Unmasked (Revealed #1) (3 page)

Jumping from the car, I slammed the door as hard as I could and vented some of my frustrations through yelling a further stream of fiery expletives at my useless hunk of junk. My mouth was worse than a sailor’s as I dredged up every single swear word I’d ever encountered and flung it at my poor unsuspecting Fiat. I was seriously tempted to kick the car, but thankfully, common sense told me that I would only end up damaging myself more than it, so instead I hurled another tirade of abuse and abruptly stopped as my shoulders slumped in defeat and my head hung low.

Calming myself for a few seconds I watched as my breath steamed in the cold air. I sighed heavily and shook my head; I knew I should have had the tires changed at the last service, but the mechanic had told me they still had a bit of life in them yet. It seems he had been wrong.

Not willing to let the weather beat me without a proper fight I spent a good ten minutes getting cold and soaking wet as I tried to build ramps in front of the tyres from larger, nearby pebbles, hoping that they might help me get some grip, but the snow was falling so quickly that they were covered and useless by the time I climbed into the car to try. Bugger.

What should I do? Chewing nervously on the inside of my lower lip I glanced back at the house and grimaced so hard that my eyes scrunched up. No matter how stuck I was, there was
no way
I was asking
him
for help. The miserable git could wallow in his cosy warm bed and catch up on his sleep for all I cared. I’d be just fine out here.

Turning purposefully towards the rear of my car I popped open the boot and rooted around in the multitude of junk. With a pleased yelp I produced my sleeping bag and thermal survival blanket. Thank God I’d been too lazy to clean out my car since my camping trip in September. This sleeping bag was warm, not arctic standard perhaps, but definitely thick enough to help me out today. I’d just nestle down and wait it out. It couldn’t snow forever, could it? Shaking my head, I rolled my eyes at my own stupidity. Of course it couldn’t, it would probably just be a short flurry. I’d be fine snuggled in my sleeping bag and then as soon as I saw it start to clear I’d make another attempt at moving the car.

With my plan sorted I settled down into the driver’s side again and wrapped myself up as best I could in preparation for a rough few hours ahead. I usually really liked snow, but only if I was safely tucked up in a nice warm house looking out at the pretty, sparkly crystals. Sitting in it was
not
on my favourites list, mostly because I bloody hated being cold. On the plus side, at least I had a fairly full petrol tank, so I could keep my car running to keep my decrepit heater turned on.

Unfortunately, my optimism about my ‘warm sleeping bag’ was soon quashed, because after ten minutes I had pretty much lost all feeling in my toes. After fifteen I was shivering uncontrollably, and by twenty minutes my wet, gloved fingers were stinging so much they felt like they’d been stung by a thousand wasps. I was also starting to feel a bit claustrophobic because the snow had covered my windows and windscreen so much it felt like I was sitting in a giant ice cube. Or a not so giant ice cube – my Fiat wasn’t exactly a large car.

Huffing out a frustrated breath that steamed the air, I suddenly yelped loudly as someone knocked on my car window, sending snow cascading to the ground and clearing the glass so I could see out of my icy cocoon.

As I looked out through the frosted glass I saw the owner of the house standing there in a snow jacket, waterproof trousers, and snow boots, looking annoyingly warm and dry and holding a mug of something which was temptingly sending plumes of steam into the air. Even clothed, he still looked magnificent. He now came across all outdoorsy and competent, which stupidly seemed to appeal to my inner fragile female who was apparently clamouring to be rescued by him.

Grumbling my annoyance at my complete inability to rein in my thoughts, I grouchily looked up at his face again. The brightness of the falling snow seemed to make his dark hair look almost black, and his eyes stood out like charcoal against the white. Frustratingly, I still couldn’t tell if his eyes were brown or dark blue, but yet again they seemed to be trying to pull me in, so I hastily dragged my gaze away, looking anywhere and everywhere except at his eyes. No doubt he was amused by my neurotic behaviour, because there seemed to be a smile threatening to break on his lips for a second or two, but he never let it fully emerge. It was almost as if he wouldn’t allow it.

Disliking him even more now that he was dry and warm and I wasn’t, I reluctantly forced my frigid fingers to draw the window down a few inches.

