A Spy for Christmas (3 page)

 Even so, Robin wondered if she were being foolish by
letting down her guard. As she watched him secure the cabin, she realized
Grayson’s presence in her life brought danger to her very existence.   

She walked closer to the fire as the wood crackled and
popped, and the flames grew. Warmth began to seep across the cabin’s space.
Although the weather turned cooler outside, the cabin was warm and cozy as the
sky darkened and evening turned to night.

“You must be hungry by now,” he said. Her stomach had
growled a few times, but her nerves made her unsure if she wanted to eat. He
looked through the cupboards and put the supplies away, except for some he left
on the tiny counter.

“By any chance, are you a gourmet chief in disguise?” she
asked, some of the flirting from earlier returning.

“Just wait and see, my dear.” He turned the gas stove on
with a knob and lit the flame with a match. There was a cast iron pot to cook
in, and soon he was adding canned meat and veggies. The aroma of beef stew
mixed with the pleasant fireplace smell. It actually smelled like
home
here, throwing Robin for another loop.

Grayson stood watch over the pot, looking like he was deep
in thought. Her mind was still filled with questions about him. Yet she sensed
that there were many layers to the man which he kept to himself. This both
intrigued and excited her simultaneously. 

He turned to say, “I think this is about done. Let’s eat by
the fire where it’s warmer.” As she nodded, he pulled the daybed closer to it
and arranged the pillows and blankets.

It occurred to her maybe she should have helped with
something, but instead she crawled into the corner of the daybed and watched
him ladle stew into two bowls and bring them over. He settled in as she took
her first bite. Even from cans, the stew was hearty and comforting.

“Good?”

“Perfect.”

The fire popped, sending up a burst of sparks. The flames
threw dancing patterns all over the cabin walls while they ate. Cuddled into
the blankets, she felt safe and secure. It might have been a false safety, but
she wanted to enjoy it. Feeling content for the moment, despite the
circumstances that brought them here, she murmured, “Merry Christmas.”

A small smile played on his mouth—his full, kissable mouth.
“Merry Christmas, Robin…and I hope you find true happiness in the year to
come.”

He meant it. Grayson truly meant that. She glanced around
and conceded that this part at least wasn’t a bad holiday after all.

Suddenly she laughed.

Tilting his head, Grayson said, “Apparently you’re
not
thinking along the same lines as me.”

“I was just thinking…not in a million years would Alex have
ever taken me somewhere like this.”

“Oh, so you do like it here!”

She gave him her best
Oh, please
look. “I mean, he
never tried to plan a romantic date, forget a romantic weekend. He just wanted
someone to hang out with.” Robin looked around again and then back at Grayson.

His eyes were looking directly into hers; she seemed to have
his full attention.

“Truth or dare?” he asked.

She burst out laughing. Then, “Okay, truth.” She wanted to
see where he would take this.

“Did you love Alex?”

“Yes—Well, no. I don’t even know. I thought I did, but I’ve
hardly missed him.” She looked down at her bowl, wondering what that meant
about her. “Okay. Your turn. Truth or dare?”

“Oh, boy,” he said, but smiling. “I opened a can of worms
here.”

“Only if your past is full of worms… so yes, maybe you did!
Now, truth or dare? We’ll go with truth. Why did you start flirting with me
like that? I mean, when you have a dangerous job and can’t settle down.”

Whoa. She had loaded that one. And did she really want the
answer? It wasn’t like there was even a hint of commitment to their chance
meeting on the plane. They were just two strangers flirting and having fun.

Grayson watched her with serious eyes. “I couldn’t help
myself, Robin. I normally keep my distance, but you broke through my defenses.”

Now she watched him with somber and surprised eyes. He
leaned over to set his bowl down on the floor. As she watched, frozen in place,
he rolled up on his knees to take her bowl and set in down too. That brought
his face right in front of hers. “Truth or dare?” he said, but didn’t let her
answer. “We’ll go with dare. I dare you to kiss me.”

She thought about answering, and even opened her mouth when
he leaned down closer. The wild flames reflected in his rich brown eyes.

