Adjusting to normal life would take some time. After everything that had recently happened, Emerson hadn’t been ready to become the manager of the resort, visiting with people, putting on a cheery face, which was why he had cancelled any reservations for the winter holidays. Except in Jessie’s case. She had made hers a year in advance and he had seen where she’d been coming here for years. When he’d tried to offer her a refund, she wouldn’t take it. So he figured what the hell? One woman? He assumed he wouldn’t see much of her at all. He never counted on her being a cougar.

  When she had asked him about decorating for Christmas? Forget that. Christmas wasn’t on the schedule this year.

  He watched the she-cat observing him, indecisive, not smelling his scent—the breeze blowing the wrong way. She didn’t know it was him. He sighed and headed for her.

  As a cougar, she stood her ground, her ears twisting, listening to him moving toward her. She was sniffing the air, trying to capture his scent. And then she caught his scent and her wary stance eased.

  He let out his breath and ran off. He loved running in the woods through the snow since he had returned here after such a long absence. If he’d known his uncle had been so ill, he would have left his covert job long ago and helped him to manage the place.

  Then he heard the she-cat running after him, and though he didn’t want to acknowledge that he really kind of enjoyed the company, he glanced at her and inclined his head.

  She smiled at him, appearing pleased that he wanted to be with her. He thought he heard her purring a bit even.

  He hadn’t wanted to be with her, in reality, but they were together, so he would make do. At least he could show her the boundaries of the property and encourage her not to go beyond them. He didn’t want her getting caught on any trail cameras.

  They had a hearty jaunt and even saw an owl in a tree, but the snow and winds were picking up and he knew they had to return to the cabins before it got too bad. After showing her the boundaries, they turned to go back to the resort. It was nearly whiteout conditions on the way back and he didn’t want to lose her in the snow either.

  When they finally arrived at the cabins, she licked his face, startling him, and then she dashed through the cougar door of her cabin and was gone.

  He stood for a moment, looking at the door as if he expected her to come outside again, which was crazy. Then in the wildly blowing snow, he turned and dashed for his home.

  Before he entered the house through the cougar door, Jessie called out, “Thanks for running with me. I would have lost my way in the blizzard, I’m afraid.”

  That’s what he had been afraid of too. He nodded and headed through the cougar door to his home. For the first time since he’d hoped Jessie would take a refund and not stay here, he was glad she was here.

  Not that he planned to interact with her in any way any further, except as the manager of the resort. Though he realized he needed to thank her for the cake too.

  He walked into his bedroom, shifted, and threw on a pair of pajama bottoms and his robe and slippers. Then he returned to the living room and glanced out his window at cabin number five and saw the lights on inside. His first thought was he should have reminded her not to keep the lights on when she wasn’t using them. If she was going to be gone from the cabin, he meant. Not while she was inside the cabin, of course.

  Yeah, he wasn’t renovating the cabins. Not now anyway. Not in the dead of winter. Maybe not next year either. He would have to wait and see.

  Christmas decorations? He sighed. He supposed if he could find some, he could give them to her tomorrow. He didn’t have any idea where to even look. The attic? The storage shed out back? One of the four extra bedrooms? Would that really help her to write? He couldn’t imagine it would.

  He grabbed a beer and watched out the window at the storm, the snow sweeping in windblown torrents, obscuring cabin five, all except the light on in the kitchen like a beacon, beckoning him to find safety from the storm in her cabin.

  He shook his head at himself. He was used to rescuing people, assassinating people. Romance? No time in the past or any real inclination. Of course now he would have the time, if he was interested.

  He considered the TV, but he didn’t feel like watching anything. Reading a book? No. Then he wondered what she was writing. A Christmas story. Something sweet and full of hope for the holidays?

  He felt sort of like a Scrooge. But why decorate if he had no reason to? With only one guest here, why go all out to make it look like the resort was open for business, when it wasn’t? Besides, he just wasn’t in the mood for it.

