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With little effort, he carried my suitcase and he’d been right. I would’ve struggled dragging that through the snow, but he made it look like it weighed nothing. When he opened the door, it exposed the edges of a living room in the darkness. I couldn’t see a damn thing beyond. It was eerily quiet in there.
I was just so used to the constant chatter and life of Manhattan and this was the furthest thing from my comfort zone. And it made the situation with this stranger somehow feel intimate. I wanted to slap my cheeks. Was my mind really only trained on one thing? I was literally in the shittiest predicament I’d been in… ever, and all I could think about was how ridiculously handsome this older man was. I needed to go to therapy ASAP.
I tried to peer over Eric’s shoulder as he opened the door further and flicked on the light. The cabin sparked to life and when he stepped in and placed the suitcase beside the door, my jaw unhinged as I swept my gaze over the entire room. “Wow.” I whistled, genuinely surprised.
The outside of the cabin was deceivingly small compared to the ample space inside. On the left was a brick fireplace. In front of it was a cozy leather sofa. The colors of deep gray and brown decorated the space, matching the man standing beside me. Across the room and up two steps on a raised level was the main bedroom with a king-sized bed. My mouth widened at the view behind it. The large floor-to-ceiling windows showed off the dark outlines of what might’ve been rolling hills and mountains. I could’ve only imagined what that view might’ve looked like during the day.
Eric walked to the fireplace, his expert hands tending to it quickly. On the right was a long kitchen and island bench, the grays of the bench somehow deepening the space. Beside it was a closed room, in what I imagined to be the bathroom, and another door which might’ve stepped out to a balcony in the back.
Shadow nudged me in, reminding me I was still standing at the door with my mouth gaping at the sheer and unexpected beauty of the cabin. I chastised myself for being judgmental, having thought that it was a run-down little shack. And instead… it was this glorious hidden oasis.
“This is your home?” I asked, stepping over the wooden threshold.
“Did you expect me to live in a cave or something?” he asked, blowing on the fire.
“Would you be annoyed if I said yes?”
He peered over his shoulder, somewhat unimpressed. I laughed, thinking myself hilarious. So, charm and jokes did not work on this brute. Unfortunately, they were the two things I fell back on when nervous in any situation.
“All of this looks really new,” I said, still appreciating the space. I felt like I’d just walked into some luxurious cabin resort.
“Well, I only built it about ten years ago.”
My jaw dropped. “You built this?”
“Do you not have men who can build things where you come from?” He grunted. He had his back to me, hands on hips as he surveyed the fire as it grew in size.
“Well sure, I guess. So remind me what it is you do again? Café owner?” I asked, admiring the wooden chandelier above. The furnishings were simple but beautiful. And although I didn’t know Eric at all, it very much felt like him. It even smelt like him. That bold, woodsy earth cologne perfuming the air. And I wasn’t certain if he used cologne or that was his sheer sweat. The man was built like a god. Celibacy, I reminded myself. I’d sworn off men until I found the right one.
He walked over to his kitchen, opening the fridge and scooping what looked like a home-prepared meal for Shadow, who obediently waited for his dish to be filled.
“Something like that.”
“So, you’re a café-owning, dog-training fifty-year-old?”
His sense of humor was practically non-existent which made me even more nervous. He grunted, not necessarily in approval but as if that was all the effort he could muster in the conversation thus far. “Eat or drink whatever you like. The bed’s all yours. I’ll sleep on the sofa.”
My gaze drifted from him to the bed. “I can’t,” I gushed. There was no way in hell I was sleeping in that bed. Gentleman or not, that bed oozed testosterone.
And then my gaze dropped and narrowed on the giant axe beside the front door. A thick lump bobbled in my throat. I began to nervously laugh, catching his attention again. He looked at the axe and offered an exasperated sigh in realization.
“Cassidy, I don’t think I’ve ever had to tell someone so many times that I’m not intending to chop them into little pieces and scatter them into the woodland. And trust me, there’s a lot already on that list.”
I wasn’t sure if he was joking or not. I suddenly found something fascinating on my jacket and nodded. “Well of course. I know that.” I didn’t fear this beast of a man but nor did I know this world either. “I feel as if every teenage horror movie I watched always started in either a cabin or a tent,” I rambled. “So why do you own an axe?”
“I cut wood for the locals daily.”
My eyebrows knitted together. “Wait so you’re a café-owning, dog-training lumberjack?”
He downed a glass full of water. “You forgot the people chopping part,” he growled with a straight face. I stared at him stunned. Another joke? So, this oaf of a man could actually manage them?
He waltzed over to a cupboard, pulling out a thick woolly towel and handed it to me. So close, he loomed over me, and I’d never felt so comparatively small to someone else. And I hovered at five ten myself.
He cleared his throat when I said and did nothing, nudging the towel into my hands. “Take your shoes off and have a shower so you don’t get sick.”
Shadow came to my side, licking his lips, evidently well fed. His head nuzzled against my fingertips and I found myself curling them through his fur, kind of enjoying the experience Despite how bizarre it was.
“Thank you,” I stuttered out. Eric nodded and walked back into the kitchen. “Are you hungry? I can cook something.” He opened a freezer full of meats and I paled.
