“So that’s why your car wasn’t in the driveway,” Erik said.
“Yeah. I thought you were working.” Alexis hobbled into Erik’s room and sat on the bed. Erik and the dude behind him watched as she tenderly prodded her ankle.
“Lex, you don’t have any pants on,” Emma whispered.
Her friend glanced up. “How different is this from my bathing suit? Crap, my ankle is really swelling.”
Alexis was the person Emma wished she could be. Bold and confident, her best friend since third grade was a ball of energy, sass and smack talk. Being seen in her underwear didn’t faze her.
“She punched me and then threw a shoe at me,” the guy behind Erik said, sounding incredulous.
“You scared the crap out of me,” Alexis retorted, her dark eyes blazing.
“Okay, okay.” Erik held his hands up, pressing them against air. “Let’s all just calm down. This was a big misunderstanding. No harm, no foul.”
“Speak for yourself,” Alexis muttered, her face twisted in pain. “I tripped over my suitcase when I was chasing that pervert out of my room.”
“Pervert?” the guy said. “I’m not a—”
“He’s not a pervert. Well, not usually. This is Layton Davis,” Erik said, tilting his handsome face heavenward in what looked to be a prayer for patience. “He drove me home after we worked a blaze. I told him to take the spare room. I thought you were gone. You were supposed to be gone.”
Guilt nudged Emma. Their being stranded was all her fault. She’d tried to run too many errands on her list that morning and it had pushed them back on getting everything done for the Christmas dinner and dance being held at the school her parents ran for mentally challenged adults. The party was scheduled for Saturday night and Alexis had volunteered to go with Emma to surprise her parents, who were receiving a community-service award at the annual function. Since Emma had recently moved to Greeley, which was just east of Pine Ridge, to teach at North Colorado State, she’d been thrilled when her bestie had suggested they make a girlfriends’ weekend of it.
“Well, we weren’t gone. And who doesn’t check where he’s going to sleep before plopping down on top of someone?” Alexis asked.
“Someone who’s tired as shit and unaware someone’s friend’s sister is occupying the bed he was given,” Layton said, flashing an annoyed glance toward Erik.
Erik shrugged. “Like I knew. Let’s shelve the accusations and take a page from Emma’s book and not freak out.”
Everyone looked at Emma. She managed an awkward smile.
For a few seconds the room fell silent, the animosity dissipating.
“Okay, good. Now, since it’s cold as frick outside and the roads are too dangerous, let’s bunk up and get through the night,” Erik said.
“Your sister probably needs an ice pack or something,” Layton said, gesturing to Alexis, whose ankle looked swollen. “How about I grab some ice while you figure out the sleeping arrangements.”
Layton disappeared and a light came on, lending a glow to the hallway.
“Why are you wearing a quilt?” Alexis asked.
“ʼCause I’m naked under here,” he said, tugging the quilt up higher. Emma had noted it slipped a bit during the whole Alexis-trying-to-kill-Layton incident, revealing washboard abs and the hint of the delicious narrowing to... No, she wasn’t going to think about the crush she’d always had on him.
This was Alexis’s brother.
And, yeah, he was hot as butter on a biscuit, but he was practically family. Erik was the guy who had given her noogies, who had pulled her pigtails. Okay, not literally, but pretty much the same thing. She wasn’t supposed to notice the quilt dipping low to reveal the curve of his ass or how nice his naked torso looked or the fact he had a tattoo of an eagle on one side of his chest, which looked so...tough and male and—
“Wait, did you climb into bed with Emma while you were naked?” Alexis asked, still cradling her swelling ankle.
“Yeah,” Erik admitted, looking unabashed.
Alexis glanced at Emma, eyebrows arched above amused eyes. “Well, how come you didn’t scream?”
“I never scream.” Emma sniffed.
“Well, if a big bozo sat on you, you would,” Alexis grumbled.
The big bozo appeared with a bag of frozen broccoli wrapped in a dish towel. He frowned at Alexis but shouldered his way inside, handing the bag to her friend. “Here. I’m happy to take the couch.”
