Excerpt of And the Winner Gets... Married by Metsy Hingle

"Damn," Justin muttered as he flipped the light switches and the room remained in darkness. He went to the window, looked out across the neighboring grounds that showed no signs of life. "Looks like the storm took out a power line. Will you be okay while I go see about lighting some candles?"

"I'll be fine," Kim told him.

"Good. Don't move. I'll be right back."

Kim didn't move. Instead she stood at the windows and took advantage of the floor-to-ceiling glass to observe the fireworks display the lightning storm was conducting over the lake. Rain battered against the windowpanes, and Kim pressed her fingers against the glass. There was a savage beauty to the storm, she thought, transfixed by the jagged bolts of light slicing through the dark sky like a sword. There was something elemental about the storm that struck some chord deep inside her.

"You're shivering," Justin said from behind her.

And as she turned to face him, only then did Kim realize that she was indeed shivering. He draped a towel around her, pulled the ends together under her chin. "Better?"

"Yes," she murmured.

"Kim, don't look at me like that."

"Like what?" she asked.

"Like you want me."

"And if I told you that I do?"

This time it was Justin who shivered. Gripping the edges of the towel, he pulled her closer.