Page 56 of Hairpin Curves

“Local weather has this continuing for two more days.”

Megan’s stomach dropped. “What do you mean, two more days?”

“I mean, two more days. It’s supposed to stop on Friday. They’re calling it a ten-year storm or something.” Scarlett flopped her head back onto the back of the couch. “What a nightmare.”

Megan was quickly doing math. “The wedding’s on Saturday. We can still make it, right? If the snow stops Friday?”

“I mean, yeah, if they dig us out in time.” Scarlett grimaced. “Do you even have a snow broom?”

She didn’t. “We can borrow someone’s.”

“Sure.” Scarlett’s expression indicated she didn’t think that was likely. “At least we won’t starve. We’ve got snacks, and the cabinets are stocked with some dry goods. Plus we’ve got the restaurant.”

It wasn’t ideal, but being snowed in anywhere wasn’t ideal. Megan tried to think on the bright side. “It’s not a bad spot to be stuck.”

“No, I guess you’re right.” Scarlett looked around them. “Close quarters, though.”

The idea of being stuck in this small cabin with Scarlett for a few days didn’t inspire frustration as much as it inspired a bunch of other emotions. They’d fooled around together, and it was fun. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to do it again, right?

Before she could suggest anything, though, Scarlett got abruptly to her feet. “I’m gonna take a shower. Let me know if this place has any board games or anything to do when I get out.”

With Scarlett in the shower, Megan took time to fully explore the small cabin. She’d peeked up into the loft earlier, but now she climbed the stairs all the way and checked out the one bed. Of course it would be only one bed, with their luck. Maybe she could sleep on the couch. Or maybe Scarlett would volunteer. The cabin was warm, at least, so they wouldn’t get cold...

Megan swallowed. She definitely wouldn’t get cold in bed with Scarlett.

Fuck, what was she even doing? She shouldn’t get mixed up with Scarlett, not when she couldn’t be sure that her feelings for Scarlett were purely platonic. What if she got too attached? She didn’t want her heart broken like Scarlett’s apparently always was.

Megan went back downstairs, treading carefully on the smooth wooden steps, her heart beating far too quickly. The bookcase did have a few old board games and a puzzle, but those weren’t going to keep her distracted from what she actually wanted.

What did she actually want?

Megan pulled her candle out of its bag and held it, examining the way the intricate carvings shone through the tall glass jar in which it was set. All those carvings had meaning. She hadn’t lit it yet. She’d been planning to wait until she got home, but she wanted direction and clarity, right? She wanted answers. While stuck here in this cabin for the next few days, she might as well take advantage of all the resources available to her.

When Scarlett emerged from the shower a little while later, Megan was sitting on the couch with the candle on the coffee table in front of her, the orange wax just beginning to gather around the edges of the flame. Scarlett wore a pair of pajama pants and an oversized sweatshirt, and she was towel-drying her wet hair. “Is that your candle?”

“Yeah.” Megan looked back down at it. Suddenly, she wasn’t ready to be in the same room as Scarlett again yet. “Can you watch it? I’m gonna take a shower. Don’t blow it out.”

“You don’t have to, like, sit with it or anything?”

Megan smiled. “No. It just needs to burn. I lit it, and that’s enough, apparently.”

“Right.” Scarlett’s attention was rapt on the flickering flame, and Megan could look at that intent expression on her face forever.

She gathered up her clothes and quickly went into the bathroom before she did something stupid.

Chapter Fourteen

Scarlett was going to do something stupid. She and Megan were here together in this tiny cabin for at least a couple of days, and there wasn’t going to be much to do, and so there wasn’t a good reason not to sleep together.

Well. Actually. There were several good reasons not to sleep together. While Megan was finishing up in the shower, Scarlett made the list to herself. One: Megan didn’t actually want a relationship with Scarlett. Megan might be used to emotionless sex, but Scarlett wasn’t emotionless about anything. One of them was going to get their heart broken, and it was probably Scarlett. After all, they’d gone from a seven-year fight to whatever fragile friendship rekindling in a week, and continuing to have sex would ruin it. She should make that item two. She amended the list in her head. Two: continued sex could ruin their fragile friendship. Three: they still had several days to go in this cabin, plus their time in Quebec, plus the entire drive back to Florida, and sleeping together was going to set a precedent that would surely muddy the waters between them. Four...there had to be an item four, right? Scarlett couldn’t think of one, but the top three were really strong. She should listen to those.

Her body, though, wanted to do something stupid. That desire rekindled when she climbed up to the loft and saw the one bed they were going to have to share. It wasn’t a large, spacious king bed where each of them could have her own space and not have to touch. This was barely a queen, probably more like a double, and Megan was going to be so close to her that all that soft, sweet-smelling skin would be inches away.

She should sleep on the sofa.

Scarlett went back downstairs and stretched out on that sofa, facing those big windows, trying to get comfortable. The couch was lumpy. They hadn’t exactly put the nicest features in this building. Frowning, she shifted onto her side, and a spring poked right into her hip. No, that wouldn’t do. Maybe she could put a blanket underneath her for softness? When she tried, it muffled the springs a bit, but she couldn’t imagine sleeping here.

The better solution was to share that bed with Megan, and keep her damn hands to herself.