The Barefoot Groom: Bachelor Billionaire Romance (A Last Play Companion) (18 page)

The Alaskan Inn looked exactly as he remembered it. Two stories, stone around the foundation and long, round logs framed the exterior. It was definitely a rustic cabin. Somehow, it was clearly visible through the still falling snow. Roman remembered it being large and cozy, but he didn’t remember the big pine trees that stood guard next to it. He didn’t remember the turn around driveway that was, amazingly, plowed. He definitely didn’t remember white lights being hung around it, making it look like something out of a cheesy Christmas movie, well, except for a couple of lights that had burnt out.

The cab driver pulled in front of the inn and sighed. “That’ll be eight-hundred dollars, plus tip.”

Roman scoffed, “What?”

He motioned to the outside. “I’ve risked life and limb to get you up here, and I think you can pay it … Roman Young.”

Ahh. Of course. The driver had recognized who he was even though he’d kept his hoodie on the whole time in the cab. He looked into the rearview mirror and met the smirking face of the driver. “Really?”

He put his hand out. “I’ll charge it nice and neat to your credit card. Let’s make it a cool thousand with tip, and then you won’t have to worry about the media showing up.”

Roman rolled his eyes but relented, passing his card up to him. It had not been a good idea to come today. It was bad timing, risky to his career and physically dangerous in this weather. Add in the personal conflict, and no, he definitely didn’t want any media attention right now. “Okay, but if you leak this, I’m suing.”

The cab driver ran his card and handed it back. “Leak what? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Roman rolled his eyes and got out of the car. “I mean it.” The last thing he needed was to have a news crew show up. His Uncle Jim hated the media. From the very start he’d told Roman that he’d do well to keep his nose clean and keep a low profile, but Roman hadn’t listened to him then. Regrettably, he’d listened to Sheena and her strategy for taking them both to the top.

Even though the outside was lit up and the driveway was clear, it didn’t look like anybody was home. It was completely dark. Roman held the door of the cab open. “Can you hold on and take me to a hotel if no one’s here?”

But the cab driver took off with a jerk, slammed the door shut with the momentum, and yelled out the window, “Good luck, but this ride has to get back to the city before they shut down the roads. Thanks for the tip!”

Roman watched him go and irritation coursed through him. Snow was already gathered on the tip of his nose. He turned back and instantly the twinkle lights blinked out. He turned in a quick circle. The light that lit up the road had gone out, too. “Perfect.” He trudged toward the front door, taking care not to slip. He dug into his pocket and pulled out the envelope. He tipped it upside down, letting the key fall into his hand. He put it into the door and eased it open.

The first thing he noticed, other than the fact that it was very dark, was that the inside was cold, too. He put his suitcase down and tried to remember anything from those two trips about where furniture would be. Nothing. He pulled out his cell phone and pulled up the flashlight app. Two seconds later, his phone died. He’d been playing games on his phone during the whole flight. He growled and stuffed it back into his pocket. He had to rely on the small amount of light from the moon to make out the furniture and navigate toward the fireplace.

He felt for a switch to light it, hoping a nice gas fireplace would instantly light. No such luck. But he did find a box of matches!

After sliding it open, his heart plunged—the box was empty. He cursed and banged his fist against the side of the fireplace. “Seriously?”

Roman sucked in a long breath and tried to get his frustration under control. He felt like he was trying to throw a pass for a first down with no open receivers. “Uncle Jim!” He yelled and spun around, looking for anything that could be used for fuel.

He stumbled around, feeling the walls, trying to find the way to the kitchen. He needed to get in there, turn on a light and find some matches.

Part of a wall gave, and he pushed a door into the kitchen. He felt along the side of the wall and found a light switch. He flipped it.

Nothing.

He flipped it quickly back and forth and felt for another one. “Man!”

Keeping his hand against the wall, he felt his way around, hoping he could find the cupboards and rummage for something. Soft light poured in from the outside windows of the kitchen. The moon shone high in the sky, visible even through the snow that fell in fluffy clumps. The whole scene looked like something out of a storybook—all soft, cozy, and white. Well, minus the warm part of cozy. The very important warm part that propelled him to go to the massive cupboards and fling them open, searching for something helpful.

