****
Renata hit Caroline’s number once more, and her friend picked up immediately. “You can’t possibly be home already.”
“No, I’m still at the cottage. The weather’s really bad, so I have to stay the night.”
“Good. So did you and Noah hit it off?”
She told her what Noah had said. “I don’t think we’re going to be starting a mutual admiration society any time soon.”
“I don’t know why he made a remark like that, but he’s a good guy, Renata. I’ve known him almost as long as I’ve known Tyler. Don’t judge him too harshly. Things have been…rough for him.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s not my story to tell. Just be nice and cut him a little slack.”
“I’m always nice,” she grumbled.
Caroline laughed. “That’s my girl. All sugar and spice.”
“I’m definitely taking you up on that spa day.”
“I’m counting on it. Call me in the morning and let me know if you decide to drive home.”
“I will. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
After ending the call, she trudged up the stairs to her room. Feeling a little silly, she stuck a wooden chair under the doorknob to prevent Noah from breaking in. She didn’t want to take any chances, even though he’d made it very clear he wasn’t interested in her.
As she dressed in warm pajamas and climbed into bed, she was surprised to find that his disinterest bothered her.
****
Renata woke abruptly, not sure what had disturbed her sleep. Then she heard it, a pitiful whimper accompanied by scratching on her door.
What the hell? It had to be Spike. It sounded like he was sick, or wounded, or in some sort of distress. Did he need to go outside? Why didn’t Noah do something?
After a few minutes, she couldn’t take any more. Jumping out of bed, she rushed to the door and removed the chair from under the knob. Sure enough, when she opened the door, Spike stood on the threshold. He calmly pushed past her and climbed onto her bed.
“Hey, wait a minute! You can’t do that! Get off!”
Spike ignored her. He circled a couple of times and then plopped down, burrowing beneath the covers.
“Spike, come on. Get out!”
He looked at her with big, brown, adoring eyes.
“Oh, don’t do that.” She closed the bedroom door. “I can’t say no to you when you give me that look.”
The dog yawned.
“Seriously, Spike, this is too much.” She tried pushing him out of the bed, but there was no way she could shift him. He had to weigh at least a hundred and fifty pounds, perhaps more.
He answered with a snort and closed his eyes.
With a sigh, Renata slid into the space Spike had left for her and tried to make herself comfortable. Within minutes, the dog was snoring loudly, but rather than an annoyance, she found it oddly soothing. In a short time, she was fast asleep.
****
Renata woke with a heavy paw on her shoulder. She opened her eyes and found Spike cuddled close, his head on her pillow. Drool soaked the pillowcase. Renata quickly lifted her head.
“Gross, Spike,” she muttered as she got out of bed. “You’ve got to get the waterworks under control.”
Spike stretched and yawned, then climbed out of bed, unbothered by her words. After quickly dressing and throwing her things into her suitcase, she hurried down the stairs. Spike followed closely behind her.
The aroma of frying bacon greeted her on the main floor. Noah flipped pancakes on a griddle in the kitchen, and for a moment she watched him unobserved. He wore a pair of low-slung sweat pants and nothing else. A shiver vibrated low in her belly at the sight of his six-pack abs and impressive shoulders.
She forgot how to breathe. He was truly beautiful, like one of the Roman statues she’d seen during her trip to Italy a couple of years ago. Powerful muscles rippled across his back as he worked. This morning he wore his hair tied back in a low ponytail that accentuated the shape of his head. His hair brushed the middle of his back, partially obscuring an intricate tattoo that she couldn’t make out from this distance. Another tattoo decorated his right shoulder. Her fingers itched, longing to trace the lines of ink and listen to the story it told her.
She sucked in a breath, stunned by her visceral reaction. She’d dated Kevin for two years, and the sight of him shirtless had never made her want to drool like Spike. Now she knew why Noah felt the need to warn her off last night. Did he always have this effect on women, or was it just her?
Enough. She took a deep breath, then cleared her throat. He looked up and saw her, and for a split second she swore she felt a crackle of electricity as their eyes met. Then he grabbed a T-shirt from the counter and slipped it over his head, and the moment was over. Renata sighed in relief as the tremors racing through her body gradually stilled. What had just happened to her?
“Good morning. Coffee’s ready. Would you like some?”
Noah’s voice was steady, as if he’d been unaffected by whatever had just blindsided her. She cleared her throat once more, hoping she’d sound normal.
“Umm, no, thanks. I should start my car and brush off the snow. I’d like to get an early start.”
He glanced at her as he removed strips of bacon from the frying pan and set them on a plate lined with paper towels.
“I hate to tell you, but the storm didn’t exactly blow itself out last night.”
“Seriously?”
Renata hurried to the back door, but this time instead of opening it, she peered out the side window. If anything, the wind blew even stronger this morning. She’d been so preoccupied with leaving, and then with Noah’s body, she’d missed the sound of it howling and groaning over the cottage.
But she heard it now, and she saw the heavy drifts surrounding both their vehicles. With the wind blowing so hard, it was difficult to tell whether it was still snowing or if the wind was simply tossing around the existing snow. She couldn’t see beyond the two vehicles parked only a few feet behind the cottage. If visibility was almost nil in this sheltered location, she couldn’t imagine what it would be like out on the open highway.
