Snowbound with a Billionaire

by Jules Bennett

  Stepping around him, Raine left the room and rushed up the stairs toward the nursery. From the monitor he heard her soft voice as she soothed Abby. Instantly the baby quieted.

  And when Raine started to sing, he was taken back to when they’d first met, and she’d tried out for the only solo in the play. Her sweet, angelic voice had instantly blown away the cast and crew. All gazes were magnetically drawn to that shy girl on stage with her prissy little pleated skirt and staid sweater, more than likely chosen by her mother. He’d instinctively known that the prim-and-proper getup really had not suited Raine. She was much more of a jeans and T-shirt kind of gal. Even then.

  Maybe she hadn’t changed all that much. And if that was the case, he was in bigger trouble than he thought.

  Max picked up his bucket and stormed back out into the freezing snow, hellacious chickens and all, because if he stuck around to listen to her much longer, he’d be pulled into a past that he’d barely come out of alive the last time. He couldn’t afford to feel those emotions ever again.

  * * *

  Well, so much for the weather cooperating. It was nearly ten o’clock, the streets were dark and desolate, and the snow had shown no sign of slowing down.

  Abby had just taken her bedtime bottle and hopefully would sleep a few hours.

  Max had put up the Pack ’N’ Play pen in the master bedroom, where they had a nice fire going. Thankfully the room was spacious, and Abby could sleep in the corner of the room.

  Raine and Max were prisoners as well, considering the rest of the house was quickly becoming colder. Max had brought up plenty of wood to last through the night and into the morning.

  So here they were. In the bedroom with a sleeping baby and a whole cluster of hormones and that damn kiss hovering in the air between them.

  Oh, and a past that had never gotten proper closure. Great. Just great. Exactly what they didn’t need. Why couldn’t they both still be angry and bitter? Did passion really override all else here?

  “I’m going to go change,” she whispered to Max who was sitting on the bed, propped up against pillows and doing something on her laptop.

  When Max glanced over, eyeing her from head to toe, all those points in between tingled as if he’d touched her with his bare hands. And she knew from personal experience what those hands felt like roaming up her torso.

  Even though a lifetime had passed between then and now, a touch like Max’s wasn’t one she could easily forget. How could she? When his simple touches, his soft caresses, not only sent shivers racing all over her body, but they also left an imprint so deep, she knew she’d never truly erase it from her mind.

  So, yeah, that tingling wasn’t going to stop anytime soon if she didn’t put a lid on those damn memories and stop letting him affect her now.

  Raine turned to her dresser and grabbed the oldest, ugliest set of pajamas she owned. There was no need in putting on anything cute or seductive. That was the dead last thing they needed. Not that she had a great deal of “sexy” lingerie, but she’d better keep anything skimpy out of this room while he was in it...and circumstances all but begged them to get naked and horizontal.

  With a soft click, she closed the bathroom door and started to change. She’d just undressed completely and pulled the PJ shirt over her head when the door opened. Raine quickly tried to tug the shirt below her panties, but it just wasn’t long enough.

  “What the hell are you doing?” she demanded, not speaking as loud as she wanted for fear of waking Abby.

  Max’s eyes raked over her bare legs, definitely not helping the tingling.

  “We need to talk, and I didn’t want to wake Abby,” he said, closing the door with a soft click.

  Raine rolled her eyes. “You couldn’t have waited until I was dressed?”

  Like a predator to its prey, he stepped forward, narrowing the distance between them. Apparently he didn’t know the term “personal space.”

  “There’s nothing here that I haven’t seen,” he said, his gaze locked onto hers. “Throw your pants on if that makes you feel better.”

  “Turn around.”

  That cocky grin spread across his face. “Are you really going to stand there and act like you’re not turned on? That the fact we’re stuck here together hasn’t had you thinking, wondering?”

  It was all the thinking and wondering that was driving her out of her mind. Hormones were evil. They reared their ugly heads when nothing could be done. Well, something could be done, but at what price? Because she sure as hell couldn’t risk her heart again.

