I PATHETICALLY CRIED IN THE shower.

Acting like the teenager he accused me of being, I had a newfound sympathy for the insane woman stalking him. I hadn’t even slept with Shade, and he had me stupidly crying in the shower.

Damn it, Summer, pull it together.

I didn’t need to care what an infuriating bodyguard thought of me or what he even said to me. I was Summer Amherst. I was untouchable… unless some mafia guy I’d never met decided to shoot me because I’d mouthed off to his wife. Then maybe I wouldn’t get to spend my life living off a trust fund.

Whatever.

I washed my hair in the shower that was tiled in all dark slate and was as imposing as its owner. Using shampoo I never would’ve dreamed of using a year ago because it didn’t come from a salon, I prayed he had at least a hairbrush in one of the drawers of the vanity.

I was rinsing off the last of his sandalwood-scented soap when, all of a sudden, the lights went off and I was thrown into complete darkness.

“Shit.” Quickly turning off the water before it ran cold, I reached for the towel by feel that I had thankfully left hanging over the top of the shower door.

It hadn’t been very warm in the cabin to begin with, but without power, I feared it would get super cold, super quick.

Towel drying my hair, then my body, I pushed the shower door open but tripped as I stepped out.

“Summer,” saying my name fast and clipped, Shade’s voice carried up to the second floor right before his footsteps echoed on the stairs.

“I’m okay,” I called out.

“You decent?” he asked, his voice now coming from the other side of the door.

I wrapped the towel tight around me. “Yeah.” Sort of.

He pushed the door open and his dark eyes cut from my face to the towel, then he quickly looked away as he set a small lantern on the counter. “My generator didn’t kick in when the power went out. I’m going to see what’s happening. Stay here and lock the bedroom door after me. Get under the covers in the bed. It’s going to get cold in here quickly.” He turned to leave.

Panic hit me. “Maybe you shouldn’t go out there.”

He glanced back. “If the power lines were damaged because of the storm, it’ll be days before someone gets up here to look at it. I need to check the generator.”

“What if it’s not the storm that did it?”

The lantern casting heavy shadows across his face, he gave me a hardened stare. “Even more reason to check it out.” He tipped his chin at my clothes on the counter. “Get dressed and get under the covers to stay warm. I’ll be back.”

Visions of the SUV going over the mountain replayed in my mind followed by those guys shooting at us in the parking lot, and my skin prickled with fear. “How long will you be gone?” I called after him.

“As long as it takes. Lock the door.” He walked out of the bedroom and went down the stairs. A few seconds later, I heard the front door open and close.

The quiet of the cabin became overwhelming with no power, and my ears were suddenly ringing from lack of ambient noise. Reaching for my clothes, I pulled on leggings, the long-sleeved thermal tee that I used for sleeping, and a clean pair of socks. Running the towel over my head a few more times, I searched his drawers for a hairbrush, but only found a comb. Cursing the male species and how easy they had it, I dragged the comb through my long hair just to get the tangles out. Using an elastic I had on my wrist, I twisted my hair up in a messy bun.

With the small lantern in tow, I made my way into the bedroom, but I couldn’t bring myself to get in his bed. Turning off the lantern because the reflected light in the windows overlooking the view was making me feel like I was in a fishbowl, I stared out at the winter wonderland.

The side of the mountain dropped steeply a few yards past the stilts that held his house up, and all I could see were treetops and more mountains. The mountainside we were on, mountains in the distance, a mountain range stretching from as far left to as far right as I could see, it was endless.

And almost serene… until I spotted what looked like tracks in the snow thirty yards away, weaving in between the snow-heavy trees.

My imagination in overdrive, I stepped back from the window and shivered.

“Damn it, Shade,” I whispered into the darkened, impersonal bedroom that didn’t feel like it belonged to Shade without him in it. How long did it take to check on a generator?

I hated him out there.

Not just because he was my only lifeline up here, but I didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. Despite him being a completely cold jerk earlier, I still liked him. More than I should.

And oh my God, that kiss. Another chill ran up my spine.

I grabbed the blanket off the bed and wrapped it around myself as the sound of an engine starting up broke the silence, and a second later the one lamp I’d switched on in the bedroom came back on.

Relief coursed through me.

I turned to go downstairs, and movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention.

Glancing back at the window, I gasped.

A wolf, a really big wolf, slinked toward the cabin.

“Oh no, no, no.” Where the hell was Shade? Why hadn’t he come back inside yet?

The wolf took another few steps toward the cabin.

Dumping the blanket, I ran downstairs.

Unable to see where Shade was from upstairs, I looked left, then right out the downstairs windows. Barely visible, but exactly where the wolf was heading, Shade was standing over the large rectangular generator with his back turned.

I didn’t think.

I grabbed my Uggs from his bag that was still by the door and shoved my feet into them. Then I snatched his leather jacket that was now hanging on a peg by the front door and pushed my arms through.

I was out the door in seconds.