‘What’s the problem?’ he asked conversationally, as if it wasn’t screamingly obvious what the issue was. If I could have felt my legs, I swear to God I would have jumped out of the car and kicked him.
Hard
.

As stupid as his question was, I found myself answering anyway, politeness winning out over grouchiness. ‘The snow is heavier than I thought and my car can’t handle it; I just keep skidding. I’m going to wait it out, I’m sure it’ll pass soon enough.’ Although judging from the colour of the clouds, that might be wishful thinking on my part.

Watching as he sipped his drink I felt my mouth begin to water with the almost desperate need to taste whatever was in that cup. God, the things I would do to get my hands on that drink right now. Narrowing my eyes as I looked at his wide stance I felt my heart leap in my chest again. Forget the drink – the things I would do to get my hands on
him
right now. I bet he was really toasty beneath all those layers of clothing.

Mmm. Solid, warm skin and hard, protective muscles … he could no doubt heat up my chilled body in just a few minutes. It vaguely crossed my lust-filled mind to tell him that the best survival technique was to get naked and share body heat, but thankfully sanity prevailed and I held back. The mere thought of sharing some skin–on-skin action with this man sent a shiver running through my body that had nothing to do with my chilled bones. I then had to firmly shake my head to try and clear my wandering thoughts. This man was dangerous for me. I just couldn’t control the way my body responded to him; it was crazy.

‘If you had parked in the proper parking space you probably would have been fine,’ he commented mildly, casting a glance across the driveway to his bloody perfect flipping parking spots which were still mostly untouched by the snow. ‘The tarmac would have provided a far better grip. As it is, you’ve dug trenches in my otherwise perfect driveway with your wheel spins and now you’re stuck.’

My mouth briefly hung open. Smug, irritating, self-righteous bastard. But I couldn’t say anything because he was right, and basically saying exactly what I’d been thinking myself just a few minutes earlier. My hands clenched into balls in my lap – I
really
hated that he was right. I also felt slightly guilty about the damage I had no doubt done to his precious driveway, but in my current state I didn’t feel like apologising so I simply chose to ignore him and rolled my lips shut while I stared defiantly at my fisted hands instead.

‘You can’t stay out here, you’ll freeze. Come inside,’ he told me, in a presumptuous tone that rubbed me up the wrong way, but simultaneously made me feel all pathetically melty inside too.

Sneering at my pitiful hormones I dug my icy body deeper into my rubbish sleeping bag and turned away from him to avoid the temptation of further ogling. Seeing as I seemed to have a strange sort of attraction to this equally strange man I was decidedly unwilling to go back inside with him. God knows what I’d do or say if I had to spend any more time alone with him. He made my insides feel warm and gooey when my brain was telling me that he was a rude, pompous prick. It was an unfamiliar imbalance that I didn’t like at all, so I decided to play it safe and stay away. ‘I’m fine here, thank you.’ Although I still really wanted him to offer me whatever was in his cup.

‘Have it your way,’ he murmured, then took another teasing sip of his drink, briefly licking his lips and humming in appreciation before turning and walking back to the house, leaving me staring at his broad, retreating back in disbelief.

What a bastard! I was completely stunned that he was actually going to leave me out here in the cold. Although I reluctantly had to admit that that was exactly what I’d told him I wanted. He wasn’t supposed to listen to me! He was supposed to talk some sense into me with that lovely, raspy voice of his. Huffing out an irritable breath I flopped back in my seat with a scowl. So he was a chauvinist pig
and
ill-mannered? My treacherous mind was midway through trying to remember his good points, like his muscular build and startlingly handsome face, when the door to my car was wrenched open and I was suddenly dragged from my sleeping bag as I found my world rapidly turning upside down.

What the heck? It took me a second or two to actually realise that he had tossed me over his shoulder like a rag doll, and once my new reality had sunk in I literally couldn’t believe it. Talk about being manhandled. Gripping him at the waist to balance myself I took a brief second to note just how toned he felt under his clothing, before I grasped what I was doing, and instead began to pummel him with my fists whilst yelling at him to put me down.