  Not only that, she had to concentrate on the adoption. What would it look like if she were to delve into a torrid affair with Hollywood’s hottest bachelor?

  “Max, I realize that in L.A. you flash that grin and get what you want, who you want.” She gripped her shirt tighter. “Yes, I’m attracted, but for all I know that’s just old memories rising up.”

  He took one last step forward until they were toe to toe and brought his hands up to gently cup her face. “What if it’s not just old memories?”

  Raine sighed, because, if she were honest with herself, she wanted nothing more than to rip off his clothes and see if they were even better in bed than they used to be. And there wasn’t a doubt in her mind they would be phenomenal.

  “I live in the real world, Max,” she said, pushing the erotic image of the two of them out of her head. “If we slept together, what happens next? I have a farm, a baby, here, and, in a few months, you’ll be back in L.A., working on your next project, and you will totally forget about Lenox.”

  About me.

  A flash of pain swept through his eyes, and his brows drew together. “My parents may have moved to Boston when I left for Hollywood, but I never forgot Lenox...or the people here.”

  The ache from his abandonment when she’d needed him the most years ago killed any desire she may have been feeling now. But at least, if she were stupid enough to get entangled with him again, she’d know upfront that he would leave without looking back.

  And all she needed was the Family Court judge to get wind of the fact that Max Ford, Hollywood hotshot and rumored playboy, was snowbound in her home.

  “Listen,” she began, looking him dead in the eye. “We both chose our separate lives. It’s ridiculous to act on any feelings we’re having now, just because we’re victims of the current circumstances.”

  “I prefer to call this fate.”

  Still holding the hem of her shirt so it didn’t ride up and show off her goods, Raine stepped back, forcing his hands to fall away. No matter the cold she felt once his touch was gone, this was for the best. Distance now would spare her heartache later.

  “So you want to...what? Have sex and then when the snow thaws just go back home and pretend nothing happened?”

  Max scrubbed a hand over his face and groaned, looking up at the ceiling. “I don’t know what the hell I want, Raine.”

  Before this got too far out of control, she wrestled into her pants while he obviously battled with himself over right and wrong.

  He turned, leaning against the edge of the vanity and crossed his arms over his wide chest. “All I know is, since we kissed, I can’t shake this feeling.”

  “What feeling?”

  Max shifted, meeting her gaze. “That I want you.”

  Well, that was a change. She couldn’t deny him, couldn’t deny herself. Whatever happened in the past could live there. Raine wanted to live for the moment, but she also had to be realistic at the same time. “I want you, too.” Unable to help herself, she reached out and rested a hand on his firm shoulder. “But I need more than sex. I want to find a man who will love me and Abby. Getting this sexual tension out of the way by sleeping together won’t help either of us in the long run, no matter how tempted I am.”

  Because if she slept with him again, Raine knew she’d fall into that deep abyss of her past. She’d fall back into that mind-set that Max was the one.

  “We may be stuck here for day
s,” he murmured, reaching up to stroke her jawline. “You going to avoid the devil on your shoulder that long?”

  Raine swallowed and answered honestly. “I’m going to try.”

  Seven

  Raine had to admit she was quite proud of herself when morning rolled around, and she still had her clothes on. She’d spent the night with Max, in a bed, trapped in a freak snowstorm, and she’d held on to her dignity...not to mention her panties.

  Max was not lying beside her in all his fully clothed glory. The only other person in the room was Abby, who had finally fallen back asleep at six after taking her third bottle of the night.

  Raine held back a chuckle. She wouldn’t be surprised if Max had decided to try to fix the stove downstairs in order to get some peaceful sleep. Abby hadn’t had a bad night, actually. She’d only gotten up three times which was good, but in Max’s world he wasn’t used to being dead asleep one second and woken by a screaming kid the next.

  And Raine was still shocked at Max’s five a.m. gesture. On the third and final cry of hunger from Abby, Raine had thrown back her covers only to have Max’s hand still her movements.

