by Various
"Cattle or horses?"
"Both. You?"
"Both."
"I bet it’s been rough this winter with the snowfall we’ve had."
"Yeah. I’ve been havin’ to supplement their feed a lot this winter."
"We have too."
"You still live out there? With your parents, I mean?"
"No. Actually, I have a little apartment on the back of this diner." She looked down at her hands where they sat clasped tightly together on the tabletop.
A loud, long beep sounded on the television running in the corner. "Weather report," she said, glancing back at the screen. "There is supposed to be a blizzard tonight. We are supposed to get like two feet of snow."
"Yeah, I heard. I was hoping to get home before it blew in, but it doesn’t sound like I will." He glanced at her profile, noticing the bow shaped lips and little upturned nose. "Is there a motel around here?"
She nodded. "Out behind the diner, but I think they’re full up. I saw them turn on the no vacancies sign earlier. A lot of truckers stopped in early when they heard. They are all holed-up for the night."
"Well damn."
The phone rang in the corner. "I better get that."
"Sure."
The moment she picked up the phone, he saw the worry lines appear between her eyes.
"Okay. I understand. Yeah, I think you’re right. No, I’ll be fine. I’ll close up everything. We haven’t had much traffic today anyway with the storms. Most folks are stayin’ home. Sure. No problem. See you tomorrow afternoon." She hung up the phone and headed back toward him with the coffee pot. "Would you like a warm up?"
"Sounds good."
"I’ll be closing the diner soon. That phone call was the owner. He told me to close up and go home."
"Is there anything I can help with?"
She shook her head. "There isn’t much to do really. Shouldn’t you be getting on the road if you’re gonna outrun this storm?"
With a glance out the window at the rapidly piling snow, he said, "I think it’s too late for that." He dug into his pocket for his wallet. "Let me pay you for the meal so you can get busy closing up. I need to head on over to the motel and see if there is a room."
"Okay."
As she picked up his plate to take it to the kitchen, he wondered about the weather and how bad it was going to get before all was said and done. He had four-wheel drive on his truck, but plowing through drifts of snow several feet high rendered even four-wheel drive useless. He’d be stuck here for a couple of days more than likely, until they got the Interstate plowed. Snow wasn’t a new thing for their area and the plows would be out anyway, but the snow seemed to be coming down pretty damned hard.
After he gulped the rest of his coffee, he dropped his cowboy hat on his head, pulled his jacket back on, bent into the wind and pushed the door to the diner open. Frigid wind hit him in the face, taking his breath away in one fell swoop. Damn the cold. He hoped his horses were snuggled down in the stall Catlin had let him use for them. He’d have to make sure to thank her for suggesting it.
The motel sat right where she said it did, to the back and left of the diner. The sign for Snuggle Down Motel blinked in the fading light of the day, the no vacancies glaringly red between the white snowflakes coming down in a white sheet. Great. He plodded through the ever-increasing snow as it began to cover his boots in a blanket of white.
A bell jangled as he pushed open the door to the office of the motel. "Hello?"
"Be right with you," came the reply from the door standing slightly open behind the long counter. A small, portly, balding gentleman came through a moment later wiping his hands. "How can I help you?"
"Do you have any rooms? I just need a bed. Nothin’ fancy."
"Sorry, cowboy. Ain’t got nothin’ available. All the truckers took what I had with this storm comin’ in."
"I thought as much, but I figured I’d check. Are there any other motels in town?"
"Two but they’re full up too. I already called in case I had someone come in lookin’ for a room. Sorry."
"No problem. Thanks."
Eli pushed open the door again, shivering as the wind blew snow down the back of his jacket and shirt. The little popcorn shit was the worst when it came to keeping it out of your clothes. He had to hold his hat down on his head to keep it from blowing away in the wind as he headed back for the diner.
