Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

R ae

"What are you doing?" My voice is not my own. Then again, it's Hutton Calder leaping into my elevator. Any female, and quite a few males, would gush like an over-caffeinated tweenager during a sale at Sephora.

One thick eyebrow lifts. "I can't let a pretty lady walk all the way to her car in the dark and in the snow by herself, now can I?"

"Ah, you're the protective type, huh?" My cheeks hurt from smiling so hard.

"Yes, ma'am." He tips his head like he imagines himself with a cowboy hat on top of his head. Like father like son, I suppose. His golden-brown hair is disheveled, like he ran his fingers through it repeatedly, but there's no band of flattened hair around his head tonight. I've seen pictures of him in a cowboy hat and they were right up there with the backwards baseball cap he sometimes wears to concerts. Hutton Calder has elevated driving the ladies wild to an art form. This man has his own trending hashtag on TikTok, for Santa's sake.

The elevator dings and I sail past him into the lobby, squeezing my eyes shut for a second to contain the giddy giggle that wants to slip out. I hear Hutton right behind me, the clunk of his cowboy boots on the rough-hewn tile in time with my wildly beating heart. I don't know exactly what gets me about Hutton, but his personality certainly matches the attractive exterior. And being that I've met a handful of celebrities thanks to Morgana, I know not many of them do. Plus, a sexy man with his small son in his arms is doing a number on my biological clock.

I dig in my bag and slow my pace as I reach the heavy wooden door to the outside. Putting my purse on the floor, I shrug on the thick suede jacket with fur lining. Hutton straightens my collar once I get it on, which doesn't help my out-of-control heart rate. I give him a smile of thanks and push open the door.

And that's when I lose the smile. The outside world feels like I just stepped into a snow globe right after a child has shaken it up. I can't even see the wedding tent, let alone the cars in the parking lot.

"Oh, shoot," I mutter, straining my eyes to orient myself and figure out exactly which direction I should head. A gust of icy wind comes from the left and I flip up the fur collar of my jacket to protect my neck.

"This is…" Hutton has his hand on the back of his neck, looking like he might be freezing already. He twists so that Henry is still in the warmth of the lodge and his own back takes the brunt of the brutal wind.

"Yeah, you'd better stay here. Without jackets, you two will be in trouble before we make it to my car." The wind whips again and I have to raise my voice to be heard over the howl.

"Rae, I don't know about this." Hutton raises his voice, the southern drawl far more urgent. "Even if your house isn't far, well, it's asking for trouble to drive in this, sugar."

I step back into the doorway and then step into the hotel, just so Hutton and Henry aren't freezing out there in the elements. The second the door swings shut, the heat of the hotel makes my muscles unlock. Dammit. That's bad out there.

"I think you better stay here tonight," Hutton says.

I shake my head, feather earrings beating against my neck. "No rooms. I double-checked right before I came up here." I look back at the elevators, then the couches in the lobby. "And I can't stay with Morgana. Not with both kids sharing the suite."

Well, this sucks. I might end up spending the night on those couches over there like a runaway at a bus stop. Not that I haven't slept in public places before in my youth, but I seriously thought that was behind me now that I'm almost thirty.

"I can drive you home. I have four-wheel drive. Let me just go upstairs to get a coat for Henry." Hutton interrupts my swirling thoughts.

My mouth opens but no sound comes out.

Hutton's lips hitch upward on one side. "I'm not offering a hall pass, but I do have a badass truck that can get you home if you have no other options."

I cough and have to pat my chest as I choke on my own spit. Awesome. Real smooth. "I can't possibly have you take me home. You're a strange man."

If anything, he smiles more at that. "You're a strange woman. You might be a rabid fan who will knock me over the head with that huge bag of yours and then sell the bloody purse on Ebay for millions."

I grimace. "See? That's why you're strange. That was weirdly specific and yet also gruesome."

He shrugs, jostling Henry's head where he has his eyes closed, content in his father's arms. "And you have blue sparkles all over your face and lashes that fly off at unexpected moments. We're both taking a chance here."

