Snowed In (2 page)

“The
winds are really picking up.” He replied as a dimple appeared on his left
cheek.

Oh
my! Not the adorable dimple…Nina licked her bottom lip in a nervous gesture and
said, “Thank you by the way,” She rocked Callie and added, “You know…for looking
in on her.”

His
eyes searched her features then his gaze dropped to her mouth. Nina’s heart
skipped a beat. “Guess I’m a sucker for a lady is distress.” He joked.

Nina
thought about that for a moment. Dex had been there for her when she needed
rescuing, so perhaps his statement was entirely true.

Dex
jammed his hands in his front pockets then leaned against the door frame. He
studied her for a moment then he reached over and patted Callie’s back, “It’s
hard to believe that Ian was this little once.” His mouth curved into a half
smile. Seconds later he glared at her and she glared back. His eyes were dark,
hooded. Nina wondered what was going through his mind at that moment. Silence
stretched between them, and Nina struggled to come up with something to say.

The
wind chose that moment to announce its brutal fury as tree branches jabbed against
the hallway window.

“That’s
a wicked storm!” she croaked.

Callie
whined and Dex quickly stroked the child’s cheek comforting her. A moment later
his attention was back on Nina. “I closed down the office for tomorrow.” He said.

“
Closed
?”
Nina repeated. “You rarely even take a day off.” She patted Callie back and
said, “Is the storm that severe?”

“Well,
the governor himself declared a state of emergency a couple of hours back.”

“Oh
my goodness…”

Callie
whimpered again.

That
time Dex pushed himself off the door frame and gave her a once over, “Listen,”
He said his eyes on the child again, “Don’t worry about anything. Just tend to
Callie’s feeding, and we’ll chat in the morning.”

The
next thing Nina knew, Dex stepped forward and angled towards her. He was so
close that Nina could feel the heat radiating from his body she could see the
muscles in his neck twitch as he advanced. Dex’s hands reached out and his head
dropped lower, the warmth of his breath fanned her cheek. Nina held her breath
and quivered with anticipation. Then Dex stroked Callie’s feathery curls and
pressed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

“Good
night, sweetie.”

Chapter Three

Nina
retreated to her bedroom promptly. With her back firmly pressed against the
door she stood there for several minutes with eyes closed. Her heart was
pounding and she was flushed throughout. Good God her sexual urges would soon
reach fever pitch!

“Your
hormone levels will take a while to return to normal.”
The OB/Gyn Dr.
Ting had told Nina the last time she’d gone for a check-up. “…on the average it
can be four to six weeks.”

Nina
couldn’t fathom the thought of having to cope with such an overactive drive for
weeks on end. Living with a ruggedly attractive man when one was suffering from
a severe case of horniness wasn’t easy.

“You
know?” The doctor had explained, “Self-stimulation is okay.”

That’s
when Dr. Ting lost her. In Nina’s overly-sexed mind there was only way out,
only one sure way to cure her ailment and that was a good old fashion screw.  

Nina
made her way to the nursing chair and cradled Callie while working the nursing
bra open. Callie made whimpering noises and her tiny arms flapped in the air. A
moment later Callie’s small fingers landed on Nina’s exposed breast her mouth
in frantic search for her meal. Callie snuggled against Nina’s bosom and
finally able to nurse the child fell silent. Nina kissed her reddish curls and
rocked in her chair. The gentle swaying motion helped to soothe not only
Callie, but also her.

Nina
glanced outside and observed as the tree by her window flapped violently from
side to side and her thoughts drifted to what Dex said earlier. “The governor
himself declared a state of emergency.” It was obvious that the storm had
caught a lot of residents off guard, yet as vicious as the storm appeared Nina
trusted that she had nothing to worry about. Dex had everything under control.

Minutes
after Callie dozed off, Nina settled the child in for the night in her little
bassinet. Exhausted as she was Nina crawled into her own bed and within minutes
she’d drifted off to a deep slumber.