Ignoring me completely, he kicked my car door shut and strode into the house as if I weighed nothing, disregarding my kicking, yelling, and flailing as if I weren’t even there. Pausing inside the hall he kicked his boots off, climbed the stairs, and paced down several long, brightly lit corridors, all the while swinging me precariously on his shoulder.

As furious as I was, I couldn’t help but notice just how good he smelt – the down jacket underneath my cheek smelt faintly of wood smoke, but there was also a spicy, manly scent to him which seeped into my senses. It was just typical that as well as being blessed with the body of a model and the face of a god that he would smell divine as well.

There was the sound of a door opening and then, with no warning at all, I found myself being tumbled forwards and deposited roughly onto my feet, where I swayed slightly until he reached to steady me. Blinking several times to clear my dazed vision, I saw I was now standing by the side of a large bed in a very big bedroom. Blimey, half my house would fit in here.

I probably should have been concerned that this nameless stranger had basically abducted me from my car and now had me holed up in his bedroom, but being carried so far had made my head dizzy and legs wobbly and it didn’t really occur to me that I should be nervous.

I’m not sure if it was the result of my upside down trip up the stairs, or just the effect that touching him had had on me, but my knees suddenly gave way and I plonked down onto the soft bed as I gazed up at him in shock and tried to process what the hell had just happened.

‘I’m not having your frozen corpse on my conscience. This is my spare room – dry off, warm up, and when it’s safe to leave, you can.
Not
before. No more ridiculous stubbornness, and no more unnecessary risks. Understand?’

He was actually rather imposing, I realised, as I took in his huge frame and steely eyes again. God, he was really tall. His tone and wide-legged stance didn’t really leave any room for refusal, not unless I wanted to get into a slanging match with him which I would no doubt lose. Besides, this warm, dry bedroom was an infinitely better option than my freezing cold car, so, being sensible for once in my life, I licked my lips and nodded cautiously.

‘I’ll turn your car off and lock it. The water supply here is fine because my pipes have frost protection so shower if you like, there are clean towels in the en-suite. I’ve left a hot drink for you,’ he informed me briskly, indicating the bedside table where I now noticed a mug was sitting. Unable to look away from him for long, I left the drink untouched and turned my gaze back, predictably finding his eyes still on me.

He assessed me for several long moments, as that strange tension seemed to fill the space between us again just like it had when we first met. It felt like static electricity was bouncing between us as the hairs on my arms went into overdrive and stood to attention. Considering how he’d insulted and practically manhandled me earlier, I was still undeniably attracted to this man, and as a result I was now finding it quite hard to breathe as he just stood there, all tall and foreboding and staring at me in silence.

Surely it wasn’t normal for two people to just stare at each other like this, but I simply couldn’t seem to drag my eyes away from him. It certainly seemed to break most of the rules of how to act in polite company, but then again, he wasn’t looking away either, so at least it wasn’t just me who seemed affected by the situation. And I really was affected. My heart was fluttering, I felt shaky, warm, and even a bit sick from the tumbling of my stomach. It was like I’d lost all control over my own body.

He was magnificent. A prime example of masculinity if ever I had seen one. But then he broke me from my wandering thoughts by making a sudden strange, dismissive grunt, spinning on his heel, and leaving. My eyebrows practically rose into my hairline. Charming. He didn’t say another word, just left me sitting on the bed blinking at the now-closed door.

What a man. What a turn of events. And I still didn’t know his bloody name!

THREE

Sean

Striding from the spare room I immediately made my way to my own bedroom just a few short, stomped steps away from where I’d left Allie. Slamming the door behind me I winced as it rattled on its hinges and stopped in the middle of the room, tipping my head back as I drew in a long, deep breath to try and clear my head. There was something about that woman that had immediately got under my skin, and I didn’t like it one bit. Some unexpected, unknown frisson had occurred inside me the moment I’d laid eyes on her in the lounge, drawing me to her even though she was a complete stranger, and it hadn’t lessened at all in the time that had passed since her arrival.

In different circumstances, if a random woman had turned up inside my house I would have immediately been on the phone to my security team to get her removed from the property, but I
had
requested a cleaning of the house, so her story of covering for Sarah seemed believable enough. Unusually though, this girl genuinely didn’t seem to know who I was. It was actually quite refreshing, and perhaps one of the reasons that I was finding her so fascinating.