I pause, thinking it through. Hutton knows Morgana and Aksel. They'd both kill him if he touched even one hair on my head. Plus Aksel seemed to like Hutton, and Aksel is a very good judge of character. He doesn't like very many people in general, so if he likes Hutton, that's good enough for me.

Pointing my finger at his chest, I smother my smile and force a fierce look onto my face. "Morgana will kill you if you hurt me. You won't even make it to a court trial."

"Oh, I know." Hutton's free hand flies up in surrender. "She's terrifying. And that was before she married a grumpy Viking."

We stand there smiling at each other until Henry shivers. He must be freezing by the door with the draft that's coming in. We both turn and head for the elevators without another word. I'm pretty sure I'm having an out-of-body experience heading for a hotel room with the one man who's always had my heart fluttering and belly swooping just looking at him. We climb in and he hits the number-two button. The elevator dips upward and it only accentuates the feeling in my gut. He reaches for his back pocket and flips out a worn leather wallet to get his card key. He keeps looking over at me and I'm sure as shit staring right back. You think he'd let me pinch him, just to see if this is really happening?

"So, you're a nanny to the stars?" he finally asks, breaking the charged silence. Henry has perked up, now crunching on the fruit candies, his head still resting on Hutton's muscled chest. The poor kid looks sleepy and here I am having his daddy take me home in a snowstorm.

I nod. Vigorously. "Yep. But that's my side gig, just until my art takes off a bit more."

"Art, huh? Painting, pottery, drawing?"

"I make sculptures out of dried-up gum," I say with a flat face.

Hutton's face doesn't give anything away either, but he does swallow hard. "Like Elf? You just run around the city stealing people's discarded wads of gum?"

I burst out laughing. "So gross! No, I'm a painter, but I do large murals."

Hutton grabs his chest as the elevator dings at our floor. "Thank God. I wasn't sure I could take a gum artist home in my truck."

I exit the elevator and Hutton waves me over to the hallway leading to the right. "Afraid I was going to make you chew gum and spit it into a little Tupperware box for me to take home and use in my next celebrity gum project that would sell for millions on Ebay?"

"Now that was weirdly specific, sugar," Hutton says, echoing me from earlier. He stops at a door and swipes his card key. The lock flashes green and Hutton pushes open the door, gesturing for me to enter ahead of him.

I look around, stopping by the dresser with a flat-screen television above it. It's a nice room, if a little small for a hotshot country singer. There's two doorways, one to the bathroom and a larger one that leads to a room with a bed. The bed is still made and no clothes lie on the floor. Two suitcases are stashed by the bed, unopened.

"Here, I can take him." I hold out my hands and Henry reaches for me, letting me take him from his father. He tucks his precious face into my neck, a heavy lump of heat and exhaustion.

Hutton pauses for a moment, almost as if he's stunned to see me holding his son, before turning to the suitcases and unzipping them to find jackets. He puts his on, then lays the jacket on Henry's back and works his arms through the holes while Henry pretends to sleep. Hutton stands close, his scent enveloping me as we work together to protect Henry. I realize I'm alone in a hotel room with a famous country singer I've lusted over for years, and it couldn't feel more natural. I grin, trying not to giggle and disturb Henry.

"What?" Hutton smiles with me, curiosity in his golden eyes. Damn, the man is handsome. Straight white teeth, a five o'clock shadow that only adds to his masculine appeal, and little lines fanning out from the corner of his eyes, revealing his age.

"In all my years of imagining myself in a hotel room with my hall pass, this isn't quite how I saw it going down," I whisper over Henry's head.

Hutton's eyes heat, but his chest vibrates with suppressed laughter. When he sobers enough to speak, his hand lands on my lower back, escorting me out of the hotel room. "Not exactly how I usually entertain women in my hotel room either, but…"

He trails off and I desperately want to know what he was going to say. "But?"

He closes the door and pauses, staring deeply into my eyes. "But I'm having a much better time with you."

