“Probably the same way it did as when you left.”
The corners of her mouth turned down. “So like drug dealers and rats fight it out for control?”
He smiled, despite the situation. “They recently redid the Hampton, and it’s really nice, but it’s on the other side of town and the storm’s only going to get worse. It’d be tricky getting there.”
“That one’s probably out of my budget, anyway. Hell, the Budget Valley Motel’s probably out of my budget. Especially now that my car’s going to need a total overhaul. I mean holy shit on a stick, I just fixed the damn thing.”
Nate clamped his lips together. His parents had taken a while to warm up to Kelsey, and even after that, he’d heard Mom ask Derek if he could ask his girlfriend to watch her language.
“Poured all my money into it, and just because I didn’t get new tires…” She exhaled a white puff of air. “Anyway, if you could give me a ride to the inn, I’ll figure out something. Let me try to grab my suitcase first, though. The only thing worse than being stuck would be being stuck with nothing.”
“Here, let me.” The car looked like it was going to roll forward, and the last thing he wanted was for her to have come out okay in the wreck, only to get hurt going back in.
“I can get it,” she said, but then she eyed the distance to the open door and probably realized she wasn’t tall enough. Nate climbed onto the bent up guardrail, spotted the giant hot pink suitcase, and leaned forward.
“Be careful,” she said as the car wobbled and the door closed enough to slam him in the back. He tugged the suitcase out, letting it drop onto the snow. He noticed something metallic on the floor, glinting in the light, but then the car shuddered and he jumped back, deciding not to press his luck. As he picked up the suitcase he noticed all the stars and hearts drawn on it in black marker—it was also heavier than it looked.
Nate cleared his throat. “You know, I have two extra rooms at my house. I’m cheaper than the inn, I cleaned in the last month or so, and it’s only a couple miles from here.”
Kelsey scratched the back of her neck, the many bracelets lining her wrist rattling together. Her eyes came back to his and he held his breath, thinking this was the stupidest idea he’d ever had. He hadn’t seen the girl in six years, and even back in high school, they’d barely talked. But he hated the thought of her stuck in town, snowed in at the dingy motel with no car.
“Seriously?” she asked. “I mean, that’d be great, but I don’t want to put you out.”
“It’s no trouble. I swear.” He hefted her suitcase into the back of his truck. He reached inside the cab, pulled out an orange tag and stuck it on the car. He’d make sure it didn’t actually get towed, but he wanted to signal that it’d been taken care of, so no one thought someone was trapped inside—not that he thought a lot of people would be driving by tonight.
He helped her inside the cab of his truck, noticing a tattoo peeking out of the top of her shirt that he hadn’t seen before, though it was too dark to make out what it was. When he climbed in the other side, she was her rubbing her hands together, so he cranked up the heater.
“I really appreciate this,” she said. “Hopefully the snow will let up and I can get my car into a shop tomorrow.”
He nodded, though he doubted it. This storm was supposed to hammer all night and go well into the next afternoon, possibly longer. Not to mention it’d be Christmas Eve, and it’d be hard to find a mechanic’s shop open, much less one that would have all the parts and could get her car fixed in less than a week. He didn’t want to upset her more, though. In fact, he worried he was skipping a step.
“If you feel like you need to see a doctor, I can take you to the hos—”
She put her hand on his arm and the last of his sentence died on his tongue. “I’m okay, seriously. In fact, this heater is, like, a bloody miracle. My car’s heater blows. And that was before it decided to go for a rail slide.”
Her hand was still on his arm and he could feel how icy her fingers were through the fabric. He could also smell something vanilla, either her perfume or shampoo or whatever it was girls did to themselves to smell so good.
She flashed him a tight smile and scooted back in the seat. He pulled onto the road—the four-wheel drive was already engaged so the tires dug in—and headed toward home. He’d never been good at small talk, and even though he’d imagined what he’d say if he ever ran into Kelsey again, his mind was completely blank.
