Read Snow Jam for Free Online Page B

to death. Any of these ring a bell?"
    I shook my head. "I was right outside the cabin!"
    He just looked annoyed. "Right. I should have realized you were in the banana belt."
    That almost made me laugh except he wasn't laughing, he looked like he meant to yell at me, and I wasn't having any of it.
    "Look, I can take care of myself. All I did – "
    "It's below freezing outside," he interrupted. "Other hand."
    I'd have argued, but it felt too good. Deep shudders were happening now and my teeth started to chatter as I warmed up. I gave him my hand.
    "You could have gotten seriously hurt."
    "I get it." My cheeks were hot. I'm twenty-five. I can take care of myself. Sunny sent Rick Barnes to me. I would have gotten out of the snow jam if she hadn't. On my own. In the rental car. I'd probably be in Hanlin by now, reclining in the hotel room I still hadn't canceled the booking for.
    Damn.
    Rick was still talking about what could have happened.
    "I get it," I snapped, yanking my hand back from him and standing up so fast he staggered up out of his crouch. "I'm not stupid and I'm not helpless. I appreciate your coming to get me out of the traffic jam and all, but Sunny called you. I didn't call for anyone."
    Rick had gotten to his feet and stood in the center of the living room, looking furious. "Well, excuse me, your highness. I didn't realize I was intruding on your independence."
    That just made me mad. "I didn't say that. I didn't say anything like that . Damn it. But your acting like – "
    "Like you went running outside in twenty-two degree weather in the snow without a coat."
    "Because I wanted to know what was happening! Don't these places have propane or kerosene or something? How was I supposed to know the cabin wasn't blowing up?"
    He looked incensed. His cheeks had gone red, and he was squinting at me. "Do you feel blown up, princess?"
    My fists tightened. "Stop. Calling. Me. That ."
    "That's what you're acting like!" he shot back. He'd started to pace. There wasn't room for him to pace. It was a very little cabin. Every circuit brought him into my sphere and every time he got close to me the shivers got worse. Almost like it was him, and not the cold.
    I wasn't that cold anymore. I was hot. Getting hotter by the minute.
    "You send out to social media to everybody you know that you're stuck in the snow and you're afraid of snow!" He said it like that was stupid.
    "I'm afraid of driving in it!" I snapped back. "Lots of people from Las Vegas are."
    "That's not what Sunny said. She said you're afraid of snow. She thinks it's cute." He said it tauntingly, leaning in as he paced by me.
    Damn it, Sunny .
    "I don't even know what we're fighting about!" I half shouted.
    "Really? Because I can recall it just fine. Shall I recount?"
    "Oh, you're impossible! Can you please just tell me where I'm going to sleep and I'm going to go to b — sleep." Hastily catching myself before I said anything that might sound like an invitation.
    "I suppose you'd like the bed," he said nastily.
    I stared at him. "Where do you get the idea I'm a princess? You don't even know me. I've been on my own since before college. I've got a degree. I got here from Nevada, didn't I?"
    That seemed to stop him briefly, so he went back to the part about the cold. If I didn't know better (and I didn't) I'd say he was trying to make certain there was a wedge between us.
    Abruptly he stopped and ran both hands through his hair. He sat down on the futon I assumed would be my bed and indicated the armchair, though not as arrogantly as he'd been doing everything for the last couple minutes.
    "What happened out there... a very old oak tree on the property next to mine that's been threatening to come down for about a year came down because of the snow."
    I stared. "It's not snowing that hard."
    "No," he agreed. "The tree was that unstable. But old Walt Billings is a jackass and he wouldn't take it down when everyone asked. Neighbors even offered to go in together and pay