His roan and palomino stuck their noses out of the stall they’d backed into to keep warm and greeted him with a knicker. "You two stay warm. I’ll get you in the mornin’," he said, stopping to swipe his hand down their noses a couple of times. He knew they’d be fine, unlike him. The thought of bedding down in the front seat of his truck didn’t sit well. Not that he hadn’t done it a time or two in the past, but if the weather kept up, it might even bury his truck to the fenders.
As the snow continued to fall in huge, white flakes, he tucked his jacket up around his ears and headed back toward the diner. Maybe Catlin would have some ideas on where he could bunk down for the night. With her? Not that I’d mind that in the least, but I wouldn’t ask it of her.
The lights in the diner were off except for the one behind the counter in the kitchen. He tapped on the door, watching as her head popped up from the small hole where the food came from out of the kitchen for them to serve. A big smile graced her red lips as she motioned for him to come inside.
"Any luck?"
"Nope. They’re all full up." Her head continued to bob behind the counter as he looked around. "He said the other few in the area are full up too."
"Hmm. It’s gonna get too cold tonight for you to sleep in your truck. It’s settled. You can stay with me."
"With you?"
She glanced up and smiled. "Don’t look so shocked. It’s the neighborly thing to do. You can have the floor."
"The floor. Of course."
"You didn’t think I meant to sleep in the bed with me, did you?" She laughed while he continued to hear her scrape the grill clean. "I’ve known you a total of two hours, cowboy. I might be horny, but I don’t usually take strangers to bed."
"I didn’t—I wasn’t…"
"It’s okay. Men tend to think like that all the time."
He could feel the heat crawling up his cheeks knowing he’d been thinking about taking her to bed not ten minutes earlier. Not that he would mind getting between her pretty thighs, but he wasn’t one to take a woman and leave her high and dry in the morning. With the weather coming in, it might be more like a couple of days, but still.
The sounds coming from the continued weather reports on the television blended to nothing while he waited for her to finish what she needed to do. "Can I help you with anything? I’m a mean dishwasher."
"That’d be nice. There are a few pots to be done. Not much, but it would help me get done faster while I put this food away."
After he climbed to his feet, he walked through the swinging doors to the kitchen to find the sink. He almost stumbled over his feet when he stopped long enough to see her bent over the grill wiping it clean. Damn, she’s got a pretty ass. I sure wouldn’t mind getting a piece of it before the night is over.
"Quit staring." She glanced back over her shoulder with a grin on her lips. "It’s just an ass."
"A mighty fine one too."
"Thank you, kind sir." She turned around to dip a deep curtsey. "The sink is back behind the wall. I appreciate your help."
"No problem, milady."
She laughed as she turned back to finish the grill.
"I really appreciate you letting me use your floor. I sure hope this weather lets up by tomorrow and doesn’t dump as much snow as they are sayin’ it’s going to."
"Yeah, me too. They are pretty good about keepin’ the plows going around here, but if it continues to snow like it is now, we’re gonna be buried until spring."
He shook his head and smiled. He really liked this girl, a lot more than he should for only knowing her for a few hours. "Your parents
don’t worry about you stayin’ in town when it’s snowing like this?"
"Nope. I’ll call them so they know I’m okay. What about your parents? Won’t they be worried?"
"No, but I’ll call them too, just so my mom doesn’t worry. You know how mothers are."
"How many brothers and sisters do you have?"
"Three brothers and two sisters."
"Wow. Big family."
"Yeah."
"What’s it like at Christmas?"
"Crazy. We all get together at the parents’ place."
"Any of them married?"
"Me and my baby sister are the only two not married. Everyone else is."
"How come you’ve never married?"
"I haven’t found the right girl yet, I guess."
"Ever got close?"
"Nope. The longest relationship I’ve had has been six months."
She appeared at the doorway between where he stood and the grill area. "You really are a wild cowboy, eh?"
"No, not really. I don’t hang out at the bars. I don’t go out lookin’ for buckle bunnies and I try to treat the woman I’m with better than most would. At least that’s how I see it."
