Page 20 of Stormswept Colorado (Hart County #3)

EIGHTEEN

Teller

Shit. That was Susan’s voice.

Really? Fucking now ?

Ayla yelped and dove off my lap. Snow disappeared from the driver’s side window as someone wiped it away, and a flashlight beam shone in, blurry from the fog on the glass. Ayla and I must’ve been so wrapped up in each other we didn’t hear the engine approaching.

I opened the door. Icy air hit my face, cooling off my skin as fast as my erection retreated. It was still snowing, but not as much as earlier.

“Susan.” I cleared my throat. “Thanks.”

She smiled, her face pink from the cold. “You okay, Ms. Maxwell? Bet you’re ready to get out of there!”

“Pretty much.” Ayla had the space blanket around her, skin flushed.

I lifted an eyebrow at her, and her lips made a straight line like she was trying not to laugh.

Felt like we were two teenagers who’d gotten rousted from the local make-out spot.

I just hoped Susan couldn’t guess what we’d been doing.

The fogged windows might’ve been a dead giveaway, though, judging by Susan’s odd expression. “Seems you’ve had quite the adventure. ”

“So to speak.” I grabbed for the coats in the front seat. Ayla’s was still damp from her dip in the snowbank, so I took mine instead and draped it around her. “You’ll go out first. Susan will help you up the embankment to the road.”

“I can manage.”

“But it’s a lot darker and the snow’s deeper than earlier. I’ll be right behind you.”

“Good, I want you close,” she whispered, her green eyes flirtatious as I secured the top button of the coat so it wouldn’t fall off. It nearly swallowed her up. “Thank you, Teller.”

Nngh . I bit back a growl. Seeing her lips all swollen from my mouth, and then hearing my name on them?

I desperately wanted to kiss her again. Almost did. But somehow, I restrained myself and lifted her over me toward the open door. Susan reached in to grab her.

“Okay, honey, you remember me? Officer Nichols,” Susan said.

“Sure do. Thanks for coming to get us.”

“Chief would have my hide if I didn’t. He’s a tyrant.”

Ayla glanced back at me. “I know it.”

My heart hammered, remembering how she’d crawled across the bench seat toward me before straddling me and riding my lap like a horny cowgirl.

Had that actually happened?

Susan cackled. “Let’s get you up this slope, Ms. Maxwell. It’s not that steep, but it’s icy.”

“You can call me Ayla.”

“Then I certainly will. If you call me Susan.”

Outside, it was that uncanny twilight that happens at night during a snowstorm. The headlights from a couple of vehicles waiting on the road added to the brightness. Looked like Susan’s department SUV and a tow truck.

I greeted the tow driver, Earl, who offered to help get our bags from my trunk. By now, Ayla was already sitting in the front seat of Susan’s vehicle, hopefully toasty warm. The engine was running.

“Chief, I figured you could take my ride,” Susan explained. “So you can get safe and sound to Hartley. Just in case your vehicle got more banged up than you thought. We’ll tow it and I’ll ride with Earl back to Silver Ridge.”

“I appreciate that,” I said. “Good thinking.”

“I tried to radio on my way to see if that worked for you, but I dunno, maybe the satellite was squirrelly.”

“Could be.” Or maybe we’d been so distracted I completely ignored everything but the woman in the backseat with me.

“You’ll probably need a coat, though. Did something happen to Ayla’s?” Susan batted her eyelashes innocently. “She looked very cozy in yours.”

“Don’t start. Her coat got wet, and it’s drying off.”

“Seems you are a fan of hers after all.” Susan rested a hand on my shoulder. “Just don’t get your heart broke, Chief.”

Hell. Truer words. Susan had no idea how right she was.

Ayla looked so pretty sleeping. It was hard to wake her up. But we couldn’t sit in the SUV all night. It was late enough as it was.

“Wake up, Ayla. We’re here.” I leaned over to kiss her forehead, unable to resist.

“Hmmm?” Her eyes blinked open. “Crap. I fell asleep. We’re in Hartley?”

