figuring the BlackBerry would be ruined anyway. As he struggled back to the door, headlights appeared on the road. For a moment, he wondered if the car would even see him in the blinding snow, but to his relief, the SUV stopped. He waded through the drift as the passenger-side window opened.
“Hi,” he called, leaning inside. “I’m stuck.”
A female voice replied. “I can see that.”
Alex could barely make out her features. She wore a huge fur hat with earflaps and a scarf wound around her neck, obscuring the lower part of her face. In truth, she was bundled from top to toe, except for her eyes. “Can you give me a ride into town?”
“No,” she said. “I’ve just come from town. The road is nearly impassable. I’m on my way home.”
Her voice was soft and kind of husky…sexy. He felt an odd reaction, considering it was the only thing that marked her as a woman. “I’d call for a tow, but I lost my cell phone.”
“Get in,” she said. “I’ll take you to my place and you can call from there.”
“Let me just get my things from the car.” By the time Alex retrieved his duffel, his laptop and his briefcase from the BMW, he was completely caked with snow. He crawled into the warm Jeep and pulled the door shut. “Thanks,” he said. He glanced over his shoulder to find two dogs in the backseat, watching him silently, their noses twitching. The larger of the two looked like a lab mix and the smaller had a fair bit of terrier in him.
“What are you doing out on a night like tonight?” she asked.
“I could ask the same of you,” Alex said with a grin. “I’m glad you were as brave as I was.”
“Stupid is more like it. And I’m not driving a sports car,” she said.
“It’s not a sports car,” he said. “It’s a sedan.” He glanced over at her. It was impossible to tell how old she was. And the only clue to her appearance was a lock of dark hair that had escaped from under her hat. “Do you live nearby?”
“Just down the road.”
He settled back into the seat, staring out at the swirl of white in front of them. He couldn’t see the road at all, but she seemed to know exactly where she was going, expertly navigating through the drifts. Before long, she slowed and turned off the highway onto what he assumed was a side road and then a few minutes later, into a narrow driveway, marked by two tall posts, studded with red reflectors. The woods were thick on either side, so it was easy to find the way through the trees.
A yard light was visible as they approached and, before long, Alex could see the outline of a small cabin made of rough-hewn logs. She pulled up in front and turned to face him. “The front door’s unlocked,” she said. “I’m just going to put the Jeep in the shed.”
Alex grabbed his things from the floor and hopped out, then walked through another knee-deep drift to get to the front steps. As he stamped the snow off his ruined loafers, the dogs joined him, racing through the darkness to the porch.
He opened the door a crack and the animals pushed their way into the dimly lit interior. The cabin was one huge room, with a timbered ceiling and tongue and groove paneling. A stone fireplace covered one wall and windows lined the other. The décor was like nothing he’d ever seen before, every available space taken with bits and pieces of nature—a bird’s nest, a basket of acorns, a single maple leaf in a frame on a bent-willow table.
He kicked off his shoes and stepped off the rug, but then froze as the dogs growled softly. They’d seemed so friendly in the car, but now they watched him suspiciously as he ventured uninvited into their territory.
“The phone is over there.”
He turned to see her standing in the shadows on the other side of the kitchen. “Do they bite?” he asked.
“Only if I tell them to,” she murmured. There was a subtle warning in her tone. It wasn’t surprising, considering she just allowed a stranger into her home. For all she knew, he could be some deranged psycho—driving an expensive European sedan and wearing ruined Italian loafers.
“I won’t make any sudden moves,” he said.
She shrugged and walked out of the room, her heavy boots leaving puddles of water on the floor. Alex slipped out of his coat and tossed it over a nearby chair, then kicked off his shoes. When the two dogs approached, he held his breath. They sniffed at his feet, then each picked up a shoe and retreated back to the sofa with their prizes.
“Give those back,” he pleaded. “No, don’t do that. You can’t eat those.” Alex heard footsteps behind him and he spun around, coming face-to-face with a woman of peculiar beauty. He glanced around the room. “Hello,” he said.
He slowly took in the details of her face. She wore dark makeup on her eyes and her shoulder-length hair was cut in a jagged way, with streaks of purple in the bangs. Was this the woman who had rescued him? He’d imagined the face that went with the voice, speculated about the body, but this wasn’t at all what he’d expected.
“They eat shoes,” she said, grabbing the loafers and handing them back to him.
Only when he heard her voice was Alex certain. This was the woman who had rescued him. But the instant attraction he felt was rather disconcerting. She was the exact opposite of women he usually pursued. He liked blondes, tall and willowy, surgically enhanced and trainer-toned. This girl was petite, with an almost boyish figure, and a quirky sense of fashion.
“Put them in the closet,” she said, pointing to a spot near one door. “They don’t know how to operate a doorknob…yet. They’re still working on tearing strangers limb from limb.”
Alex smiled, but she didn’t return the gesture. She continued to regard him with a cool yet slightly wary stare. After he’d dropped his shoes in the closet, he surveyed his surroundings. “Nice place. Do you live here alone?”
“No,” she said. “There are the dogs. And two cats. And I have two horses down in the barn.”
“A regular Noah’s Ark,” he teased. She gave him an odd look and he decided be more direct. “So, you’re not married?”
“Are you?”
“No,” he said, chuckling. Crossing the room, he held out his hand. “I’m Alex Stamos.” He waited, growing impatient with the long silence between them. “Now, you’re supposed to tell me your name.”
“Tenley,” she said, refusing his gesture.
“Is that your first or last name? Or both. Like Ten Lee?”
She shook her head. “I haven’t had dinner yet. Are you hungry?”
“I could eat, Tenley,” Alex said. Odd girl with an odd name. Yet, he found her fascinating. She didn’t seem to be interested in impressing him. In truth, she didn’t seem the least bit fazed by his charm.
Strange, Alex thought to himself. Women usually found him utterly mesmerizing from the get-go. He slipped out of his jacket and draped it over a nearby chair. His pants were damp and his socks soaked through.
“You should probably call for a tow. Or your car is going
