Snowed In

MAY

My brain was pounding against my skull, and I had no strength to open my eyes. I felt groggy, and any slight movements only made it worse. It felt like someone had slammed my head into a wall multiple times.

I was confused as to where I was, as I was lying down on what felt like a bed, but last I remembered, I was in the car before it crashed.

It wasn’t cold, and I even felt something warm on top of me, like a blanket. I heard some loud banging noises and quickly opened my eyes, but I had to shut them instantly from the bright lights, one hand covering my eyes.

I attempted once again, but slowly, squinting at the bright spotlights. Suddenly, they weren’t so bright anymore. Someone dimmed them.

“I see you’re finally awake,” said a deep voice.

I sat up quickly and realized instantly what a mistake it was as my headache worsened, holding my head reactively. However, I did not miss the most gorgeous emerald eyes I had ever seen.

I looked at him again once the pain had subsided slightly. My mouth gaped open at the beautiful creature standing in front of me, now smirking.

“You should close that mouth of yours before I give you a reason to,” he said, smirking at my still-open mouth.

“What??! Excuse me?” I asked, surprised, but also shut my mouth quickly without giving it another thought. The beautiful man smirked, almost in a mocking manner.

“You should take some painkillers for that head injury. I’m sure your head is pounding right now.” He pointed to the coffee table, where he placed some painkillers and a glass of water.

I slowly sat up on the couch, feeling a hand supporting me from behind. It sent shivers down my spine.

I turned slightly to find my face mere inches from his. I looked into his eyes, those stunning emerald-green eyes that didn’t let me break eye contact.

“Hasn’t anyone taught you that staring is rude?” he said once again, smirking, clearly entertained by my stupidity.

“Hasn’t anyone taught you about personal space?” I retorted, not having any other remark to throw back at him.

“Feisty. Just how I like ’em,” he said, chuckling.

I scrunched my face up and scowled at him.

“Who are you, anyway? How am I here? How long was I out for?” I replied instead, changing the subject and bombarding him with questions.

“Aiden,” he replied, holding his hand out. I stared at his big, masculine hands, wondering how they would feel running down my body.

I quickly shook that thought out of my head to avoid embarrassment and reached my hand out in response.

“May,” I introduced myself, realizing that he did save my life, and if he was going to hurt me, he could have done it while I was unconscious.

“That’s a beautiful name.” He picked up the pills and water and handed them to me, which I took gratefully.

“I was with my dog, Bo, when we heard the sound of a car horn and followed it to you. You were knocked out by then, so I didn’t think you’d remember. But I got you out and brought you to my cabin.”

I saw Bo, the German Shepherd, by the door, sound asleep.

“It’s horrible out there, with many power outages and accidents. You weren’t knocked out for long, probably an hour.

“I don’t think you have a concussion, but we should just keep you awake for the next few hours to be sure. Where were you headed?” Aiden asked me while I took the painkillers, trying to avoid as much physical contact as possible.

This man was driving my nonexistent libido crazy. I looked outside to see nothing but heavy snow.

There’s no way I’m going home tonight.

“Thank you for that. I was headed to see my family. It’s my sister’s wedding next weekend, so I flew in for that.”

I chugged the water, realizing I was parched. “Can I have some more water, please?” I asked while handing back the glass.

“Yeah, sure, give me a sec,” he said, walking into what presumably was the kitchen. I looked around the cabin for the first time, and it was stunning.

It was a two-storey cabin with modern interior designs but maintains that classic cottage look. There were no personal items in the cabin at all, but I saw my bag on the floor and sighed in relief.

I reached for it to find my phone, hoping to tell my family I was safe. It was late, and I should have been home two hours ago. They must be so worried. I called my sister Emma first, but the call wouldn’t connect.

Aiden walked back into the room with the glass of water I had asked for. I took it and chugged it again.

“You brought my bag as well. Thank you for that.” I handed him the empty glass.

“Yeah, I saw it was on the passenger seat and brought it in case you needed anything inside.”

He made himself comfortable at the foot of the couch I was sitting on, and I was reminded of my comment about boundaries. I wasn’t wrong.

