Black Ice

  "We met--" I began, but Mason cut me off.

  "We don't know each other. She was in line with me when I filled up for gas this morning." Those warm, sexy brown eyes from earlier were cold and hooded now. His tone was curt and irritated. It was hard to imagine he was the same guy I'd flirted with hours ago. I didn't understand why he was being so closed-off now. And why, suddenly, he wasn't interested in keeping up our charade. What had changed?

  Our eyes met again, and if he could tell I was confused, he didn't seem to care. "What do you want?" he repeated more harshly.

  "What does it look like?" Korbie hugged herself for warmth and danced impatiently on her toes.

  "We're st--stranded," I stammered, thrown off by his hostility. "We got caught in the snowstorm. We're freezing. Can we please come in?"

  "Let them in," Mason's friend said. "Look at them--they're soaking wet."

  Without waiting for further permission, Korbie rushed inside and I followed. As Mason's friend shut the door behind us, the heat seeped into my skin, and I gave a great shudder of relief.

  "They can't stay here tonight," Mason said immediately, positioning himself to block the hallway leading deeper into the cabin.

  "If we don't stay here tonight," Korbie said, "we'll turn into human ice cubes. You don't want that on your hands, do you?"

  "Sounds serious," Mason's friend said, a sparkle of amusement in his eyes. "And no, we definitely don't want to be held accountable for human ice cubes. Especially ones that look much better in their warm-blooded form."

  In reply to his flirting, Korbie bobbed a curtsy and flashed a shameless smile.

  "Where's your car?" Mason demanded. "Where did you park?"

  "Out on the main road below your cabin," I said. "We walked an hour to get here."

  "The car is probably buried under a snowdrift by now," Korbie added.

  "Unbelievable," Mason muttered, glowering at me. Like this was my fault. Well, excuse me for not controlling the weather. Excuse me for asking for a little help, a little hospitality.

  "Are you alone?" Mason's friend asked. "Just the two of you? I'm Shaun, by the way."

  "And I'm Korbie," she returned in a velvety voice.

  Shaun shook Korbie's hand, then reached for mine. I was too cold to pull it out of my pocket. Huddling into my coat, I nodded my acknowledgment instead. "Britt."

  "Yup, just the two of us," Korbie said, answering his question. "You have to let us stay. It'll be fun, promise," she added with a coy, perky smile.

  I ignored Korbie's flirting and watched Mason closely. I didn't understand why he was acting so strangely. He'd bent over backward for me earlier. I glanced around his large frame, deeper into the cabin, looking for a clue to explain his sudden coldness. Had Korbie and I interrupted something? Was there something--or someone--he didn't want us to see?

  As far as I could tell, Mason and Shaun were alone. Evident by the two men's coats drying on hooks across the foyer.

  "It'll be fun, the four of us holed up here together," Korbie assured them. "We can snuggle close to conserve body heat," she added with a giggle.

  I shifted my irritation to Korbie. What an asinine thing to say. We didn't even know these guys, not really. And she seemed to have completely forgotten that, up until a few minutes ago, we thought we were going to freeze in the mountains. I was still shaken from the scare, and watching her turn on her charm for Shaun made me want to shake her. I'd been terrified in the forest. Really terrified. What was the matter with her, that she could flip a switch and go from sobbing to giggling in the same breath?

  "We'll only stay one night," I told Mason and Shaun. "We'll take off first thing."

  Shaun draped his arm over Mason's shoulder and said, "What do you think, buddy? Should we help these poor girls out?"

  "No," Mason answered automatically, shrugging off Shaun's arm with a scowl. "You can't stay here," he told me.

  "We can't stay outside either," I shot back. I found it ironic that I was begging for a place to stay. Because the more we talked, the less I wanted to be inside the cabin with Mason. I didn't get it. There was no trace of the easygoing, playful guy in the man standing before me now. Why had his attitude shifted?

  "Sometimes you have to ignore Mase the Ace," Shaun explained to us with a strange smile. "He's good for a lot of things, but friendliness isn't one of them."

  "News flash," Korbie said under her breath.

