Finding Destiny (3 page)

“Ladies
first,” Matty said, once she pulled off her own boots.

She reached
for the door handle and twisted the cold knob. When she entered the
cabin, heat washed over her, stinging her nose and cheeks. She was
surprised when she had found the door unlocked, but after a quick
survey of the room, she noted that they really had nothing much of
value. She also recalled the fact that they hadn’t passed another
human in hours, apart from the three of them, which might have had
something to do with their lax habits.

Destiny
unzipped her jacket and pulled off her hat, gloves and scarf. After
hanging her things up on an old wooden coat rack, she quickly
smoothed her hands over her hair to right herself. With another
glance around the small room, she was relieved to find that the
sparse furniture was at least clean.

The whole
place was tidy, actually, and charming, but it lacked a woman’s
touch. Though it looked plain, and country, it felt safe and it was
quite warm inside.

Matty walked
up next to her, with an arm-full of logs, having already ridden
himself of his snow clothes. “Have a seat. Stay a while.”

As if there
was anywhere else for her to go.

She watched
Matty toss a couple of logs onto the floor, then he carefully added
the others to the fireplace. She felt her legs start to prickle,
from the extended bout of walking in the snow. Deciding to take
Matty up on his offer, she started toward the limited seating. But
before she could settle down onto the sofa, she realized that
Skylar had already torn off his boots, peeled off his snowsuit, and
took a seat right where she was heading.

Her heart
began to patter erratically in her chest, when she saw that he was
a lot better built than he had appeared in his snow gear. Without
showing him how much that attracted her, she casually took a seat
next to him, took a deep breath, and exhaled. She really wanted to
have a peek at him, but she knew she shouldn’t when he was sitting
that close to her.

Defying her
own promise to herself, she stole another glance. That’s when
Skylar smiled at her. And oh, that smile was going to stick with
her for a while.

Turning away,
she closed her eyes, afraid that she might say something she wanted
to if she continued to watch the rise and fall of Skylar’s massive
chest. She had seen how his neck was decorated with an ornate
tattoo that seemed to crawl out of his shirt like a navy-blue daddy
long leg wrapping around his neck. How had she not noticed that
before?

She
desperately wanted to know what other weapons he had hiding beneath
that shirt. But then Natalie stumbled into the room, with little
help from Felicia and Myles, and it reminded her that they weren’t
alone. Then another woman stomped into the room behind them, and
she knew from the look on the girl’s face, that silence was a thing
of the past.

“Valentine’s
Day is only two days away, and you’re out here cruising around with
these floozies?” she screeched at Myles, waving at Felicia. “I
thought you said there would be no women out here.”

“Selina, baby,
give me a break. Their friend was hurt and their vehicle broke
down. I don’t even know the girl’s name,” Myles drawled. When he
wrapped his arms around Selina’s shoulders, she shrugged them
off.

“I’m out of
here. And if you’re not in the car in the next two minutes, I’m
leaving without you.” Selina was back outside in a matter of
seconds, while Myles shook his head, looking defeated.

Felicia
narrowed her eyes at him and flipped her long hair before going to
see Natalie, who had now flopped herself into the chair across from
Skylar.

Myles raced
off into one of the rooms and returned with a single bag. “Sorry,
guys. But I’ve got to keep my woman happy. See you guys later.” And
with that he spun away and hurried outside after his girl.

After Matty
stoked the fire, he took a seat on the arm of the chair next to
Natalie.

“Didn’t
remember my name? Hah!” Felicia snapped, with her arms folded under
her large breasts, propping them up even higher.

Matty turned
on his charm, full force. “He was only kissing Selina’s ass, doll.
No one would forget your name.”

Felicia
smiled, lapping up all that attention. “I like this one.” She
walked up behind him, drew her hands over his shoulders and
smoothed them over his chest.

Matty flashed
a glance over his shoulder, ignoring how awkward Natalie appeared
with the two of them molesting each other next to her. “I see the
master suite has just opened up. I guess that would make it mine
now.”

