Snowbound Curves Read online

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Other Books By Harmony Raines

  Snowbound Curves

  ***

  All rights reserved. This book, or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written consent of the author or publisher.

  This is a work of fiction and is intended for mature audiences only. All characters within are eighteen years of age or older. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, actual events or places is purely coincidental.

  © 2013 Harmony Raines

  Silver Moon Erotica

  Kindle Edition

  Chapter One

  Christina gripped the steering wheel tightly and nursed her car up the steep road. The snow was falling thicker than ever and she had stupidly not come prepared for a blizzard. She should have known better, after all she had been coming up to the cabin high in the mountains for most of her life. However, she was not.

  She felt the rear wheels of the car slide across the road, and her heart leapt into her mouth as she tried to keep going. Thankfully, the tyres gained some traction and started to move forward again.

  If only she had not left her laptop at the cabin, where she had been for the past week trying to finish a story she was writing. Thinking she had packed it along with her other things, she had not realised her mistake until she had made the two hour trip back home.

  Her life was on that thing, so she had stopped briefly for a shower, and something to eat, before turning around and driving back for it.

  In her haste she did not think about checking the weather forecast, if she had she might have thought twice about making the journey, or at least gone prepared. Yet here she was, and there was nothing she could do about it. If she reached the cabin, she would simply have to wait it out for a couple of days. If she didn’t, well she had to get there or else she would freeze in the car.

  Christina could see the headlines now, “Best Selling Author Christina Matthews Found Dead in a Blizzard”.

  “Not going to happen,” she said aloud to herself as she rounded another bend and managed to keep all four wheels moving. Only another couple of miles and she would be able to turn off onto the dirt track that ran up to the cabin. At least if she could get that far she could abandon her car and walk the rest of the way.

  The heater pushed out warm air, it was only enough to keep the inside of the car bearable, Christina knew once she was out of the car she would have to keep moving and get to the cabin as soon as possible. Freezing to death up here was a real threat to anyone who did not treat the weather with respect. At least she knew once she was inside the cabin she would be able to start a fire and get warm. Even have a hot bath if she needed it. Thankfully she had left the woodpile topped up, a courtesy the whole family maintained whenever they stayed at the cabin.

  As her car climbed the last steep incline, Christina thought back over all the times her family had been to the cabin. When they were younger, they would come here together for the summer. Christina, her brother Craig and her parents, all hiking and picnicking together everyday for a week at a time, it always made them a more close-knit family.

  Now they rarely came here together, her parents were getting too old and her brother was too busy with his various empires. He had been majorly successful and reaped the rewards at the expense of his recreational life. On the other hand, Christina found herself coming here more and more, she found it a great place to work with no interruptions and no internet to distract her.

  The track was only about one hundred yards ahead, she paid close attention to where she was going because in this weather there was a chance she might miss the turning, because the snow was falling so fast. There it was, a tight turn at the best of times but worse with the roads being so slippery. Well, that was if you could see the road enough to stay on it, for once she was glad of the high hedges bordering each side, at least she only had to stay in the centre of them and she would not end up in the ditch.

  She took the turning as wide and slow as she could, keeping the car moving forward slowly. She did it; her car skidded but kept moving forward, she would make it safely to the cabin after all. Soon the outline of the cabin could just be made out through the falling snow. She felt safe, everything would be OK, and she would get inside and wait it out for a couple of days.

  Then she saw something she had not expected, a car, parked in front of the cabin. Worse, a car she recognised, her heart sank. It belonged to her brother’s best friend, Phil. The person who had been cruel to her for as long as she could remember.

  All through school, he had teased her about her fuller figure, which would not have been so bad if it were not for the fact that she had a huge crush on him. It was a stupid attraction she had beat herself up about countless times. Christina knew she wasn’t his type; he always dated the skinny cheerleaders. He had them falling at his feet with his easy good looks and he was captain of the football team, everything he touched seemed to work out perfectly for him. While she was the dumpy girl in the corner, teased and tormented no matter what she did.

  She had reached the cabin, there was nothing for it, she would have to go in. If she stayed out here, she would freeze and there was no way she would make it back down the mountain tonight. Parking the car behind Phil’s she grabbed her stuff and dragged herself out of the car. The cold hit her squarely, as did the wind; she fought to close the door of the car and then trudged to the cabin.

  Standing in front of the cabin door she paused, should she just walk in, or knock. Knowing Phil, he would have a girl in there with him. As far as Christina knew he was still the same when it came to women, use them and then dump them. He never had a long term relationship. He worked hard and played hard and nothing got in his way.

  Christina raised her hand to knock, feeling slightly ridiculous, when the door swung open.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Phil stood before her not even attempting to hide his anger.

  “Oh god! You have a woman in there don’t you?” Christina spat at him through teeth that had began to chatter in the cold.

  “What? No!” His face changed, but he was still angry. “Trust you to think that.”

