could have struck her vehicle. She could have swerved off the driveway and down into the steep gully on the other side. The realization was sobering and left her shivering with more than just the cold as she opened the trunk of the SUV and pulled out her suitcase before trekking back up to the house.
“I was beginning to think you’d decided to hike cross-country to get away from us,” Piers remarked laconically when she returned.
“I thought about it,” she admitted. “I see we have cell phone reception now.”
“Yes, I’ve called the authorities and requested assistance in removing the tree and getting your car towed. There are a few others in more extreme circumstances needing attention before us.”
“And the police? Did you call them about Casey?”
“I did. Again, not much anyone can do until they can get up to the house. I also called my lawyer to see where I stand legally with custody of Casey. Under the circumstances of his abandonment, they’re drawing up temporary guardianship papers.”
“You’re not wasting any time,” Faye commented, not entirely sure how she felt about this version of her boss. “What if his mom changes her mind? It’s only been a day.”
“I’ll cross that bridge if that happens.”
* * *
Over the next couple of days, if she wanted to get away from Piers’s interminable holiday spirit, she had to tuck herself away in her room to read or watch movies. Otherwise she’d find herself sticking around downstairs and watching Piers interact with the baby. It was enough to soften the hardest shell and, shred by shred, her carefully wrapped emotions were beginning to be exposed and she could feel herself actually wanting to spend time with the two males.
Watching Piers fall in love with the baby was a wonder in itself. Sometimes she found it hard to believe that this was the same man who usually wore bespoke suits and steered a multibillion-dollar corporation to new successes and achievements each and every year. It was as if the world had shrunk and closed in around them—putting them in a cocoon where nothing and no one could interrupt.
Piers’s comment a few days ago about heading away cross-country should be beginning to hold appeal. She’d kept her feelings wrapped up so tight for so long that the thought of being vulnerable to anyone was enough to make her hunt out a pair of snowshoes and find her way down the mountain. Except as each day passed, she found her desperation to get away growing less and less.
One night, three days after the storm, Faye was preparing dinner when Piers joined her in the kitchen.
“A glass of wine while you work?” he asked.
“Sure, that would be nice,” she admitted.
She’d avoided having anything to drink these past few days because she didn’t trust herself not to lower her barriers, or her inhibitions, should Piers try to kiss her again, but since that first night he hadn’t so much as laid a hand on her shoulder again.
Piers poured them each a glass of red wine in tall, stemmed glasses and put hers next to her on the countertop.
“Thank you,” she acknowledged and reached for the glass to take a sip.
“What can I do to help you?”
Piers leaned one hip against the counter and raised his glass to his lips. Faye found herself mesmerized by the action, his nearness making her feel as though she ought to back away. And yet she didn’t. Instead her eyes fixed on his mouth, on the faint glisten of moisture on his lips. That darn mistletoe was just to the right of him. All she had to do was to rise up on her toes and kiss him and that would be—
Absolutely insanely stupid, she silently growled at herself as she reached for a knife to chop the vegetables she’d taken from the refrigerator earlier.
“Nothing,” she snapped. “I’ve got this.”
Piers’s eyebrows rose slightly. “You okay?”
“Just cabin fever, I guess. Looking forward to getting out of here.”
Even as she said the words she knew she was lying. Truth was, she had begun to enjoy this enforced idyll just a little too much. She had to get away before she lost all reason.
“Look, why don’t you sit down? Let me finish making dinner. You sound a bit stressed.”
“Stressed? You think I’m stressed? It’s all this doing nothing that’s driving me crazy,” Faye said on a strangled laugh. “Seriously, I don’t need you to pander to me.”
“Everyone needs someone to pander to them from time to time.”
“Not me,” she said resolutely and started to chop a carrot with more vigor than finesse.
She stiffened as gentle hands closed over hers, as the warmth of Piers’s body surrounded her from behind.
“Everyone,” he said firmly. “Now, go. Sit. Tell me what needs to be done and just watch me to make sure I don’t mess anything up, okay?”
He picked up her wine, pushed the glass into her hand and steered her to a stool on the other side of the kitchen island.
“So I’m guessing these need to be diced?” he asked, gesturing with the knife to the irregularly sized chunks of carrot.
She nodded in surrender and took another sip of her wine.
He followed her instructions to the letter and soon their meal was simmering on the stove top. Piers topped up their glasses, took a seat beside her and swiveled to face her.
“Now, tell me what’s really bothering you. Why do you hate it here so much? Most people would give their right arm to be stranded with two gorgeous males for a few days.”
“I’m not most people,” she said bluntly.
“I noticed. Is there someone waiting for you at home? Is that what it is?”
“No, there’s no one waiting for me at home.”
No one. Not a pet. Not even a plant since she’d managed to kill off the maidenhair fern and the ficus she’d been given by one of her colleagues who’d jokingly said she needed something less inanimate than four walls to come home to each day.
“Then what is it?”
“This.” She gestured widely with one hand. “It just isn’t me, okay? I like California. I like sunshine. The beach. Dry roads.”
“It’s always good to have some contrast in your life,” he commented, his face suddenly serious. “But it’s more than that, isn’t it? It’s Casey.”
Faye let her shoulders slump. “I don’t hate him,” she said defensively.
“But you don’t want anything to do with him.”
“Look, even you, if you had the chance, would have run a mile from a baby a few days ago.”
“True.” Piers nodded. “But I’m enjoying this time with him and
