Winter Heat Page 5

  I shoved the money back in my pocket awkwardly and headed for the front door. "It was nice to meet you, Daisy." I pulled my parka back on, dreading the cold, and grabbed the front door handle. The door was wrenched away from me, and I was suddenly face-to-face with a very angry Liam.

  “Uh-oh,” I said.

  “Uh-oh is right," he growled. I braced myself for the inevitable argument.

  CHAPTER SIX

  “How could you just leave a note and sneak out while I’m in the shower?” Liam barked as we walked the path back to the cabin. “What are you, fifteen? Your life is in danger, get that through your head.”

  I nodded, not wanting to say anything that would anger him further. He was overreacting, in my opinion, but I didn’t think that saying that would go over well. I stayed silent on our walk instead. Liam stewed in silence, save for the occasional grumble under his breath about people who didn't know what's right for them. I ignored these remarks, knowing it came from a place of frustration. After five minutes of silent walking and stewing, I ventured a question.

  “Liam?” I asked, glancing sideways at his growling face. “I mean, Amos?”

  “Yes, Agnes?” he responded, looking at me, then quickly looking back to the road.

  “Why didn't you just drive the truck if you were in such a hurry to bring me back to the safe house?" This only made him growl more, and I regretted the question.

  “Truck wouldn’t start,” he said grudgingly.

  “Oh.” We kept walking in silence, both of us staring ahead at the blank whiteness of the road before us. The cabin finally came into view, and we trudged up the steps. Liam opened the front door and ushered me in. Surprised by the chivalrous gesture, I walked into the foyer and turned around to thank him. I was interrupted by Liam shutting the screen door in my face.

  “What are you doing?” I asked in surprise.

  “Stay here,” Liam said. “Can you manage that?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Yes, master. Where are you going?”

  “I’m going to work on the truck so that if we need to make a quick getaway, we’re not stranded here alone.” He turned on his heel and stomped off the porch as I stared after him. I shrugged and decided not to press it and let him cool off outside.

  I peeled off my coat, kicking off my boots and leaving them in the foyer, eyeing the bathroom door. I figured a bath would be an excellent use of my time while I waited for Liam to cool down and fix whatever needed to be fixed on the truck.

  I walked to the bathroom and sat on the edge of the tub, opening the cabinet below the sink. Bingo. I found some bubble bath and poured a liberal amount into the tub, then turned the spigots to the hottest setting. I still had a chill deep in my bones and needed something to thaw me out. Despite my appreciation for the snow, I had not been prepared for the harsh cold of a New Hampshire winter. I turned the faucet off when it was in danger of overflowing the tub and stood up, stripping off my clothes. I sank into the bathtub with a sigh, luxuriating in the slightly too hot water.

  I soaked in the tub, staring up at the ceiling. I heard Liam come back in at some point during my bath, stomping his boots on the ground of the foyer and sounding grumpy. I was glad there was a door between him and me. I sank further into the tub, willing him not to knock or call for me. He never did.

  I stayed in the bath until all the bubbles were gone and my fingers and toes were pruny and white. I stood up, looking around for my towel. It wasn’t on the hook where I’d left it this morning.

  Panicking, I looked everywhere, but it was a small bathroom. There wasn't room for my towel to have fallen somewhere that I couldn't see it. No problem, I could just grab a new towel from the linen closet. I closed my eyes in annoyance when I remembered that the linen closet which held all the fresh towels was located across the hall. I didn't want to leave this bathroom naked to get a towel, and I didn't want to put my dirty clothes back on. I knew what I had to do, but I wasn't happy about it.

  “Liam?" I called. A faint grunt came from the living room. "Liam?" I called again.

  “What?” Liam called back.

  “I need you,” I said.

  There was a pause. “For what?”

  “Just come here, please," I said, trying to keep the irritation out of my voice.

  Liam appeared in front of the bathroom door. I was just poking my head around the door and hiding my body behind it, but it was pretty obvious I was nude. His gaze flickered down and then quickly back up to my face, and he masked the sudden flash of heat in his eyes well. I blushed and looked upwards. “Yes?” he asked, clearing his throat.

  “My towel is gone from the hook that I left it on this morning,” I said.

