Chapter 2

2

HAYDEN

T he bell above the door jingled as I hurried inside Frost and Found Hardware. “Butch,” I called out as I stomped my feet on the mat and shook the snow from my hair.

A middle-aged man with white hair, a full beard, and a crooked nose stepped out from the back room and walked up to the counter. He grinned, and his gray eyes twinkled merrily. “How can I help you, Mayor Douglas?”

Butch Frost was practically an institution in the town of Winter Falls. His family had owned the hardware store for generations, and he now ran it with his daughter, Brinley. Also, his kindness and perpetually jolly disposition made it near impossible not to like him.

I laughed and rolled my eyes. “You’ve known me since the day I was born, Butch. Since when do you call me Mayor Douglas?”

He shrugged, and his smile widened. “Just thought I’d try it on for size.”

“Now that I’m two years into my second term?”

“No time like the present, but you’re right, spud,” he said with a nod. “It felt weird.”

As a kid, I hated the nickname he’d given me, thinking that he was referring to my lack of height since I didn’t have a growth spurt until my sophomore year of high school. By graduation, I’d shot up to six foot two and told him he shouldn’t call me spud any longer. But Butch had reached up and ruffled my hair, telling me that it had nothing to do with my stature. He’d picked it because I was what he called “earthy and grounded.”

“The blizzard has picked up strength, and it’s already nearly whiteout conditions out there,” I explained. “I wanted to check in with you and see if you need anything since we’re already beginning to close some of the roads down.”

Winter Falls was a small town high up in the mountains that sat at the base of the Winter Falls ski resort. We survived mostly on the tourist income from visitors who came to ski, but our quaint little town also kept Christmas alive all year long, drawing in even more travelers.

Our elevation brought a lot of snow, which was excellent for business. However, it also meant that we were sometimes hit by massive blizzards. We watched the weather forecasts carefully and made sure to be more than prepared.

We’d been watching the coming storm headed in our direction, and over the past two days, it had picked up strength. It looked as though we might be facing the biggest storm we’d seen in seven years. Back then, the town had been snowed in, and no one was able to get in or out. Oddly, this one was going to hit a couple of days before Christmas, the same time as before.

“We’re all set,” Butch answered. “We ordered extra salt, sand, shovels, and even a few snowblowers. Brinley delivered just about everything that was ordered, but we made sure to have emergency supplies. She’s going to run some last-minute supplies up to The Snowed Inn and Lodge as soon as she gets back from helping shovel and salt the senior center.”

The bell tinkled as someone entered, and Butch gave the newcomer a jaunty wave. “Welcome to Frost and Found Hardware! How can I help you?”

“Hi, um, I think I might be a little lost.”

To my utter shock, the sweet, feminine voice had every nerve in my body lighting up and my dick swelling. What the fuck? I hadn’t felt desire for a woman in…I didn’t even know how long. I’d been too focused on my career to think about a relationship. Besides that, I already knew all the women who lived in my town since I’d grown up with most of them. No one had sparked enough interest for me to even think about dating. And hookups weren’t my style, so I’d never even thought about a holiday fling.

But somehow, without even seeing this woman’s face, she had my libido roaring to life and making me think about how her voice would sound when she was moaning in ecstasy or screaming my name.

Fucking hell. I needed to get control of my body. At least I was wearing a heavy coat that was long enough to hide my erection. I thanked my lucky stars for that as I turned to face the owner of the sensual voice.

When I first saw her, I cursed my lucky stars for playing a joke on me. No way was I going to get my mind off sex when I was staring at the most stunning woman I’d ever laid eyes on.

Long, wavy, dark brown hair cascaded down over her shoulders from under her knitted cap. The color of her hair made her pale skin look more prominent and her catlike green eyes pop.

She was tall—although still at least half a foot shorter than me—but she had delicious curves in all the right places. Even with the heavy winter coat she was wearing, I could tell that she had big tits and wide hips, perfect for breeding.

Whoa! Where did that come from? I tried to shake it off, but my mind wouldn’t stop picturing what this woman would look like with a belly that was round and swollen from carrying our baby.

Her heart-shaped lips curled into a sheepish smile. “I have no idea how I ended up here. I’m hoping someone can give me directions.”

Before Butch could respond, I put a friendly expression on my face—shutting out the blazing lust I was sure she would have seen otherwise—and took a step toward her. “I’d be more than happy to help you out, Miss…” Please don’t correct me to Mrs…

“Um, Laurel,” she replied, the pink of her cold cheeks deepening with an adorable blush. “Laurel Carlow.”