Matty broke
away from Felicia’s arms and stepped into the small open kitchen.
He rounded the old dining table and headed for the fridge. After
grabbing a couple of beers, Matty returned to Felicia and held one
out to her.

“What do you
say, doll? Want to come check out my new room?”

His question
was far from classy and lucky for him Felicia was a slut. She
jumped up into his arms, nearly taking out his teeth when she
latched onto his face.

Destiny
covered her eyes with a hand to hide from her embarrassment. When
she glanced out the side of her fingers, she caught another smile
from Skylar. He didn’t look even a slight bit uncomfortable in the
situation. That had her heart thundering again.

Felicia and
Matty had already disappeared from the room and the door had not
surprisingly closed behind them. Destiny hadn’t expected Matty to
stuff his head back out the door, but he did and it stole
everyone’s attention from the momentary silence.

“Hey, Destiny.
You’re sure you don’t want to join us?” His indecency did not
surprise her, but his erotic smile did. It looked just like his
brother’s.

Destiny
smirked at him, but she wasn’t into that kind of thing. “I’m good,
thanks.

Matty tilted
his head, as if he were giving her one last chance. “No? Suit
yourself.”

The door
slammed closed again, leaving the main room in the cabin very
quiet. When the bed started squeaking, a few moments later, Natalie
cleared her throat and massaged her swollen ankle.

“I hope it’s
not broken.”

Destiny really
didn’t believe there was anything wrong with the girl, since she
pulled stunts like this all the time for attention, but she went
along with it anyway. “Maybe we should call for help. Do you mind
if I use your phone?” Destiny stood in an instant and yet Skylar’s
casual demeanor never changed.

“Whoa, whoa,”
Natalie piped up. “Slow down. We just got here. Can’t I at least
unthaw my ass before we go taking off again?”

Skylar didn’t
even bat a single one of those brilliant eyelashes. “The phone’s
right over there. You’re welcome to call whoever you’d like. Maybe
your boyfriend can come pick you up after the accident has
cleared.”

Natalie
started to snicker. “Yeah, right. Her boyfriend.”

“Natalie!”
Destiny snapped.

“What? I’m
just saying, you would have to be dating in order to have a
boyfriend.”

Why had
Natalie insisted on sharing her less than admirable dating history
with this handsome stranger? “I date.”

“Mmm hmm. If
once a year is considered dating.”

Frustrated
with Natalie’s ignorance, Destiny scowled at her and then reached
for the phone.
She was one to talk.
Natalie hadn’t even
looked at another man since her husband died, and that was over a
year ago now. “I’m making the call.” When Destiny lifted the
receiver to her ear, she closed her eyes and blew out a long, loud
breath. The line was dead.

“Stop,
Destiny. We can go soon. We don’t need someone to come and save us.
I’m sure one of these guys can take us back to the truck and fix it
right up. Right, Skylar?”

Destiny held
up the receiver and gave it a shake, as if it might knock some
power into the line. “The phone’s dead. We’re not calling
anyone.”

“You really
shouldn’t worry about it,” Skylar explained. “This happens out here
all the time. One car accident is all it takes to cut our service.
I’d bet it’ll be back on before night falls.”

Natalie didn’t
looked real pleased about the idea of being stuck out there past
dark. “My truck’s sitting on the side of the road. I really don’t
want to wait for a snow plow to slam into it.”

Skylar
chuckled, and it was so sexy. “You know, Matty can give you a hand
as soon as he’s done playing around with your friend. He’s a
mechanic, when he’s not seducing the ladies. As for the snow plow,
there won’t be any of that down this road. You might see the
occasional tractor, but you aren’t going to see any plows coming
through here.”

“Well, that’s
a relief. Now if I could only get something for this ankle. Do you
have a hot pack or something?”

Skylar got to
his feet and drifted to the kitchen. After rummaging around the
freezer, he returned with a bag of peas and a dish cloth. “I’m
sorry to tell you, but heat’s not going to do it for you. This
should help though.” He wrapped the frozen bag of vegetables with
the towel, elevated Natalie’s foot with a massive hand and gently
wrapped the peas around her ankle. Then he motioned for her to lean
back, yanked the chair forward, and swung her legs to the side,
until her heel was propped up on the arm of the couch.

