If she was going to get him out of her system, she’d do it right now. It was after midnight and she didn’t have long until Lexi returned.

  She was still leaving. Spencer wouldn’t change her mind.

  But Liv couldn’t regret just how good it felt for them to be together.

  Just once more.

  Spencer heard the power go off.

  More accurately, he heard the items that were on the grid go silent. The refrigerator stopped humming and it was probably the lack of that sound that woke him up. The nightlight he’d left in the socket in the bathroom for Olivia had also been extinguished. The shadows in his house felt velvety and intimate. Cozy.

  Of course, having Olivia curled up against him, her breath fanning his chest, didn’t hurt either. She was sound asleep, probably exhausted from their lovemaking and her long drive, and that made Spencer smile in the darkness.

  He’d convince her yet.

  Lexi was late, which really didn’t surprise him.

  There was a lot of light outside the windows, even though it was late. It had to be the glow of the snow. He heard the wind whistle in the chimney and left the bed with reluctance to stoke the fire. Fortunately, he’d brought in a load of wood before going to bed. In a few minutes, the fire was blazing high again, filling the cabin with orange light and warmth.

  That made it seem even more romantic.

  Spencer glanced out the window at the deck and saw that there was already at least two feet of snow. It was still falling with a vengeance. Maybe Lexi hadn’t been able to come. He smiled, knowing that Olivia probably wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon. That suited him just fine.

  It would give him more time to change Olivia’s mind.

  Spencer could make sure of that. He retrieved his phone and called Lexi, who picked up right away. “Don’t come,” he said softly before she could say anything.

  She laughed. “You know.”

  “I know. Don’t come anytime soon.”

  Lexi sighed. “I’m kind of glad to hear that, actually. It took us almost an hour to get to the lodge and I thought we were going to get stuck.”

  “Mindy has four-wheel drive.”

  “I know, but it’s good to have some clue where the road is.” She paused for just a second. “It’s going okay, then?”

  “That’s not your business.”

  “Even though I helped?”

  “Because you helped.”

  Lexi laughed again. “That’s mean. You’re getting even by not telling me what I most want to know.”

  “Don’t tell me you expected otherwise.”

  “No. Mr. Discretion does not kiss and tell.” She sighed again. “Too bad, really. When should I come?”

  “After the plows have been, whenever that is.”

  “Okay.” There was a mumble in the background and Spencer guessed that she was with Gabe. “Gabe wants to know if you’re okay without your generator.”

  “We’ll be fine. Look, would you call Olivia’s mom? I don’t want her waiting up and worrying.”

  “Already done, Mr. Responsible. I told her that Liv had fallen asleep when we stopped at the lodge for a bathroom break, and we agreed that was because of her long drive.”

  “Good thinking.” Spencer was impressed that his sister had even thought of such a thing.

  “It was Liv’s plan, actually. She was going to crash at my place after I picked her up.”

  Spencer shook his head at this evidence that his sister was just the way he knew her to be. Some things didn’t change. “All right. I’ll see you when you get here.”

  “Right.”

  “And turn off your phone.”

  Lexi laughed again. “Oh, I’m unavailable. That’ll drive Liv nuts.”

  “Then I’ll have to help her find something to do.”

  “I want to know more!” Lexi complained.

  “Go ask Gabe for inspiration,” Spencer said, then ended the call. He’d deliberately kept his voice low and had called from the furthest point in the cabin from the bed, but crept back to check.

  Olivia was still sleeping soundly.

  She probably was exhausted from the long drive.

  He closed the door to the bedroom to ensure that he didn’t disturb her and began to plan. He checked what Gabe had put in the fridge and consulted his inventory of the contents of the freezer. He had to use up the meat before it turned—and he planned to make meals that would seduce Olivia into surrendering to pleasure. She probably thought of eating as providing fuel to her body, not as an opportunity for pleasure and indulgence.

  He’d change her mind about that, too.

  In fact, maybe a culinary seduction would help with the romantic one.

  Spencer couldn’t wait. The way he saw it, he had a limited amount of time to convince Olivia to come back to Honey Hill and/or to give him a chance.

  He had to make every minute count.

  On the upside, he was feeling particularly persuasive, and the weather was definitely on his side.

  Liv awakened alone in Spencer’s bed. She was wearing a T-shirt that was far too big for her and the bed was warm. The windows were almost completely white and the house was very quiet.

  She sat up, listening for some hint of where Spencer was. Had Lexi arrived? Had Spencer left with her?

  It wouldn’t have been completely unreasonable for him to have
retaliated against her for her trick, but it would have been out of character. A chicken-shit trick pretty much summed it up. Liv was ashamed that she’d done such a thing to Spencer.

  Somehow she had to make it up to him.

  If he gave her a chance.

  To her relief, there were faint sounds coming from the kitchen, then she heard footsteps on stairs. A door closed, then opened again.

  He was here.

  Liv got her phone and saw that she had a message from her mom. She listened to it and was glad that her mom believed she’d stayed with Lexi. At least Lexi had made that call. She’d have to call her back once she knew her plans.

  She called Lexi but the call went straight to voice mail. She didn’t leave a message, but turned off her phone, trying to save the battery charge.

  Too late. The phone died in her hand.

  Was Lexi ducking her call? It didn’t take a lot of imagination to figure out why that might be. Had it been Lexi’s plan all along to leave Liv here until the morning?

  Spencer was back in the kitchen, but she wanted to wash before facing him. Liv went into the bathroom and smiled when she discovered a fresh towel and facecloth set out beside the sink, with a new toothbrush still in the package on top. The window was covered with white, which had to be snow, and she couldn’t see a thing outside. The room was colder than she remembered, and both taps were turned on slightly, with water dripping into both the tub and sink.

  The power had to be off. That would explain why the house was so quiet.

  She tried the tap and the water was cold enough to make her shiver. She put her hair in a ponytail, then brushed her teeth in the cold water and washed her face.

  There was a knock at the door, and Liv opened it to find Spencer with a steaming copper pitcher. He was wearing jeans and heavy socks, and a Henley with the sleeves pushed up. “Thought you might like some hot water.”

  “Thanks.” Liv tried to take it but he shook his head, so she stood back to let him into the bathroom. “Is the power off?”

  He nodded as he got a big copper bowl out from under the sink. He set it on a cork base on the counter and poured some hot water into it, then put the pitcher on another cork base on the counter. “It went out just after midnight.”