I can take care of myself. I always have. For that matter, I’ve also taken care of my best friends Aurora and Clover. Keeping them safe has landed me with a concussion after our car accident thanks to a wayward lynx.

On top of that, I seem to have landed in a handsome man’s bed. Not just any man, Barrow attends to all my needs and never wants to leave my side. He’s big, brawny, and possessive, and I find myself falling for him more by the minute. The lodge is a safe haven that I’m quickly wanting to call home. But my self doubt creeps in ,and I start to think maybe I’m imagining Barrow’s attraction to me. After all, Aurora’s the star of our group, not me.

But the more he dotes on me, compliments me, and gives me those heated looks I feel down to my toes, the more I realize he’s genuine and that we could have a real future together.

When I get a job offer that’s hard to turn down, will I choose love or life outside the lodge?

 

 

1

 

 

Barrow

 

 

“I really think you should stay in bed. The swelling has gone down, but you—”

“I’m fine.” Bells shoots me a glare as she swings her legs over the side of the bed and stares at the window. “I need a better view.”

“I’ll get you whatever view you want.” I gesture toward her bed. “You can face the window. I have a big screen I can carry in here. If you want—”

“I said I’m fine.” Her glare grows darker.

I lean against the wall and cross my arms over my chest. After all, we’ve been doing this same dance for a few days: I try to take care of her. She snaps at me. Over and over.

“That knock on your head is better, but you aren’t out of the woods. Head injuries are strange. And you took all the impact of the wreck.” I sigh as she stands and walks to the window.

She does her best to seem like her balance is on point. But it’s not. It hasn’t been since I’ve been treating her. Inner ear issues aren’t common with concussions, but nothing about this woman is common.

Dark hair, wide hips, luscious curves, and a quick—if salty—mind. She’s had me captivated from the moment Charles brought her to the lodge.

“I want to find the culprit.” She presses her forehead to the window, her breath fogging up the cold glass just a little.

“Culprit?”

“Yeah, that furry jerk who caused the crash.”

“Oh, Leonard.” I shake my head. Leonard the lynx does what he wants when he wants. He’s somewhat of a lodge legend, but he’s very real.

“He owes me. He thinks I don’t see him looking in this window at me, but I do. He was here last night.”

I scratch my stubbled chin. “I think that knock on the head is playing tricks on you.”

“No. I saw him. He was looking in.”

“All right.” I ease over to her. One of the things I’ve learned about Bells is that she spooks easy. So easy that I wonder if she’s had a bad experience with men in the past. Just the thought of it makes my blood start to heat and angry thoughts percolate through my mind. If someone hurt her … I force myself to calm down. But I keep noticing it. When I’m near, she tenses up. But when her girlfriends are around, she’s fine—joking, laughing, eating cake.

Maybe it’s me? Maybe she just doesn’t like me? I think on that for a second, then shake it away. Of course that’s not it. What’s not to like? I’m over six feet of muscle, golden hair, and enough medical know-how to pass my boards with my eyes closed. Am I also a former mercenary with the Red Scorpions? Yeah, that, too. But she doesn’t need to know about any of that.

“Why are you staring at me?” She turns and focuses that sexy glare on me again.

“You’re beautiful.” I shrug.

She rolls her eyes. “You’re such a liar. I’m going back to bed.” She turns too quickly and almost loses her balance.

I catch her elbow, then help her across the wood floor. “I’m a lot of things, but I’m not a liar, Bells,” I say softly.

She sits on the bed and looks up at me, distrust in her eyes and tension in her body. “You mean to tell me that you”—she waves a hand up and down at me—“think I’m beautiful?”

“Yes. I’ve been telling you that since you got here.” I kneel and reach for her legs to help her back into bed. When I grip her ankles, I resist the urge to place kisses on her knees. God, she’s so tempting all the damn time. But I dutifully swing her legs back up on the bed and draw the covers over her.

“You’re full of shit.”

“You keep saying that, but it doesn’t make it true.” I reach over and unwrap the bandage around her forehead, then check the lump. It’s been persistent, which is worrying, but now it’s finally going down. Slowly. “How are your body aches?”

She grumbles under her breath as I wrap her head back up. “I’m fine.”

“The truth, Bells. I want you back on your feet, but I need to know what hurts and what I need to work on.” I let my fingers stray into her dark hair for only a moment.

“My back hurts, okay? Upper and lower. And when I wake up, I feel like there’s a spike in my skull. Other than that, I’m peachy.”

“None of that is peachy. I’m still going to need to keep an eye on you. No hardship for me.” I force myself to leave her hair alone.

When I lean back, she’s peering up at me, her glare gone. “Why do you keep saying I’m beautiful?” She asks it in such a vulnerable, raw way. This is the real Bells, the one I’ve seen in glimpses. The one I want to know everything about.

I perch on the edge of our bed—I mean her bed—and look down at her. “Because you are, Bells. You are captivating.”

Her eyes water. “You don’t mean that.”

“I mean every word.” I lean closer, her lips like two plump delicacies. I want to taste them, to explore them, to memorize how they feel against my own. Closer. Closer still, and she hasn’t turned away. Instead, she’s breathing faster, and color rises in her cheeks.

I take a chance and put my palm to her face, touching her feather-soft skin. She darts her tongue out and wets her lips, and I move even closer. My body is practically vibrating with desire, with the need that’s consumed me ever since I saw her. Now she’s finally giving in, giving me a chance.

I’m almost there, our lips so close, when she lets out a yell. “You bastard! I see you, you furry jerk!”

She points at the window as I let out a groan and curse Leonard for the cockblock he is.

 

 

2

 

 

Bells

 

 

I’m not sure if this cat is a gift or a curse. If it hadn’t jumped out in front of our car, none of us would be here. Yet, with the way my body is still filled with aches, I want to cuss it. Then I look at my best friend Aurora Davenport. Yeah, that Aurora Davenport. She’d won a few Grammy Awards before she could legally drive.

That sparkle she once had in her eyes is back. The Hollywood Hills had destroyed that bit of shine, the same way they do to so many others. I knew I had to do something about it before it was all gone. Her name has been everywhere lately, tabloids claiming this or that about her. I could see her becoming a shell of herself with all the negative media. It’s what prompted this whole idea of going to Frozen Falls. A place I randomly picked on a map.