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His cat bristled. No! We have to stay, it protested.
We can’t. We’re leaving after Christmas.
It asked plaintively, Why? Why can’t we stay and court Holly?
Ice couldn’t come up with a good answer for that.
Across the table from him, Holly yawned. “Long day,” she apologized.
Ice reluctantly released her hand and rose to his feet. “Let me make up the sofa bed for you.”
She looked around the cabin’s single room. “Where are you going to sleep?”
“Don’t worry about that,” he said, stopping in front of the plastic tub that held a spare set of flannel bedsheets.
It didn’t take long to shove the coffee table aside, pile the sofa cushions onto it, and unfold the steel bed frame and mattress.
Holly rose and began gathering up bowls and bread plates.
“Leave it,” he ordered. “I don’t want you walking or standing on that leg if you don’t have to.”
“But it’s not fair to make you do all the work,” she protested.
He glared at her, and she sat her ass down.
Satisfied, he made up the bed. Then he dug in another bin for his camping gear, and located his sleeping bag and a foam camping pad, and rolled them out in the space between the wood stove and the sofa.
Then he put the leftovers away and washed the dishes.
While he worked, Holly asked him more questions about shifters and shifter life.
Having someone here to talk to made him realize how lonely he’d been since Becca moved in with Paul. Ice had promptly downsized from a two-bedroom cabin near Daniel and his mate Margaret’s house to this small cabin next to the park boundary.
Once the kitchen was clean and the table set for breakfast, Holly spent another hour typing on her laptop while Ice tried and failed to focus on the paperback thriller he was halfway through.
Instead, he found himself looking up at frequent intervals, studying her profile. She still wore the oversized flannel shirt he’d loaned her earlier. It looked better on her than him.
His cat agreed. It liked seeing her in his clothes.
When Holly began yawning almost continuously, he rose and tugged the computer out of her hands. “Bedtime,” he said firmly.
She began to protest, but another huge yawn interrupted her. “I guess you’re right,” she conceded.
He carried her laptop over to the kitchen counter, and plugged it in to recharge. All the ranch’s cabins came equipped with solar panels plus backup generators. Then he went around the cabin and turned off all the lights, leaving the interior illuminated only by the soft red glow from the fire.
By the time he returned, she was lying down, the thick down comforter pulled up to her chin. “Good night, Ice. Thank you for saving my life.”
Her smile warmed him through and through as he stretched out on his makeshift bed.
“Good night, Holly,” he replied. “And I’m sure you would’ve done the same for me.”
“Mm-hm,” she said drowsily.
Ice closed his eyes and tried to ignore her delicious scent and her presence so close, yet so untouchable. He willed himself to fall asleep quickly.
Instead, his damned cat took advantage of the quiet and the dim lighting to send a parade of X-rated fantasies tromping through his head.
Time passed. Ice knew he wasn’t getting sleep any time soon, not with an aching, rock-hard dick and no way to jerk off without Holly noticing.
