Hold On! - Season 1 Read Online Free Page B

long have you been standing there?”
    “Just for a second. I heard a noise and it woke me up.”
    “You should go back to bed. You need your rest after what you’ve been through.”
    “Do you honestly think I’m going to get much sleep after all that’s happened?”
    He rubbed his bare arms with the realization of how cold it was. “Come on. Let’s get back inside.” He walked past her, closed the door, and faced the back window. As desirable as she was, he felt extremely uncomfortable with her standing in his living room wearing no pants. “I’d really appreciate it if you’d put some clothes on.”
    He glanced behind him as the bedroom door clicked shut.
     
    Belinda tried to get back to sleep, but it was futile. Her mind was permeated with questions, and she knew her brooding host wasn’t likely to be forthcoming with any answers. She didn’t know what to make of him. She’d known, and been intimate with many men, including total strangers. But she’d never encountered one who had a problem with seeing her in various states of undress. Was it because he didn’t find her attractive? Surely someone as handsome and athletic-looking as he was wouldn’t have been the shy type.
    Then she realized she was being irrational. She didn’t even know him. He may be a psychopath for all she knew. In her heart, she didn’t believe that.
    At 8 a.m. she dressed herself properly and stepped out into the living room. She heard him scurrying around in the kitchen.
    “Hi,” he said. “I’m just making some coffee. Would you like some breakfast.”
    “That’d be great. Thank you.”
    She continued to be mystified by him. He’d saved her life, and was tall, attractive and heroic, but who the hell was he? And where were they? All he’d told her was ‘somewhere near Aspen.’ That could mean anywhere in a vast, snowy, mountainous wilderness such as this.
    She gingerly entered the small kitchen and saw the view through the window. The ground was covered with perfect, untouched snow, decorated with a spattering of aspen trees within a spacious clearing the size of a tennis court. The way in which the snow had fallen upon the trees formed shapes like alien creatures.
    Behind the clearing was a forest of aspen trees with only hints of green from the branches visible through their snow coating. The tip of the mountains behind it on the far horizon reached up to a rich blue skyline. It was a vision from a fairy tale, reminiscent of a classic Christmas postcard.
    In Belinda’s opinion, she had found herself in the most perfect place on earth. However, the experience was dampened by the circumstances. Overwhelmed and profoundly shaken by all that had happened, she didn’t know where it was all going to lead.
    She became aware of the delicious scent of heated bread as Brandon handed her a tray of croissants and coffee. “Make yourself comfortable and relax in the living room.”
    “Sure. Thank you,” she said, and took the tray.
    “After breakfast, I’ll go into Aspen to get a more . . .  conventional vehicle, and then I’ll take you back to Denver, all right?”
    She knew she should have felt relieved he was going to take her home. He clearly had no ill intentions toward her. But she couldn’t deny a touch of disappointment. “Why did you bring me here? You got me off of that roof, and I can’t tell you how grateful I am. But why didn’t you just leave me in Denver?”
    He looked at her sadly. “I made a mistake.”
     
    Brandon flew the proto-type aircraft to the bottom of the canyon and hid it in a dense wooded lot, almost forty miles from the cabin. From there, he made the remaining, laborious, three mile journey on foot into Aspen.
    Belinda’s words echoed in his mind. Why couldn’t he have just left her in Denver? He had no excuse or reason for bringing her back with him, except for . . . what? The maddening solitude of living in the cabin alone for so long? The natural need he felt to be with a woman?