A Cowboy in Disguise by Victoria Ashe Page A

atmosphere of the night, the romantic novelty of it all, she mentally repeated. Just lust, loneliness and firelight. Still, from the look of the dark circles under Scott’s blue eyes, he hadn’t slept much during the night. Neither had she, but thank goodness she had the convenience of makeup to hide it.
    She wasn’t sure if it was good or bad news that came to them across the radio that morning. Though the weather still held fair, it seemed some small thing had broken inside the snowcat . The driver and his mechanic were working frantically to repair it, but the parts they needed weren’t scheduled to arrive at the hotel until later that afternoon at best. Scott and Alexandra would be confined to the cabin for another day.
    “What’s on the agenda for today, Ms. Hunter?” Scott asked, charming her with that crooked grin of his.
    “I think a visit to the finest Italian restaurant followed by a shopping spree in the city,” she joked. “Seriously, though. I wish I could just get warm. I guess I got chilled during the night.”
    Scott studied her. “I let the fire burn too low for a couple hours there after I dozed off. Sorry. I can fix it, though.”
    “Fix what?”
    “No, really. I got suckered into going to a day spa once. There was one part of it I liked.”
    She stared at him.
    “Let’s give you a visit to heated opulence. Falconer’s Mountain Resort. Has a nice ring to it.”
    Alexandra’s muscles were sore from sleeping on the hard wood floor and she had to admit, she was intrigued by anything warm or opulent-sounding at that moment.
    “Doesn’t it bother you at all that we’re sitting up here in the middle of nowhere burning daylight while the enemy camp is probably winning over the client?” she asked.
    “Yes. Which is why I’m trying to distract myself.”
    “Okay, I’ll bite,” she said. “What are you talking about?”
    “We have an entire day to kill here in this cabin, Alex. Let me do something nice for you.”
    “Can I trust you? Nothing strange planned, right?”
    “Just go to your bedroom and wait. Do you have shorts and a T-shirt or something like that with you?”
    She nodded that she did.
    “Good. Put that on. I’ll call you when I’m ready. Now keep your door closed.”
    Scott had looked so excited that he’d turned this day of virtual imprisonment into a game. She could almost imagine she was on vacation. She slipped on a tank top and her workout shorts and sat on the edge of her bed trying to stay warm. She shivered.
    “I’m ready,” he called. “Come on out and go get in the bathtub,” he commanded. “Go on.” He gestured her away playfully. “Get. I promise it’ll be good.”
    Alexandra thought she must have lost her mind. She couldn’t remember having felt less stress in years. All she knew was that if he lived up to his word, this was going to feel wonderful. If it was a joke, she’d get even. She stretched out in the cold, porcelain bathtub as Scott came through the door with a bucket full of something white and fluffy. Was he going to dump snow on her? Alexandra started to sit up when a hot, steaming towel dropped across her legs.
    “This does feel wonderful,” she gasped in surprise, somewhat expecting a joke to follow even still. “It’s heaven.”
    After Scott had left the room and the towels had cooled, Alexandra stepped from the tub and tied the robe tight around her. She blushed furiously as shame surfaced. Duncan had certainly never triggered such a reaction from her. Unease and discomfort crept in. Scott had tried to take care of her—a normal male response, wasn’t it? And yet being taken care of was so foreign to her that her emotions simply weren’t processing it.
    She had to pull herself together—and fast. She showered and dressed, then came back out to the living room as she heard Scott come back in through the door to answer a call coming through on the radio.
    The fire blazed in the fireplace, and she sat in front of it. The shivers