  "C'mon, Ace. Could be worse," Shaun said, clapping Mason on the back. "Take for instance . . ." He scratched his cheek thoughtfully. "Actually, I can't think of anything better than waiting out this storm in the company of two attractive girls. In fact, these girls wandering in is the best thing that could have happened to us."

  "Can I talk to you alone?" Mason asked in a low, tight voice.

  "Sure, after we warm up these girls. Look--they're freezing. Poor things."

  "Now."

  "Oh, get over it," Korbie told Mason exasperatedly. "We're not ax murderers. I'll even pinkie promise to it," she added playfully to Shaun.

  Shaun grinned at Mason, punching him lightly in the chest. "Hear that, buddy? She'll pinkie promise."

  All this back and forth was testing my patience. I was so numb with cold, I was tempted to barrel past Mason toward the fire I could see burning in the hearth. It cast lively shadows on the walls of the den at the end of the hallway. I imagined sitting close enough to feel its heat and finally warm up.

  "One night isn't going to kill anyone, is it, Ace?" Shaun went on. "What kind of men are we if we turn these girls away?"

  Mason said nothing, but the muscles in his face visibly tightened. He couldn't have made his feelings more clear. He didn't want us in the cabin. Shaun, on the other hand, was more than happy to let us stay as long as we needed. Had the two argued before Korbie and I arrived? I could feel the tension between them crackling like a live wire.

  "Can we please talk this over in front of the fireplace?" Korbie asked.

  "Good idea," Shaun said, leading the way. I watched Korbie follow him down the hall toward the den, unraveling her scarf as she went.

  Left alone with Mason, I saw his face go slack with defeat. The look was gone in an instant, his expression hardening. With anger? Animosity? His gaze cut into mine, and I thought maybe he was trying to tell me something. There was an intensity to his eyes that seemed to indicate a deeper meaning.

  "What's your problem?" I muttered, attempting to step around him. Mason stood directly in front of me, blocking the hallway, and I expected him to step aside at my approach. He didn't. He kept me boxed in the doorway, his body uncomfortably close.

  "Thanks for the warm welcome," I said. "So warm, I've almost thawed."

  "This isn't a good idea."

  "What isn't a good idea?" I challenged, hoping he'd tell me why he was acting so bizarrely.

  "You shouldn't be here."

  "Why not?"

  I waited for him to answer, but he merely continued to eye me in that dark, fierce way.

  Coolly, I said, "We didn't exactly have a choice. I guess it's too much to ask you to save my butt twice in one day."

  "What are you talking about?" he said irritably.

  "You helped me save face in front of my ex, remember? But keeping me from freezing to death is obviously too big a burden."

  "What's with the whispering?" Shaun hollered from the den. He and Korbie sat together on the plaid love seat, and her legs were crossed toward him. It almost looked like the toe of her boot was touching his leg. Clearly she'd gotten over waiting for Bear to rescue her. "Get in here where it's warm."

  Mason lowered his voice, speaking with quiet urgency. "Is it as bad as you say? Is your car really stuck? If I take you to it later tonight, can we dig it out?"

  "Anything to keep me from staying here?" I asked testily. I didn't deserve to be treated like this. Not after what we'd shared earlier. I wanted an explanation. Where was the Mason from before?

  "Just answer the question," he said in that
same low, hurried voice.

  "No. The road is too icy and the grade is too steep. The car isn't going anywhere tonight."

  "You're sure?"

  "Quit being such a tool." I stepped around him, even though he didn't make it easy. He stayed rooted to the spot; I brushed his arm as I squeezed between him and the wall.

  Halfway down the hallway, I glanced back. He still had his back to me, and was scrubbing his hand roughly over his cropped hair. What was bothering him? Whatever it was, it was making me antsy too.

  Even though Korbie and I were out of the storm, I didn't feel completely safe inside the cabin. Other than from my run-in with him this morning, I didn't know Mason. I knew Shaun even less. And while Korbie and I were no longer in danger of freezing to death, we were staying the night with two guys we didn't know if we could trust. It was unnerving. For now, I had no choice but to keep my guard up and hope the snow stopped soon.

  I met Shaun and Korbie in the den. "Thanks again for letting us crash here," I said. "This weather sucks."

  "I'll drink to that," Shaun said, raising a plastic cup of water.

