"The whole city's been hit by this, Cor," Lydia said. "He won't be able to give you a ride either." Cora could tell her sister was talking through gritted teeth and imagined she was seconds away from popping a Xanax. Cora could almost hear the gears in Lydia's head turning as they attempted to turn up a solution. Lydia was used to being a woman in charge, and she didn't react well when things were out of her control.
"Just, just hold on," Lydia said, after a long inhale. "You'll be fine at Shea's house for the time being. We may have work differences, but he's a good guy. If he's okay with you riding out the storm there, then we'll just have to--"
"Riding out the storm?" Cora interrupted, panicked. This could not be happening. She'd barely managed to keep her hands of Shea last night in the middle of a public gathering. Being trapped with him in his house for who knew how long was out of the question. Cora had already resolved to forget about him, for Lydia's sake. "How long until I can get on the road again?"
"I'm not sure. Tomorrow at least, probably longer." Lydia cursed, and the sound of approaching paws accompanied it, as one of the cutest dogs Cora had ever seen slipped through the open door and trotted up to her. Cora stretched out a hand for the pup to sniff. The sweet-faced grey bulldog must belong to Shea. Sure enough, a moment later the man himself knocked, then strode through the door. It was a sweet gesture, given that she was an unwelcome visitor and this was his own house.
Cora had been hoping that alcohol had distorted her memory of Shea, and that without her rose-colored champagne goggles, she wouldn't find him so attractive. When he walked into the room, however, that wish went up in smoke. He was as magnetic as she remembered him, even without the gravitas of evening wear. Horrifyingly, Shea was even more alluring in a casual state. The urge to run her fingers through his sleep-tousled hair actually made Cora's hands twitch.
"I need to sort things out here, Lydia," Cora told her sister, smiling hesitantly at Shea. He seemed to be waiting for her to finish her phone call. "I'll call you back later."
Lydia grumbled something under her breath. "I'll keep watching the weather updates. I'm just glad you're okay, Cora. Tell Shea..." there was a long silence. "Nevermind. Talk to you later." Cora hung up, then glanced at her host again.
"Hi," she said, the stupidly couldn't think of anything else to add but "good morning." She petted Violet's head for comfort. "She's a beautiful dog." Cora stood up from where she was sitting on the bed, abandoning her comforter igloo in the process. "Listen, Shea, I'm really sorry about all of this. Lydia hired a limo to take us home and I was pretty out of it so I climbed into it thinking it was ours. I must have fallen asleep." Her cheeks burned. He must think she was a total idiot. "I didn't mean to inconvenience you or saddle you with lodging me during this blizzard."
"Lydia told me that the roads are closed here, but maybe there's somewhere nearby where the cabs are still running? Or Uber? I could just walk down there and get a ride. Really, I'm so sorry about all of this. I promise I don't usually get drunk and pass out in other people's vehicles."