There was also the fact that over Thanksgiving, while he and Derek had been rehashing “the good ol’ days,” Derek had said Kelsey was the one girl he wished hadn’t gotten away. That put her off limits, and Nate wasn’t going to cross that line. But he wasn’t going to leave her stranded either—especially not for the holidays. So he’d simply help her out and move on with his life when she was gone.
“So… You’re a cop now.” The way she said cop made it clear she didn’t like them any more than she did in high school. Of course anyone could wreck a car in this weather, but he remembered she also tended to drive like a bat out of hell. He was pretty sure she’d been a point away from losing her license there at the end of high school.
“I am,” he said, though he didn’t think she actually needed confirmation.
“That’s…interesting.”
He glanced at her. “What do you do?”
She wiggled the zipper on his coat up and down. “I’m a hairdresser—so surprising, I know. It was what I was good at, though, so I went to school and started making decent money, and it pays the bills. About half of them, anyway.”
He didn’t know what to say to that. She seemed like she was almost embarrassed of it, though he was sure she was good at it. “Do you still do those sculptures?” he asked, thinking that might’ve been the metal thing he’d seen in the backseat of her car.
She whipped her head toward him, her eyes wide. “You remember that?”
Saying he remembered everything about her might come out sounding stalkerish, and probably wouldn’t be comforting to her considering he was currently carting her to his house. But he remembered the sculptures she’d displayed in her mom’s shop, the old metal parts she’d welded together and turned into unexpected art pieces. “They were cool.”
Her cheeks colored slightly. He’d never seen her embarrassed—it seemed she simply said and did whatever she wanted, which was why it was so damn hard to take his eyes off her anytime she came around.
“Thanks. I tinker here and there. But I wanted something that’d make a living and my art… Well, not everyone appreciates welded junk metal put together, no matter how edgy I like to think it is.” She flashed him a smile and while he’d never wish for her to wreck her car, he was glad he was the one who’d been there right after she had. Maybe that made him a bad person.
“You, uh, still live with your parents?” she asked when he turned down the small dirt lane that led home. She hovered her hand over the door handle, as if she would bolt if that were the case.
“My place is about a half a mile down the road from theirs. Helps me keep an eye on the farm. My dad needs help with it, so I work part-time as a cop, part-time with him.” It felt more like two full-time jobs, actually, and one was going to have to give sooner or later, but he wasn’t sure which yet. His parents wouldn’t want to sell the farm, but working for the town paid better.
“So you’re a cop slash farmer. Slash room renter.”
He glanced at her, the words Well, I wouldn’t rent a room to just anyone on the tip of his tongue. He bit them back and said, “Somethin’ like that.”
She tapped her thigh with her fingers. Opened her mouth like she was going to say something and then shut it. Maybe he wasn’t the only one trying to figure out what to say and what not to. She brought up her thumb and chewed on her nail, and he couldn’t help noticing her full bottom lip. “Does Derek still live in town?”
His lungs deflated. Of course she wanted to know about Derek. For the best, really, since it r
eminded him to stop checking her out. “He’s in Asheville right now, so not too far.”
She glanced away, so it was hard to know if she was happy or sad about that. Suddenly he wanted the drive to be over. They’d get to his place and…well, he didn’t know what, but it’d be better than sitting in the truck with nothing to talk about.
Finally his house came into view. He pulled up as close to the front door as he could get and grabbed her suitcase out of the back. Without his coat, the wind cut through his heavy shirt and T-shirt underneath like they were nothing. He couldn’t remember the last time it’d been so cold.
As they walked to the house, Kelsey wobbled on the icy sidewalk and he automatically reached out a hand to steady her, nearly dropping her suitcase in the process.
He started to pull back his arm, but then Kelsey looped her arm through his. He caught that whiff of vanilla again, mixed in with the crisp snow. When they stepped inside he stomped the snow off his boots and offered to hang up the coat for Kelsey, but she hugged her arms around herself.