  "Do you have a land line?" Korbie piped up. "Our cell phones aren't getting service out here."

  "No phone. But we do have chili and beer. And an extra bed. Where were you planning to crash tonight? Before the storm hit, I mean," Shaun asked us.

  "At my family's cabin," Korbie answered. "Idlewilde."

  Shaun's face didn't register recognition. Which meant I'd probably taken a wrong turn and we were nowhere close to Idlewilde.

  "It's the really big, beautiful cabin with stone chimneys," I added, hoping to stir his memory. Idlewilde sat alone on the lake and was a landmark in and of itself.

  "How far is your cabin from here?" Mason cut in, his voice preceding him down the hallway. He stopped in the den's entrance. "I can walk you there."

  Shaun shot a brief, displeased glance at Mason, subtly but firmly shaking his head no. In response, the line of Mason's mouth tightened and I felt a strain in the black look they shared.

  "Might want to check the road conditions before you commit to that," Korbie chimed in. "Envision a layer of mud, several inches deep. And then imagine eight inches of snow and growing on top of it. Nobody is going anywhere tonight."

  "You got that right," Shaun said, rising from the love seat. "Can I offer you girls a drink? We've got water and hot chocolate mix, though I can't vouch for its freshness. And two bottles of beer."

  "Water, please," I said.

  "You got it. Korbie?"

  "Same," she said, folding her hands on her knees and flashing him a winning smile.

  "Ace, buddy?"

  Mason hovered near the entrance to the den, a clouded, almost uneasy look on his face. He must have been thinking hard about something, because after a few seconds' delay, he jerked. "What?"

  "Drink?"

  "I'll get it myself."

  When Shaun disappeared into the kitchen, Mason stuffed his hands in his pockets and leaned against the wall, never peeling his eyes off us. I cocked my eyebrow at him in a challenging way. I told myself I was better off ignoring him, but I couldn't help it. Curiosity was tearing away inside me. What was with the moody act? Where was the friendly and, dare I say it, sexy guy from this morning? Because I wanted that guy back. In a way I couldn't explain, I wanted that guy more than I wanted Calvin right now. Which said a lot.

  "This place is so adorably rustic," Korbie said, her eyes tracing the exposed timbers along the ceiling. "Which one of you does it belong to?"

  Korbie and I looked at Mason when he failed to answer.

  With an exasperated sigh, Korbie pushed off the love seat, crossed to Mason, and snapped her fingers in his face. "It's called English. Use it."

  Shaun came back into the room at that moment. "It's Ace's cabin," he said. "His parents recently passed and they gave it to him in their will. This is our first time up here since the funeral."

  "Oh." I swallowed. "It must be really hard--the memories, I mean," I stammered diplomatically. Mason didn't appear to hear me, or chose not to. His eyes were fastened on Shaun, his eyebrows drawn, his gaze inflamed.

  "Ace doesn't like to talk about it," Shaun explained easily, with an almost humorous twitch of his lips. "He's an atheist. Death always makes him shifty. Doesn't believe in the afterlife. Right, buddy?"

  None of us said anything. I cleared my throat, finding Shaun's insensitivity a bit much, even if I was so over caring about Mason's feelings.

  Shaun broke the tension with a disarming laugh. "You girls are too gullible for your own good. You should see your faces right now. The cabin is mine, not Ace's. And before you ask, his parents are perfectly healthy retirees living in Scottsdale, Arizona."

  "You're worse than my brother," Korbie groaned, tossing a sofa pillow at Shaun.

  Shaun's grin split his face. "This is the price you're gonna have to pay for sleeping here tonight--putting up with my twisted sense of humor." He rubbed his hands together. "So, tell me. What are you girls doing up here in the mountains alone?"

  "Starving," Korbie announced bluntly. "It's dinnertime. Can we eat and then talk? I swear I lost ten pounds hiking here."

  Shaun looked at me and Mason, then shrugged. "Fair enough. I'm gonna make you girls the best damn-good chili of your lives, wait and see."

  "Go work your magic," Korbie encouraged him, with a shoo of her wrist. "But you're on your own. I don't do manual labor, cooking included. And don't bother asking Britt for help either. She's even worse at cooking than I am," she said, eyeing me in a way that warned, Don't you dare help him--he's mine.

