Out of the Storm (Buckhorn, Montana #1) - B.J. Daniels Page 0,7

them laughing as they fell onto the sagging double bed in each other’s arms—not really even noticing how awful the room had been.

She tried to still her chattering teeth. She’d never been this cold. She felt as if she couldn’t move, could hardly breathe. “Where are we?” she asked, having seen more Closed for the Winter signs on boarded-up buildings than operating businesses on the way into town. “Nothing looks open here.”

“Shirley in the motel office said it’s a little slow this time of year. But she said come summer, the place is hopping. The town kind of hibernates in the winter. Not to worry, though. We won’t be here long.”

Collin kissed her as he passed her to go over to the heater on the wall. “I’ll get some heat going, but you might want to take a hot shower to warm up.”

The thought of stripping down in a cold bathroom to step into even a hot shower was out of the question. She turned to look at him, her expression apparently voicing her thoughts.

“Otherwise, you can hop into bed, and we’ll make our own heat,” he said and grinned. “Adventure, Kate. It’s begun. Embrace it. I promise it will only get better.”

She laughed, and it seemed to warm her a little. Or maybe it was the slight warmth now coming from the heater on the wall as Collin stepped to her.

“Having fun yet?” he asked as he pulled her into his arms.

* * *

COLLIN FELT THAT old burning sensation in his belly. Kate had been quiet on the tow-truck ride into town. She’d gotten even quieter when she’d seen Buckhorn. Had either of them blinked, they would have missed the town. What he had seen of it was closed, boarded-up buildings with See U in the Spring scrawled on the sheets of plywood covering the doorways and windows. What businesses were open had so much snow piled in front of them that he wondered how they would be able to find their front doors before June.

He had glanced over at her, reading her expression as the tow-truck driver, who’d introduced himself as Fred Durham, dropped them in front of the Sleepy Pine Motel. It was one of those single-level efficiencies with seven units in a long row. A blurry, red vacancy sign could be seen through the falling snow up by the highway. Behind the motel there appeared to be a forest of pine trees, branches groaning under the weight of the snow.

“Is this the only lodging in town?” Collin had asked, thinking about the kind of hotels Kate was probably used to.

“Only one this time of year,” Fred had said. “You’re lucky. Looks like Shirley still has a room available.” He’d thought the man was kidding. Collin could see that there were no other cars parked in front of the motel rooms. An older-model compact car was parked down by the office, but that was it.

“Often during a storm like this, the rooms fill up fast with truckers,” Fred told him. There were also no trucks. In fact, there seemed to be no other traffic and hadn’t been for miles.

He and Kate had climbed out of the tow truck and hurried through the snow into the too-warm office. Shirley had turned out to be a hot fortysomething with short blond hair and brown, bedroom eyes. Before Kate, Collin might have talked her into warming his bed on this cold night. She hadn’t been wearing a wedding band, and by the once-over she gave him, he’d gotten the feeling she was in between husbands.

“Can you give us two keys right away?” he’d asked her. “Our car broke down, and my fiancée is cold and tired.” He’d smiled at Kate as he’d handed over the spare key. “I’ll be right there, baby.” Belatedly, he’d remembered that Kate hated being called baby—especially in front of other people.

He’d paid for the room and taken his key to hurry down to the room where Kate was waiting. Any other time, he would have flirted with Shirley just for fun, but he felt as if he was already skating on thin ice with Kate right now. He hadn’t wanted to keep her waiting—let alone get caught doing something that would jeopardize this trip or his plans for the future.

He’d hoped making love would put him back into Kate’s good graces. He’d heard he was quite talented at it. But after a few kisses, she’d said she was tired and went into the bathroom to