  “Well on your track record it’s a foregone conclusion that's what you’re doing. Why else would you come up here?” Her whole body was shivering with cold now. He reached out and dragged her into the cabin. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “Saving you from the cold, what kind of an idiot are you coming up here in this weather?” He held her hand and led her into the sitting room where a large fire was ablaze.

  Christina was grateful for the warmth of the fire, but the heat of her anger warmed her too. “How dare you speak to me like that! We're not school kids now!”

  “Well you are behaving like child. Do you know how reckless it is to try to come up here in weather like this?” He reached out to help her out of her wet clothes, but she shoved him away.

  “Get your hands off me! I don’t need your help.” Her teeth were still chattering, making her whole head vibrate. She couldn’t control it.

  “You're freezing; you need to get out of those clothes and into something dry.”

  “Since when did you become an expert in what I need?” She tried to undo the buttons on her coat but her hands were shaking too much to manage it.

  “For once on your life will you let me help you?” He pushed her hands away and quickly undid her coat and pulled it o
ff her.

  Although her clothes underneath were dry she still couldn’t get warm. Phil moved her closer to the fire, rubbing her arms to try to warm her up. Christina wanted to pull away, but the warmth of his touch had already started to bring a different kind of heat to her body.

  With Phil so close she felt the familiar heat of arousal course through her. Ever since she was thirteen his mere presence had made her body do strange things. She still remembered the first time he had made her feel this way, her brother had a party and all his friends, including Phil, had been there. She had gone into what she thought was an empty room to get away from everyone; parties had never been her thing. Inside she came across Phil and some girl, Christina did not even remember which of Phil’s many girlfriends it was. But they were kissing, Christina could still see him now, those soft full lips moulded to his date's, his hands cupping her breast.

  Christina had got herself out of there as quickly as she could, but the sight had filled her fantasies from that day onwards. In her head she was the one he was kissing, and then they went further, much further. Christina felt her face flush, she should not have thought about him in that way, not when he was standing so close.

  Phil must have noticed, because he asked her, “Are you feeling OK. You look a bit flushed.”

  She pulled away from him, her body struggling to break the contact she had longed for. “It’s just the sudden warmth; you know how blotchy I get.” He should do he had teased her about it enough in the past.

  “You haven't caught a chill have you? I’ll go and make you a warm drink.” With that, Phil disappeared into the small kitchen.

  Christina took a moment to compose herself. She smoothed her hair and took several deep breaths before seating herself in one of the comfy armchairs in front of the fire. She wasn’t sure what to do, she couldn’t go back out into the storm, but she could not stay here either. There was no way she would be able to hide her feelings for Phil if they both stayed under one roof for a couple of days.

  He returned with a steaming cup of coffee. Christina accepted it gratefully and sipped it, feeling the warmth spread through her. While she drank, she stared at the dancing flames of the fire feeling her eyes grow heavy. She was so tired, it had been such a long day and she had driven a four hour round trip, all she wanted to do was take a nap.

  “Come on, let’s get you to bed.” Phil’s voice made her jerk her head up, she really had been dozing.

  “No, I’m fine, honestly,” she protested.

  “Nonsense. You need to have a rest while I cook dinner. I’m afraid you will have to put up with me for a couple of days, there's no leaving this place until the storm breaks.”

  He placed his hand under her arm and pulled her to her feet. Even this touch made her arm feel as though it burned. His fingers shot electric through her veins. In her tired state she felt as though she was about to swoon, as women did in old fashioned movies.

  This was so unlike her, she always kept men at a distance, her childhood had been so full of taunts about her weight she had grown up unable to see how any man could be attracted to her. Instead, she had disappeared into the safety of writing, living her life through those of her characters. She never admitted to herself how much she craved to be loved by a man, it was something kept firmly buried, but now, with Phil so close it was like some terrified animal trying to escape.

  “Thanks, I think I will.” She moved away from him, he relaxed his grip and let her go. Christina wanted to turn back towards him, to tell him she would like his help, but could not. She had to distance herself from him, and the pain and ridicule she would face if he knew the depth of her feelings for him.

  She walked to the bedroom, taking her shoes off as she went. The bed was so inviting, she pulled the covers back and collapsed onto it, rolling herself up in them to keep warm, and fell asleep.

  ***

  She awoke sometime later, the smell of home cooking reaching her senses. Opening her eyes she took a minute to remember where she was, as her memory came up to speed she groaned inwardly. She would have to sit and eat with Phil, which would mean making pleasant small talk with him. Another thing she didn’t do too well.

  She lay where she was, too warm and comfortable to move, and too much of a coward. However, the smell of food made her stomach rumble so she hauled herself up, her body feeling heavy in its relaxed state. She noticed that another blanket had been placed over her, no wonder she felt so warm. As she sat still thinking it seemed a strange thing for Phil to have done, she doubted he gave her a second thought under normal conditions. Of course, she thought, if she got ill here he would have to take on the responsibility of nursing her, something he would hate. So he had covered her up in his own interest. There, that was better, the world and everything in it was back in its rightful place.