It was pretty clear she wasn’t going anywhere.
With a sigh, she headed back to the kitchen. She climbed onto one of the stools at the counter.
“I think I’ll have that coffee now.”
Noah poured her a cup and set it in front of her. “Do you take anything in it?”
“A shot of rum might be nice.”
His lips curved. “Sorry. Fresh out.”
She was mesmerized by the shape of his mouth, by the sensuous curve of his full upper lip, visible even with the beard. Once more she wondered what he’d look like beneath all the hair.
Renata shifted her gaze to her coffee, staring into the dark brew. “In that case, I’ll have it with milk, thanks.”
“I’m sorry about this,” he said, pouring milk into her cup. “I know you wanted to get back to Winnipeg.”
“Yeah, well, I guess I’ll just have to roll with the punches.” She wondered about his reasons for being at the cottage. “Did you come here for some solitude? I’m sorry I’ve intruded on you.”
He waved his hand in dismissal. “No, not really. I needed a place to stay for a while, and I knew about Tyler’s family’s cottage, although it didn’t look like this when I was a kid.”
“Tyler and Caro tore down the old cottage a couple of years ago and built this one. This new cottage is great, especially since it’s fully winterized, but what really makes it special is the view of the lake.”
“Yeah, I remember.” He smiled and sipped his coffee. “I spent a lot of time here as a kid. We used to jump off the rocks at the edge of the lake.”
Rather than a sandy beach, the shoreline at the cottage was ringed by granite outcroppings, part of the vast rocky terrain of the Canadian Shield.
“I’ve always been too chicken to jump off the rocks,” s
he said.
“That was the best part,” he said with a grin. “I have a lot of good memories of this place. Maybe that’s why I accepted when Tyler offered the cottage. I needed those memories.”
She looked into his eyes and wondered why he needed the comfort of happy childhood memories. But then he looked away and headed to the door.
“I’d better take care of Spike. Can you set the table and bring the food?”
“Sure.”
While Noah let the dog out and then filled Spike’s bowl with kibble, Renata brought the food he’d prepared to the dining room table. She wondered what his story was. Who was Noah Brownlee? And what had transpired in his life to bring him to this place to cross paths with her?
Chapter Three
“Sorry about Spike getting into your room last night. He woke me in the middle of the night to go outside, and then he wouldn’t come back upstairs with me. I didn’t know he was going to break into your room.”
“It wasn’t so much a break-in as a stealth mission.” She told him how he’d whined at her door. “Aside from the drool, he’s not a bad roommate.”
Noah grinned. “Yeah, I’m still getting used to that.”
“Oh, really? Does that mean the two of you haven’t been together long?”
“No, not long. About a week now.”
Renata waited for him to continue, but instead Noah retrieved the coffeepot from the kitchen and refilled their cups. She took that as a sign to talk about something else.
“Thanks for breakfast. It was delicious.”
“You’re welcome. I enjoy cooking. It relaxes me.”
“I like cooking too, which was useful in my last relationship, since my boyfriend believed food magically appeared on the table at meal times.”
Noah chuckled at that. “So he wasn’t handy in the kitchen?”
“That’s putting it mildly.”
She smiled, but the thought of Kevin saddened her. She’d put everything she had into their failed relationship, had thought she loved him. She’d believed he was the one, but in the end he’d walked away without a backward glance.
Before Kevin there’d been Paul, and before him James. Both of them had walked away as well, saying it was them, not her. She was great. They just wanted something…different.
She was almost thirty years old. Would there ever be someone in her life who couldn’t walk away from her?
Don’t go there, Renata. She’d spent way too much time mourning the death of her relationship with Kevin and wondering why she was so unlovable. She had many things to be thankful for. She had a great—if overbearing—family, wonderful friends, and a job she loved. Nobody got everything they wanted in life.
“You okay, Renata?”
She looked up at Noah, startled by his question. She must be getting really maudlin; now even relative strangers were picking up on her moods. She made herself smile.
“Yes, of course.” She scrambled for something else to talk about, then noticed the unusual tattoo on his forearm. About the size of a pine cone and all in red, it looked like an overweight stick man purposefully striding down a road. She pointed to it. “What does this tattoo represent?”
Noah glanced at the tattoo. “It’s the logo for Médecins Sans Frontières. I’ve been working with them in Africa and the Middle East for the last couple of years.”
“Doctors Without Borders? You’re a doctor?”
“You don’t have to look so surprised. I did manage to pass all the exams.”
“I’m sorry.” Her face heated with her blush. “I thought…I don’t know what I thought. I didn’t realize you were a doctor. Caroline didn’t mention it.”
“That’s okay. I guess I don’t look the part.”
“No kidding. My doctor is about sixty-five and has white hair and a paunch.”
He fingered his beard. “And he’s clean-shaven, I imagine.”
“Definitely. I can’t imagine him with a beard. What about you? What made you grow one?”
“Laziness, mostly. At the refugee camp in Jordon, I had to keep clean shaven for surgery. I got sick of shaving every day. So when I left a few weeks ago I let the beard grow. Makes getting ready in the morning simple.”