  “Yeah, I put it in the hamper with the rest of the dirty laundry,” Liam said.

  I gaped at him. "What are you, a maid? Besides, I only used that towel once; it doesn't need to get washed every time I use it."

  “We also don’t have to live like slobs while we’re here. I like to keep things tidy,” Liam said.

  I rolled my eyes. “Well, now I don't have a towel in the bathroom, and I'm getting cold."

  “Why didn’t you make sure you had a towel before you decided to take your second bath of the day?” Liam asked.

  “Because I didn’t think I would have to replace my towel that I hung up!” I said, exasperated. “Listen, will you please just grab me a towel from the closet in the hallway?”

  Liam grinned, flashing his white teeth. He rubbed his chin, appearing to contemplate. "I don't know. Maybe if I don't give you a towel and leave you naked in the bathroom, you won't go running off all willy-nilly. I'm not seeing any benefit to getting that towel for you."

  “I think you'll find my modesty only goes so far. One more hour in here and I'll just go out into the hall naked to get my towel," I said.

  Liam smirked. “Now I’m really not seeing an upside to getting that towel.”

  I blushed. "Just get me the damned towel." It was my turn to growl now. Liam grinned again but headed down the hallway to the linen closet. He came back to the bathroom and held a towel out for me. I grabbed it and quickly shut the door behind me.

  “You’re welcome!” Liam called, chuckling as he walked away. I screwed up my face and shook my head as I said “You’re welcome” in a mocking voice. I wrapped the giant towel around myself and steeled myself to exit the bathroom and face Liam.

  I opened the door and peeked out. Liam was on the couch watching golf again. I stepped into the hallway, gripping my towel tightly around me. Liam's eyes flashed with unexpected heat, locking with mine and burning into me. I ripped my gaze from his, scurrying for the safety of my bedroom. I got dressed and considered not coming out of the room for the rest of the week. I wasn't a coward, though, and I left the bedroom with my head held high and joined Liam on the couch.

  He glanced over at me when I sat next to him and crossed my legs under me. I looked down at my fingernails, studying them intently. “Thanks for the towel.”

  Liam nodded. “You’re welcome.”

  I cleared my throat. “And I’m sorry for leaving without you earlier. I wasn’t thinking about how much danger I’m really in and how that must have worried you.”

  “I wasn’t worried about you, I was worried about my job,” Liam said.

  "Oh, well, then I'm sorry I jeopardized your job. Geez." I got off the couch and started to head to my bedroom, but was stopped by Liam's hand encircling my wrist. A jolt of heat ran through me, and I glanced down at where his hand was. Liam kept a firm grip on my wrist.

  “No, stay." I raised my eyebrows in surprise as he pulled me down next to him on the couch. "I can keep an eye on you better if you're within eyesight." My surprised smile turned into a frown, and I pouted as I sat next to him on that couch.

  “Are you going to be a dick the entire time we’re stuck here?” I asked.

  Liam shrugged. “If that’s what it takes to get the job done.”

  “Well, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to hang
around here while you're being a jerk. I'm going to go watch movies in my room." I got up, went to the DVD display tower, grabbed as many movies as I could hold, and kicked the bedroom door open. I planned on watching movies all day while holed up in my room away from Liam's lousy mood.

  I flopped down on the bed after popping in a comedy and settled in under the covers. The first movie was pretty funny, and I put the next DVD in immediately after the first film ended. The second movie wasn't enough to hold my attention though, and I found myself staring out the window as the sky darkened at four-thirty in the afternoon. The days were shorter here, and it was disorienting.

  I fell asleep sometime during the fourth movie and woke up well after sunrise the next day. I looked over at my phone. Nine in the morning. I sat up in bed, wiped the drool off my face, and patted down my hair. I got out of bed and swiped all of the DVD cases that were scattered on my bed into my arms, then walked out to the living room to put them back where they belonged. Liam was in the kitchen drinking coffee when I got there. He nodded at me in greeting.

  “Sleep well?” he asked.

  I nodded. "Yeah, how about you?" Liam nodded back. "Well enough. That couch isn't extremely comfortable, but I've slept in worse."