He thought he saw a box of matches and reached up, extending himself as far as he could to get the box, thinking that whoever usually got into these top cupboards must be a giant.

The box stayed just out of reach. It seemed like every time he almost touched it the box scooted back, evading him.

Without warning, the kitchen door burst open, and even colder air rushed through the room.

“Who’s there? Show yourself!” Roman tried to get a view of this person.

The sound of a shotgun being cocked put him on alert. Then the barrel of a shotgun came into view. His heart rate spiked. “Put the gun down,” he said calmly.

If he’d anticipated the assailant would calmly put the shotgun down, he’d been half right. The shotgun fell to the ground and the intruder ran straight for him, getting in a good shove to Roman’s ribs and knocking him off balance. He stumbled back and then tripped over a chair and fell.

At this point, all Roman knew was this guy would pay.

The assailant pounced on him, taking him all the way to the floor.

Roman was grateful he’d trained so hard to get his strength and agility back. He easily used his opponent’s momentum to roll them both. He stopped when he was on top and quickly secured both his assailant’s hands above his head, noting he wasn’t very big, even in all the snow gear he had on. “Mess with the bull, get the horn.”

“Ouch!”

As the adrenaline faded, Roman realized the body he was currently subduing was definitely feminine. He reacted as if he’d bit into a piece of cake expecting chocolate and realizing it was salt cake instead.

Immediately he yanked back his hold, pulling himself up. “What the—”

“Language.” The woman stood up quickly and gave him a look that told him she wished she still had the shotgun. She reached for something and then flipped on a lantern flashlight.

The first thing he noticed, besides the fact that she looked angry, was that her eyes were green. Cat green, as his mother would have said. His mother had been a cat fan. He’d often teased her about being the cat lady, but he’d brought her every stray kitten he’d found toward the end of the cancer, hoping something would cheer her up.

Red hair with soft curls tumbled down her shoulders. It was the color of leaves turning in the fall. He almost couldn’t breathe for a second. She looked so beautiful and fierce and like she would rip his head off if she could. He’d seen that kind of ferocity in only a few people—cancer survivors and three-hundred pound defensive tackles that were getting paid a heck of a lot of money to put him on his backside. For no good reason, it made him laugh.

It was evidently the wrong response. It made her ferocity increase. He could tell from the way her cat-green eyes narrowed before she bent to pick the shotgun up. “I wouldn’t laugh.”

He stuck his hand out. “Whoa. I think we’ve had enough of the gun for tonight, don’t you?”

“Who are you?” She used both hands to brace the shotgun against her shoulder and she placed one foot behind her as if she were preparing to fire.

If only there had been more time to truly appreciate the mussed up, angry, and still beautiful woman in front of him. “Look, just relax?”

This time she smirked, actually smirked, at him. “Excuse me, who do you think you are? I can have the cops here in two seconds.” She switched her stance and put the shotgun down and propped it against the table. She pulled out a phone.

The commanding way she said it, like some prison warden, made him laugh again.

With her thumb, she swiped the screen on her phone and pushed in a code. “Apparently you like to go around breaking into people’s places. What? Did you hear about Jim and think you could come squat here or something?” A horrid look washed over her face. She pinched her lips. “Well, you can’t.” She pressed a button and put the phone to her ear, pinching her lips in satisfaction.

On reflex, he took her phone away from her and pushed end. He didn’t need this kind of publicity for breaking and entering at the moment. His agent definitely wouldn’t be happy about something like that. “Now, hold on.”

Nails scraped his hand as she tried to retrieve what he’d taken. “Hey!”

Altering his stance, he held the phone out of reach. “I said hold on.” Apparently, she wasn’t really going to kill him, so that was a relief.

Relentless was what he would call her antics for getting the phone back. “Give me my phone!”

It wasn’t that he thought she was dangerous or that she wasn’t owed an explanation, but the aggressive way she reached for her phone made him want to keep it. He easily faked right and dodged left.

