Free Snowed In by Andie Devaux

 
     
     
     
    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. Granted,
Stacy tended to run late—very late—but Carrie had driven like a
snail to get here. David had probably caught up to her.
    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 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 over 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