“I’m still freezing. It’s been a while since I was in snow. It’s funny the difference a couple hours drive can make. Not that it’s all that warm down in Charlotte right now, but it’s damn sure warmer than this.”
He eyed the empty fireplace. He hadn’t bothered making a fire the past few days, but tonight definitely called for one. He walked down the hall, opened the door across from his bedroom, flipped on the light, and peered inside. It was a little stale smelling from lack of use, but at least it was clean. Right now he was glad his parents insisted he take a spare bed. He never imagined he’d actually have a reason to use it.
He set her suitcase next to the closet. “The bathroom’s down the hall to the left.” He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to think of something else to say and coming up blank. “I’ll go start a fire.”
Kelsey nodded, her nose and cheeks still pink from the cold. He thought maybe he’d built her up in his mind, but with the lights on he could see the blue makeup lining her big brown eyes, the nose ring winking in the light, and how her platinum purple-streaked hair was cut in choppy layers around her face.
She’d gotten even prettier over the years.
And now she was in his house.
And he had no idea if this was the best thing to happen to him or the stupidest thing he’d ever done.
Chapter Two
Kelsey watched Nate go, thinking this might’ve been the worst decision she’d ever made. Okay, so it wasn’t nearly as bad as that time she’d decided to go on the Sky Screamer at the amusement park when she was drunk. Or when she’d almost tattooed her first boyfriend’s name on her upper thigh. But this was several steps past awkward. It’d be one thing if she and Nate were friends back in high school, but he’d always stood back, a disapproving look on his face—the same look his mom always gave her when she showed up.
And now she was staying at his house and he still hardly spoke. Of course Mister Serious was a cop now. Made perfect sense. As much as she liked to think she’d gotten over her issues with authority figures, any time she saw a cop car or a person in uniform, she automatically bristled.
Granted, Nate looked pretty good in his uniform.
Okay, that’s so not a helpful thought right now. But the fact of the matter was, he’d always been good looking. Stoic, but cute. Derek had the darker features and was a total show-off. On the basketball court, at school, parties—pretty much everywhere. It was why together they were a whirlwind of disorderly energy. Derek had the motorcycle and was the rule-breaker. Nate was the quiet one who was home early, even though he’d graduated and was curfew-free. She’d never been much for blondes, but the guy made it work if you were into the all-American good boy. Which she wasn’t, as her string of tattooed asshole boyfriends would attest.
Which reminded her that staying here was definitely less stupid than the time she’d gone on tour with her boyfriend Zane—so not his real name, though he refused to give up the real one—and his band for a month. Being on the road with musicians sounded a lot more glamorous than it was, especially if said musicians only played at dive bars and always left you with the hefty tab.
He cried when I dumped him, too, as if he didn’t get it at all. She didn’t like who she was when she was with him. Or with most any guy, actually, which was why she’d sworn off relationships for a while.
Maybe that was another reason, subconsciously, she’d decided to take the slight detour into Marion. Life felt heavier these days, and the last time she remembered simply being without all the worry was when she was here.
Here, where the snow was still falling outside. She moved to the window and pulled aside the blinds to get a better look. Nothing but white. Out here on the far edge of town it only looked bleaker as far as leaving anytime soon went. It was pretty, though, all that fresh white, the swirling flakes in the dark.
Who knows how long I’ll be stuck here if that keeps up.
Kelsey released the blinds and paced across the tiny room decorated with elk blankets and other rustic cabin elements. Not much for plans—she usually avoided them, actually—but she figured this situation might call for one. After all, she didn’t want to spend the holidays here. Nate would no doubt have plans, and she hated to intrude. Plus, she and Mom had a lot of holiday activity to smash into the next few days. So maybe tomorrow after they took the car to the mechanic shop she could just thank Nate for his hospitality and stay at the sketchy hotel. Or maybe she’d rent a car—strike that—a giant SUV with snow tires and make her way to Kentucky. Who cared if it busted her budget? That’s what credit cards were for, right?
