Free SNOWFIRES by Caroline Clemmons

attractive when he’d
personally wreaked such havoc in her family's life?
    She groaned and tossed the salad. Face it,
Holly. Your wicked stepmother is not above twisting facts for her
own purposes. She paused. But why would she lie about this?
    Even if what Geneva said was untrue, Holly
knew Trent’s plans would make drastic changes in the company her
grandfathers founded by expanding it and making dangerous financial
commitments in opposition of her father’s plans.
    And Holly had nearly made love with him last
night. What a dolt she was. A flush spread across her face. She
placed a hand to her cheek and felt the heat there.
    Heat. Last night her body had burned for him.
Even now she almost swooned at the memory of his hands and lips on
her.
    Oh, yeah, you want him, big time.
    She’d fallen under his spell. No other way to
put it.
    Hugging her arms now, she let the memory of
his mouth on her breast spiral her into that dream once more. Darn
it, she’d never felt so cherished, so treasured. Sighing, she
almost arched into the memory.
    With a snap, she brought herself back to
reality. She stood in the middle of a kitchen talking to herself,
for heaven's sake. It was a dream, just a foolish dream. What a
fool she’d acted, but at least she waked in time to save herself
from a more serious mistake.
    On an icy blast, Blue burst into the room
followed by Trent. He stamped his feet and rubbed his hands
together.
    "What's for dinner?" He wiggled his eyebrows
in a mock leer. "Princess, I'm hungry enough to eat you right where
you stand."
    An erotic image flashed through her mind, one
she fought to erase. Why was she so physically attracted to this
mystery man? Maybe if she knew more about him it would help her
firm up her opinion. How did she accomplish that?
    ***
    After dinner Trent helped her with the dishes
then retrieved his unfinished book and sat at the table near the
two candles. “May as well read in here and share candles.”
    Although the heavy cloud cover that coupled
with short winter days required lighted candles, the evening lay
ahead of them. She looked around the room. Everything seemed in its
place; kitchen cleaned and the dog and cat had food and water.
    She sat in the chair across the table from
Trent. "Yes, we may as well read."
    She picked up her book. Even though it was by
one of her favorite authors, she couldn’t focus on the story with
this vibrant man across from her. The soft glow in the room and the
flickering shadows cast by the flames highlighted his rugged good
looks and invited the romantic thoughts Holly fought. Memories of
their sleep-induced encounter of the previous night refused to
leave her mind. Reading about a Victorian lady’s torrid romance did
nothing to push the same ideas from her brain...and her body.
    What she’d seen of his personality since
they’d been stranded made her suspect Geneva’s awful account of his
character. Maybe Trent wasn’t as bad as he’d been painted. Bracing
herself, she decided to bait the bear.
    "Trent, tell me about yourself."
    He tensed as if her question startled and
appalled him. She refused to be put off. "Why are you so secretive
about your past?"
    "That again?" He sighed and laid his book on
the table. "What the hell, in today's world there are no secrets.
So, what do you want to know?" He crossed his arms over his
chest.
    "Why did you get stuck with the name of
pirate?" She persisted. "You weren't actually a pirate, were
you?"
    He raised an eyebrow. “Really, Holly, what do
you think?” He sighed heavily as if unsure what she believed. "Damn
that label. It's a long story."
    She gestured toward the ice-encrusted window.
"It would seem we have plenty of time for even the most involved
story."
    He exhaled again. "Okay, you win. There was
this guy on the ship, Ollie Peterson. A big guy and a real
harda—um, troublemaker. We had words and almost came to blows a
couple of times. Man, I still see Ollie's face in nightmares."
    "Was he like Captain