Free Snowed In by Anna Daye

SNOWED IN

    Carrie Drummond didn’t freak until the lights went out. But when a big gust of wind hit and the lamps and television flickered off, leaving her alone in the dark, unfamiliar cabin, panic hit. Only the flash of car lights coming up the snow-filled driveway kept her mind from envisioning a full-fledged horror film scenario.  
    She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The car had to be Stacy and David. Stacy had said they were on their way not long after Carrie left her apartment.  
    Brutal snow had greeted her once she had hit the mountain roads, and the normal hour-long drive from town to Stacy’s father’s cabin had taken her over two hours. But it would so be worth it tomorrow when they hit the ski slopes.  
    After a hellish week of finals, they’d earned their fun weekend of skiing. Besides, Carrie worried that with only one more semester left of school, things were going to change soon.
    Classes were basically finished, and although they hadn’t talked about it much, it was clear that things would soon be different between Carrie and Stacy. Carrie was going to grad school across the state. Stacy had a few job offers she was considering, and David had the eyes of a man bent on proposing. Carrie was ninety-nine percent sure that Stacy was going to say yes.
    Everything was going to change whether they were ready for it or not.
    The headlights turned off and she started toward the front door to wave them in, trying to remember where the furniture was as she edged her way through the dark house. The moon was full—or near enough—so when she opened the door to call out to them, she could clearly see the SUV in the driveway behind her Subaru.
    Crap.
    Stacy hadn’t mentioned inviting him, but Carrie recognized the dark silver shade of Bryan Grant’s Toyota, though the vehicle looked almost black in the moonlight. And Stacy’s car was nowhere to be seen.
    Double crap.
    The man himself slammed the car door and walked through the building snow toward the front door where she stood. Even in the moonlight, she could appreciate the wide stretch of his shoulders and the way his dark hair waved around his face. The chiseled line of his jaw and his striking blue eyes were hidden by the night, but she could see them clearly in her mind’s eye. He was a hottie, all right.
    Too bad he was also a world-class jerk.
    "Hey," he said, apparently seeing her form in the doorway. "No power or are you already setting the mood?"
    "Har-har." She shot another nervous glance behind him. "Have you heard from Stacy?"
    "David called. Looks like they're not going to make it. Snow made the roads too shitty for Stacy's car."
    Why hadn't Stacy called her?  
    As if he'd read her mind, he added, "Stacy said your phone was going straight to voicemail. Probably not the best reception up here. Especially not with this blizzard moving through."
    He stomped on the steps, leaving a small pile of snow around his snow boots.
    "Shouldn't we head out, then?"
    "And risk these roads?" He let out a low laugh, and something in her stomach clenched. "Go drive into a ravine if you like, I'm going to stay here where it's warm."
    He moved past her into the cabin, his lower chest brushed her breasts and her nipples hardened in response. Anger flitted through her and she slammed the door behind them just a little too hard. He really wouldn't give a crap if she tried to drive back to town.
      They'd never gotten along, but he was David's best friend so they'd been forced to spend a lot of time together in the last couple of years. Annoyingly, he’d seemed to show up just about everywhere she had the last six months. Always there with his arrogant attitude and a little sneer on his lips. He was everything she couldn't stand in a man. A conceited jerk fresh out of law school and no doubt headed for some super impressive job handling legal issues for corporations screwing people over.
    Not to mention that he never let a chance to give her a hard time go