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sharing a blizzard, a mountain lodge, and a roaring fire. Adding coffee to the mix would only leave her jacked up on caffeine so she could spend the night wide awake, woefully aware of every move he made.
    And especially the ones he didn’t.
    He might be a walking neon sign of a bad idea, but he was also the only man she’d wanted in months. He was never supposed to exist in her real life.
    There was no way this could end well.

Chapter Five
    Liam wasn’t sure if she really had coffee or just wanted an excuse to get away from him. He wasn’t convinced it mattered. He did feel somewhat guilty that she felt the need to flee, but she was cute when she was flustered. Way cuter than the polished, unflappable television version.
    He’d never really noticed her until the Runaway Bride scandal. He probably would have, had he watched the local news more than every once in a while, but it was a lot easier to scroll through the morning headlines on his phone. Those headlines pretty much said it all, anyway, at least until hers had hit the screen.
    He almost felt sorry for her, especially after reading some of the nasty comments. And he really wished he could ask what happened, but even if she knew he knew who she was, he wasn’t sure he’d pry. He had firsthand experience with wanting to leave infamy behind. He doubted she’d want to rehash anything.
    Still, walking away from a wedding couldn’t have been easy. Doing it twice…he was sure the personal nightmare that prompted it far outweighed the impact of public opinion, but he’d learned from his own ongoing stint with infamy that the attention sucked. The added combination of criticism and mockery was unfathomable.
    She may have landed in a shuttered lodge in the Catskills, but she seemed to be holding together pretty well. In fact, had he not recognized her, he wouldn’t suspect she had half the city mocking her. Or maybe she didn’t know. He’d put a lot of effort into avoiding potential run-ins, especially in person, with all things Hot HVAC, so maybe she was no different.
    Ironic they had so much in common, yet he’d bet she would be just as loath to mention it as he. Or maybe she’d like to find an ally in him, but probably not. She’d probably just be upset he’d opened his mouth and wrecked her place of solace.
    An ear-piercing scream cut through the air.
    So much for solace.
    Liam was on his feet in a second, tearing after her. Or at least down the hall. He wasn’t sure where she’d gone past that point, but he headed for the light toward the back of the lodge and came to an abrupt stop in what ended up being the kitchen entry. Claire had her back to him.
    After a quick glance around the room, seeing nothing, he asked, “What’s wrong?”
    The response was a terrible grunting hiss kind of noise, and it wasn’t from her.
    But it made her back straight into his arms.
    Where she fit entirely too well.
    In the absence of any obvious reason for her screaming, he was immediately distracted by the curve of her ass against the front of his jeans and a trace scent of melon in her hair. He might be staring past the top of her head, but all he could see were those stunning blue eyes. They’d put that brilliant mountain sky to shame, and damned if he’d ever seen anything more beautiful than a mountain sky.
    Some kind of feral Sasquatch mating call emanated from the opposite side of the kitchen island, dragging him out of what had quickly morphed into distraction.
    The commotion was followed by a ferocious chattering-type noise that sounded like something from a Nat Geo special.
    “What. Is. That?” he asked Claire, who only pressed harder against him. After a moment’s hesitation, he wrapped her in his arms, mostly because it felt like the right, protective thing to do, but also because the woman was gorgeous. Also, he’d never gotten this far without the need of a pickup line. Although they’d probably left that milestone in a pile of sawdust