“How’s
that?”

The look in
her eyes told Destiny that Natalie had become too preoccupied by
his stunning physique to recognize his tenderness. No doubt Natalie
was imagining what it would feel like to be pinned beneath all that
sinewy muscle, just like she had been.

“How do you
know this?” Natalie asked, acting like it was rocket science.

“It’s what I
do.”

He was so
confident, with that sexy voice, that it had her secretly swooning.
Destiny could only hope that Natalie would keep him talking.

“You’re a
physiotherapist?”

Skylar laughed
and that sexy voice rumbled right through Destiny’s chest. “EMS,
actually.”

Why did she
find that so incredibly sexy? Everything about Skylar was
irresistible.

“So, what brings you ladies
out here?” Skylar hoped to spark some conversation, to avoid the
awkward bang of his brother’s headboard on the wall.

Natalie raised
her eyebrows and began to answer him, but it wasn’t her he cared to
hear from. While Natalie babbled on about their pre-planned
holiday, he watched Destiny fidget. She was so uncomfortable with
his brother’s sexual confidence. It was sweet. What was he saying?
He wanted to bang her equally as hard.

When Destiny
brushed her bangs aside, it gave him a real good look at her face.
She was a beauty; that was for sure. Her narrow upturned nose
matched her personality, but those full pouting lips turned his
thoughts upside down. Her look was wholly angelic, and yet he found
himself fantasizing about what she could do with those lips and how
badly he’d like to grip onto those hips and give it to her.

“What about
you?” Natalie asked.

He had no idea
what she had been blathering on about. “I’m sorry?” he asked,
having no shame for his ignorance.

Natalie
flashed a look at Destiny, proving she was annoyed, but she still
repeated her question. “What are you guys doing out here?”

“We came out
here to get away for the weekend. Me and Matty have been coming up
here since we were kids. When my grandfather passed last year, he
left this place to us.”
Shit.
Why did he drop that personal
information? He doubted either of them even cared.

“This place is
yours?”

Natalie seemed
impressed that he had assets to back up his good looks, but was
oblivious to his loss. He’d always preferred to keep that bottled
up anyway. No one could ever understand how close he was to his
grandfather. Not even his family could understand. But Randy had
raised him like he was his own son, and Skylar had respected him
like he was his real father.

Destiny
dropped her hand onto his, responding to his reaction, and mouthed:
I’m sorry
. It had caught him off guard and their eyes
connected for a timeless moment. He had felt exposed, but also like
he was being reckless with his heart. It felt like he had given her
a glimpse into his soul. Then she abruptly pulled her hand away
like she had been electrocuted.

Why was she so
afraid to touch him… to let him in? He knew he was a pretty big
guy, but he didn’t think he had given off the impression that he
was mean or scary.

Skylar plowed
on, as if he hadn’t just shared a slice of himself with the girl.
“50/50,” he stated, to answer Natalie’s superficial question. “We
come up here as often as we can, but it’s been tough for the both
of us to find the time lately.” Skylar turned to Destiny, eager to
hear her pristine voice enter the conversation. “What about you?
How did you manage to get away from work?”

“Hah!” Natalie
laughed.

“Nat,
please.”

“Alright,” she
answered. But she continued to wear that smug expression on her
face. There was something about that girl that irked him. But if it
meant being in the same vicinity as Destiny, then he would put up
with the aggravation for a thousand years.

“I’m not sure
I get what’s going on here.” Skylar smirked, but he was afraid that
he had stepped into a mine field.

“What Natalie
is not so delicately suggesting is that I had no trouble getting
away from work.”

“Oh. I see,”
Skylar answered, sure he had read the situation correctly. “You’re
a daddy’s girl.” Her pale perfection made her look unspoiled, like
she had been well-preserved. That had to be it. She must have been
in the family business.

“Absolutely
not!” Destiny shouted. “The only thing my father ever gave me was a
reason to avoid men. He’s an alcoholic and he spent all of my
college savings on booze. I’m not a freeloader, and I am not a
daddy’s girl.”