* * *
Declan
The phone wakes me. I roll over, confused for a moment when I’m alone. Last I knew, I’d been curled up with a warm, soft body next to me.
I grab the phone. “Hello?”
“Declan,” Ned says in his efficient, businesslike manner. “I’ve got a solution to your problem.”
“Already?” I rub my eyes. “How did you—”
“I’ll tell you everything in person,” he says. “Can you come to my office at noon?”
“Sure. See you then.”
I toss the phone and climb out of bed. I walk naked through my cabin, looking for Mia.
By the time I’ve returned to my bedroom, I’ve accepted the truth—she’s gone.
And that’s when I see the note on the pillow.
Declan,
Last night was amazing. I hate to have to leave. The timing of this is just all wrong. Maybe someday it will be right? I hope so. Love, Mia
A combination of frustration and relief washes over me.
Relief because she couldn’t have summed my current feelings up better—the timingisall wrong. I can’t drag someone innocent into my mess. I need to decide how badly I want this ownership position. Because if I want it badly, I’m going to have to marry someone. Which means getting to know a woman for real, a woman I truly like, isn’t in the cards for me right now.
I blow out another breath of frustration. I liked Mia. Sure, we had a lot more sex than we talked, and it was just one night, but it sure didn’t feel like a casual fuck. And the fact that I can’t pursue something with her? That just sucks.
* * *
On my way out to meet Ned, I pass Luke mending a fence. He signals to me to pull over.
“Met your overnight guest this morning,” he says when I roll my truck window down.
I keep my expression impassive. “So?”
A smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. “So she’s gorgeous.”
Now I’m out of the truck. “Youhiton her?”
He stays just out of my reach, using the long-ass shovel in his hand as a buffer between us. “Relax, Wild. No, I didn’t hit on her. I don’t need to poach off you to get a woman’s attention if I want it.”
I blow out a long breath of air. I’m not usually so hot-headed. I should be used to Luke’s annoying-as-fuck sarcastic side by now, but I’m off my game this morning. And he fuckingmetMia when I couldn’t even say goodbye to her.
He stays silent while a million emotions probably cross my face, until finally, he says, “In the year and a half you’ve been living here, I’ve never seen a woman at your place.”
“I go to theirs usually.” But lately, I’ve just been flying solo. No hook-ups, no pressure to call or end something I never should have started, no drama.
“But last night?” he presses me. “You changed things up?”
I shrug as he smirks. “Fuck you.” I punch him in the arm. “You’re so fucking nosy.”
“That’s what Mia said too,” he says with a shit-eating grin. “She didn’t say it as crass as you, though.”
“Can’t believe you met her,” I mumble as I climb back into the truck.