The flush of my cheeks has nothing to do with overheating in this jacket or because of the heat rock I'm carrying. We walk to the elevator, but I'm positive I'm floating over the carpet. When Hutton tries to take Henry back, I don't let him. The way things are going, I'll never have one of my own, so letting me borrow Henry is a gift.

The wind howls the second we step outside and the snow just keeps dumping from the sky. Hutton puts his hand on my elbow and helps guide us to his truck parked right out front. I can't see much, but I know the truck is huge. The man practically lifts Henry and me into the passenger seat before closing the door and running around to the driver's side. We look at each other, huffing from the effort and laughing at the snow in our hair.

"We need to put him in his seat," Hutton says quietly, reaching over to pull the sleeping boy from my chest.

I let him this time, knowing he's far safer in a car seat than my lap, especially on the slick roads. Hutton wedges himself between our seats, getting Henry in his car seat in the back. His legendary ass is literally right in my face, but I turn away. Knowing my luck, I'll get caught staring and drooling over him.

Hutton plops back down in his seat and starts the engine. I feel his gaze locking on me. "Where to, sugar?"

I have to bite my lip to stop the grin while I give directions. It's hard to see out here, and pretty soon, I'm more focused on the road than the famous man next to me. There's no way my car would have made it through this mess. By the time Hutton pulls into my tiny driveway, I'm a mess of anxious nerves.

Blowing out a long breath, I turn to him, noticing his hands are glued to the steering wheel still. "That was crazy."

He blinks and turns my way, looking a little pale under that tan. "Yeah, it's official. I don't like driving in snow. Is it always like this here?"

I shake my head. "No, actually Snowhaven is pretty mild. Sure, we get snow, but never over a few inches at a time." I look out the window at the rapidly rising snowdrift. "This is more than I've ever seen."

Hutton also looks out at the neighborhood. "Uh, Rae?"

"What?"

He reaches over and grabs my hand. "Looks like the power's out."

I gasp and look around, just now realizing there's not one light on in any of my neighbors' houses. Not even a streetlamp shining through the storm. I groan. "Crap. I have a fireplace and plenty of wood, but it's a pain to keep it going. I better get in there."

I reach for the door, but Hutton stops me by tugging on my hand. "Wait. We'll go in with you and get the fire started. Then I'll head back to the lodge."

"You don't have to do that. I'm sure Henry needs to sleep."

Hutton lifts his eyebrows, a firm set to his jaw. "I was born and raised in Texas. We don't leave women to make their own fires."

My heart skips a beat. I'm not at all ready to call it a night and have my encounter with Hutton Calder end. Apparently I'm still a teenager at heart because that bitch lets out a scream that bounces around my skull loud enough to shatter glass. "Alright, then, cowboy. Lead the way."

Doc: Are we taking bets on the power going out?

Mayor Nancy Haney: Do not even speak it. That would be disastrous for our celebrity weekend here in Snowhaven!

Chief Blade: I've got extra guys on patrol tonight. Let's hope not, but we're ready if it happens.

Dagny: Thank you, Chief. We always feel safe with you in charge.

Mayor Nancy Haney: Has anyone else noticed she's only nice to Chief?

John Ross: Everybody likes Chief.

Dagny: You wouldn't know what that's like, Fancy Nancy.

Mayor Nancy Haney: Enjoy making breakfast tomorrow for your sold-out lodge without electricity, Dagny. We'll see who gets the last laugh.

Janna: As the newest person invited to this chat, I'd like to say that I love you all and just want to see you get along. For Snowhaven's sake.

Doc: Snort. That's about as impossible as world peace, kid.

John Ross: She makes a good point. We all could try being a little nicer, especially since it's Christmastime.

Dagny: Would you look at that? My power just went out. Did I win the bet?

Doc: Jesus Christ, woman. We didn't place bets yet! Have you actually lost it??

Chief Blade: Well, shit. My night just got busier. Phones will probably be next. Stay safe, folks.