Her.
The way she tripped over her words when she got flustered. The way she ducked her head when Abby teased her in the coffee shop. The way she laughed today, loudly and unexpectedly, after I told her about the scented-candle hiker from last fall.
That sound was still lodged in my ears.
It was all too sweet and too real. And I worried it was too much like something I’d let myself get used to if I wasn’t careful.
And I was supposed to be careful.
I sat on the edge of the bed and scrubbed my hands over my face. The heater rattled in the corner. The cottage smelled faintly of pine, dust, and old coffee. But underneath all of that, I could feel the beginning of something I didn’t want.
Interest.
Curiosity.
Attraction I didn’t have room for.
Nothing about this job was meant to be complicated. Guiding outdoor trips was simple. Predictable. Humans, on the other hand, never were, which was why I avoided emotional entanglements as a rule.
It was why I stayed seasonal.
Why I moved every few months.
Why I kept things inside until they had nowhere else to go.
And yet here I was, thinking about the way Sienna looked at the trail map like she was planning a heist. Wondering if she laughed like that around everyone, or if somehow, I had drawn it out of her.
Ridiculous.
I needed clarity and distance. A reminder of why I did not let myself get pulled into things that had strings attached.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket, stared at it for a long moment, then did something I hadn’t done in almost a month.
I called my brother.
He answered on the third ring with a confused grunt. “Carson?”
“Yeah.”
“You okay?” he asked immediately.
I almost hung up, but I forced myself to answer. “Fine.”
“You don’t call. Ever. Not unless something is wrong.”
“Nothing is wrong,” I said firmly.
He let out a skeptical breath. “So you’re calling to… chat?”
I had no idea how to chat.
“I just wanted to check in,” I lied.
He snorted. “Bull. What’s going on?”
I exhaled and glanced at the gear list again. I could admit small things. Maybe.
“I started the new job today.”
