Free Snowed In by Sarah Title

feeling it’!”
    â€œWell, obviously I wasn’t the only one not feeling it if you could just hop into bed with the next guy you met!”
    â€œHey! Knock it off!” Gavin was dangerously close to punching his employee in the nose. “Maureen, go get dressed,” he said, handing her some clothes while stepping into boxers as modestly as he could. “I’ll take you home. Dave, get in that office and don’t come out till I come back.”
    â€œShit, man, I didn’t—”
    â€œGo!” Gavin turned to say something to Maureen, he didn’t know what. Something to comfort her, or to apologize, or to explain that he’d had no idea, he had been too blinded by lust to make the connection between her Dave and his Dave. There were a lot of guys named Dave, dammit.
    But she was gone.
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    The ride home was tense, but for the life of her, Maureen could not think of a thing to say. Seeing Dave in Gavin’s office was definitely a reality check. She would have liked a gentler exit from their snow-bound fantasy world, but she supposed she should be grateful for having lived the fantasy at all.
    She wasn’t ready for it to be over, but there it was. Standing in front of her, fighting with her. While she was naked.
    Dammit, she hadn’t thought about Dave for almost a whole twenty-four hours. She was over him. Seeing him again proved that. She’d seen him, and she hadn’t wanted him again. Even if he hadn’t been so ugly to her, he just wasn’t enough for her. She wanted someone who saw her, who heard her, who wanted her . And she needed time alone to figure out how to get that. How to get it in the real world, at least. She certainly had it in the fantasy world with Gavin.
    So now, as Gavin drove her home with knuckles white on the steering wheel, she would have plenty of time to be on her own and figure out who she was and what she wanted.
    She tried to ignore the little part of her heart that reminded her she wanted Gavin.
    â€œHey, don’t let him upset you,” Gavin said with concern in his eyes.
    â€œI’m not,” she sniffled. Dammit, when had she started crying?
    â€œIt doesn’t look like you’re not upset,” he teased.
    She rounded on him, her eyes furious. “Don’t do that. Don’t act like you know me. We’ve known each other for, what, one day? Two days? We had this little snow day fling. Now it’s over. You don’t have to comfort me, okay? You don’t have to worry about me. We’re nothing to each other.”
    He looked as if she had just slapped him, but he turned his eyes back to the road.
    Maureen took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. That was harsh. I’m just a little on edge. I wasn’t expecting . . . seeing Dave was a bit of a wake-up call.”
    â€œA wake-up call for what? Maureen, you guys broke up. You’re allowed to see whoever you want.”
    She sighed. “I know. I know! But this thing you and I had, it was just—”
    â€œJust what?”
    â€œJust, I don’t know, convenient. Entertainment. A happy coincidence of the weather. It’s not reality.”
    â€œYou don’t think last night was reality?”
    She did think it. But she had to be firm. She needed to be alone for a while. Yes, that was it. Alone. If she said it enough, she would eventually convince herself. “No. It was just . . . a snow day.”
    He looked at her then. It was obvious he didn’t believe her. But he let it go.
    â€œListen, Dave isn’t a bad guy. I mean, I’m done with him, but I don’t want him to get in trouble for what happened earlier.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œI mean, don’t fire him because he’s my ex-boyfriend. I know he’s good at his job.”
    â€œFine,” he said, pulling into the Cold Spot. Someone had shoveled her car out. At least she’d be able to make a quick