“And I’ll give you your bed back and sleep with Alexis,” Emma said to Erik. “I feel so bad about being here when you—”
“I told you to,” Alexis interrupted. “He was at work.”
Erik looked as though he wanted to say something more, but he bit his tongue.
They all stood around. Finally, Emma said, “I’m not exactly dressed. And neither is Erik. So...”
“Right,” Alexis said, sliding off the bed and hobbling toward the door. Erik frowned as if he wanted to help her, but he still clasped the quilt around his waist.
“Well, hell,” Layton said, sweeping Alexis into his arms.
“Hey! Put me down,” Alexis said, her nearly naked bottom staring Emma in the face.
“I will. In your room.” Layton strode to the door, ignoring her friend’s struggles. The man looked like a model, with hair flapping over one eye and sleek, knotted muscles bulging at Alexis’s weight. Emma dropped her eyes down to Layton’s tight butt and that’s when she noticed Erik watching her.
She jerked her gaze away, begging the pink not to creep into her cheeks.
Which was a fail.
“Uh, I’m gonna grab some pants and then let you get dressed,” Erik said, lifting her lacy pink bra off the doorknob. He eyed the sexy lingerie and then smiled as he handed it to her.
Desire punched her in the stomach.
Damn. Erik Matheson was an absolute fox. Layton may look like an Abercrombie model, but this man was like sex on a plate...just waiting for someone to take a satisfying bite.
Emma licked her lips before plucking the bra from his fingers. “Thank you.”
“Need any help?” he asked, sounding serious, as his gaze dropped to her breasts covered by his blankets.
“Uh, no,” she managed to say, her cheeks still likely bright red. Why couldn’t she be like Alexis? Have the flippant, flirty comebacks? Be cool?
“I’m just kidding, Em,” Erik said, grabbing his jeans off the chair in the corner and following Layton and his still-struggling sister from the room. Just as he was about to close the door, he popped his head back in. “Not that I wouldn’t like to.”
Then he shut the door, leaving Emma red-faced...but slightly turned on.
2
ERIK EYED THE ROADWAY, looking for patches of ice, and then glanced over at his sister’s best friend. “The road looks okay. They’re clear around Denver, but my buddy at highway patrol said traffic was still a nightmare. This shortcut will get you there faster.”
“Good,” Emma said, her hands folded primly in her lap. She wore a thick sweater with a scarf, a pair of black leggings and suede boots that stretched up her long legs to the bottom of her thighs. She looked amazing, especially with her blond waves falling over her shoulders and those pretty green eyes flocked by thick sooty lashes.
How in the hell would all those frat boys stay focused on Chaucer instead of their English lit professor’s nice ass?
Probably with her cool demeanor. There was something so untouchable about Emma.
He’d insisted on driving her after fighting with a hobbling sister who had finally admitted she was in no shape to travel with her friend. Luckily, he’d showed no effects from the temporary smoke exhaustion. Apparently, eight uninterrupted hours of sleep worked wonders.
“Thank you again for driving me. I really w
anted to be there to see my parents receive their award.” Emma twisted her fingers and glanced over at him with those guileless green eyes.
“I wasn’t letting you go alone in this weather, and, hey, at least I don’t have to listen to Alexis bitch all weekend about her ankle.”
“Poor Lex. Her ankle was so swollen. I feel bad for leaving her.”
“It’s a sprain. Layton said he’d drive her to get an X-ray, but it’s not serious.” Erik narrowed his eyes, looking for the turnoff. Normally, he’d never take a back road when the interstate and other well-traveled highways would be salted and much safer, but the dinner and dance honoring Emma’s parents started in less than two hours. If Emma wanted to make it, then he had to make up for lost time. The ice storm had been bad and the interstate had opened a mere hour ago. Finding the correct turn, he slowed and carefully steered Emma’s Lexus SUV onto the narrow two-lane highway.
Emma made a face. “I’ve never been this way before.”
“I came this way all the time when I was in college. Don’t worry. I’ve driven it in weather worse than this.”