  The man had not only gone down to the freezing first floor to retrieve the bottle from the fridge but he had returned and fed Abby. And if that wasn’t enough to melt her heart, he’d also sat at the foot of the bed and gently rocked the baby back and forth.

  And here she thought Max had been sleeping during the other feedings. Apparently he’d been watching her.

  Easing out of bed, Raine tugged her pajama top down and attempted to smooth her hair away from her face. She padded into the bathroom and brushed her teeth, pulled her hair up into a ponytail and did her best not to cringe at the dark circles under her eyes. Yeah, she was quite the catch. If her sexy shoe collection of an old red pair of Crocs slip-ons and her very well-worn work boots didn’t reel him in, surely this haggard housewife look would.

  Not that she was trying to be a catch, mind you, but still...she should at least try not to look drab all the time. Working from home and raising an infant really did a number on your beauty regime. Not that she’d had much of one to begin with, but she should at least put forth a little effort.

  Her mother would be totally mortified if she saw the lack of makeup in Raine’s bathroom, the dollar-store shampoo in her shower and the one little bottle of lotion she used after a bath...her own concoction, of course.

  Growing up, Raine remembered her mother having pots and bottles of various lotions to firm up this and de-wrinkle that. And the makeup. Good God, the makeup that woman owned could rival any beauty counter at the mall. Raine never wanted to be that high maintenance, that fake, to have to put all of that on just to step out and have lunch with “friends.”

  Still trying to remain quiet and not wake Abby, Raine left the warmth of her bedroom and went out into the frigid hall, taking the baby monitor with her.

  As she hit the bottom of the steps, she shivered slightly but still didn’t have a clue where Max went. Then she overheard him talking on the phone, his voice coming in from the kitchen.

  Hand on the newel post, Raine froze, knowing she had no business eavesdropping, but she couldn’t stop herself.

  “My mother is doing great,” he said. “I’m not with her because of this freak snowstorm...yeah, you saw that? I heard another six inches just today, too. It’s hell on the East Coast, and I can hardly wait to get back to L.A. Between you and me, I’d trade palm trees for snow-covered evergreens any day.”

  Why that honest fact bothered her was silly. She knew Max was only here to care for his mother, and he had absolutely no qualms about playing house with her. He’d been here one day, and already she’d gotten comfortable. And after that near fatherly display from him earlier this morning, she was so much more attracted. Damn that man and his power over her hormones.

  “I’m not at my mother’s,” he went on. “I stopped by to visit an old friend and got stuck here. But I’m using her laptop, so...yes, it’s a she.”

  Max’s masculine laughter sounded through her house, and she didn’t even want to know what the person on the other end had said to garner such a response.

  “I’m more than capable of working and playing when necessary,” he said, still smiling. “She’s an old friend.... Yes, I agree.”

  Raine decided now would be a good time to make her presence known before he said something she wasn’t ready to hear. She moved to the doorway and leaned against the frame, arms crossed over her chest. She simply waited until Max fully turned around, but, instead of looking like he’d been caught, like most people would’ve, the man merely winked and continued smiling.

  Even the way he oozed confidence was a turn on. Granted since he’d come back into town, she hadn’t been turned off.

  Raine tried her hardest to tune him out as she grabbed a premade smoothie from the fridge and headed toward the stairs. She had her own work to do, and it didn’t consist of watching Hollywood hottie Max Ford parade around her house wearing the same clothes from yesterday, with bedhead and day-old stubble.

  Why did he have to be so damn sexy? Stomping up the stairs, because she was mature like that, she sighed. Had she been stuck somewhere overnight, she wouldn’t have woken up looking sexier...not by a long shot. For some reason her looks deteriorated in the dark hours, because, when she woke, her hair was all lumped to one side in a matted mess, her eyes were bloodshot, and she was always a tad cranky.

  Raine checked in on Abby once more before going into her workroom and setting the monitor on the counter. She had a small space heater she kept at her feet so she clicked it on high and closed the door to keep the warmth in.