“What was working with Doctors Without Borders like?”
“Most rewarding experience of my life—incredible, dedicated colleagues, vital work, people who really needed us.”
“Were you ever in dangerous places?”
“Sometimes.”
“Were you ever scared?”
“Sometimes. We had security, took all the precautions we could. But in a hot zone, things happen.”
He didn’t elaborate, and Renata wasn’t sure she wanted to know. “Will you go back?”
He sipped his coffee. “I’m not sure. I haven’t ruled it out, but a lot depends on the next couple of weeks.”
When he said nothing more, Renata sat back in her chair and stared out the windows overlooking the lake. The storm raged on, the wind strengthening by the minute. Its howl enveloped the cottage and rattled down the chimney.
Noah Brownlee kept his cards close to his chest, guarding his secrets well. She was a stranger to him; it was only natural for him to withhold personal details of his life. Even so, his reticence troubled her. It made no sense, yet that’s how she felt.
But she didn’t want to pry. She wouldn’t appreciate him digging for information about her personal life, so the least she could do was offer him the same courtesy.
“Well, your timing is certainly impeccable. You managed to arrive in Manitoba at exactly the same moment as the worst blizzard of the year. What made you decide to come home in the middle of winter?”
“My brother and his wife are having their first child in a couple of weeks. I wanted to be here for the birth.”
“Oh, that’s nice. I adore my nieces and nephews. My sister Adriana has three kids, and my brother Marco has one. My baby brother Jayme and his wife are expecting their first, something my mother loves to remind me of. I get to spoil the little monsters rotten and drive their parents crazy, and I always have an excuse to see the latest kids’ movie.”
“I’ll bet you’re a wonderful aunt.”
“I’m a very cool auntie. I have all the fun of taking the kids places and buying them things without any of the responsibility of actually raising them.”
“Would you like kids of your own some day?”
With every fiber of my being. “Sure, someday.” She quickly changed the subject. “Too bad your new niece or nephew isn’t arriving in the summer. This weather must be a shock to your system after living in such hot places. I’ll bet you didn’t miss the minus-forty temperatures while you were away.”
“Actually, I did,” he said quietly. “I missed everything about home while I was gone.”
His answer, and his melancholy demeanor surprised her. Without thinking, she grasped his hand and held on. He squeezed her hand for several heartbeats, his gaze locking with hers. She couldn’t breathe with him looking at her that way, like he needed her, and her lungs threatened to explode. But then he pulled his hand away and averted his eyes. Their moment of connection—or whatever it had been—was over.
“I need a shower.” He rose abruptly.
A picture of Noah stepping out of the shower, water sliding down his lean, muscular, naked body, popped into her head. She blinked to dispel the image. “I’ll do the dishes. It’s only fair, since you cooked.”
“Good, thanks.” He turned and sprinted up the stairs as if he couldn’t get away from her fast enough. Renata expelled a breath and willed her racing heart to slow down. What had just happened? She was beginning to think she would have been far safer if he had been an axe murderer.
****
Noah stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. When the mist cleared on the mirror over the sink, he took a good look at himself. His appearance suggested either rock star or homeless person. He fingered his beard. No rock star here. He was
definitely leaning toward homelessness.
In a way, it was true. He had been homeless these last two years. When he’d left Winnipeg to work overseas, he’d given up his apartment and donated all his belongings. Perhaps subconsciously he was just living up to the part, using the hair to distance himself from others.
Was that what he was trying to do with Renata? Keep her at a distance? Despite their rocky introduction, he liked her. She was pretty, though he’d known more beautiful women, including Kendall. But he couldn’t help smiling when he thought about her. It had been a long time since he’d laughed with a woman. There was something about the way Renata instantly understood his feelings that drew him to her. Or was he reading too much into it? When she’d grasped his hand after he confessed to missing home, he felt she truly understood him. In that moment, he’d felt a deep connection to her.
He rolled his eyes at himself. Enough with the psycho-babble. He was letting his imagination run wild. He’d just met Renata, and instant connections like that were the stuff of fairy tales and romance novels.
He pulled a pair of scissors from his shaving kit and began lopping off his beard.
****
Renata cleaned the kitchen, then stretched out on the sofa with her romance novel and a bag of candy hearts. Her second cousin Aurora was giving the candy as favors at her Valentine’s Day wedding, and when she’d heard Renata wouldn’t be attending her nuptials, she’d sent her several small plastic favor bags. Renata opened the first bag and shook a candy into her palm. Chill Out it proclaimed. How appropriate. The candy’s message could apply to either the current weather or the admonishment her brain was trying to send to her hormones. They definitely needed to chill out when it came to Noah Brownlee. She popped the candy into her mouth.
Spike climbed up on the sofa and cuddled next to her, laying his big head on top of her legs.
“I know you think you’re a lap dog, but you’re cutting off my circulation.” She tugged her legs out from under him and placed her feet on the floor. The dog looked at her with morose eyes. “Oh, don’t turn the big, sad, puppy-dog eyes on me. That’s not fair. You know I can’t say no to you. Oh, all right.”
Chill Out Page 2