  He went to look at her paperwork where she had filled in her address, phone number, and license plate number. She was from Loveland, Colorado. A long way from here. Which told him right then and there he wasn’t getting involved with the woman. Why do so if she was going to return home after her vacation here and they would never see each other again? Not if he planned to stay here.

  Then he went to his computer, planning to play a game. He settled down and was in the middle of an epic space battle, the wind howling through the trees, the snow blowing against the windows, and about that time, he hoped they wouldn’t have any downed electric lines. Just then the electric flickered, his computer cut out, and boom, the electric went out. Just like that.

  He stared at his dark computer screen, figuring the electricity would come back on any second now. But it didn’t. He walked over to the window and stared out into the blizzard at the dark cabin number five, as if he would see a light shining in the kitchen still. With their cougar eyesight, he could see movement in the kitchen and a flashlight turned on. He smiled. At least she was somewhat prepared. She had a woodburning stove in the living room, but he couldn’t remember if he had left matches for it in the cabin, or if it even had any wood inside it. He’d been so busy trying to go through his uncle’s papers and cleaning the walkway for her, he really hadn’t made any other preparations for the only guest he was going to have, nearly forgetting all about her.

  He watched her flashlight move about and again he felt it was a beckoning beacon, telling him to join her and stay safe. The generator automatically turned on in his home and he had power again. But it was only for the main house. Should he invite her to stay here until she got her electric back? She could freeze over there as cold as it was and with no heat, the temperature in the cabin would rapidly drop. He knew she said she could turn into her cougar, but he wanted her to enjoy her stay here without having to shift just to stay warm. That wasn’t any way to spend her vacation, especially when he had power.

  He kicked off his slippers, slid on his snow boots, and pulled off his robe. Then he dressed in his parka, hat, gloves, and ski goggles and headed out of doors. He kept his eye on the light that guided him to her cabin, trudging through the deepening snow, the gusts of wind nearly blowing him over they were so strong and icy cold. He finally reached the door of the cabin and banged with his gloved fist.

  “Hey, Jessie! It’s Emerson. I’ve got a generator, if you want to come over and stay in the main house until the electric comes back on.”

  He expected her to open the door and let him in so she could bundle up before she headed over to the main house. Instead, she poked her golden cougar head out the cougar door, her eyes squinting in the blowing snow. He smiled, not expecting that. Of course he hadn’t expected to see her running as a cougar before the snowstorm hit either. He’d just had to run, to let out some of the pent-up frustration he’d been feeling. He’d seen her go down to the shore earlier even and had thought to make a trip down there when here he wasn’t planning to do anything that would bring him into contact with her unless absolutely necessary. At least he had bit back the inclination to bother her when she was having a private moment to herself.

  “Did you want to come with me and stay at the house until the electricity comes back on? The generator will keep you nice and warm.”

  She pulled her head back inside, and then after a couple of minutes, she opened the door wearing only a long sweater. “Come in. Hurry. It’s cold!”

  He smiled and entered the house and shut the door while she hurried to put on her clothes in her bedroom. Her cabin was already too cold. He had thought she might light a fire in the wood-burning stove, but she hadn’t. “You didn’t start a fire in the woodburning stove.”

  “No wood? It’s all sitting outside under a pile of snow, I’m sure. No matches? No kindling?” She rolled her eyes at him as she shoved her feet in Mukluks, pulled on her parka, then her purple knit scarf, pink hat, and gloves. She grabbed a bag, which he was kind of surprised about.

  Did she think she was staying with him overnight? He figured the electricity would be on in an hour or so. Maybe even sooner.

  Then again, if it wasn’t, it was a good idea to be prepared.

  With her flashlight in hand, and her bag slung over her shoulder, she followed him outside into the blinding snow, stopping only to lock her cabin.