"Do the women see it the same way?"
"I don’t know. I’ve never asked."
"You seem like a nice fella."
"Well thank you, ma’am."
They laughed together as she started to wipe the dishes he’d stacked on the sideboard. Once everything was finished, she glanced around the kitchen and said, "That’s it."
"Great."
"My place has a little kitchenette in it so I can cook us something for later. I don’t know what I have in my refrigerator though."
"Since you have the key to the diner, we can always get something out of here and I’ll pay for it."
"There are some really nice steaks in the cooler. Do you like steak?"
"I’m a meat and potatoes man from way back."
"Good. I’ll grab those, a couple of potatoes and we’ll eat good tonight. How about a couple pieces of chocolate cake?"
"I love chocolate."
"Me too."
"Just tell me how much and I’ll take care of the bill. It’s the least I can do since you’re lettin’ me stay with you."
"A twenty should cover it since we aren’t eatin’ over here. The costs of the steaks and stuff will be good. I’m sure the boss won’t mind. I’ll call him and his wife when we get to my apartment to let them know. They are really good people."
When they’d gathered there supplies, he helped her with her coat as he inhaled the sweet scent of violets on her clothes, nothing too cloying to clog up the senses. He liked a small, faint scent on a woman. Does she have the same smell between her firm thighs?
Chapter Two
Catlin wrapped the scarf around her neck and head to keep the flakes from going down the back of her coat. She really did like the winters here in Colorado. It was one of the reasons she moved back from Los Angeles several years ago. The breakup with a boyfriend went terribly wrong and ended up with him stalking her before she finally gave up on her acting career. The return home proved a fairly good one. She liked where she lived as well as the people she worked for. She just never thought she’d be waiting tables for the past five years.
With a twist of the key, she locked up the now dark diner. "Thank you for helping me close up."
"No problem."
"You wash a mean plate."
He grinned, flashing pearly white teeth behind full lips. She could look at him all day. His blue eyes reflected warmth and contentment. It wasn’t very often you found a man content with his life, but Eli seemed to be. Something drew her to the man behind the smiling eyes. He seemed lonely, maybe. She wasn’t sure, but he sure was nice to look at with all those muscles. No stranger to hard work, this man.
Of course, running a ranch took a lot of hard work. She knew from experience on that score. It had been a number of years since she worked cattle with her dad except for an occasional stop at the home place, but she knew how hard the men worked in the rough Wyoming and Colorado territory, with winters being the worst.
They turned to walk along the side of the building, their step crunching in the snow already piled to their knees.
"It’s gonna be a bad one, I’m afraid," he said, his words muffled slightly behind where he’d buried his lips in the V of his jacket.
"I think so too."
With hurried steps, they made their way to her small apartment door. She pulled out the keys with gloved fingers, stuck the key in the lock and then turned it quickly. "Let me get the heater turned on. I keep it down pretty low during the day when I’m not home."
He rubbed his hands together to warm them, she assumed. No matter. It would be warm in the apartment in a second. It didn’t take long since the place was so small.
Good thing she’d cleaned yesterday and didn’t have unmentionables hanging all over the studio apartment she rented. It wasn’t much, but it was hers.
"Make yourself comfortable. I know it’s not much."
"It’s a great little place." He glanced around as he stood near the door with his hands on his hips.
"Is your house big?" she asked, putting the food on the kitchen counter.
The whole apartment consisted of one large bedroom living room combo, a bathroom off to the back and a kitchenette to the left.
She wanted to know as much about him as possible, even though she’d probably never see him again after tomorrow morning.
Eli removed his hat and coat, leaving it on the small table near the door. His black hair reflected blue in the light from the small lamp she’d turned on as they came through the door. "Yeah. I bought it from a family friend when the old man died and his widow moved to town with her kids. She couldn’t keep the old place and the house is built for a family."