“I appreciate that. I should have been home two hours ago. My family is probably worried. I tried calling, but it’s not going through,” I told him while I tried to call my father this time, but the same thing happened again.

“Yeah, the cell towers aren’t the greatest in this area, and with the storm, it’s worse. Try sending a text message, and I’ll take your phone upstairs near the balcony. You might have better luck there.”

He stood up, waiting for me to type the message.

“Yeah, that would be great, thanks. I seem to be thanking you nonstop,” I said, chuckling to myself.

I sent a quick text to Emma, letting her know I was okay and couldn’t make it home until the storm passed. I then handed the phone over to Aiden.

“I can think of a few ways you can repay me,” he said, smirking, giving me a wink, and took the phone with him upstairs. I watched him walk away in shock, unsure if I had heard him right.

I got up from the couch to stretch my legs, ensuring I was not injured elsewhere. I felt a minor soreness in my chest, expected after the airbags were deployed. I hoped I didn’t have a concussion.

I walked around the lower levels of the cabin slowly, looking around the place. There were two closed doors and the kitchen and living room on the main floor.

I walked into the kitchen. It was beautifully decorated with stainless steel appliances, a large marble island in the middle, and a beautiful matching dining table set on the opposite side.

A pathway led to a dark glass window room in the shape of a globe currently covered in snow but would bring in such beautiful light during the day.

There was a shuffle behind me, so I turned around, face to chest now with Aiden. I looked up to see him looking down at me. He smelled so good, bergamot and sandalwood. He was so close I could even smell his aftershave.

It was becoming too much for me to be in such close contact with him. I took a step back, and it didn’t go unnoticed by Aiden. He was too intimidating to be near.

It made me want to kiss him, and I knew that was a terrible idea. I looked down to see him handing back my phone.

The home screen lit up with a picture of me and my nephew, Mikah, the one man I would do anything in the world to see smile. Aiden also looked down at the screen and grimaced a little, which did not go unnoticed by me.

“Your kid?” he asked, looking at me, waiting for a response.

“What? Oh, no, he’s my nephew, Mikah, my brother’s kid.” I smiled, looking at the phone.

“I haven’t seen him in over two months. Most of all, I’m excited to see him during this trip,” I said, smiling to myself, thinking of the goofy little kid.

I couldn’t wait to see him again. I looked back at Aiden to see him smiling at me now, with a strange glint in his eye.

“Cute kid. I have a niece about the same age, Lydia,” he said, now smiling as I did when I thought of my nephew.

“Are you hungry? I made some lasagna earlier. I could warm it up for you.” He walked behind the counter, and I followed him, taking a seat on one of the island chairs.

“That would be great. I’m starving.” He took the dish from the fridge, and I realized I hadn’t eaten since my meal on the plane and was starving.

I watched as Aiden gracefully reheated the lasagna, his muscles extending beneath his tight-fitting T-shirt. Aiden placed the plate in front of me, and I thanked him with a smile before digging in.

“Oh wow, did you make this? It’s delicious,” I said, mouth half full. Aiden looked at me and laughed, pleased with himself.

“Yeah, my dad’s a great cook, learned from the best. So, I got your text through, but not sure you’ll have any luck receiving any calls or messages until this storm passes. You might be stuck here for a while, by the way.

“They don’t clear the roads for this area often as it’s not a priority, and we haven’t had a snowfall like this in years. I have my generator, so we’re good with electricity.”

I had already finished the lasagna by the time Aiden had finished talking.

“Oh no! Hopefully, things will clear up soon. My sister will not be happy if her wedding gets delayed because I wasn’t there to help her. So how did you get stuck in here?”

Aiden took my plate to the sink to clean up.

“Same as you. I was driving back from the airport and needed to check on this place as I was supposed to be renting it out for the week, and then got snowed in.”

He got out two mugs, turned on the kettle and then leaned into me on the marble counter. I held my breath without even realizing, and he knew the effect he had on me.

“You mean there are people coming?” I whispered without even realizing it, unable to move my eyes away from him. The kettle whistled in the back, but neither of us could take our eyes away from each other.

“Not anymore, because of the snowstorm. So, it’s just us two for the next few days,” he whispered back, his voice deep and gruff while reaching out to move my hair out of my face. I took in a breath.