  Startling her a little, he took hold of her gloved hand and led her to the house in the wind-swept snow so he wouldn’t lose her. Even though he shouldn’t be thinking of her as a prospective girlfriend, he couldn’t help but think of the situation as two single cougars being alone together as opposed to if he had to rescue a family or a couple of men, or even a single human woman, staying at a cabin here on vacation.

  As soon as they reached his place, he let her inside. “Did you want something hot to drink? Some cocoa?” He removed his hat and gloves and coat.

  She stared at his bare chest and his navy-blue pajama bottoms. In his haste to check on her, he had forgotten he’d only thrown his parka on over his pajama bottoms. He noticed that his pajamas legs were cold and wet and he would need to change. Worse, her eyes riveted to the bullet wound injury on his arm. It was healing well, but he didn’t want to have to explain to her how he got shot or any of the rest of what had happened or what he worked at. And he didn’t want to make up stories about it. Maybe she wouldn’t recognize that a bullet had caused the injury.

  “Yeah, sure, thanks.” She removed her gloves, then pulled off her hat and scarf, hanging them on his clothes tree. She stripped out of her jacket and hung it up. Then she carried her bag into his living room and proceeded to unpack her laptop.

  Here he thought she had packed enough clothes and other essentials to stay overnight and longer, if the electricity didn’t come on. He forgot she was writing a book. Though he thought everyone and their brother had a story idea, and it didn’t mean she would actually be published.

  “I’ll be right back.” He headed for the bedroom and pulled off his snow boots and wet pajama bottoms. He considered throwing on another pair of pajamas. But he didn’t want Jessie to get the wrong idea—that he was coming onto her or something. He slid on a pair of boxer briefs, blue jeans, a soft black sweater, and sheepskin, booted slippers. Then he returned to the kitchen and made them both cups of hot chocolate. “Would you like a slice of German chocolate cake to go with it? It sure looks good, but it’s meant for sharing.”

  She smiled. “Yeah. I would have eaten it with your uncle, if he had been here.”

  “It looks too delicious not to share. Besides, I know I would eat way too much of it if I didn’t.” He took a slice of the cake and mug of hot chocolate over to her and she thanked him, drank some of the cocoa, and smiled.

  “Hmm, double hot chocolate. That’s my favorite,” she said.

  “Mine too. Double chocolate is always the best.”

  “Thanks. That really helps a body to warm up on a blizzardy night.” She opened her laptop and began to type away. He had figured she would talk his ear off like she had done earlier when she first arrived and was checking in. He hadn’t expected her to work on her story and completely ignore him. Which is what he had wanted, initially! So why did he feel a bit unnoticed? He was curious about the rogue cougars she’d dated that had ended up dead, that’s why. He found her…intriguing.

  She glanced up from her laptop and saw him studying her. Caught in the act.

  “Don’t mind me. I’ll just work on this until the electricity comes back on and I can return to my cabin. I won’t bother you at all.” She took another sip of her hot cocoa.

  He ate his slice of cake at the dining room table and drank his cocoa. “If it doesn’t come back on and you want to get some sleep, you are welcome to use the first guest bedroom on the right down the hall.”

  She frowned at him. “My sister and brother-in-law haven’t checked you out yet.”

  “Pardon me?” No way did he want her to think he was looking to date her. And he certainly didn’t want anyone to check into his past. He was a ghost and that might look suspicious to law enforcement types.

  She gave a cute little shrug. “They said if I stayed overnight with some guy, they wanted to check him out first. Sorry. Family joke. You know. Because I have trouble with picking up rogue cougars. If I have to stay the night, the secret will have to remain between you and me.”

  “Oh.”

  “You look a tad worried. Should I be too?” She smiled and appeared to be teasing him because she didn’t seem concerned and wasn’t waiting for an answer but began tapping on her laptop keyboard again.

  “Do you need the WIFI password?”

  “Not right now, thanks. You can give it to me on a slip of paper for later if I need it. Sometimes”—she took another sip of her cocoa—“I just need to disconnect from the world so I can get some uninterrupted writing done.”