I smiled and stuck my hand out. “Well, welcome to Winter Falls, Miss Carlow. I’m Hayden Douglas.”

“Please, call me Laurel.” She slipped her smaller one into mine, and my skin sizzled from her touch. When her color deepened yet again, I almost smirked at the knowledge that she was affected by me, too.

“And I’m Hayden.” I held on for a couple of beats longer than necessary, then forced myself to let her go, for now. “Regrettably,” I continued with false disappointment, “directions out of town won’t do you any good right now. The police have just closed the main roads in and out of Winter Falls.”

Dismay clouded her features, and she gasped, “What?” She yanked the cap from her head and ran a hand through her thick tresses. “Okay, um…does the town have RV parking? Or a place where I can park my van and keep it running for heat while I wait out the storm?”

I frowned and crossed my arms over my chest. “You intend to sleep in your car?”

She blinked a few times, then understanding crossed her face. “Oh, not like you're thinking.” She giggled, and my cock throbbed. “My van is set up for me to live in. I’m a travel influencer, and the home on wheels makes it a lot easier to bounce from place to place.”

I wasn’t happy to hear that she was living in a van, no matter how much she’d done to the inside to make it livable. But even if I’d been okay with her normal living conditions, no way in hell would she be able to wait out a blizzard this intense in a van.

“Have you checked the weather, Laurel?” I asked gently, not wanting to scare her off with the frustration I was feeling inside.

Her brow furrowed, and her mouth curved down. “Well…no. I figured it was a pretty bad snow storm considering how heavy it's snowing out there.”

“In Winter Falls, a bad storm is fairly normal. This blizzard is forecasted to hit record snowfall and wind speeds. As the mayor, it’s my job to protect everyone in this town. Including someone just dropping by for directions.” I gave her a crooked smile that made her blush again. Damn, she was cute when she did that. “I cannot possibly let you stay somewhere that is unsafe.”

Laurel shifted on her feet and glanced outside, biting her lip as she took in the nearly whiteout conditions and the howling of the wind. “I guess I could stay in a motel.”

Relief flooded my system at her agreement. I would have kidnapped her and hid her van if I’d needed to. Luckily, it didn’t appear that I would need to break any laws in order to keep her safe.

“I’ll call Snowbound Suites,” Butch offered before walking through the door that led to the back rooms, including his office.

“Suites?” Laurel echoed, chewing on her bottom lip again. I wanted to reach out and tug it from between her teeth, but the worry in her green orbs distracted me. “Sounds expensive.”

Ahhh. “It’s a reasonably priced motel, babe,” I told her with a wink. “With a fancy name.” I didn’t bother to tell her that she wouldn’t be paying for it anyway. I had a feeling she would put up a fight, so I decided to put that argument off until I had her situated somewhere safe.

“Oh. Okay.” She smiled and shrugged, her cheeks dusting with pink. “I make decent money doing what I do, and I also don’t have many bills because of the way I live. I have savings, but I’d rather not put a dent in it just to stay in a palace during a snowstorm.” Her tone was a tad defensive, so I hurried to reassure her.

“I get it,” I told her with a healthy dose of admiration and respect. “Living on a budget allows us to follow our dreams.”

She quirked an eyebrow. “Dreams…well, I don’t know about that.” Her expression shifted to something more pleasant, and she added, “I do enjoy traveling and the fun my followers seem to have with my adventures.”

“Well, shoot,” Butch muttered as he stalked back into the room.

“They’re fully booked?” I guessed, not the least surprised.

He nodded and stroked a hand down his beard. “And every other hotel, motel, and B&B. I tried everybody.”

Again, I wasn’t surprised, but I was aggravated because I didn’t know what to do. Other than offering for her to stay with me—which would have been my preference, but I doubted she would accept. That was probably for the best anyway since I very much doubted I’d be able to keep my hands off of her if we were sharing the same space.

Then I remembered that I had one last ace up my sleeve. “I have another idea,” I told them. “Excuse me for a minute.”

I pulled out my cell phone and walked to the back of the store as I dialed the number for my friend Raven, who owned The Snowed Inn and Lodge up at the ski resort.

“The Snowed Inn,” a cheery female voice answered.

“Hey, Raven, it’s Hayden.”

“Mayor Douglas!” she greeted me with a giggle. Raven’s brother Jake and I had been best friends growing up, so she was like a little sister to me. Which was why I let her get away with teasing me about being too serious and needing a life outside of being mayor. So when she called me by my title, she was actually giving me shit about it.

I sighed. “Put Colin on the phone,” I insisted, referring to her business partner.