Robin could hardly breathe by the time his mouth touched
hers—softly at first, just like her fantasy. Then he slid a hand under her
head, tilting her head back, and deepening the kiss.

For a few seconds, the earth stood still with a crackling
fire as its soundtrack. Grayson kissed her hungrily, his body lightly laying
against hers, his free hand sliding up her arm. She pressed her body up against
him, embracing the reckless need to escape; the need for a strong male’s
comfort and protection. Her body shuddered, already hurtling over the edge of
passion. Somehow, without realizing it, she’d wrapped her legs around his long,
lean body and was pulling him intimately closer. When she whimpered, wanting
more, he responded with a guttural moan. His mouth slipped down to her neck,
setting it on fire and sending shock waves of icy pleasure right through the
core of her.

But who was this man? She couldn’t…

She pushed back against his shoulders. “Grayson! We can’t!”

It broke the spell.

Alarmed, he looked at her with confusion in his eyes.
“Robin…?”

What she saw in his eyes confused her even more.  Grayson’s
brown eyes reflected a caring for her that she couldn’t believe. It was far too
premature. But he was searching her face, even as he breathed heavy from their
passionate kiss while slowly sitting up to give her room.

She pushed away and stood up, unwilling to see the
vulnerability in his expression that was in such sharp contrast to the
invincibility she had seen just a few hours before.

A range of emotions flooded her and her first instinct was
to run away from the confusion she felt. Robin paced back and forth looking for
somewhere to escape the intensity of the moment. 

They couldn’t do that again—it was much too dangerous to
lose focus like that. It would have to be a Christmas kiss, a little moment of
reprieve.

Grayson remained silent but kept his gaze upon her. He
silently waited for her to realize the inevitable; and after a few minutes
Robin too understood they were both trapped in the tiny cabin in the woods with
nowhere safe to go. 

Robin awoke to an empty cabin. The fire was burning warm, so
Grayson must have added wood. Despite the awkwardness and uncertainty of the
night before, she had slept fairly well. Once she realized there was nowhere to
run, Grayson had silently prepared separate sleeping places for the both of
them; again changing into the take charge man from the day before. Her final
thought had been that she could not deny her attraction for this
multidimensional man.

She’d made one nice discovery the night before: the bathroom
had a tiny shower. The water ran cold but she hoped there was a way to heat it,
if maybe there was natural gas running to the heater. It irked her that she
couldn’t ask Grayson right then. Where was he?

What would she do if he disappeared
? Her heart
hammered hard enough to explode, but then she realized she could simply drive
out herself. If the SUV was there. If she could find the keys.

She took a peek outside to find an inch of snow on the
ground. It lay on tree branches, decorating the top of the pine needles, and
hid the SUV even more. So Grayson hadn’t driven off on her. That thought seemed
a bit silly now.

The world was silent, but a loaded silence of beauty. It was
so breathtaking that she quickly shoved her bare feet into her shoes, opened
the door and stepped out.

About then she realized Grayson wasn’t out here either. He
had been, though. Grayson’s footprints showed green in the snow where the thin
layer was melted by his steps. His steps made a trail from the cabin for a few
feet and even her untrained eye noticed more footprints coming from the other
direction. More foot prints? Who would be out here? It looked like Grayson had
followed them.

“Robin!” His voice was quiet, right in her ear. He used his
body to guide her right back inside.

“Was someone out there?” she asked, her face burning from
the warmth inside the cabin. “Or were you meeting someone?”

He shut the door. “No, I wasn’t meeting anyone… that might
have been a hiker.”

“A hiker in the middle of winter?” she asked, holding his
gaze.

“We’ll stay indoors, just in case.”

She pushed his shoulders. “I deserve to know what’s going
on!”

Grayson stepped back and went to the tiny side window to
peek through the curtains. “You’re right. But I don’t have an answer, just
suspicion. It might have been someone sent to find us, but I doubt that because
they kept going, off in a different direction into the woods. They didn’t poke
around the cabin or go near the vehicle.”

She paced in the small space. Finally she asked, “What about
getting help?”