Nina
is beneath Dex’s body. He’s moving inside her with expert ease. “You’re tight…”
He says against her mouth. She whimpers and spreads for him. He drives in burying
himself full length.

“Oh!”
She tightens her grip on his shoulders. Her insides coil, she rocks her hips
against his. Nina tenses, trembles, sobs, claws nails at his back…

Crash!

What
on earth! Nina was in an upright position in an instant. For a second time that
evening the Godforsaken storm had interrupted her dreams. And what a fantastic
dream this one was… Nina sighed. “Self-stimulation is okay.” Dr. Ting’s words
came back to her.

“Nina,
get a grip,” she said out loud. What would Dex think if he ever found out that
in recent weeks all she’d done was fantasize about being with him? What
would
he think? He would think she was a pervert, that’s what! She rubbed her eyes
briskly and gave her head a good shake.

Nina
let out a cleansing breath and plopped back down on the bed. She draped an arm
over her forehead and lay there staring at the ceiling.

She
thought about Dex and what transpired in recent weeks. Callie had been born,
Ian had fallen in love with the child right away and so had Dex. Then Nina began
to have
feelings
, feelings for Dex. Sure, having a ‘thing’ for your boss
was dangerous territory. Yet, Nina could hardly help her emotions, they were
what they were.

She
tossed and turned willing herself to fall back asleep, but couldn’t she was
much too restless. Nina turned in the direction of the radio clock and saw its
fluorescent lighting was off she turned the switch. Nothing. She got up from
the bed slipped on her robe and walked to the window. That’s when she noticed the
street lamps were off. It was a blackout!

Nina
went very still but her pulse raced. The last time she’d in a blackout was when
she was seven years old and in Mrs. Wilkinson’s care. Her hands became clammy
and she hugged herself.

The
memories and images of that long ago ordeal flashed before Nina and her body
trembled. “Stay calm.” She whispered and wiped her hands dry. She remained
standing right where she was for several minutes thinking and weighing out options.

The
logical approach was for Nina to stay in her room and wait out the storm, yet she
knew it wouldn’t happen. She was far too anxious to remain inactive. Mrs.
Wilkinson’s ghostly face came into focus again and Nina’s stomach lurched. “Think,
think, think…” She said to herself. Okay. She would check in on Ian. There! It
was quite possible that the boy was up and scared senseless himself.

Nina
glanced at the bassinet and was tempted to take Callie with her, but the child
slept comfortably. An instant later, a determined Nina was up from the bed. She
walked to the nightstand grabbed her key chain and headed for the door.

Chapter Four

Outside
her room, all was silent and pitch black. Nina used the small flashlight
attached to the keychain as a guide. She made her way down the hall quietly careful
not to miss a step. Then a distant thump made her stop. She waited and a second
later a second thump. Nina turned and pointed the miniature flashlight down the
opposite end of the hall and saw nothing.

“I
think she’s been deceased tops two hours.” One paramedic announced. “I’d say
Mrs. Wilkinson has been dead much longer than that.” A second paramedic
opinioned as the stretcher carried the woman’s body to the awaiting ambulance. “Can
you imagine that kid alone in the dark, with a dead body?” The paramedics chatted.
“Kid is lucky the blackout only lasted three hours, or else it’d been much
later before we got to them.”

Nina
swallowed hard and pressed herself against the wall. Her brow dampened and her
mouth went dry. It’d been so long since that awful day that most of the specifics
of Mrs. Wilkinson’s passing were now very vague. And really that was fine by
Nina as she rarely wanted to call to mind the details of such dreadful
experience.

The
thumping continued and after a moment of panic stricken idleness Nina made
herself move. “Go and check in on Ian like you said you were.” She spoke out
loud. But when the noise she’d been listening to became faint and less
intimidating Nina opted to head in the direction of the sound.

 It
was when she entered the living room that Dex’s shadowy figure came into focus
kneeling by the fireplace. She saw him work the logs using a poker to shove them
about. A
pleasant
walnut aroma
wafted
from the fire
soothing her nerves.