  I felt guilty but didn’t say anything. I wasn’t about to invite him to sleep in my bed.

  “It’s a good thing you’re awake. I need to talk to you about something,” Liam said, holding out a cup of coffee to me. I murmured my thanks and settled into a chair at the dining room table.

  “What’s up?” I asked, not knowing if I wanted to hear what he had to say. I was pretty sure I was going to get reamed out again for yesterday.

  “McIntyre called me this morning. They haven’t located Jack Nelson yet.” My heart sank as Liam went on matter-of-factly. “We are going to have to stay here for another week or so.”

  “Oh,” I said. “I guess that’s fine. Should I call my office to let them know?”

  Liam stared at me as if I were stupid. “No. If Jack Nelson is truly after you, you don’t want to be giving updates on exactly how long you’re going to be away to the people that he’s most likely to contact.”

  “Well, we're just going to have to make the most of it. Put on your snowsuit, Amos, we're going to play outside in the snow." I chugged the rest of my coffee and placed the mug next to the sink. Liam rolled his eyes, then picked it up and put it in the dishwasher. I smirked as I headed back to my room to get changed. I pulled on my snowsuit in record time, and to my delight, when I emerged from the bedroom, I saw that Liam had put on cold weather clothes too.

  “Let's go!" I said, excitedly grabbing Liam's hand and pulling him to the front door. He followed me out and shut the door behind him. Outside, there were about five inches of snow covering the ground, and I ran out into the yard to a giant pile of it. I grabbed a handful, forming a snowball, but Liam's snowball hit me in the face first. I sputtered angrily and dropped my handful of snow as another snowball pelted me in the shoulder, knocking me over. Liam came to stand over me as I laid flat on my butt.

  “Had enough of snow?” he asked, smirking. I shook my head and grabbed his hand, pulling him down into the snow. I grabbed a handful again and shoved it down the front of his shirt, then got up and ran away quickly. Liam was back on his feet in no time, vowing revenge, and I hid behind the shed while I formulated a plan. It would be mere seconds before my footprints gave away my hiding spot. I spied a small foot ladder leaning against the shed and climbed it, nestling myself on the roof of the shed on my belly.

  Liam came around the corner, looking left and right for me. When he finally looked up, I balled some snow up and threw it down at him, hitting him square on the shoulder. He grinned and held out a hand to me. “Truce?”

  I nodded, then grabbed his hand and let him gently grab me and place me on the ground. I looked up to smile at him, and he grinned back, shoving a fistful of snow down my front. I shrieked at the cold as he roared with laughter. "Okay, okay, now I'm ready for a truce," Liam said, still laughing as I frantically swiped at the ice shoved down my front.

  I looked at him warily. “Okay, but we’re building a snowman now.”

  “A snowman? What are you, ten?” Liam asked meanly.

  I frowned. “I’ve never built one before,” I said.

  Liam's face softened. "Okay, let's build a snowman then." He led the way to the middle of the yard, where he started balling up the base of the snowman. I made the midsection and the head, as instructed, and placed those on top of the large base Liam had assembled. Once the body was together, I broke some twigs for the arms, the face, and the buttons, and handed some pieces to Liam to help. When we'd finished arranging our snowman, we stood back and admired our work.

  “That was fun. It does feel anticlimactic now though," I said, shivering. "I think I want to go inside and warm up."

  “Yeah, being out in the snow gets old fast,” Liam agreed. “Let’s go drink something warm and watch more golf.”

  “No!” I said. “Let’s build a fire instead. I’m going to shoot myself if I have to watch golf for one more minute.” Liam looked offended but nodded, following me back up the front steps and into the foyer. Once inside, I peeled off my snowsuit, leaving just my long johns and a sweater on, and Liam followed suit. I padded into the kitchen, put the kettle on, and pulled out the mugs while Liam started up a fire in the living room. When the pot whistled, I made our hot chocolates and brought them to the couch where Liam was seated. I handed him his mug and settled in next to him, inhaling the warm steam as I stared into the fire.

  “So, another week stuck here with me, huh?” I said, looking over at Liam. He returned my gaze unflinchingly.

  “It's not the worst thing in the world," Liam said. I narrowed my eyes at Liam's uncharacteristically pleasant comment.

