Read Online Various States of Undress by Laura Simcox - Free Book Online

a tissue. She blew her nose loudly. “You know what? I’d best get moving before my face freezes in place. There’s more weather coming. How long is your vacation?”
    “Three weeks,” Carolina answered. “And I have big plans for taking a lot of photos.”
    “The first thing on the agenda ought to be getting warm,” Jake called from the porch.
    Regina flapped a gloved hand at him. “Heard on my emergency radio that the next round of snow is going to be a doozy. Better stock up that fireplace.”
    “Yes, ma’am.” Jake nodded and ducked through the snow tunnel, his arms full of wood.
    “I hope your plans don’t include using that SUV that was dropped off here yesterday.” Regina shoved the tissue back into her coat pocket.
    Carolina frowned. “Why is that?”
    Regina pointed past the tree line. “Avalanche last night about midnight. It’s why the power went out in the first place.” She grinned, revealing blinding white dentures. “I love living out here! So exciting. But you do get cabin fever, that’s for sure. So I’ll be back soon to visit.” She made an awkward turn and waded away through the snow.
    “I’ll call you later!” Carolina shivered in a gust of wind and went back into the cabin, leaning against the frozen door until it clicked shut.
    “Alarm, please,” Jake said. He had taken off his snowman costume and crouched on the hearth, feeding kindling to a small flame.
    Carolina glanced at his broad back, which stretched the gray thermal shirt he wore. Her fingers throbbed, and it wasn’t just from the cold. She wanted to touch him in the worst way. After taking a deep breath, she punched in the alarm code and shrugged out of her coat and gloves. “Well, that was fun,” she said, sitting on the edge of the pulled-out sofa bed. It was still made up neatly with blankets since Jake hadn’t slept on it. He’d slept with her. Well, not really with her, but nearby. She shivered.
    Heat from the fire was already starting to seep into the room and the temperature change made her shiver again. She needed to get warm. Plus she craved being close to him. There was nothing wrong with that, was there? Yes.
    Ignoring the voice in her head, she dropped to her knees beside Jake and held out her hands toward the dancing flames.
    “Regina’s a character, huh?” he asked.
    “She’s unique. Always tells it like it is.” Carolina laughed. “Truth.”
    The glimpse she’d had earlier of his relaxed face—his amazing smile—was gone. The Secret Service mask was back. Too bad. She looked down at her bare hands and wiggled her fingers. So the power was out. The road was caved in by snow. And her engagement was most definitely over. The ring that she’d thrown into the snowstorm last night cemented that. The fact that it had pinged off the porch light and shattered the bulb seemed like nothing but a good omen.
    Jake poked at the kindling and then faced her. “Looks like we’re stuck for the time being.” Firelight gleamed in his eyes and a muscle in his jaw twitched. She should look away, but she couldn’t. But he wasn’t looking away, either. Her stomach flipped over.
    “There was an avalanche,” she heard herself saying. “Agent Evans must be stuck too. I don’t see how she can helicopter in. The wind’s blowing like crazy.”
    Jake’s gaze flitted to her mouth and back up to her eyes. “That’s inconvenient.”
    It was. Very. So why did she feel such a sense of relief in being trapped? And why the hell was she entertaining thoughts of actually kissing her Secret Service agent? That was a major no-no. He said he didn’t think she was nuts, but what she was thinking about doing now kind of was nuts. So why was she leaning closer to Jake? And why wasn’t he stopping her?
    She placed her hands on his big shoulders. “Thanks for being a good sport,” she whispered.
    He nodded.
    Any minute now he’d remove her hands from his body. She should drop her hands before that happened. But her