“Oh,
hi,” Dex said quietly when he spotted her, “I didn’t know you were standing there.”

Nina
stared out the set of French doors and asked, “How long has the power been
out?”

Dex
stuffed more logs onto the fireplace. “About an hour” he replied as he got to
his feet, “I was actually working on my laptop went the lights went out.”

She
brought her attention to him and said, “I was going to check on Ian.”

“I
just did. He’s fast asleep.”

She
nodded and gave him a weak smile.

“It’s
been years since we had a blackout.” Dex said dusting his hands off.

Nina’s
stomach recoiled. The mere mention of
a blackout
made her queasy.

“I’ve
put off having the generator serviced. Go figure.” He commented ruefully.

At
that moment Nina had a sudden urge to bolt and head for the safety of her bedroom,
but instead she remained standing there.

Dex
hooked his thumbs in his front pockets and nodded over to the fireplace, “It’s
the best I can do for lighting for now. I was on my way to get candles and a
flashlight from the storage shed.” His gaze fell to the minute flashlight in her
hand, “I see you came prepared.” He teased.

Nina
heard Dex’s voice clearly, yet her mind wandered off again. In a instant Nina was
back at Mrs. Wilkinson’s house.

Her
babysitter’s untimely death had haunted Nina all through her childhood. That
day a seven year old kid had seen what no kid should ever have to and as if witnessing
a person die wasn’t awful enough, the loneliness and sense of abandonment that
followed had been far worse.

Suddenly
an overwhelming sense of loneliness enveloped Nina and a quick jab at her gut
made her face a sharp reality…she and Callie were currently all alone in
Alaska. Grammie Lynne the only family they had was now a thousand miles away in
Portland on business.

Cold
sweat formed on Nina’s forehead and her hands trembled then she went into panic
mode. She needed to fetch Callie at once! Nina turned away and attempted to
walk off, but instead wobbled.

“Whoa!”
Dex grabbed her arm, “You okay?”

“Hmm,
yeah…” Nina replied feebly.

Dex
placed his arms on her shoulders and turned her to face him, “Nina, you’re pale,”
His voice softened, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing...”
Nina replied avoiding his eyes. Bad enough that she was supposed to be the
professional, the one in control, the one seeing to the care of two young
children, but here she was about to fall apart and validate all the rumors. “How
can she be a nanny, she’s only twenty-one?” “You know there are better
qualified nannies right here in Anchorage, yet he hired that little nobody from
Seattle.”

 “Nina?”

“Yeah?”

“I
asked if something was wrong.”

Why
had Dex hired her?
Nina was not so naïve not to recognize that some of
the things the other nannies were saying were valid. She was just very young
and had only worked as a nanny for two years in Seattle. What if, in fact, Dex
had brought her on just because he pitied her? An unmarried young woman dumped
by not only her immature boyfriend but also by her estranged mother… That was
pitiful enough Nina concurred. “Guess I’m a sucker for a lady is distress.” Dex’s
very words echoed in her head. Suddenly Nina was sick to her stomach.

“Nina,
are you ill?”

No,
she wasn’t ill she was humiliated! At that moment all she wanted to do was run.
She broke loose from his hold and said, “I’m fine.”

“Talk
to me,” Dex urged.

 “I
want to go look in on Callie.” Her throat constricted. She attempted a quick get
away, but didn’t get further than two steps.

“Nina,
stop.” Dex demanded as he caught her arm. He didn’t hold it tightly, but she
knew she couldn’t break his grip.

Dex
whirled her to face him and pulled her forward. “Nina, what’s the matter?”

She
could let him in on her woes. Nina could bring up Mrs. Wilkinson and tell him
all about her and distract them from the real reason for all her misery. Or Nina
could go into detail about what the other nannies were saying. She could also
add that she, herself, questioned the real reason why he’d hired her. “Guess
I’m a sucker for a lady is distress.” His words reverberated in her head yet
again.