Only she’d cut up her last one in a moment of deciding to be debt free… Now she was thinking it was more like, debt-free, but holy shit you’re screwed. Kelsey glanced at the clock. She called Mom and quickly updated her on the situation.
“You’re staying with Nate Walsh?”
Kelsey glanced at the closed door. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if he hadn’t come along.”
“Well, I’m glad Nate was there to help. He was always a nice boy.”
“Not so much a boy anymore, but he’s nice.”
Mom gasped. “So you’re saying he’s all grown up and hot?”
Kelsey laughed. Mom was eighteen when she had her, and after she and Dad divorced, it’d just been her and Mom, going on adventures, doing everything together. Mom always let her be who she was, even though Kelsey knew she took heat for it. Through the years, all the ups and downs, Mom was pretty much her best friend, though marrying Chris had changed things a bit. “He is, actually. But he’s also super quiet, and it’s just kinda awkward.”
Kelsey dug a sweater out of her suitcase, glad she’d thrown one in. “Anyway, I’ll update you when I can.” She said goodbye, then exchanged Nate’s coat for her sweater, and decided to go out into the living room and see how uncomfortable it’d be to sit in front of the fire, trying to think of things to say.
And if all else failed, surely he kept alcohol in the house. As long as it wasn’t Tequila—trying to outdrink a guy who weighed twice as much as she did during a high school party was another one of her it’ll-be-fun ideas gone wrong.
When she entered the living room, Nate was bent over the fireplace. The flames jumped higher as he jabbed the logs with a poker, the glow from them casting his features into relief. Even though he was crouched, he still seemed so big, and she could see the muscles moving underneath his shirt.
She squatted next to him and reached her fingers toward the fire, soaking in its warmth. Nate’s shirt had a dusting of snow on the shoulders—he must’ve gone outside for the wood. She reached up and brushed it off, not really thinking about the gesture until he looked at her, firelight reflected in his eyes.
“Thanks,” he said, his voice so low she felt it in her core.
She stared at him, her thighs starting to burn from squatting. Maybe it’s been too long since I’ve been with a guy, because I’m half-tempted to l
aunch myself at him right now and see what happens. I bet he’d be a good kisser, and it’d take away the pressure of talking, that’s for sure.
Of course it’d probably be weird after, and say he pushed her away, that’d take awkward to a whole new level. What with the forced proximity, it was a bad idea all around.
Her heart was beating too quickly and she suddenly felt really antsy. She sat back, knees up, and started tapping her legs with her hands. “So I drank a Monster last stop, and I’m totally feeling the effects now. I thought I’d be driving through the night, but since it looks like that’s not happening, I’m probably going to be jumping around or possibly singing here pretty quick. You don’t have any baking stuff, do you? I like to bake when I’m hyper. My mom and I were supposed to make all the Christmas cookies tomorrow, but it looks like I won’t be there for that. We always make chocolate chip ones shaped like trees and stars and such because sugar cookies are good and all, but there’s no chocolate and when chocolate’s an option, why wouldn’t you have it?”
Nate’s eyebrows were arched and his jaw was slack like he hadn’t ever heard that many words together in his life.
Yeah, the caffeine was choosing now to kick in. Great.
“I don’t think I have chocolate chips,” Nate said. “I know I don’t, actually. I don’t bake much. Or ever. Sorry.”
Kelsey twisted a strand of hair around her finger. “Right. Of course you don’t. I mean, not that you couldn’t, you just don’t strike me as the baking type.”
Nate stuck the poker back in its place and turned to her. “What type do I seem like?”
“Cop fits you pretty good.”
“If I recall—and judging by the way you say the word cop—you’re not a fan.”
So he’d noticed that. Oops. “Well, as far as cops go, you’re the best one I’ve ever met. And I’ve met a lot.”
His eyebrows inched even higher.
Stranded with a Hero (Entangled Bliss) Page 19