thought
she’d loved at the time, the guy that she had been desperately trying to get to
notice her since she’d first been introduced to him months earlier.
Oh how she wished she could forget that miserable night, but
regrettably, it seemed destined to haunt her for the rest of her life. It was the night she had imprudently skipped
dinner and recklessly downed one too many glasses of champagne on an empty
stomach, cautiously evading her elder sister’s watchful gaze throughout the
evening. And then, in the wee hours of
the morning and still more than a little tipsy, she had made one last desperate
attempt to gain Ryan’s attention as he’d slept in one of the guest bedrooms of
her sister’s home. Sneaking into his
room long after everyone else had gone to bed, she’d summoned her courage and
offered herself up to the devastatingly handsome football player like a silly,
pathetic teenager with a crush. Unfortunately however, and much to her extreme mortification, he’d swiftly
hustled her out of his room, his actions letting her know once and for all, and
in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t interested.
Setting the phone down, her hand moved automatically to the
gear shift as an overwhelming desire to throw the four-wheel drive into reverse
and back out of the driveway hit her full force. The only thing that stopped her was the
knowledge that it would be dark in less than an hour, and with the snow
continuing to fall like it was, she knew she’d never make it safely back down the
mountain. Staring through the
snow-speckled windshield, she fought the urge to weep.
Finally, with a sigh of resignation she reached for the key
and turned off the ignition. She would
have pulled into the garage, but she’d forgotten to write down the keypad code,
so she would have to open the door once she got inside the house. Glancing at the oversized four-car garage,
she couldn’t help wondering if Ryan’s vehicle was parked inside at that very
moment. Kate’s message hadn’t said if
Ryan was already at the cabin, but knowing her luck it was probably too much to
hope for that he wasn’t.
Stepping from the warm interior of the SUV and out into the
cold, her boots immediately sank into the freshly fallen snow as she scanned
the drive for any sign of tracks, but all she could see was a fresh layer of
powder covering the ground. Please don’t be here, please don’t be here ,
she silently begged as she shut the door and then made her way carefully to the
cabin’s wraparound front porch and large set of double doors. A moment later, standing at the door, key in
hand, she was about to insert it into the lock, but then she hesitated. Wait, should she knock first? Yeah probably, just in case she thought. Reaching for the large iron doorknocker, she
bit down on her lower lip as she thumped it loudly against the back plate three
times and then waited in a state of nervous trepidation.
She mentally counted to thirty, and then gave the knocker
another couple of thumps. When another
thirty seconds had passed and still nothing happened, she felt an almost giddy
sense of relief. He isn’t here yet, she
realized. It seemed almost too good to
be true. Then again, perhaps luck was
with her, maybe he wasn’t coming at all. Maybe he’d changed his mind, or perhaps the storm had kept him
away. Thank you, thank you, thank you, she thought silently. Whatever the
reason she didn’t care, she was just inordinately grateful for the reprieve
regardless of the cause.
Pushing the key into the lock she quickly opened the door and
stepped into the cabin’s wide foyer, shutting and locking the door behind
her. Thankfully she did know thesecurity code, and quickly moved to
turn off the elaborate alarm system at the small keypad mounted on the
wall. Once that was done, she took a quick
look around, noticing as she did that the house felt warm, almost too
warm. Hmm, she
she’d loved at the time, the guy that she had been desperately trying to get to
notice her since she’d first been introduced to him months earlier.
Oh how she wished she could forget that miserable night, but
regrettably, it seemed destined to haunt her for the rest of her life. It was the night she had imprudently skipped
dinner and recklessly downed one too many glasses of champagne on an empty
stomach, cautiously evading her elder sister’s watchful gaze throughout the
evening. And then, in the wee hours of
the morning and still more than a little tipsy, she had made one last desperate
attempt to gain Ryan’s attention as he’d slept in one of the guest bedrooms of
her sister’s home. Sneaking into his
room long after everyone else had gone to bed, she’d summoned her courage and
offered herself up to the devastatingly handsome football player like a silly,
pathetic teenager with a crush. Unfortunately however, and much to her extreme mortification, he’d swiftly
hustled her out of his room, his actions letting her know once and for all, and
in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t interested.
Setting the phone down, her hand moved automatically to the
gear shift as an overwhelming desire to throw the four-wheel drive into reverse
and back out of the driveway hit her full force. The only thing that stopped her was the
knowledge that it would be dark in less than an hour, and with the snow
continuing to fall like it was, she knew she’d never make it safely back down the
mountain. Staring through the
snow-speckled windshield, she fought the urge to weep.
Finally, with a sigh of resignation she reached for the key
and turned off the ignition. She would
have pulled into the garage, but she’d forgotten to write down the keypad code,
so she would have to open the door once she got inside the house. Glancing at the oversized four-car garage,
she couldn’t help wondering if Ryan’s vehicle was parked inside at that very
moment. Kate’s message hadn’t said if
Ryan was already at the cabin, but knowing her luck it was probably too much to
hope for that he wasn’t.
Stepping from the warm interior of the SUV and out into the
cold, her boots immediately sank into the freshly fallen snow as she scanned
the drive for any sign of tracks, but all she could see was a fresh layer of
powder covering the ground. Please don’t be here, please don’t be here ,
she silently begged as she shut the door and then made her way carefully to the
cabin’s wraparound front porch and large set of double doors. A moment later, standing at the door, key in
hand, she was about to insert it into the lock, but then she hesitated. Wait, should she knock first? Yeah probably, just in case she thought. Reaching for the large iron doorknocker, she
bit down on her lower lip as she thumped it loudly against the back plate three
times and then waited in a state of nervous trepidation.
She mentally counted to thirty, and then gave the knocker
another couple of thumps. When another
thirty seconds had passed and still nothing happened, she felt an almost giddy
sense of relief. He isn’t here yet, she
realized. It seemed almost too good to
be true. Then again, perhaps luck was
with her, maybe he wasn’t coming at all. Maybe he’d changed his mind, or perhaps the storm had kept him
away. Thank you, thank you, thank you, she thought silently. Whatever the
reason she didn’t care, she was just inordinately grateful for the reprieve
regardless of the cause.
Pushing the key into the lock she quickly opened the door and
stepped into the cabin’s wide foyer, shutting and locking the door behind
her. Thankfully she did know thesecurity code, and quickly moved to
turn off the elaborate alarm system at the small keypad mounted on the
wall. Once that was done, she took a quick
look around, noticing as she did that the house felt warm, almost too
warm. Hmm, she
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