icicles that had formed on the edges of the roof. Josie sipped her coffee and took in the perfect blanket of snow broken only by the footprints of some small creature. She admired the bright red feathers of a bird perching on a snowy bough and wondered at a toppled evergreen at the edge of the field, its needles spread out like a verdant skirt.
Josie had never imagined the aftermath of a winter storm could look like this. In the cities she'd traveled to, snow quickly turned to slush turned gray by car exhaust and trampled into ice by hurrying, irritable throngs.
Here, the wintry morning managed to be both bright and tranquil at the same time. The snow absorbed nearly every sound other than the cheerful birdsong that served as a soundtrack to the glittering snowfalls that fell gracefully from the trees when the wind stirred them.
It was downright magical…and also cold as hell. But Josie was willing to endure the sting of the icy wind against her cheeks, the shock to her lungs with every breath to enjoy the view a little longer. She'd almost finished her coffee when she heard the sound of a vehicle coming up the drive.
As Knox pulled into view, Josie's heart did a little skittery thing that had nothing to do with the sight of the heavy chains on his tires or the crude snowplow attached to his grill. And it was hard not to be grateful for the rush of warmth that came out of nowhere when he stepped down from the cab and shot her a grin that thawed the cold from her fingertips to her toes.
"I was wondering if you'd be up before I got back," Knox called.
"I sleep in one day, and suddenly I'm the lazy one?" Josie joked, hoping to pull a smile out of him. She had no way of knowing if she succeeded as he turned his back to pull a huge sack out of the back of the truck.
"I've been up since dawn," Knox said mildly, slinging the bag over his shoulder.
Josie was so entranced by watching his powerful muscles work that she almost forgot to give him plenty of space as he came up the steps. Once she realized her mistake, she slid back on the icy porch, nearly falling on her ass.
"The floor was that uncomfortable?" she said to cover her embarrassment.
"You have no idea," he laughed.
"Um, I'm the one who's been sleeping on it for a week, remember?"
Knox paused at the door and turned to give her an apologetic look. "From now on, I'll take the floor, and you can have the bed."
"Don't be silly." Josie waited until he was well inside the door before following him in, wondering if she should ask him where he'd been or if he'd view the question as an invasion of his privacy.
Her curiosity won out. "Where were you off to so early?"
"Drove out to Gray's place," Knox said, appearing unbothered as he disappeared into the kitchen.
It took another forceful reminder to herself for Josie not to follow him in there, too. She may have slept in his bed last night, but that didn't mean she had the run of the house, not if she wanted to stick to the safety measures they'd agreed on. Her domain was still confined to the front room unless he explicitly indicated otherwise.
But she could still talk to him from the edge of the room. "Did the chip reader show up yet?"
"Nope." Josie could hear Knox opening cupboard doors as he moved around the kitchen. "I told you it could be weeks until that thing arrived…if it arrives at all."
She pursed her lips, unsure if she was disappointed or relieved. The only signals from her body were of the stirred-up variety. Damn, when had her emotions become so hard to figure out? And Knox wasn't exactly giving her a lot to go on.
"So…why'd you go out there?"
"Check up on news. See if Gray had some spare glass to fix the window, which he didn't." Josie heard the clink of the percolator's spout against the rim of a mug. "Also thought a drive might help me clear my head."
"Are you…worried about something?" Josie held her breath, waiting for an answer that didn't come. Evidently, last night's weirdness hadn't completely vanished after all.
As if confirming her suspicion, Knox changed the subject when he emerged the kitchen with a steaming mug in hand, giving no indication he'd heard her question.
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