“Oh. Um… so what now?” I breathed out wondering if I’d have the strength to speak.

He moved back, giving me room to breathe once again. He poured some water into the mug along with what looked to be hot cocoa. I was drooling.

Aiden brought the two mugs with him, but instead of placing one in front of me, he started walking into the living room. I was confused until he stopped midway when he saw I wasn’t following and turned around.

“You coming?” he said, nodding toward the living room. I followed him back to the living room and he placed the mugs on the coffee table.

He sat down on the couch facing the TV and patted the seat next to him, indicating for me to sit beside him. I didn’t know if it was a good idea, but before I could think too much about it, I did what he was telling me to do.

He looked pleased when I followed his orders; however, I sat as far as possible from Aiden on the opposite end of the couch.

But the couch wasn’t that long, so it really only made enough room for one more person to sit in between us. He turned on the TV and looked at me.

“Any movie preferences?” he asked. I looked at the TV and shook my head in reply, so he played a random movie and got comfortable on the couch.

He handed me the hot cocoa and took the other cup for himself. The sound of the intro music to the movie woke up the sleeping dog.

He looked at me and tilted his head wondering who the hell I was, then looked at Aiden and walked toward him. Aiden petted the dog, and scratched him under the chin.

“Hey buddy, had a good nap?” he said while rubbing the dog as the dog scratched his ear using his hind leg. “This is Bo,” he said looking at me now. Bo looked at me, assessing me to see if I was a threat.

“Bo?” I asked, wondering why he would choose such a name. I leaned down to pet Bo, who snuggled against my hand.

“Yeah, my nephew, Lydia, named him when I got him. He likes you.” He was also scratching Bo behind the ear.

“He’s cute,” I replied as Bo went into the kitchen, probably to eat his meal. Aiden got comfortable on the couch once again and sipped on the hot cocoa. I mimicked his actions.

“So, what do you do for a living? You said you flew in, so not from around here?” He turned to look at me, forgetting about the movie playing in the background.

“Oh, I actually grew up here, born and raised. I moved out about five years ago to open my bakery in London. I haven’t been back for the past four years though.

“What about you? You also flew in, right? What do you do?” I asked, curious to know more about him.

“I have a few businesses here and there. I live in Florida, but I travel a lot for business purposes. My main business is auto repair shops. So why London?”

He rested one leg on the couch, which inadvertently touched my leg, fogging my thoughts.

“I did a pastry course there for six months and really fell in love with the area, so I decided to settle down there. I am looking for some areas here in Nevada to open up my shop next. I’ll see how it goes.”

I sipped on my hot cocoa and closed my eyes to savour the delicious aroma and taste. The man knew how to cook and made amazing hot cocoa. Fuck. This has to be a test by the gods.

“I know a few places that are available. I can send you the details once I get to my office.” He gulped the rest of the hot cocoa and placed the mug back on the table.

“Oh, that’s really kind of you. You’ve helped me a lot. I can’t thank you enough. I would still be stuck in my car if you hadn’t been there. So, thank you again.”

I placed my hand on his knee, regretting the decision immediately. Aiden looked down at my hand and then back at me.

“I can think of a few ways you can thank me,” he said, licking his lips and winking at me. He placed his hand on top of my own and gave it a squeeze.

“Wha…what do you mean?” I stuttered and tried to take my hand back but he held it tightly, and I also wasn’t trying hard enough.

“I think you know what I mean.” He leaned in close to me, his hand back to moving my hair out of my face and slowly traveling down, resting on my shoulder blade.

“I’m not sleeping with you,” I voiced strongly, making Aiden chuckle as he leaned into me so he was snuggled right next to me.

“We’ll see about that.” He brought his face closer to me, about to kiss me. “Kiss me,” he commanded.

I really wanted to kiss him, but I also didn’t want to give him the satisfaction.

However, his lips were right in front of me, and I couldn’t deny the fact that he looked so tempting. I wanted to kiss him and rip that shirt off his body.

So, I gave in to temptation and leaned in. I placed my lips on his and things got heated very fast after that kiss.