“Okay, I’ll be good,” Raven chirped. “What’s up?”

“Remember when I picked you up and drove you to your senior prom so your mom wouldn’t know your date was Hughes Langston?” Raven’s mother had been obsessed with marrying off her daughters since the day they turned eighteen. She was convinced they needed to be a housewife and mother to be happy, just like her.

If she’d known that Raven was going to a dance with the son of one of the wealthiest families in town, she’d have embarrassed the hell out of her daughter with all the innuendos and leading questions about his intentions.

Despite knowing I was like an older brother to Raven, even I hadn’t escaped her mother’s attempts to find Raven a husband. And pretending to take her to prom hadn’t helped the situation, which meant I had to endure it longer than necessary. However, we’d eventually shattered Francie’s dream since the idea of Raven and I together had made both of us shudder with disgust.

“Wow…not something I was expecting you to say. But, yeah, I remember. Why?”

“I’m calling in my return favor.”

“You’re what?” Her incredulous tone made me chuckle.

“Yup. You owe me, and I’m cashing it in.”

“For the love of baby snowmen…you realize that was over fourteen years ago, right? You can’t possibly be suggesting I still?—”

“There’s no statute of limitations on favors, ray-ray,” I interrupted, using the nickname she hated and trying not to chuckle at her flabbergasted state.

“Don’t call…whatever.” She sighed. “So what is it you’re wanting?”

“I need you to find a room for a friend of mine.”

“That’s all?” she asked suspiciously.

“That’s all,” I confirmed.

“Wow. I was expecting…you know what? Never mind. I’m not going to put ideas in your head. It’s no problem. What’s his name?”

“Her name is Laurel Carlow.”

“Her?”

Raven’s tone was deceptively innocent, and I grunted, “Don’t even think about it. Focus your matchmaking on Jake, Raven.”

She sighed, and I heard the clicking of her keyboard. “When will she be arriving?”

“Probably in the next hour. Her vehicle isn’t good for driving in the snow, so she’ll have to go slow.”

“Alright. She’s all set.”

“Thanks, ray-ray,” I teased.

“Call me that again, and I’m going to punch you in the jingle bells,” she snapped. Her habit of replacing swear words with Christmas things never failed to make me laugh.

I hung up, then walked back over to Butch and Laurel, who were quietly talking. “You’re all set with a room at The Snowed Inn,” I informed her with a smile. “It’s up on the mountain, though, so I should probably drive you up there.”

Laurel shook her head and tilted her chin up stubbornly. “I might not be used to driving in the snow, but I’m not leaving my van.”

I frowned, about to argue with her when the door opened, and Brinley walked in.

“Baby girl!” Butch greeted his daughter with a cheerful grin. “You’re right on time!”

“Oh?” Brinley asked as she shook off the snow from her coat and boots.

“Laurel here needs to drive up to the inn, and she’s not used to the snowy conditions.” He smiled at Laurel. “Since Brinley needs to make a delivery, I figured she can follow you and make sure you don’t get stranded.”

Brinley shrugged. “Sure. That’s no problem.”

I wanted to argue, but I didn’t really have anything that would hold weight. Fucking hell.

“Is that okay with you?” I queried, hoping Laurel would turn Brinley down and ask me to take her instead.

“If you’re going anyway, I’d appreciate it,” she told Brinley with a grateful smile.

Again, I had no reasonable argument. And the truth was, I still had shit to do before the worst of the storm hit. “Great. Let me load the Jeep, and we can go,” Brinley told her before scampering around the counter and through the door to the back.

While we waited for her to return, I traded numbers with Laurel, then when they were ready, I walked her out to her vehicle. It looked even less reliable than I’d pictured, but I understood why she didn’t want to leave it behind. I added another item to my to-do list—a stop by Hyde Garage and grab some chains for Laurel’s tires. I’d see her later when I drove up to put them on for her.

Her expression turned worried as she looked around before meeting my gaze. “Be careful out there.”

“I will, babe. Text me when you get there so I know you’re safe.”

She nodded. I contemplated kissing her but didn’t want to push too hard, too fast. So I settled for brushing my lips over her cold cheek.

“I’ll see you later,” I murmured as I helped her into the driver’s seat.

“I hope so.” Her face flushed, and I held back a giant grin at the hope in her deep green eyes.

Until that moment, I hadn’t realized that some time after she walked into the hardware store and before she told me her name, I’d fallen for Laurel. Yeah, she’d be seeing a whole fucking lot of me. She was mine, and I wasn’t going to let her go.