Chapter 5

Five

SOREN

C ammie’s cheeks turned pink, but she grinned and cocked her head to the side. “Your loss,” she said with a wink. Then her expression turned serious, and she picked up a small flashlight before holding my chin to keep my head still. Her examination only took about ten minutes, then she put her bag on the table and packed everything away. “Well, the bad news is, you were wrong and Caleb was right.”

“Pardon?”

She tossed me a crooked smile as she zipped up the medical satchel. “You do have a concussion. However, it’s very mild and doesn’t require supervision. That goose egg on the back of your head will be tender for a few days, but with some pain relievers and ice, you’ll be good as new.”

“I supposed I’m not overly surprised with the diagnosis,” I mused. “I still didn’t think Caleb needed to send you out in this weather to check on me.”

Cammie shrugged as she picked up her coat from the back of another chair. “Concussions are tricky and can be very deceptive. I fully agreed with him that you needed to be examined. If it had been worse, you would have needed someone here to wake you up every few hours and constantly monitor your symptoms.”

“Either way, he’s going to give me a fuck ton of shit for being right, isn’t he?”

“See? You’re already thinking more clearly.”

I laughed and stood to help her into her coat. Then I wandered over to look out the window and frowned. It didn’t look like she’d be able to see her hand in front of her face out there. “What was the thump I heard before you came up the stairs to the door?” I asked curiously.

“Oh.” I turned to see her smiling sheepishly. “I drove right up to the porch…I may have misjudged the distance slightly and gave it a tiny bump. I was only going around two miles an hour, though, so it didn’t do any damage.”

If she’d expected me to be amused, she had another thing coming. “You misjudged and ran into the porch?”

When Cammie looked at my face, her expression dimmed. “It was just a slight bump. The porch is fine.”

“I don’t give a fuck about the porch, Cammie,” I growled.

She put her hands on her hips and met my hard stare with one of her own. “Then what the fuck is the problem?” I almost laughed because she was cute when she swore, but I didn’t want to show any emotion for fear that she’d see how turned on I was by her fire.

“Cammie, you couldn’t see enough to tell there was a fucking porch in front of you. What was to stop you from ending up careening down a steep slope on this fucking mountain?”

She sighed and picked up her hat, pulling it onto her head and down over her ears. “I was wrong by like one foot, Soren. I could never get lost up here. I grew up on this mountain. Few people know it better than Raven, Jake, and me.”

“All it would take is one mammoth gust of wind and it would whip you around like a rag doll.”

“Well, I better be going before the storm reaches that point, shouldn’t I?”

I shook my head and moved to stand in front of the door, feet apart and my arms over my chest. “There is no way in hell that I’m going to let you go out in that.”

Cammie raised an eyebrow, her jovial mood gone, and her jaw clenched stubbornly. “You don’t let me do anything, Soren. What I do is of no concern to you.”

“It is when you’re being foolish and too damn stubborn to admit to it.”

She shook her head and picked up her gloves. “One man’s opinion, I suppose. But?—”

We both froze at the sound of a loud crack right before something outside made a deafening crash.

“What was that?” she yelled as she raced to the door and tried to shove me out of the way. “Good grief,” she huffed after a few seconds when I hadn’t budged an inch. “Are you made of stone?”

Other than my cock? I thought.

“If I open the door, will you promise not to rush out?” I asked.

Cammie threw her hands in the air and huffed. “Fine! Sheesh, it’s like having yet another brother trying to boss me around.”

“Never compare me to a brother, Cammie,” I growled. “There is nothing brotherly about the thoughts you put in my head.”

She froze, then backed up a couple of steps and gestured toward the door. “I won’t try to go out yet.”

“Thank you,” I muttered, irritated with myself for losing control and letting that shit slip. I should have let her go about thinking of me as a “brother.” It would have made it easier to stay away from her. But I’d seen the fire in her eyes when I implied I wanted her. Fuck.

Turning around, I unlocked the door and opened it just far enough to stick my head out and look around. I quickly spotted the source of the noise. An extremely large tree branch had crashed down onto the porch, smashing through the roof and blocking the stairs.

There was a back exit through the kitchen, so the path being obstructed wasn’t a problem, and it hadn’t hit the house, so that wasn’t a worry either. However, there was definitely one issue that was likely to tick off Cammie and make my next few days a living hell.

Luckily, it hadn’t blocked the stash of firewood, but when the roof crashed, a huge chunk of it had landed on the snowmobile.

Which meant that until someone could come out here again, Cammie was here to stay.

Anger burned inside me, and I slammed the door shut before putting my hands on it and dropping my head as I took several deep breaths. I could handle this. I could stay in control. Nothing was going to happen.

I told myself these things over and over, hoping they weren’t lies.

A few days. I just had to keep my hands to myself for a few days until the snow plows made it to my cabin.

“Did you see what made all that racket?” Cammie asked. She’d wandered over to the picture window, but the porch was to the left of it, so there wasn’t a good view.

I faced her and stuck my hands in my pockets. “The good news is, I don’t have to fight with you about staying here.”

Her brow dipped down, and she cocked her head to the side. “You’re going to let me leave?”

Her mouth formed an almost imperceptible pout, and I silently lectured myself to ignore the satisfaction I felt at knowing she didn’t really want to go.

“There is no fucking way I would let you go out in that blizzard, Cammie,” I told her bluntly.

Her eyes narrowed, and I could tell she was gearing up for a fight.

“But it doesn’t matter now because you’re stuck here.”

“Stuck?” She turned her gaze to the window and frowned.

“That sound was a huge branch crashing into the roof of the porch, and it crushed your ride.”

Her expression fell, and she sighed. “Seriously? That snowmobile was brand new and expensive as hell. I honestly think Caleb might cry.”

A smile crawled across my face, and I laughed at the image. “I’d pay to see that.”

“Right?” Cammie giggled. Then she glanced around and grimaced. “Well, this certainly wasn’t how I expected to spend my holiday.”

“I can imagine,” I muttered, thinking about my situation. However, having Cammie there—even if it would give me blue balls—meant I wouldn’t be alone. Usually, I didn’t mind the solitude, but not at Christmas.

“I don’t even have a change of clothes,” she muttered, peering down at her apparel.

My mind traveled to thoughts of Cammie wearing nothing, and I mentally groaned. Get your head out of the fucking gutter, jackass.

“I have some clothes you can wear,” I mumbled.

Cammie chuckled. “I can’t imagine they’ll fit.”

No, but she’d look damn sexy in my clothes.

“We’ll find something.”

“Thanks.” She smirked. “It’s awfully cold to be walking around naked.”

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I closed my eyes and exhaled slowly. “Cammie,” I chided, “I know you feel the chemistry between us and are smart enough to figure out that giving in to it is a terrible idea.”

When I opened my eyes, her expression was chagrined, and she nodded reluctantly. “I know.”

“If you don’t want me tearing off your clothes and fucking you up against the nearest wall, I suggest you don’t talk about your naked body. Understood?”

Cammie’s skin was flushed, and her blue orbs were filled with heat, darkening them to sapphire. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” The apology didn’t sound genuine, but neither of us remarked on it.