  I knew Korbie's reasons for not wanting me alone in the kitchen with Shaun. But I was surprised to see Mason stand alert suddenly, as if he intended to jump in and intervene should I decide to leave the room with his friend. He stared me down, and it looked a lot like a warning. I found the whole thing bizarrely comical. He didn't want me here. Or there. Or anywhere. He especially didn't want me alone with Shaun. Well, too bad. If that's what it took to goad him back, I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity.

  "Korbie's right, I am an awful cook," I confessed to Shaun. "But just because I'm bad at something doesn't mean I'll refuse to do it," I added, a subtle dig at Korbie. "I'd love to help you cook dinner."

  Before anyone could stop me, I strolled into the kitchen.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The kitchen was fully furnished, with a knotty pine table, a Navajo rug, and framed pictures of the Teton Range in various seasons. Aluminum pots and pans dangled from a hanging rack above the island. A layer of dust dimmed the pots' luster, and cobwebs hung like silvery streamers from the rack. Obviously Shaun didn't make it up here often.

  A fire blazed in the double-sided fireplace that shared a wall with the den. The room smelled pleasantly of smoke and wood. I was in awe that Shaun could afford such a place. It wasn't anywhere as nice as the Versteegs' cabin, but Korbie's mom had been a successful divorce attorney for years.

  "What do you do for a living?" I had to know. Had he graduated from college already? Was he a cutthroat investment banker, some kind of financial genius?

  He flashed me an easy but self-deprecating smile. "I'm a ski bum. I'm putting college on hold until I know what I want to do with my life. Technically, this place belongs to my parents. But they don't ski anymore, so they handed it off to me. I'm up here all the time."

  He must order out a lot, I thought. The pots hadn't been used in ages. "You're pretty far from the resort, though, right?"

  "I don't mind the drive."

  I washed my hands in the sink, but since there wasn't a dish towel, I dried them on my jeans. "Where should I start? I have mean can-opening skills." Before Shaun could stop me, I went to the pantry and opened the door. To my surprise, except for two cans of chili and a faded canister of Swiss Miss hot chocolate mix, the shelves were completely bare.

  Shaun came up behind me. "We forgot to go shopping before we came up," he explained.

  "The
re's no food," I said, dazed.

  "The snow will stop by morning and we'll hit the store then."

  The closest general store was miles away. We'd passed it on our way up. "You didn't buy any food on your way into the mountains?"

  "We were in a hurry," Shaun said almost sharply.

  I didn't push the issue, because his tone made it clear he didn't want to discuss it. But his lack of preparation struck me as alarming. Shaun said he came to the cabin often to ski, but it almost seemed like no one had been living here for a long time. There was something else bothering me. Something about Shaun was a little off. He was charming and friendly, but not necessarily warm or genuine.

  Or maybe I was just being paranoid because I was stuck in a cabin with two guys I didn't know. The truth was, Shaun had invited us in. He was cooking us dinner. I needed to relax and accept his hospitality.

  I opened the cans of chili slowly, feeling the urge to preserve them, knowing they were the only food we had to outlast the storm, and if it grew into something much worse, this might be all we had to stay alive for days. I had granola bars in the Jeep, and wished I'd grabbed them. Almost hesitantly, I passed the cans to Shaun, who'd turned up the heat under a large pot on the stove.

  Out of habit, I checked my cell phone for new texts. Maybe Calvin had tried to call. He knew we were supposed to arrive at Idlewilde around six, and it was almost nine now.

  "Until you get down to lower elevation and out of the trees, your cell phone is nothing but dead weight in your pocket."

  I groaned lightly. Shaun was right. "I swear I can't go five minutes without checking it. A bad habit. I feel so useless without it."

  "What about you?" he asked. "You come up here often?"

  I waved my phone high over my head, but no signal bars magically appeared. "Sure," I said absently.

  "Do you know the area pretty good?"

  "Better than Korbie." I laughed. "And yes, that was a note of pride you detected, since she's the one with the family cabin. I always had the better sense of direction." Except that mine hadn't been very reliable on the drive up, in the rain. But I kept that to myself.