The Real Thing (3 page)

“Thank you for the offer, but I’d rather take my chances
with the snow and drive to
the nearest town.”

“Yeah, well I wouldn’t.” He sighed. “Look, I’m not thrilled with the idea of spending the night with you, either, but it’s the only option. Unless you’
d rather camp
out in front of the garage
tonight
and wait for them to
open up
in
the
morning.”

Like she was going to do that.
She had no choice but to stay with him. And pray he wasn’t some psycho who’d murder her in her sleep.

She folded her arms and flopped back in the seat.
“Fine.”

T
he ten-minute drive to the cabin ended up being more like thirty, and by the time they got there,
the snow was falling twice as hard as before.
As much as she hated the idea of getting out of the warm truck, the thought of th
e warm, cozy cabin that awaited
her was inviting enoug
h to make the trek through the snow worth it.

The cabin, however, wasn’t
warm or
cozy
.
From what little she could see in the darkness, it
was barely even furnished.

S
he whirled around
as he
switched
on the lights
.
“Doesn’t this place have any
heat?”

His jaw tightened.
“It will once I get a fire going.”

It didn’t have electric heat?
When was it built, the
Stone Age
?

S
h
e looked around the small cabin.
It was little more than one room, with a fireplace on the wall opposite the door, a couch in front of
that, and a tiny eat-in kitchen
that had a table bar
ely big enough for two people.

She
hugged herself to keep from shivering. It didn’t help.
“Next, you’ll be telling
me this place doesn’t have running w
ater, either.”

“It used to, but I thought
having
an outhouse would add a certain kind of charm
instead.
”

She
j
erked around to look at him
so fast she almost gave herself whiplash.

“I’m just kidding
.
”
His mouth twitched in amusement.
“
The bathroom’s through there
.” He gestured
to one of the
two
doors
on the far side
of
the cabin.
“
T
here won’t be any hot water for a
while
, though.
H
elp me g
et some wood off the back porch
and we’ll
get this place
heated up.”

Raine
gaped.
“Excuse me?”

He halted in his tracks, turning
to face her. “
T
he fast
er we get the wood in here, the
faster I can get a fire started.”

She lifted her chin to look down her nose at him.
Which was
hard to do since
he
was
much
taller than she was. “Don’t you k
now who I am?”

He
lifted a brow. “Should I?”

She narrowed her eyes at him.
“
I’m Raine Montgomery.”

“And that should mean s
omething to me?”

“I
’m Raine Montgomery, the movie star.
”

He
regarded her for a moment
.
“Sorry
.
Never heard of you.”

He had to be joking. But the blank look on his face told her he wasn’t. He really didn’t know who she was.
Considering the source, that shouldn’t have been a blow to her ego, but it was.
“Everyone’s heard of me. Unless they’ve be
en living under a rock
somewhere.
”

He clenched his jaw.
“I don’t watch a lot of TV. Appare
ntly, you don’t, either.”
He
looked pointedly at her shoes. “At least
not the Weather Channel
,
anyway
.
”

She lifted her chin.
“The weather was
beautiful in LA when I left.”

His mouth quirked. “Yeah, well, this isn’t LA
. I’m going to get some wood.
Are you
going to help, or not?”

“Not.”

His only answer was a snort as he walked out.

Raine hugged her jacket closer and sat down on the couch. It was his cabin
. Let him get his own damn wood.
Reaching for her purse, she
dug
out her cell phone
.

“You won’t get a signal
.” Mr. Tall, Dark and Rude came back in carrying an armful of wood.
“Not with this storm.”

S
he
unlocked the screen to see
for herself, only to find that he was right.
She cursed under her breath and dropped it b
ack in her purse. “
How long do you think this will
keep up?”

He
glanced at her as he stacked the wood on the hearth. “In these mountains, it’s
hard to say. It could be a day or two. Maybe three.”

She could be stranded in this cabin with him for three days?
Yikes.
She chewed
on her lower lip
, watching him make
a fire.
He waited for it to crackle
to life
, then
got to his feet
and
shrugged off his heavy coat
.
Raine
’s gaze w
as drawn to the broad shoulders
flexing under his button-up shirt.
She could just imagine what he’d look like without it.

