Snowy Encounters Read Online Free

to
stand.
    Taking pity on her, Cole stifled his laughter
and helped her up. Then, turning her around, brushed the snow off
her ass. He tugged her skirt back into place, but couldn’t help
lingering over the bottom curve of her butt and gave her a light
pat.
    “Stop that.” She moved away and frowned.
    Cole grinned. He knew that look. She had it
every time she was irritated over some thing, but couldn’t decide.
“Stop what?” he asked, innocently.
    Her eyes narrowed. “You know what I’m talking
about. Every time you touch me, something happens.”
    He crossed his arms and leaned against the
door. “Like what?”
    Her fingers balled into fists at her sides.
“Cole Harmon, don’t you dare mess with me. You know what I’m
talking about.”
    Cole chuckled and reached into the back seat
for the suitcase. “We better get you inside and dry that cute butt
of yours before it freezes in the cold. Wouldn’t want you to get
frostbite before you go back to the city.”
    Maddy growled. She rushed past him to the
driveway. He watched as she slowed her steps and carefully trudged
to the door in her dangerous heels.
    He grinned.
    She hasn’t changed all that
much .
     
     
     

Chapter Four
     
    Maddy cradled the hot mug in her hands,
looking out the window. As much as the tea warmed her body, it
didn’t help the raging emotions bubbling in her since Cole had
shown up. She watched him push the snow blower across the driveway,
the fluffy stuff flying in a thick stream to where the lawn was
supposed to be. The landscape was all white. Typical of Five
Oaks.
    “He’s a good boy.”
    Maddy ignored her mother’s well-intentioned
words. Everyone loved Cole. She’d always been considered the evil
one, especially after divorcing him. She sighed and continued to
watch him through the glass.
    When she’d arrived, she’d greeted her parents
then gone upstairs to change into jeans and a sweater. She’d
returned downstairs not long after, relieved to get out of her wet
clothes. Slightly sore from her recent falls, her butt still burned
as if Cole’s hand was imprinted on her skin. Stick Cole Harmon into
the picture, and she’d always be a klutz. The man did things to her
no one else could. She’d never understood and had stopped trying
long ago. But the kiss outside somehow chiseled at the walls around
her heart. She didn’t like the feeling.
    “I know, mom.”
    “He was really worried when I told him that
you were stuck under an avalanche. You gave us all a scare.”
    Maddy scoffed and glanced at her mother.
Concern marred the soft lines around her mouth. She laid a hand on
Mary’s arm in comfort. “I’m fine. Cole got me home.”
    Mary sighed. “He works too hard. Never stops
even for a moment to relax.”
    Resentment rumbled in her
chest. What else is new? “He sounds like he’s doing very well.”
    “He is. Everyone is so happy for him. He did
the town proud with the business he brings in.”
    The pride in her mother’s voice irritated
her. “That’s good then. It’s what he always wanted. To help rebuild
the town. He told me often enough.”
    “Honey, you can’t hate him for that. He only
did what he had to. Cole worked hard for your future together. Nor
did he expect you to lose the baby.”
    Maddy stiffened. Cole hadn’t wanted the baby
as much as he'd said, otherwise he wouldn’t have thrown himself
into work the way he did. “Mom, I don’t want to talk about
that.”
    Mary winced. “Sorry. It’s difficult for all
of us.”
    Maddy redirected her gaze to the window. Her
heart ached when she’d spotted the tears welling in her mother’s
eyes. It was bad enough that she was here, single, divorced and
pining for someone who didn’t love her. Their child would have been
two by now. The nightmare of her miscarriage gripped her heart as
it did every time she thought about the baby. She’d been happy,
shopping in town with her mother for baby accessories, when pains
wracked her body, and she’d been