Page 3 of Burn for Me (The Last Snow of the Season 2)
Chapter Three
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Rumer
I'm still in shock when we head back to the room me and Milly were staying in. What the hell just happened? Tinsley screamed bloody murder and told some stupid story about being spied on and now I have a sexy, brooding cop in my room instead of sweet little Milly.
As soon as the words were out of Mark's mouth some of the men start jabbing one another and making jokes. I think I even heard one of them say I was going to be good and fucked by the time morning came but before I could say anything to anybody Mark is pulling me into the room.
On the way up here, Mark was the person who asked so many questions wanting to know everything from where we went to school to what our favorite class is. I think he might have been trying to be nice but then he could have also been flirting. It’s not like I would be able to tell the difference. If he was flirting surely he had to be doing it with Milly who doesn't have a resting bitch face at all - like no resting bitch at all.
As soon as I got into the cabin, I set the box I carried inside on the island and headed to the second floor. It seemed natural that would be where the bedrooms were. The cabin is nice and it smells of wood and air freshener - something akin to lavender. I open doors until I find one with a double bed in it and drop my bag on the bed before stepping up to the door and waiting.
As soon as Milly comes down the hall I reach out and grab her. I'd like to tell her that I would give her a chance to find some other roommate but she really is one of the only people here I can stand. "Room with me?"
Milly actually looks relieved and gives me one of her million-dollar smiles. That was about five hours ago. Now I have a room filled with a six-foot-four, burly police detective who’s looking at me like I might have caused all this. Even though he volunteered to come with me.
"Does this shirt belong to someone?"
I can't follow his line of questioning, so I just don't answer him. Maybe he's fucking with me, trying to be a dick.
"Does your shirt belong to someone?"
Is he crazy? Not quite right? Wonderful. Leave it to me to be stuck with the loon.
"Me?"
He hooks his finger into the collar of my shirt and pulls me closer to him. "I mean did you get it from a man?"
I stiffen under his glare. "That's none of your business." I'm about five seconds from making a run for it and asking to switch rooms with someone else.
He pulls me off balance with his hold on my collar until I'm falling against him, and his big arms wrap around me like a steel trap. "Answer my question, little Rabbit."
Did he just...? Little Rabbit? What the hell?
"I...I bought it." I think I'm in such shock that I just go ahead and answer him. His green eyes bore into me leaving my insides hot and jittery. "I like to sleep in big shirts. They're roomy and comfortable."
He gives me a big grin and lets me go. What the hell is that all about? I flop down on the bed that Milly had just been in. I would go back to the bed I was in, but it seems Mark isn't going to allow that. I think he should have at least asked me which bed I was sleeping in. He is after all the guy who is 'visiting' the room for crying out loud.
I don't say anything though. I figure I should count myself lucky because I could have been stuck with one of the other men. They make me nervous, not that Mark doesn't make me nervous but somehow it's just different with him.
I lay back and pull the covers up to my chin. Neither one of us speak for a while but finally, my curiosity gets the better of me. "Why does it matter who my shirt belongs to?"
For a few seconds, I think he might have already gone to bed. I'm staring up at the ceiling and not over at him. I might have the nuts to ask but I don't have them to do it face to face. Eventually, he does answer me.
"I wanted to know if you have a boyfriend."
"Why would that matter?"
Nothing for long seconds. Then, "Because I would hate to have to kill someone."
This brings me up on my elbows to look at him now. Is this man insane? "Because some man gave me a shirt? You would want to kill him?"
"No," he says it like I'm the crazy one. He also gets on his elbows to look at me. "If he walked away, I would spare him...maybe."
We sit there looking at one another for several seconds. I blink repeatedly trying to figure this man out. To process what he has just told me.
"Why?"
He sits up fully in the bed this time. "Because I want you."
Okay, now I'm starting to wonder if maybe I should ask someone else to stay with me. I mean how bad can those other guys be, right? "You don't know me." He shrugs his shoulders like that doesn't make a difference and things begin to clear up for me. I really wished they hadn't. "You don't care that you don't know me? So you're just in it for a quick fuck. I mean that's what this weekend is all about for you all, right? Hit it with some of Rani's eighteen-year-old friends. Un-fucking-believable."
He starts to get out of bed, but I sit all the way up this time and hold my hand out to stop him. "Don't. Just don't. I...am not on the menu this weekend, buddy. I have no intention of sleeping with you or anyone else in this house so if you're in this room because you think it gives you an in to get laid then you can leave. Now."
He gives me a shit-eating grin before laying back down like my words meant nothing. "Well, you know what they say about the best intentions don't you, Rumer."
I let that one go and try to find some balance within so I can find sleep. The best way out of this is to sleep through the time I have to spend with him. Tomorrow me and Milly will be back together again, and I won't have to worry about him.
