Read Online Cabin Fever by Elle Casey - Free Book Online Page A

car.
    “Where’re you going?” he shouts at my back.
    “To get my groceries! Not that I’d ask you to help me!”
    The jerk actually has the nerve to laugh, like I was making a joke.
    By the time I struggle back up the so-called driveway with my armloads of bags, he’s done throwing my wood out into the snow and is standing on my porch waiting for payment.
    “You got any beers inside?” he asks as I mount the steps.
    “No.” He’s lucky I don’t drop my groceries on his feet. Instead, I let them fall by the front door. Like I’d give a guy a beer who threw my wood in the snow. Get a life. “My purse is in the car. If you want to get paid, you’ll have to follow me down.”
    “You want a ride?” he asks.
    I look up at him to see if he’s kidding. He sounds like he’s about to laugh.
    “From you? No thanks.”
    His voice softens. “Hey, don’t be sore at me. I’d love to help you out, but I really do have a bunch of deliveries to make, and I still have to go split some more wood before I can finish. With the storm coming I’ll be lucky to get home before it hits.” He smiles and reveals a deep dimple in both cheeks.
    I want to stay mad at him, but it’s impossible; he’s too cute with those stupid dimples. And he’s right … I wouldn’t want anyone to be stuck in a storm without enough wood.
    “I’ll meet you down there,” I say, stepping off the porch. The last thing I need is to hook up with a party animal out in the middle of nowhere. He could be dangerous for all I know.
    “Suit yourself.” He fires up his truck and follows me down, careful to leave a lot of space between us, which I’m grateful for, since I could totally picture myself leaping into a snow bank to avoid being run over.
    I hand him his money up through his open window. His tires are so big, I have to stretch up on my tiptoes to reach him.
    “Thanks a lot,” he says, grabbing the bill of his hat and tipping it at me.
    “Hey,” I say, inspiration striking as one of my full garbage bags catches my eye through the back window of my car, “do you know where there’s a dumpster in town?”
    “Sure do. Behind the diner’s one. Behind the police station is another…”
    “If I pay you an extra ten bucks, will you take these bags of garbage from my car and dump them for me?”
    “What’s in the bags? Better not be body parts.”
    My face blanches. “Oh my god, are you kidding?”
    He shrugs. “Stranger things have happened around here.”
    A chill moves up my spine. “I hope you’re kidding. You’d better be.”
    “Sure, I’ll do it for ten bucks.”
    I should probably be worried that he ignored my question, but I’m too relieved to know that I won’t be hauling garbage around with me everywhere I go to press him on it. Besides, if this town were a serial killer’s hangout, I’d have heard about it, right? I make a mental note to get the Internet up and running as soon as possible so I can do a Google search for unsolved murders in the area.
    He gets out of the truck as I open my doors and haul the bags out as fast as I can. I don’t want him changing his mind. The bottles clink together making a big racket.
    “I thought you said you didn’t have any beer in your place,” he says, throwing the first bag up into the bed of his truck. The telltale smell of old booze and the banging of bottles reveals my lie.
    “I don’t. Whoever was partying in the cabin last did, though.”
    He laughs, throwing two more bags in, one with each hand. “Musta been some party.”
    “I have five more bags on the porch, actually.”
    “You want me to take those too?”
    “I’d love it if you’d take those too. Do I have to pay you more?”
    “No, that’s all right. I’m feeling generous today.” He grins at me again as he throws the last two bags in. Dimples, dimples, everywhere.
    “Thanks. I appreciate it.”
    After climbing up into his truck, he makes quick work of reversing up the drive and grabbing the rest of my