Page 8 of Auditing the Alpha

“I’m fine,” I insisted, but my chattering teeth betrayed me. “Just a little longer. I want to see the shipping operation.”

He studied me for a moment, then sighed and pulled off his sweater in one fluid motion.

“What are you doing?” I yelped as he stood there in just a thin henley, snow falling directly on his exposed arms.

“You need this more than I do,” he said simply, holding the sweater out.

“You’ll freeze!” I protested.

Klaus actually laughed. “I run hot, remember?”

Before I could argue further, he stepped close and pulled the sweater over my head himself, maneuvering my arms into the sleeves like I was a child. The garment engulfed me, still warm from his body, smelling of him.

“Better?” he asked, adjusting the collar.

I nodded, momentarily speechless at the intimacy of wearing his clothing. The sweater hung to mid-thigh on me and the sleeves extended well past my fingertips. I should have looked ridiculous, but Klaus was looking at me with an expression that made heat pool in my stomach.

“What?” I asked, suddenly self-conscious.

“You look good in my clothes,” he said simply.

The rest of the tour was a blur as the snow intensified from picturesque to concerning. By the time we’d seen the shipping facility, visibility had dropped to less than fifty feet and the wind was howling between the trees.

“We need to get inside,” Klaus said, voice raised over the wind. “Storm’s hitting hard.”

We trudged back toward the main buildings, but halfway there, Klaus stopped and shook his head. “Main road will be impassable by now. My cabin’s closer.”

Without waiting for my response, he took my elbow and guided me through the worsening blizzard, veering away from the family home toward a smaller structure nestled among a grove of pines. By the time we reached the porch, I could barely feel my face, and snow had somehow worked its way inside my borrowed boots.

Klaus unlocked the door and ushered me inside. The cabin was a single large room with a sleeping loft, simply but comfortably furnished. A stone fireplace dominated one wall, and the kitchen area was small but modern.

“Get those wet things off,” Klaus ordered, immediately moving to the fireplace to build a fire. “There are dry clothes in the chest by the bathroom.”

I stood dripping on the hardwood floor, suddenly uncertain. “The roads—”

“Are definitely closed,” he finished, striking a match to the kindling. “We’re snowed in for the night, at minimum.”

The implications hit me as the fire caught and began to crackle. Snowed in. With Klaus. In his personal cabin. Alone.

Oh god.

Chapter 5

I peeled off my wet coat and kicked off the boots, leaving them by the door. The bathroom was small but clean, with a shower stall and pedestal sink. I found the chest Klaus had mentioned and pulled out flannel pajama pants and a thermal shirt that would swallow me whole.

Once changed, I padded back out to find Klaus had also changed into dry clothes—loose sweatpants and another henley that stretched across his chest. He was setting a kettle on the stove.

“Hot chocolate?” he offered. “Or something stronger? I have whiskey.”

“Whiskey,” I said immediately, then added, “please.”

He grinned and retrieved a bottle from a cabinet, pouring generous measures into two tumblers. He handed one to me, our fingers brushing in the exchange.

“To unexpected storms,” he said, raising his glass.

I clinked mine against his. “And adequate shelter.”

The whiskey burned pleasantly going down, warming me from the inside. Klaus gestured to the couch in front of the now-roaring fire, and I sat, tucking my feet under me. He joined me, leaving a respectable distance between us.