  Smiling to herself, she got up and went out into the brightly lit kitchen. They were lucky to still have power, although if it went off there was a backup generator they could use. She headed for the kitchen, and found Phil looking rather domesticated preparing dinner.

  “Hey,” he greeted her. “You look a lot better, you had me worried earlier.”

  “I bet. I know you would hate to have to look after me.”

  She felt startled as his expression changed, for a fleeting moment something crossed his face that she couldn’t quite make out. Not guilt, but something that made her wonder if there was more to this man than she thought.

  “Right, you know me, damsel in distress really not my thing. Especially when that damsel is you.”

  “There, that's the Phil I know and hate.”

  “Listen Christina, we have to stay here, we have no choice. I would like to call a truce and have us acts like adults. No insults, no sarcasm, just two people trying to get along.”

  Christina thought he sounded sincere, and she wanted them to be friends, she did not have the strength to keep up with the animosity between them for too long, it was exhausting. Anyway, it was not the person she was, in fact, she tried hard to eliminate all confrontations and friction from her life, she didn’t tolerate arguments too well, preferring to be a doormat rather than say no and cause offence. It meant she often went out of her way for others even when she didn’t have the time or energy, but it made life with other people easier.

  “I’m OK with that, but I will be amazed if you can keep it up for more than a couple of hours.”

  “Now, now. You would be surprised what I am capable of.”

  “No, Phil, I don’t think anything you do amazes me any more.” Christina knew she was sniping at him again but seemed powerless to stop herself. She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. Truce. Starting now.” She held out her hand to him. “Shake on it.”

  He slid his hand slowly into hers; she felt every nerve in her hand come alive at the touch of him. “Truce.”

  They shook hands, the contact lasting longer than was normal in a formal handshake. Or was that her over active imagination.

  He let her hand go almost reluctantly, and then turned back to the meal he was preparing. “I managed to rustle up the ingredients for lasagne. I know it’s your favourite.”

  “You do?”

  “Of course. I know more about you than you think.” His back was turned away from her and she wondered for a moment if he was teasing her.

  “Like what?”

  “I know your favourite food is lasagne, dessert is chocolate cheesecake. Let’s see…favourite flower, lilies because they smell so sweet. Colour is blue and season is spring.”

  “Stop, I get the message. But I don’t understand why.”

  Phil turned and looked at her, his eyes soft as he spoke, “Because you fascinate me.”

  Christina's stomach flipped and her pulse raced. Now she knew how he managed to bed all those women. Who could resist those eyes? Then she remembered who she was talking to, her sworn enemy. “Oh, I get it.”

  “You do?”

  He moved closer, her body started to react even mo
re, she felt the familiar heat he drew from her. “Sure, you’re a business man, isn't it all about knowing your enemy.”

  He started to laugh, “Believe what you want Christina, whatever makes you feel happier.” He went back to finishing off dinner. “Why don’t you set the table?”

  She grabbed everything she needed and headed out of the kitchen and began to set everything out on the small table. As she set the knives and forks down she realised just how close they would have to sit together to eat. She wondered if it might make her lose her appetite, there, that would be a first. After all Christina usually ate for comfort, and she often needed a lot of comforting.

  “No,” she thought, “That’s not so true any more, I have a great life, I write, I’m successful, so why am I behaving like a spotty teenager? Phil.” So she made a decision, stuck here with Phil was going to turn out to be a good thing, she was determined to finally put this ghost from the past to bed. Well figuratively speaking anyway, after all there was no way she would ever have the chance to but the man himself to bed. Not with her in it anyway.

  Phil brought the food in and set it out. He also had a bottle of wine.

  “You came prepared? Does that mean you were expecting company? Don’t tell me the great Phil Baker got stood up.”

  “Hey, truce remember!”

  “Sorry, couldn’t resist.”

  “If you must know I came up here to clear my head, put things in perspective.”

  Christina had to bite her tongue not to make some cutting remark back to him. It suddenly struck her that she was just as bad as him, as she had grown older their relationship was not one of one sided sniping, no she had learned to give as good as she got.

  “I thought you lived a charmed life. You can bed any woman you want and can afford pretty much anything you desire.”

  “Not any woman I want. You never think the women I date use me just as much as you think I use them?”

  “No.”

  “Come one. They get to go to the best restaurants, showered with gifts, network with rich and powerful people. I know you think I’m shallow, but it works the other way too. I never know if a woman is with me just for the trappings of my success, or me.” He looked serious, his face a mixture of emotions she could read as longing, and maybe regret. “And of course they get to sleep with the greatest lover of the twenty first century. Me!” He added, lightening the mood once more.