A Deal With the Devil by Abby Matisse

feet were on solid ground, she padded into the utility room and peered over Jake’s shoulder while he flipped switches and muttered a few choice words.
    “Like I thought; the electricity went out.” He swore under his breath as he shut the door on the circuit box. Then he strode into the kitchen, where he opened and closed cupboards until he located a stockpile of candles and matches. In a nearby drawer, he found a stash of flashlights and some batteries. He piled the loot on the kitchen counter and strode toward the foyer.
    Amanda traipsed after him and chewed a fingernail as she watched him pull on hiking boots. “Where are you going?”
    “To the garage,” he said. “Hopefully, Sam keeps a gas-powered generator out there. Damned electrical heating,” he said as he yanked his boot lace tight. “If the power stays off, we’ll need a way to keep this place warm. I’m not sure the fireplace alone will do it, but it may be all we have.” He slipped on his coat and gloves. “I’m also going to haul more wood up to the porch. The pile out front looks a little low.”
    “I’ll help.” Amanda spun around and trotted upstairs to change. Jake’s shout of laughter caused her steps to slow. She turned and tilted her head. “What’s so funny?”
    His lips twitched, but he made an obvious effort to keep a straight face as he said, “I’ll handle it. You stay inside.”
    “What.” She arched a brow. “You don’t think I can carry wood?”
    His smirk said it all.
    “I work out, you know.” She balled her fist and flexed a bicep, displaying the small round bump she’d worked so hard to acquire the past few months. “I even hired a trainer for a while.” Before Rob’s antics had brought her to her financial knees, that is. The trainer was long gone.
    “Impressive,” he said, eyeing her bicep in a way that clearly conveyed it was anything but.
    She put a hand on her hip. “You really think I’m a high maintenance cream puff, don’t you?”
    Jake’s broad grin softened his strong, aquiline features and caused the corners of his eyes to crinkle. He flipped up the collar of his coat and winked as he drawled, “If the stiletto fits . . .”
    * * *
    High maintenance cream puff. He couldn’t have said it better himself. She sure was a cute cream puff, though. But right now, he had other, more pressing matters to contend with.
    He pushed Amanda from his thoughts and lowered his head to block the wind. The snow had blown into drifts higher than his knees in some places and looked even deeper in front of the garage. He had to give the barn-style garage door a few good yanks, but finally got it open. Then he walked inside and tore the place apart in his search for a generator.
    Ten minutes later, he accepted defeat. No generator. Nice going, Sam.
    Jake strode outside, vowing to have a few choice words with his ill-prepared friend. Sam should know better than to buy a place in the middle of nowhere with all electric heating and no generator on hand. Now, their only source of warmth was the fireplace and since the wood pile looked low, he needed to haul up several armfuls to get them through the next day.
    As he turned toward the side yard, Amanda came up beside him.
    “What are you doing out here,” he shouted above the wind and pointed to the house. “Go inside.”
    “I came to show you a woman can carry wood,” she shouted back. Her blue eyes flashed and her dark hair blew around her face like a storm cloud.
    His eyes studied her rosy cheeks and flashing blue eyes and he felt a sudden urge to lean down and kiss the tip of her pert little nose. But he forced himself to look away as he said, “I’m not going to fight with you. Go back inside.”
    “Don’t talk to me like I’m a child.”
    He’d never thought of her as a child, but with her lower lip pushed out in that way, she did have a major little-girl pout going at the moment. He supposed he shouldn’t point that out, so instead he said, “Then