“I forgot you went to the Air Force Academy.”
“For a year.” He gave a shrug, slightly embarrassed he’d abandoned academia for something so mundane as being a firefighter. Deal was, he loved his job and knew it was where he belonged. Every hour he’d spent in a classroom had been excruciating. College hadn’t been his cup of tea.
A few miles down the road that no longer felt familiar, he noted more frequent patches of ice. The road had been plowed at some point, but the salting had either been overlooked or the county hadn’t bothered spending the money on a seldom-used byway. He needed to be very careful, so he decreased his speed and vowed to stop eyeing Emma’s firm thighs. However, he could do nothing about the sensuous perfume that took his thoughts to places they had no business going.
The tires on the car slipped a few times, making Emma clutch the dashboard. “I’m sorry I’m being a nervous Nellie,” she said, laughing at herself.
“Well, it’s a bit worse than I remembered,” Erik admitted, though he didn’t want to state he’d been wrong about taking the shortcut. He probably should have stuck to the cleared interstate, getting Emma to the community center late, rather than trying to play macho hero. He’d just seen that look of longing in her eyes and wanted to impress her for some odd reason.
A sharp curve lay ahead and Erik tapped the brakes to slow down. Just as he started the turn, he hit black ice. The car slid sideways, veering toward the guardrail and a steep embankment.
“Ah,” Emma squeaked as the back of the SUV fishtailed. He felt her grab the handle above her head but kept his eyes focused on the road and hands on the wheel. He managed to get control of the vehicle and had just breathed a sigh of relief when the back fender clipped the guardrail.
The Lexus did a 180-degree spin. The tires could find no traction as the SUV tilted backward over the embankment.
The seat belt jerked him against the seat and he heard Emma screaming.
Oh, shit.
He pressed the brake, locking up the tires, but he couldn’t slow the momentum. They went down the steep embankment. Branches whooshed by and then the vehicle hit something that spun them another 180 degrees so that they were hurtling right toward a—
Huge tree.
The Lexus plowed into a bank of snow and then smacked the tree.
Hard.
His head snapped forward on impact and then something slammed into his body.
Air bag.
The entire time Emma had been screaming. Or maybe it was him? He didn’t know. He couldn’t see anything. He couldn’t breathe.
Instinctively he fought the air bag, gasping for breath. The air bag immediately started deflating. “Emma?”
He didn’t hear anything.
“Emma! Are you okay?” he shouted.
He heard the sound of spitting and then her hand connected with his leg. “I’m here. I think I’m okay.”
Erik pressed down the expended air bag and looked over to find Emma covered in a powdery dust. Right when their gazes made contact, something slammed into the roof. She screeched, ducking down. He recoiled, too, before realizing the tremendous thump had been snow dislodging from the branches above them.
His heart beat in his ears and his body felt numb.
“Are you hurt?” he panted, adrenaline igniting, coursing through his body.
“I don’t think so.” She moved her legs, wincing a little. “My neck hurts a little, but I’m okay. You?”
“Yeah,” he said, flexing his arms, wiggling his legs.
They’d been very lucky. The thick snow at the bottom of the hill had helped slow them before impact. If they hadn’t had that bank of snow, they might have been gravely hurt. As a firefighter he’d seen plenty of head-on collisions.
The engine had died and he couldn’t see anything through the spiderwebbed windshield. A fir-tree branch pressed against his driver’s-side window, blocking his vision, so he looked past Emma, who still struggled with the air bag, to see they’d landed in brushy woods.
Erik breathed a sigh of relief when he pushed the unlock button and the doors made a telltale clicking sound. Then he unbuckled himself and dug his cell phone out of his pocket. He pressed the home-screen button and his apps appeared along with the signal display that read No Service. “Goddamn it.”
He smacked the steering wheel, sending up a cloud of white powder that made him cough.
“What?” Emma said, stamping down on the fabric of the air bag.
“No frickin’ service.” He wagged his phone. “Try yours.”