“Yep. The Last Refuge Inn. You’ve been here before, haven’t you?”

“Yeah.” She yawned the word, and that was damn cute.

The last couple hours of the drive had passed uneventfully. While the snow continued to fall, there hadn’t been any more issues. No more elk in the road.

After we said goodbye to Susan and got moving again, I had spent a good ten minutes on the radio checking in on things at the station.

That big accident was cleared and things were calm back in Silver Ridge, even with the heavy snowfall.

They had managed without me for a few hours, despite me going MIA on the radio while I was otherwise distracted.

Not that I regretted a single moment I’d spent with Ayla so far today.

But by the time I was done checking in, she had drifted off. And after that, I kept glancing over at her, pleased that she was still wearing my coat and also clueless about where things stood between us.

We’d been extremely hot and heavy in that backseat. But had that been more about the emotion of the moment? All those things we’d confessed to each other. Being isolated together.

Obviously, we had chemistry. But that didn’t mean Ayla would want to finish what we’d started.

I mean, I sure as hell did. But we were back to civilization now. I couldn’t assume I knew what she wanted.

She sat up straighter, going to unbuckle her seatbelt. I beat her to it, pressing the button and gently lifting the cross belt. “Thanks,” she said softly. “I should’ve stayed awake with you. That’s like, a road trip rule.”

“I didn’t mind. But there is something we should still talk about. That email earlier. I might have some ideas for tracking down who sent it.”

She nodded. “Okay. Not tonight though. I’m too worn out to talk about that.”

“Later, then.”

The inn was all lit up. The entrance building had once been the old ranch house on this property. Stone and rustic timber, with a generous porch. But the building beyond it was a more modern addition. Snow blanketed the peaked roof line. Smoke puffed from the chimneys against the night sky.

But the instant Ayla spoke again, I forgot about everything else. “You really didn’t mind me falling asleep?” she asked. “You didn’t miss me?” Her tone was flirty. Teasing.

Adrenaline and heat roared to life like a match struck against kindling.

I’d been getting tired those last miles, but now I was wide awake.

“Oh, I missed you. Had to keep my mind busy by replaying how you felt up against me.” I reached over and rested my hand on her thigh. Then lifted it to stroke her chin. “What your kisses tasted like.”

I was tempted to pull her into the backseat with me. We were late already, so nobody would know if we were out in the parking lot another half hour, right? How tired was she, really?

Except I didn’t want this woman in the backseat of a car if we could stretch out in a bed. And I certainly didn’t want to settle for half an hour if I could have her all night.

I imagined laying her out in front of a roaring fireplace. Kissing and touching every part of her while the flames cast dancing shadows over her naked skin.

Should I ask her to come to my hotel room after we checked in? I was so out of practice with this kind of thing.

She inhaled. “Teller?—”

The front door to the inn burst open, and Grace and Callum came charging out. Grace wore a parka with a fur-lined hood pulled up around her face. She and her brother both waved as they crossed the parking lot toward us.

Shit, the universe kept having the worst timing today.

They went to Ayla’s side of the car and opened her door. “You made it,” Grace said. “We’ve been so worried.”

Ayla jumped down, returning Grace’s hug. “I’m sorry. We went off the road and got stuck. There was no cell service.”

“No, it’s fine. We know all about it. Officer Nichols called with updates. But how crazy is this storm, right ? Wait, why are you wearing Teller’s coat?” Grace slammed the door closed, so I didn’t hear Ayla’s response.

I dropped my head against the seat back.

After a few seconds, I realized Callum was staring at me through the windshield, so I got out. “Long day?” he asked, rounding the vehicle with me to help me get the luggage.

“In some ways.” I’d draped Ayla’s coat in the backseat to finish drying, so I grabbed that too.

I needed to find a way to get her alone again. Pretty much my top priority at this moment, aside from breathing.

“You and Ayla were stuck together for a few hours there.” Callum’s tone held some kind of a question.

“Yep.”

“Looks like you both came out unscathed.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” I muttered.