Page 16 of All Snowed Gin

Just like last night in bed…

“Hi!” I squeak.

“I heard a noise out here and thought a critter or something had worked its way in.”

“Nope, just me!”

My voice is a higher pitch than normal, and I have no doubt that my smile must look guilty as hell. Pierce either doesn’t seem to notice or doesn’t care, walking toward me, closing the door behind him. He’s still in his flannel sleep pants, his faded black tee clinging to his pecs, but most surprising is that he’s barefoot. Holy hell, isn’t he cold?

“I, ummm, I owe you an apology,” he says, stopping right in front of me.

“Pardon?” I’m not sure I heard him properly. I’m pretty sure he said he owes me an apology. Which he does. I just didn’t realize men like Pierce recognized that about themselves.

“I owe you an apology. Probably a couple, actually. Definitely for this morning. But also last night. I’ve been a bit terse.”

That’s one word for it…

“Don’t forget the slamming of the door in my face.”

“Yeah,” he admits, rubbing the back of his neck. His cheeks are starting to pinken, but I can’t tell if it’s from the cold or from his embarrassment over his behavior. I’m going to pick the latter. Serves me better. “So, I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve any of that. This sucks just as much for you as it does me, and I will try to be better behaved from here on out.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Awkward silence falls between us, the faint sound of rustling trees not enough to overpower it. I’m not sure there is anything left to say, but Pierce doesn’t move. He continues to stand there, looking like a lost puppy.

“Do you want to build a snowman?” I ask, being very careful not to sing my question. Undoubtedly Pierce is not familiar enough with animated movies to understand the reference, and I don’t need to give him any more reasons to believe I’m a nutter. Randomly asking questions via song would certainly not help that cause.

“Build a snowman?”

“Yeah! Well, he’s mostly built, so it’s just finishing touches now. But, ohh!! We could build him a wife!”

Pierce narrows his eyes at me, a look that I’m getting used to. I don’t think I’ll miss these incredulous expressions of his once we’ve parted ways, but at least now I know to expect them.

“Snowman’s wife sounds like it’s more your department than mine.”

“C’mon, please? It’s much easier with two people. It’ll be fun. Or do you not do fun?”

“I do fun.”

Taking a step back, he looks me up and down, eyes slowly raking over me. My heart jumps, my head whirring with questions about what he’s thinking. The heat from his gaze is also making me feel a little fluttery. Okay, a lot fluttery. Because right now, it’s more than his eyes that I want on me.

I need to break this up.

“Fun requires shoes though.”

He looks down at his feet, as if he’s noticing for the first time that he’s not wearing shoes. This man seriously confuses me. Nodding, I turn back to the box, when something catches the corner of my eye. I stare at it for a moment, wondering. Until inspiration hits.

“Sledding!”

“With the snowman?” Pierce asks.

“No,” I giggle. “Us. Me. We can use this.”

I point to the kayak, giddy inside over this idea. It’ll take some effort, maybe even a good running head start, but it should work.

“You have the slope off the left of the drive. That’s perfect to sled on.”