  “Uh, right.” He wasn’t really connected to the world that much. And he realized his talking to her wasn’t conducive to her writing either. He wasn’t sure what to do with himself that wouldn’t be a distraction for her. And that was something new to him. His place, his way.

  He sighed and walked back to the bedroom, removed his slipper boots, and turned on the TV. The cabins didn’t have a streaming service like he had. His uncle was of the notion that the cabins were a way of returning to more of a rustic way of life. Emerson had lived that way enough on the go, and he wanted to see all the latest movies, and those he’d missed while out on his missions.

  He climbed onto the bed and flipped through the selections and found a funny, mystery, adventure, fighting movie about finding treasure in the Sahara Desert. He’d missed seeing it before, though it had come out in 2005. Then he thought some popcorn would be good while he watched the movie. He padded down the hall in his sock feet and glanced in Jessie’s direction. She was frowning, staring at her monitor, then typing furiously away. He smiled and went into the kitchen that was open to the living room. He would offer her a bowl of popcorn too, but not until after it was popped so he wouldn’t keep disrupting her work.

  He stuck a buttery, salted version of popcorn into the microwave. Sure, he knew the unbuttered versions were better for him, but that’s what made popcorn taste so good. As soon as it finished popping, he poured some into a bowl and glanced at her. She was watching him, looking hungry for popcorn.

  “Would you like some?”

  “The buttery kind? Yeah, of course. There’s nothing better than hot popcorn on a wintery, stormy night. Except for double hot chocolate. And German chocolate cake also.”

  “The cake was really good, by the way. And thanks for my uncle and from me.” He poured her a bowl of popcorn and was going to go back to his room to watch TV, a second bowl of popcorn in hand.

  “What are you watching?”

  “Sahara.”

  “Oh, I haven’t watched that in years. That’s a great hot movie to watch on a bitterly cold night.”

  “That’s what I was thinking. I never got to see it and it looked like it would be fun to watch.”

  “Would you like some company?”

  He was so surprised, he just barely caught his jaw from dropping. “Yeah, uh, sure. I thought you were writing and I thought you wanted to watch Christmas movies.”

  “I’m at an impasse in the story right now and I’ll watch the other Christmas movie later.”

  “Does that happen often with your writing? Writer’s block?” He brought his bowl of popcorn and the rest of the bag in to share with Jessie. At least his uncle had a TV in both his bedroom and the living room. It would have been awkward having her watch TV with him in his bed, especially when she needed to have him checked out by her family first. He just hoped that would never happen. He might not be a bad guy, but he had a string of aliases. He realized he should have asked what she wanted to see—like the other movie she had intended to watch.

  “Yeah. Sometimes I just get stuck and I need to do something else for a while.”

  “I hope I haven’t been too big of a distraction.”

  “Are you kidding? Every time I see you, I get more material for my book.”

  He frowned at her. She was writing about him? “What are you writing about?”

  “A paranormal romance where the hero and heroine are psychics. He’s dark and brooding, and she’s afraid of the psychic connection she has with a serial killer.”

  “I’m dark and brooding?” Maybe he was a little bit. After all the missions he’d been on and then his uncle’s death had come as such a shock, reminding him that life was precious, and he should take stock and do something good with his own, he supposed he could be considered dark and brooding without too much of a stretch of the imagination.

  “You wear all black,” she said, motioning to his clothes.

  Wearing all black had suited most of his missions. That’s what made up the majority of his wardrobe. Basic. Black. “And I didn’t decorate for Christmas.”

  “Right.”

  “So your story is set at Christmastime?” He ate some of his popcorn, delaying the start of the movie. He found her writing process fascinating for some reason. Maybe because he’d never known a writer before.

  “At first it was autumn. Blustery fall, blowing winds, trees bare, chillier temperatures, apple cider, pumpkins.”