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Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

MIA

“One room?” My head whipped to tall, dark and annoying then back to the poor woman who looked just as frustrated as I was. Of course, she didn’t make this reservation two months ago with another situation in mind. Like, the man of dreams and I spending the weekend on the slopes, then nights in the hot tub.

“Cabin,” she corrected, cringing as if she expected me to jump over the counter.

I huffed out a breath, and gave myself whiplash and nearly took him out with my ponytail. Good. Interloper. “The snow is not that bad. I bet you could get a snowmobile and find the next available room.”

Tall, dark, and annoying opened his mouth, but the poor woman who maybe didn’t deserve my acerbic tone answered. “Actually, the roads are closed, and there’s a travel advisory. And the two nearest lodgings are-”

“Fucking far away and booked. I called,” he said, again, annoyingly and just a little more sexier than I preferred annoying men in my life. HE propped an elbow on the wood counter. “Flights are canceled, and not even a snowmobile can cut through that.” A hooked thumb motioned out the front window.

He was right. She was right. But, God, it was bad enough that the snow piling up outside would normally be a wet dream for my little snowboarder heart. But, admitting defeat?

Not a damn option. Screw the world and it’s sudden throw me all over and down the hill and then run me over with a stampede of caribou. I just wanted to hit the slopes, get exhausted, down shots and drown my misery and sit alone in the hot tub. And curse my ex-boyfriend for deciding to find himself meant sticking his dick in his co-worker at his Halloween office party three weeks ago.

“I have non-refundable stay, and I don’t want to share a room-”

“Cabin.”

“-with a stranger.”

“Cabin,” he repeated.

I spun on him like one of those tilt-a-whirl rides at the local amusement park. “What?”

“It’s a cabin. And it’s the last one unless you want to hang out in the lobby.”

I glared at him, shooting all the you-get-the-lobby-vibes, but he just stared back, hazel eyes amused at something I should probably knee him in the balls for. “ You can have the lobby. I get the room.”

“Cabin,” they both said at the same time, laughing.

Fuck. My. Life.

“Fine. One room cabin.”

“Technically, it’s an open floor plan-”

“FOR COUPLES ON A ROMANTIC GETAWAY!” The other two people in this impossible conversation exchanged looks, and I realized, yes my unhinged reaction painted me as the unreasonable party here.

“Look, I am not interested in sleeping in the lobby, and I don’t think you are either. I am pretty sure Anna,” he nodded at the poor woman behind the check-in counter/desk/wall to keep me from begging and clinging to her leg in desperation, “will get us extra blankets, pillows-”

“An air mattress.”

He smiled the kind of smile that probably made panties drop, “And air mattress while the storm finishes its winter wonderland party.”

“Ms. Keenan, the Lodge will also add a complimentary stay for the mistake. The storm has led to every room being booked, and in this case, our system defaulted to the double occupancy with Mr. Teller without anyone double checking to see if that was your other party. It's not an excuse, but we usually have a handle on the snowfall, but this storm hit harder than expected. I apologize. The restaurant is making baskets for every guest, and dinner as well as breakfast will be delivered to your cabin. If necessary, tomorrow as well.”

“See? The Lodge is doing everything they can to accommodate the crazy snow storm, and we should be thankful we were even able to get here before the roads were impassable. The airport lounge is not the most comfy place, and they don’t give you extra pillows, blankets, or food…and you still have to sleep by strangers. Look, Anna has all my info in the system, and she can assure you I am not going to risk my career or my life but being anywhere near you other than get a good night’s sleep and maybe get outside for a little bit tomorrow.”

I wanted to scream, fight, rage at the way everything kept heading down this spiral of a crappy hole of an even crappier month. But, after a long and turbulent ridden flight from California, exhaustion won over rage. And food sounded wonderful. “Fine. But, I get the bed, and the shower first. And first pick of the basket.”

Anna let out a relieved breath. “I will make sure they send two, and an extra bottle of wine. Maybe a bottle of Falling Leaves Bourbon?”

My new roommate grinned. “See? All the extras and you get to come back, on your own, without the insane snowstorm with whomever you want to share the weekend with.”

Asshole. He had me until the ‘ share the weekend’ part. “And you’ll get some back with someone who will want to actually tolerate your presence. Let’s go before we have to tunnel our way to our open floor plan cabin.”

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