"And you haven’t found a woman to share it with yet. Interesting."
"Nope. I haven’t. I don’t believe in leading people on that there might be more, when there isn’t."
"True." She smiled. "An honest man when it comes to relationships. What a concept."
"You obviously aren’t married."
"No. I haven’t even really got close. The old boyfriend was pretty serious on my part, but it turned out he wasn’t."
"Yeah, that sucks. How old are you, anyway?"
"Twenty-eight. You?" she asked, taking out a bottle of wine and a beer from the refrigerator. Good thing she had some left over from when her mom and dad had visited several weeks ago. "Beer?"
"Sure. Thanks." He took a long sip and then wiped his lips with the back of his hand. "Same for me. Twenty-eight that is."
"You must have graduated high school near Cheyenne if your parents place is there."
"Yep. Marshall."
"Wow. Really? We used to play Marshall in football and stuff."
"Where’d you go?"
"Smithville."
"Yeah, we did. Did you used to go to games?"
"I was a cheerleader."
"Seriously?" He took another long drag from his beer. "Hell, I probably saw you back then. I used to play football for Marshall. State Champs in ’98."
"Wow. Small world. We played Marshall for the state championship that year." She took a sip of the wine she’d poured. "What position did you play?"
"Half-back."
Eli took the chair near the table while she sat on the bed. "I didn’t know any of the Marshall players."
"I’m sure I saw you. Didn’t your school have those maroon and silver uniforms with the really short skirts."
She laughed. "All high-schools had those really short shirts, cowboy."
"True. I kind of liked those."
"I bet you did." She took another sip of her wine. "I bet you had lots of dates in high-school too."
He shrugged as he dangled the beer from his fingertips. "A few." He tipped his head to the side. "What about you? A gorgeous woman like you would have had to be pretty popular in school."
She covered her mouth with her hand as a snort echoed in the small room. "I had braces, glasses and was overweight. I think they only let me be a cheerleader because they felt sorry for me."
"Well, you got the braces off, contacts I’m guessin’ and lost some weight?"
"Grew into my body is more like it. I’m not a short woman if you noticed."
"Oh I’ve noticed a hell of a lot about you, Catlin."
"Did ya now?"
"Yep." He drained the bottle of beer.
"I have more if you’d like another one."
"Sure."
She poured herself more wine after she retrieved another bottle of beer from the refrigerator for Eli as she pushed off her boots with her toes. "Are you hungry? I can start supper."
"Not yet. It hasn’t been that long since I had your awesome meatloaf."
"True."
"What other things did you like doin’ when you were a kid?"
"Riding horses, reading, swimming, fishing."
"You like to fish?"
"Yeah. I’m my daddy’s girl in that department. Hunting too."
"What do you hunt?"
"Deer, Elk, Turkey. Lots of different things."
"A woman after my own heart."
"Nope. Just your cock."
His eyes widened as a small smiled played on his lips where it quirked up a little on the side.
Why the hell did I say that? Not like I’m trying to get in his pants or anything, right?
"How long as it been since you played in the snow?" she asked, liking the way the smile played on his lips in a little crooked grin.
"Several years, why?"
"I’m challenging you to a snowball fight."
"Did I tell you I pitched baseball in high-school?"
"No, but I didn’t tell you I pitched softball in high-school either."
She grabbed some jeans out of her drawer, slipping them on under her waitress skirt before she shoved her feet back into her boots.
Catlin giggled as they raced to put on their outerwear before wading out into the deep snow. Snowflakes continued to fall in a sheet of white. She didn’t care. For now they could be kids again playing in the snow. Before she could blink, a large snowball beaned the side of her head. "Oh, it’s on now, mister." She tossed one straight for his head, but he ducked out of the way at the last minute. From her position behind a car parked a few spaces over, she made several snowballs while she waited to find out where Eli had gone. She didn’t hear him coming until he was on top of her stuffing snow down the back of her jacket. "Shit!"