Emma unbuckled and felt around for her purse. Things must have fallen out, because she mumbled something that could have been a really naughty word before pulling out a pink phone with a bow on the top.
“Oh no,” she breathed.
“What?”
“I forgot to charge it last night. Only one percent battery life.”
“Who forgets to charge a phone?” he asked, feeling aggravation welling in him. It was like dealing with Alexis. No common sense. And now they had no way to phone for help.
Emma’s eyes flashed fire. “Someone who was unfamiliar with the place she slept. Someone who had a naked man slide into bed with her. Someone who doesn’t have to answer to you.”
Touché.
Erik sighed and ran a hand over his face. “I’m sorry. Stress. Can’t you charge it with the car battery?”
She ignored his apology. “Mine only charges when the engine is cranked. So who should I call?”
“That doesn’t make any sense. It runs off the battery. Did you check your fuses?” Emma gave him a flat look, so he said, “Dial 911.”
After getting the particulars about where he thought they were, Emma dialed the number. He watched, fear seeping into his gut. The temperatures weren’t arctic, but they would drop when the sun went down. They needed to find help before that happened. He glanced at his watch: 4:33 p.m.
“Um, hi. Uh, my name is Emma Brent and my friend and I were traveling out here on—what’s it called again?” She looked at him.
“Old Fox Farm Road,” he said.
“You heard him? And we were cutting over to 105 when we hit some ice and ended up going over the shoulder, um, about ten miles past Mill Creek Run. Hello? Can you hear me? Hello?” Emma pulled the phone from her ear and looked at it. “No, no, no.”
Then she lifted those pretty green eyes to him. “Sorry.”
Erik wanted to slam his hand against the wheel again, but he didn’t. “Okay. No big deal. I’m going to climb out and walk up the incline. I should have service once I’m on the road. You stay here. Put your coat on and stay warm.”
Erik pulled his coat off the back floorboard and struggled into it. Tuck
ing his scarf under the zipper, he opened the door, pushing hard against the bent metal, and climbed out into the bitter-cold day. Just as he slammed the door shut, sleet started falling, pinging on the smashed hood of the car. Not bothering to look over the wreckage, he began the climb up the steep embankment, praying that another vehicle might pass by, hoping beyond all hope he might get a signal.
Ten minutes later he turned and headed back down to the wrecked car. He’d not seen a single car pass by and his phone couldn’t catch a signal no matter where he stood along the road. Which was ridiculous because every cellular commercial promised nationwide service. Such bullshit.
He pulled the door open to find Emma sitting bundled in her coat, teeth chattering. “Any luck?”
“No.” He didn’t want to admit how badly he’d fucked up by trying to take that shortcut. He’d gotten impatient about her phone not being charged, but the blame for this fiasco lay squarely on his shoulders. The only good news was that the sleet had stopped. But low mean clouds gathered in the distance. “Let’s try to start the engine and charge your phone. Should have thought of that in the first place.”
He pressed the button that should start the car. Nothing but a click. He pumped the gas pedal as if that would help. Nothing.
Emma pulled her hands from her pockets, holding her phone. “While you were gone, I managed to get my phone on again and sent a message to Alexis. I think it sent. Just said we’d wrecked off Old Fox and we were okay. That was the best I could do before it shut down again. I’m sorry I didn’t charge it. We wouldn’t be in this situation if I had.”
Guilt sucker punched him. “No. This is my fault. I stubbornly insisted on taking this way.”
“What are we going to do?”
“We’re going to walk back to the highway and wait on someone to pass. It’s a back road, but people live out here. Someone will come by.”
No one came by.
It was like a movie. Two people stranded. Brutally cold weather. No one for miles. All they needed was an escaped serial killer.
“I can’t believe this shit,” Erik said, holding his phone up as they trudged back down the road in the direction from which they’d come. They’d waited for a car for a good thirty minutes before they decided to start walking. They’d only driven ten or twelve miles since they’d turned off the marked road. And the walking kept them somewhat warm. At least Emma’s teeth had stopped chattering.
A Wrong Bed Christmas: IgnitedWhere There's Smoke Page 10