  “Yeah, there’s still nuclear war, and puppy mills, and people who use selfie sticks at the movie theaters,” I joked.

  “There’s that,” Liam said softly. He placed his mug on the coffee table as he leaned in closer to me. “I’d say this doesn’t even rank in the top one hundred worst things.” I smiled, then my breath hitched as he came in even closer.

  He’s going to kiss me. I dismissed that ridiculous thought. Liam was pure professionalism. He wouldn’t jeopardize a mission like that. He is sitting terribly close for someone who doesn’t intend to kiss you.

  Liam reached out and pushed my hair back behind my shoulder, where some stray strands had made their way out of my braid. I gazed into his eyes, waiting for his next move. He wanted to kiss me, I knew it, I knew it with every ounce of me. He gazed at me with a slight frown, not moving. We both jumped when the doorbell rang, and the spell was broken.

  Liam hopped up from the couch and grabbed his gun from the side table, putting one finger on his lips and then gesturing for me to hide. I got up and crouched down behind the kitchen counter as Liam tiptoed to the front door, gun in hand. I watched from the side of the kitchen counter, hoping whoever it was wouldn’t be able to see me. He cracked open the door a bit, then swung it wide to reveal a very surprised-looking Daisy.

  I stood up and smiled at Daisy, then at Liam. Daisy’s eyes were wild as she surveyed the scene. Me, coming from hiding behind a counter, and Liam, brandishing a gun. “Okay, I know how crazy this looks, but I can explain.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Daisy didn’t say anything, just stared in shock at Liam’s gun, which he was now hastily shoving behind his back.

  Liam nodded at Daisy and turned back to me. “Do you know this person, Agnes?”

  I stepped forward and touched Liam’s arm, trying to help him unclench. “Yes, this is Daisy. I just met her in the village yesterday. She owns the coffee shop.” I turned toward Daisy. “Daisy, come on in, it’s freezing out there.”

  Daisy looked inside skeptically, but stepped forward, offering up a casserole dish to Liam, who stepped back. I took it from Daisy’s hands, ignoring her confused look, and headed to the kitchen
to place it on the counter.

  “That’s a lasagna I made for you guys,” Daisy said. “I wasn’t sure how much cooking you’d be doing on vacation and wanted you to have something warm.” Daisy was still eyeing Liam suspiciously, and he wasn’t doing much to deflect that suspicion by leaning on the front door in a defensive stance. “Do you always answer the front door pointing a gun at people?”

  “We're from a bad neighborhood," I said quickly. "Lots of break-ins, burglaries, that kind of thing. You have to show criminals that you're not messing around so that they don't mess with you." I looked over at Liam for back up, wishing he would adopt a more natural stance than a predator who's about to pounce. He nodded in approval at my quick recovery, and I glanced back at Daisy. I waited with bated breath to see if she'd bought that. She silently looked back and forth between Liam and me with wide eyes, assessing the situation.

  “Well, that sounds like an awful way to live,” she said finally. “I’m glad it’s not like that here in Langdon Falls. Everyone knows everybody here, so word would spread pretty quickly if someone started assaulting people.”

  I nodded. “Langdon Falls does seem pretty idyllic compared to our town, that’s for sure. Would you like to stay and eat this lasagna with us, Daisy?” Liam glared at me over the top of Daisy’s head and shook his head furiously. I ignored him and kept my gaze on Daisy, who beamed and nodded.

  “That sounds lovely! Let me just take off my coat.” She shrugged off her coat and handed it to an unhappy Liam, then followed me into the kitchen.

  “I'm going to go get cleaned up and dressed while you two ladies catch up. Be back in a jiff," Liam said before stomping off to the bathroom. We both stared at him as he left.

  Once Liam was wholly out of earshot, Daisy turned to me. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but hesitated. "What's up?" I asked, watching her face intently.

  Daisy pursed her lips, considering her next question. "Agnes, is everything okay with you and Amos? I know I just met you yesterday, and it's so not my place, but you need to know that you can talk to me if Amos is mistreating you." I stared at Daisy in confusion. "What?" I asked. "Why do you think Amos is mistreating me?"