A
ngry with herself
for even
having such a thought about someone like him, Raine
grabbed her bag and
got to her feet.
“I’m going to see if there’s an
y hot water yet.”

The bathroom was smaller than she was used to
, but the water was warm enough
to
wash her frostbitten hands. She would have loved a shower, too, but
the water wasn’t quite hot enough for that, so
settled for changing into a
pair of jeans and a
sweater instead. After drying her
snow-dampened
hair, she quickly ran a brush through it, then gazed at her reflection
in the mirror above the
pedestal sink. Her make-up was all but gone. She considered touching it up, but couldn’t be bothered. It sure as hell wasn’
t like she
wanted to impress Mr. Tall, Dark and Rude.

He
was at the stove
stirring something in a pot when she
walked into the main part of the cabin.
He glanced over her shoulder at her, his dark eyes taking in her change of clothes. Was it her imagination or did they linger a little longer than necessary on her
curve-hugging jeans
?

He turned back to the stove. “There’s
stew
if you want some.”

Her stomach growled at the mention of food.
She walked over to
see what kind of soup it was,
only to wrinkle
her nose
when she saw all the chunks of beef in it.
“Don’t
you have anything
that doesn’t have
a dead
cow
in it?”

The muscle on the side of his jaw flexed. “Sh
ould have known you’d be a vegetarian
.”

“I’
m
not a vegetarian. I just don’t like to eat a lot of red meat.”

“There’s a can of tuna in the
cabinet.
Or is fish is off limits, too?
”

Jackass. He
was
probably
one of those jerks who
came up here to hunt
simply so he could put a trophy up on the wall.
She didn’t want to g
et started on that topic, though, so she
bit her tongue
.

Ignoring her, he
ladled stew into one of the bowls
o
n the counter, then walked over to the table. She
frowned
at the remainder of
the
stew
.
Despite her comments about red meat, she couldn’t deny it
smelled
d
elicious. Plus, it was hot.
Picking
up the ladle
, she
filled
the other bowl
,
then carried it over to the table and sat
down opposite him.

“So, what’s your name?
” she asked.
“
You didn’t say.
”

He lifted his
head
to look at her. “Logan
McBride.”

Not only did he have movie star good looks, but the perfect name to go with them. She dipped her spoon in
the stew
.
“How can you stand it out here?
I mean, this is as in
the middle of nowhere as you can get.”

He shrugged. “I like the solitude.”

“
Me, too. In small doses.” She shook her head. “I could never live here.”

“I don’t live here
.
I live in Seattle. I only come out here to paint.”

“Oh.” She glanced at him as she chased a piece of carrot around the bowl
with her
spoon.
“You mean, like houses?”

“No.
”
The word was curt.
“I’m an artist. I paint landscapes.”

“An artist?
” Huh.
“I wouldn’t have guessed
that.”

She m
ust have insulted him again because that littl
e muscle on the side of his jaw
flexed
dangerously
.

“Well, you can’t paint all the time,” she
hurried on before
he could say a
nything. “And
I
don’t see a TV or a
computer
. What do you do to k
eep from being bored out of you
mind?
”

“Sleep.”

Picking up his empty bowl,
Logan
pushed back his chair and got to his feet
. She watched in silence as he
wash
ed
out
the
bowl
and placed it in the dish rack.
If she knew what she’d done to offend him, she would have apologized to him. B
ut
what would she say?
I’m sorry for insulting your
man-cave
?

He dried his hands on
a
dish towel.
“I’ve al
ready put out a pillow and some
blankets so yo
u can make up the couch.”

Her spoon clattered in the bowl as she pushed back her chair.
“A gentleman would
let m
e use the bed.”

He scowl
ed
. “
T
hat is the bed
.
I’m sleeping on the floor.”

Okay, this time she really should have apologized
because she
’
d
definitely
insulted him.
But she was too shocked.
“You’re telling me that you don’t have a bed
room
? Then what’s in there?”
She
jerk
ed
her chin toward the door
beside the one that led to the
bathroom.

“
The
bedroom
.
I converted it into my studio.”

That had to be one of the most stupid things she’d ever heard
. She would have told Logan as much
,
but he’
d
already
picked up his bag and
disappeared into
the b
athroom.
A
moment
later
, she heard the shower running.