Free Snowed In by Andie Devaux Page A

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 by. He took any and all opportunities.
Poking fun at her for majoring in art. Tugging at her paint-stained
clothes and asking when she was going to dress like a grown up.
Teasing her about her hair and her ideals…ugh. She couldn’t think
of a single person she’d rather not be stuck with in a
snowstorm.
    “Guess we might as well get comfortable.
I’ll see if there are some candles in the kitchen.”
    He was gone before she could reply, moving
quickly through the house as if he could see in the dark. But then,
she could see better now, too. Her eyes had adjusted somewhat, and
she could make out large shapes in the dark, odd-looking,
highlighted by the thin rays of light coming through the
windows.
    The roll and bump of drawers opening and
closing in the kitchen sounded, and before long, Bryan
returned.
    “Not sure where the candles are. If the
lights don’t come back on in a few, I’ll see if I can get reception
to call the lovebirds to ask where they keep them.” He waved a
glass toward her and she took it.
    “Wine. Figured we might as well get
comfortable. Who knows, maybe a few drinks and you won’t despise me
quite so much.”
    She choked on the sip she’d ventured, then
wiped at her jaw, happy he couldn’t see her spitting on herself in
the dark.
    “Don’t bother arguing. I told David that
their little scheme would never work, but Stacy isn’t one to let go
when she has a plan.”
    “What plan? What are you talking about?” she
managed, after another drink of wine to clear her throat.
    “Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed. All the
time the four of us have been spending together the last few
months. And now the weekend away to the romantic cabin.”
    “They’re trying to set us up.” It all
suddenly made sense, and she burned with embarrassment that she
hadn’t picked up on it already, like Bryan had.
    “Yep,” he said, but to his credit he didn’t
add that she was slow for not realizing sooner.
    “But that’s ridiculous.”
    “Is it?” he asked, but she could hear the
smile in his voice.
    “We’re like oil and water. If oil and water
annoyed the crap out of each other in addition to not mixing well.”
She drank down the rest of her wine and set the glass on the coffee
table between them. “Sorry, but come on.”
    “Don’t worry, the feeling is mutual.”
    Something inside of her twinged at his
words. It wasn’t that she expected Bryan to like her—they annoyed
each other far too much for that—but her pride didn’t care to have
it spoken aloud. And he was a very attractive man, well-built with
a chiseled jaw and the sharp features of an old movie star. If he’d
keep his mouth shut for five minutes he’d make good eye candy.
    And if she was totally honest, she’d thought
about him far too often. Not about being with him in any real way,
but there was something about the cruel set to his mouth, the way
his eyes watched her sometimes, that made her wonder what it would
be like to be with him. Different, she was sure, than it had
been with the other men—boys, really—that she’d dated in
school.
    “That’s not to say I haven’t fantasized
about you.”
    Her throat went dry when he voiced her
thoughts as if he’d plucked them right out of her skull, and she
wished she hadn’t drank all of her wine. She swallowed hard, but
her voice still came out weak, hesitant.
    “You have?”
    “Oh yes.” His glass chinked as he set it on
the coffee table. And even in the darkness she could feel his eyes
on her. Watching. Waiting for her reaction.
    Images ran through her mind. Bryan’s cruel
grin replaced a look of ecstasy when she touched him. His body
covering hers while he thrust into her heat. Bryan’s eyes, locking
on hers as he whispered pretty words…or dirty ones.
    It was a terrible idea to delve into any
fantasies he’d had that