She fell fast. She’d clearly planned on the weight of his body to ram against but ended up landing on the floor instead.

It struck him that he was acting like a teenager. She clearly knew his uncle and was just trying to protect his property. “I’m sorry,” he said it quickly, but sincerely. He reached a hand out to help her up.

The woman scowled at his hand and stood by herself. She sucked in a long gulp of air, plucking her phone out of his hand. “You better tell me who you are and what you want.” Her eyes were on fire. He couldn’t help thinking it matched her hair.

He let out a breath and held back a laugh. “I’m the owner.”

The words hung in the air, and she studied him for a second, examining him the way he would examine a new play that coach had added to the playbook. Intensely. Carefully.

“You’re Jim’s nephew?” It wasn’t as much a statement as something that came out of her mouth with as much mystifying power as he felt. She looked him up and down, this time her eyes going into slits. “The great Roman Young.”

This time, he did laugh. “Guess that description’s accurate.” He couldn’t say he didn’t like the way ‘great’ sounded in front of his name.

Without warning she laughed, hard and without humor. She shook her head and picked up the shotgun, putting it behind the kitchen door. “Selfish. Selfish. Selfish.”

He was confused. “What?”

She tsked her tongue. “Of course you don’t want me to call the police with the media coverage you’ve had lately.” She shuffled to the same cupboard he’d searched earlier and whipped it open, pulling out a box of matches. “Do you know how many things need to get done around here? How many times I’ve had to run over here to keep the riffraff out at night and check stuff? Do you have
any
idea how much needs to be done before people can stay here, and we’re supposed to be opening in two months?” She shook her head and held up the box of matches. Her expression shifted from anger to exasperation. “Seriously, why didn’t you start a fire? It’s cold in here.”

He ran his hand over the stubble on his face. Before he could move to help, she had already walked into the main room and was making noise. He followed and watched as she expertly built a fire, trying to blow off her little rant about his selfishness. People never understood him. “I couldn’t find a switch or matches.” The belated reply to her belittling observation about the fire sounded lame, even to him.

She whipped her head back. The red curls and her green eyes looked enchanting backlit by the flame. She grinned, and, at that point, he knew she was every bit as bewitching as he’d first thought, but not at all helpless. “The power’s out, genius. Oh, and don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone you beat up on a girl.”

Awkward. After all, what was she? He cocked his head and sized her up. Probably five foot eight, definitely slight of frame. Underneath that snowsuit he couldn’t imagine her being too big. Without thinking, he checked her left hand. Checked the finger that would matter. For some reason, he was disappointed that a band encircled it. “Sorry.” He meant it.

She laughed, and this time it was rich and wonderful. He told himself to stop even thinking about her laugh.

“Jim’s nephew.” She shook her head. “Wow. I mean, I knew you owned the place, but I … Jim said you weren’t the kind that would come. He said I’d probably have to communicate via email.” She grimaced and moved for a small closet off of the main doors. “Well, I have to go.” She tugged out a sleeping bag. “Power’s off. Here’s a sleeping bag. You’ll have to sleep on the floor in front of the fire tonight if you want to keep warm.” She tossed it at his feet and then paused.

He couldn’t believe this. “What do you mean? Won’t the power come back on soon?”

She took off toward the kitchen, waving him back with her. “Uh—don’t hold your breath.” She walked through the swivel kitchen door and he followed. She picked up a piece of paper off the table and shoved it at his chest, taking a match and lighting another lantern. “Good thing you’re here, here’s a list of all the stuff that needs to be fixed. You saved me having to email it to you.” She moved to the kitchen door and threw back a grin. “I’ll see you in the morning if you survive the night.”

He couldn’t decide if he liked her or not. He rushed to the kitchen door and threw the door wide. “Hey, isn’t there a hotel or something?”

She moved for a snowmobile, but turned back. “Maybe you should have come to the funeral and you could have met someone who might be willing to help you out.” Her cat-like eyes flashed wide.

He jerked back, unprepared for the direct emotional hit.

She slung her leg up and onto a snowmobile. “You
are
in a bed and breakfast.”

He moved out onto the deck, ticked off, their eyes locked.