He shrugged. “I managed to get one bar of service on the
cell phone. My superior knows about the prints.”

 Was that all he learned? He didn’t elaborate. Watching him,
Robin guessed he was torn about what to do. She walked up next to him to look
outside and saw that more snow was falling. He turned to her and placed his
warm hands on her shoulders. “Robin, I truly think all this will amount to a
precaution. So far it looks like we contained the damage.”

She nodded, understanding on a logical level.

“Did you eat breakfast?”

The practical statement took her a minute to understand.
Neither said much as they ate instant oatmeal and drank instant coffee. Maybe
she’d check if he brought tea—the coffee was awful. She found tea in a cupboard
along with new playing cards and two small puzzles. When she started the water
to boil, it reminded her about the shower. “Is there a way to heat the water
for the shower?” she asked him, looking back at him.

He was leaning against the table, watching her.  His gaze
slowly dropped down her body, painting a fantasy she could read right on his
face.

“Yes, the shower. Yes, I can get it going.” He straightened,
picked up the match box, and took it into the bathroom. She heard him shaking
open a door. There had been something that looked like a cupboard in the small
bathroom; maybe it’d been a door to the water heater. He stayed in there longer
than seemed needed. Either it took some coaxing or Grayson wanted time to cool
down.

Robin sat on the daybed with a cup of tea and an old, faded
action novel from the back of the cupboard. She couldn’t follow the story but
tried to read it anyway.

Ten minutes later, he emerged. “It’ll take a short while to
heat up.”

Even those innocent words felt
heated
.

“Okay.” She didn’t mind waiting, and the thought of a hot
shower sent a happy shiver through her.

He stood with his hands on his hips, watching her. “The tank
is fairly small, so you might get twenty minutes of hot water.”

She nodded and watched him walk to the window. Then he
walked to look in the cupboards. Then he returned to the bathroom and ran the
water.

Robin knew she shouldn’t laugh at him, but silent laughing
didn’t seem to count. She imagined if she could make
him
nervous, the
man with a melt-your-heart smile, a defined, lean body and a good sense of
humor. He was like James Bond, but even better looking and younger.

He was also fidgeting like a nervous little boy. Or like a
fully grown man wired with pent up sexual drive. Oh boy. Finally, she said,
“You can take the first shower.”

Turning, he looked at her. “Good idea. I’ll be quick. Two
minutes.”

He was inside the bathroom when she heard him mutter, “A cold
shower might help.”

She was mid-fantasy about him all tied up over her when he
emerged from the bathroom with wet hair.

Suddenly, Robin could clearly picture him in the shower,
naked, water streaming down him, a look of pure lust in his eyes… She climbed
to her feet and gave him a polite smile on her way into the bathroom, quickly
shutting the door behind her. She’d done herself in. The hot shower wasn’t
comforting like she’d hoped, but teasing. It hardly took any imagination to
picture them together, all wet and passionate.

Her mind fantasized about him walking right into the
bathroom and then the shower, and there wasn’t a thing she could do about it.
If he knew open the shower curtain at that very second, she wouldn’t complain,
or say no. The water turned lukewarm.  And it was going cold fast.

She rinsed the last of the shampoo from her hair and hoped
she’d gotten all the soap off. With the water off, she shivered, and actually
wanted him to walk in the door and wrap his warm arms around her.

Sensibility is overrated anyway, right?

But he didn’t.

Robin hid in the bathroom for a while, letting her hair dry
enough to take it out of the towel. The towel was damp from Grayson’s wet body
and smelled faintly of him. That didn’t help. Finally, she went out by the fire
to dry her hair completely. She thought he was watching, and she started to
worry that they were both too hot and bothered to think straight.

Grayson was the one pacing now, so she asked him, “Want to
play poker? I saw cards in the cupboard.” Maybe it’d help them focus on
something besides each other.

“Sure.”

She was shuffling before she realized it could easily lead
to strip poker. But maybe only her over-heated mind would think of that. She
flicked a glance up at him. The little smile playing on his lips
could
indicate
the thought had occurred to him too.