  Whatever Max wanted to do downstairs in the cold was his own business. They were safe and warm, so long as they stayed upstairs, and so far the electricity had held up which was surprising in a snowstorm that came on this fast.

  Looking over her spreadsheet of items she wanted to make for the Farmer’s Market in six weeks, Raine tried to block out the fact that her furnace had died. She simply couldn’t think about that right now—although the blast of icy cold air when she’d gone downstairs had been a very real reality. The unit couldn’t be fixed today even if she had the money, so her attention was best suited for work and Abby. Not the pathetic bank account, not the snowstorm and certainly not her handsome new roomie.

  Downstairs the backdoor slammed. Raine smiled at the thought of Max going out. Obviously he hadn’t learned his lesson the first time he had encountered her loving Orpington chickens.

  But he hadn’t met Bess and Lulu yet—the equally loving goats. They hadn’t come out the other day, but it was only a matter of time before they realized a new person was here.

  A giggle rose up in her, and, regardless of how cold it was on the first floor, she simply had to know how this all played out. Besides, she would have to feed her animals shortly anyway.

  Grabbing the baby monitor, she padded down the hall, ran down the steps and stood just inside the kitchen door to watch Max.

  Sure enough Bess and Lulu had gone through the rubber flap which gave them access in or out. The kindly goats encircled him, and, even with his jacket collar pulled up to his chin and his black knit cap pulled down over his ears and forehead, Raine saw the thread of fear and confusion in his blue eyes. Perhaps she should’ve warned him...

  Nah, this was so much more entertaining.

  She eased the back door open enough to yell out. “They’re like dogs. They love people.”

  “What the hell does that mean? I’ve never owned a dog,” he called back.

  Raine shook her head. “Just pet them and keep walking. They’ll go back in the barn when you come in.”

  She watched as he went into the barn closest to the house to gather more wood. Part of her wanted him to get tangled up in the chickens again, simply because the last episode had been so amusing, but another part of her was a little excited to see this city boy back in Lenox. Once upon a time he’d felt so at home here
on her grandmother’s farm. They’d ridden horseback, laughing excitedly as teens do, and had had a picnic out in the fields behind the property.

  But that was long ago. Her grandmother was gone, the horses had been sold for the new roof, and all that was left were the bittersweet memories.

  Tears clogged her throat. Turning back time wasn’t an option, not that she would want to endure all of that heartache again, but she certainly missed being so happy, so loved.

  By the time Max made it back to the house, she’d blinked away the tears, but the pang in her heart was just as fierce as when she’d first seen him nearly two days ago standing on the side of the icy road ready to assist.

  Max brushed by her as she held the screen door open. He stomped his feet on the stoop before stepping inside. Raine took the bucket as Max pulled off his coat, boots and hat.

  “It’s still coming down,” he said, hanging his coat on the peg by the door. “My tracks were covered by the time I came back out of the barn.”

  “I’ve given up listening to news reports. It will stop when it stops.”

  And the longer he was forced to stay here, the longer she had to fall deeper into memories, deeper into those emotions she couldn’t afford.

  Max turned to grab the bucket, but froze as his gaze held hers. “You okay?”

  Raine nodded, pasting on a smile. “Of course.”

  “I’ve lived in L.A. a long time, Raine. We’re professional liars, and you are holding something back.”

  Even if he hadn’t been surrounded by “professional liars,” he’d always known her so well. They hadn’t changed that much.

  “Seeing you out there brought back a flash of memories. That’s all.”

  “Memories shouldn’t make you sad,” he said softly.

  Raine eased the bucket down beside her, crossed her arms over her chest. “No, the memory was beautiful.”

  Running a hand through his sleep-mussed hair, Max stepped closer. “We may have gone our separate ways, Raine, but that doesn’t mean I stopped caring for you. And even though we’re stuck in this hellish snowstorm, I have to say I’m not sorry to be here.”