Page 23 of Seducing Sasquatch

I scowl. “That one can stay, mountain man.”

CHAPTER 10

BLAKE

The minutes move around us as Arden works on the engine. His nimble yet thick fingers hold each tool with precision as he pulls hoses and bits of metal compartments I’ve never seen before from the snowmobile.

“Pass me the flat head screwdriver.” He speaks with gentle words with his hand outstretched behind him. I turn to the toolbox, my eyes surveying the copious screwdrivers and other tools until I find the one he wants. It only takes him three times to show me what a flat head screwdriver looks like but I finally catch on.

Handing him the tool, he thanks me quietly and hands back three bolts. “Keep those on you, we don’t want to lose them.”

I place them in the pocket of my pants and take a seat beside the large man, watching the way he works.

Beyond us, the storm rolls across the mountain, kicking up more snow and throwing it at the shed. Just like Arden predicted, the storm has gotten worse again.

But it’s nice. I like the sounds of the tinkling snow on the roof and the constant rumble of the wind. It’s like the shed is inside a snow globe and nothing beyond it exists.

“How did you learn to do this?” I ask, hearing my voice split the comfortable silence.

Arden continues to work, his hands smeared with dark oil. “We had snowmobiles growing up. My dad bought me my first one and said I had to look after it if it broke. So I read every manual I could and figured it out.”

“Huh,” I mutter.

It’s just like how my father threw textbooks at me after my mom died. Yet instead of intrigue that led me to learn about law, it was the terror of walking into his office to report my daily learnings. I shiver at the memory.

“Cold?” Arden looks up at me from his bent over spot.

I shiver again, as I stuff my hands into my pockets, feeling the bolts against my fingers. “I’m fine.”

His amber eyes bore into mine and my skin prickles. How can this man look at me with eyes that can see directly into my mind? As if he knows me better than I know myself.

“Hand me those bolts and go put a beanie on and some warmer pants.” Arden nods in the direction of the cabin.

I sigh as I stand from the stool, passing him the safely kept bolts as I walk to the door. Yet Arden doesn’t follow. I pause, my hand on the doorknob.

“You aren’t coming with me?” I ask.

Looking at me from over the engine, Arden gives me a cheeky smile that lights up his face. “I think you can handle getting changed, sweet thing.”

A wash of heat pours over me as my cheeks grow warm. Pulling the door open, I’m met with the light of the day as I scurry into the snow and towards the cabin. The faintest laugh follows me but I brush it off, shoving my embarrassment into a small growl.

“Yes, I can get changed by myself,” I huff, running up the steps and into the cabin.

The fire still crackles in the hearth as I pass through the living room, yet my feet halt me in my spot as I eye my phone charging on the kitchen bench. I’ve completely forgotten about the thing. And as grateful as I am that Arden’s put it on charge, I’d rather it not have enough battery for the inevitable phone call my father will make at the end of the week.

Another shiver rattles my teeth and I dart down the hallway into Arden’s room. With the light of day now filling the space, I can easily pick through the drawers for a beanie.

Stepping around the huge bed frame, I reach the set of drawers beside the wardrobe and pull open the top level. Just like most layouts, socks and underwear are neatly folded in their respectable places, but there’s no sign of a beanie. My eyes dart around the room, looking for any other place I might find one. Yet the rest of his room is also just as tidy with everything put away from sight.

I sigh and open the next drawer. Sleep shorts and thicker socks greet me. Shrugging to myself, I begin shifting through his clothes, my hands diving deep into each drawer, until finally I find a black knitted beanie and pull it free.

“Found you,” I say with a smile and pull it onto my head, immediately feeling warmth return to my ears.

Yet as I flatten out the disarray of clothes, my eyes snag on something else. Something made of clear plastic. Peaking out from the very bottom of the drawer, I wrap my fingers around it to find it’s cylindrical. And long.

Pulling the item free from the drawer, I watch in amazement as it takes up the entire length of my arm. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Just a clear plastic cylindrical pipe. Turning it in my hands, I hold it close to my face, watching the way something inside it catches the light. As if there’s an inner tube. I check both ends, finding them to be completely flat.

“What?” I hum, running my fingers over the object until my nail catches on a slight divot nearing the end of the cylinder. That’s when I see the faint line of a gap. Wrapping my hand around the end, I twist it, my breath catching in my throat as the entire end of the object unscrews.