Felix looked out at his own snow-covered driveway. Even driving out of here might be tricky. Fuck!

He glanced back at Adelina, who seemed to be mulling over her choices and chewing the corner of her lip. “I didn’t realize that. In fact, I didn’t realize it’d be snowing, period. I was so caught up getting this counter offer together I didn’t bother checking the weather, but I figured it’s spring now.” She looked up at the snowfall that was picking up momentum now. “What the hell?” She must’ve picked up on his suddenly stony mood because she waved a hand at him. “I’ll get a room in town for the night. I saw plenty as I drove through that quaint little town. It’s so cute,” she said, smiling as she turned to start walking to her car again. “I’ll have to come back for pleasure soon.”

“Be careful,” he said, feeling bad that he had plenty of room for her to stay there at his place for the night.

But he couldn’t risk it. The news vans were already camped out outside his complex. They were all just waiting for him to screw up so they could be the first to have the full scoop. He was certain they already knew his publicist, the one the tabloids had already raised eyebrows about because she was so young, glamorous, and sexy—just his type—had driven into his complex today. If she didn’t drive out tonight, tongues would be wagging by tomorrow morning for sure.

Adelina waved at him as she backed her car up and started down the drive. Relief began to set in as he watched her drive slowly around the circular area in front his of his cabin and then slide right into the side embankment with a loud clunk, coming to rest just under the big pine trees that lined the side of his property.

He rushed down the stairs and toward her just as Noah and Gio pushed the front door open and flew out. “Whoa shit!” Gio said with a slight chuckle. “Did she crash?”

Felix hurried his steps as he realized her car was teetering ever so slightly. It wouldn’t be going anywhere. The trees were aligned too tightly, but he knew it’d be enough that she was probably shitting a brick.

Noah and Gio followed closely behind. Felix opened her door as soon as he reached her car. “You okay?”

She clutched her chest, and she looked as white as the snow her car was now slowly getting buried in. If it weren’t because he already knew the only way they were getting her car out now was with a tow truck and there was no way that was happening until tomorrow, he might’ve laughed. Instead all he could think was fuck me!

~~~

It was past ten now, and he was just getting ready to call Ella. He’d texted her earlier that they’d had an issue at the cabin and he’d call her a little later than usual. By the time Adelina’s stubborn ass accepted that her car wouldn’t be going anywhere unless they got a tow truck up there—and there was no tow truck or cab that was going to make the trip up there tonight—they’d wasted precious time. They then had to get her shit out of the trunk, which had been no easy task. Curiously, even though she’d claimed not to have planned on staying, she had brought an overnight bag. Felix then had to get her in and situated. Luckily, all the rooms in his cabin had been well-prepped before he’d gone up there.

Now he sat on edge of his bed, and for the first time that week, he dreaded talking to Ella. She’d never asked him much about Adelina, but he saw it in her eyes and heard it in her words the few times she’d brought her up. Ella wasn’t completely comfortable with Adelina. The fact that she’d pointed out he had a very pretty publicist more than once had not gone unnoticed either. The only good thing he had going for him was that he had told her last night about his meeting with the Mercedes-Benz people and his publicist today, so Adelina still being up there wouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. But he’d also made sure to point out that her visit was going to be a fast in-and-out thing. He was certain she was wondering now what kind of issue could’ve kept him from calling her on time the one time Adelina showed up.

He hit speed dial, holding his breath. “Hey, baby,” he said as soon as she answered.

“Hey,” she said, and already she didn’t sound as cheerful as she normally did. “What happened?”

“Adelina’s car got stuck in the snow.”

“Oh . . . where?”

“Here,” he said, closing his eyes and lying back in his bed slowly. “Right outside as she was trying to leave.”

She was quiet for a moment, and he braced himself. “I didn’t realize it was still snowing up there.”

“It is,” he said, sitting up. “You can look it up. It’s a little unusual for this time of year, but it really is.”

“Okay,” she said, pausing again for a nerve-wracking moment. “So what’d she do?”

“There’s nothing she can do until tomorrow morning,” he explained as he wondered if people could actually feel their blood pressure spiking because he could swear his was. “The only way she’s gonna get it out now is with a tow truck, and no one’s gonna drive up here until tomorrow morning.”

She was quiet again, and he wanted so badly to tell her she had nothing to worry about, but he was afraid that might actually call attention to the fact that maybe she should be.

“So she’s spending the night there.”

It wasn’t a question. It was a statement, but he answered her anyway. “Yeah, I have plenty of extra rooms here. So she’s staying in one of them, and we’ll get a tow truck out here first thing in the morning.”