Chapter 14
Rowan slowly blinked her eyes open and inhaled deeply. Leaning up on an elbow, she lifted the corner of the curtain and closed her eyes as pale sunlight filled the room. Squinting through one eye, she saw the clear blue sky. Bird song registered as she let the curtain go, fell back on the bed, and closed her eyes again.
“Sorry, bird, I’m not ready to face the day yet.”
She must have drifted back to sleep because the next time she opened her eyes, the room felt brighter. Fully awake this time, she stretched and stared at the ceiling. This wasn’t how she’d envisioned waking up today. She was supposed to wake up next to her husband so they could have a leisurely breakfast then go to the airport for their honeymoon in the Keys—not alone in a cabin in the woods with her ex-boyfriend slash wedding crasher in the next room.
Sitting up with a groan, she scratched her head. Fudge—was there coffee? She hadn’t thought to get any yesterday in her mad dash through Walmart. Her focus had been on clothes to change into, clean underwear, and stuff for dinner and breakfast. Now that she wasn’t in a panic to be gone from the church and her disaster of a wedding, she needed to make a list of what she needed if she was going to stay there for more than a couple of days. If her apartment wasn’t so far away, she’d go home and pack more clothes.
Different clothes. Her suitcase for the beach was already packed and waiting by the door. Sundresses and bathing suits wouldn’t do her much good up in the mountains. It wasn’t like she had anywhere else to be today—she might as well go home after she got rid of the Destructor of Nuptials and pack enough clothes for three or four days. She could get enough gas for the generator, too. And switch cars with Maria.
She picked up her phone from the nightstand and turned it on. She’d shut it down last night because she hadn’t wanted to deal with the texts and messages. It powered on and she unlocked it.
The display showed it was a little after nine and she had no bars. Hmm…she could have sworn she had one or two last night. Had the storm taken out a tower?
Eh. No biggie. It wasn’t like she wanted to call anyone anyway. The more pressing concern was finding her charger because she had less than twenty percent battery left.
She pulled on the sweat pants and thick socks from last night and took a deep breath, trying to psych herself up to face the Matrimony Murderer and the possibility of no coffee.
Sticking a hair tie between her teeth, she pulled her hair into a bun and secured it with the elastic. The cabin was blessedly empty, so Luke was either outside or still asleep. She stared at the closed door of the other room and chewed at the corner of her nail.
The cut on his head hadn’t been too bad, right? What if he had a concussion? She’d been too angry to think about that last night. Should she check on him? She let out a disgruntled sigh and dropped her arm to her side.
She needed to check on him.
Before she could step toward the room, the bathroom door opened and Luke exited in nothing but a towel around his waist.
“Hey. Water’s really cold. I couldn’t figure out how to work the unit thingy in the shower.”
His tight, puckered nipples proved his statement that the water was cold.
It hadn’t registered the night before how much he’d filled out since the last time she’d seen him. Playing baseball through high school and college meant he’d always been lean but in the years since she’d last seen him, he’d packed on some muscle. He didn’t have a six-pack, but his abs were still defined with a dark line of hair that started just below his belly button and traveled down under the towel.
She’d always appreciated his physique and her body definitely remembered his. Her core clenched as if it was happy to see an old friend and wanted to give him a hug.
Traitor.
“Rowan?”
She blinked herself out of her stupor. “What?”
He smirked, not oblivious to her staring. “I asked if you’d found my phone last night?”
Scowling at herself, she said, “No. Your pockets were empty.”
“Shit. Hopefully it’s in the rental and not somewhere in the woods.”
“Yeah.” So what if he was still good looking? It obviously didn’t hurt where his fan club was concerned. “It’s a tankless water heater. The water’s cold because the generator isn’t on.”
With no further explanation, she turned and headed to the back door. Slipping into the shoes she’d left beside the door, she went outside and started the generator. Back inside, she kicked off her shoes and rummaged through the three cabinets for any sign of coffee. In the back of one of them, she found a jar of instant coffee and generic non-dairy creamer. With a grimace, she filled the kettle and put it on the stove. She needed caffeine too much to be picky about the form it came in.
Waiting for the water to boil, she leaned against the counter and stared unseeing at the floor in front of her feet. Maybe staying at the cabin wasn’t such a good idea. She needed to call her mom and dad since she’d selfishly left them holding the proverbial bag. Not that she didn’t think she deserved to be selfish yesterday in the heat and embarrassment of the moment, but she couldn’t make the same claim today. Today it was the day to be an adult and face the music—music Luke had made, but it was her problem. Not the wedding planner’s, not her parents’…hers.
First order of business was coffee, shower, and getting rid of the Wedding Wrecker. How many monikers could she come up with?
The kettle whistled as Luke came out of the bedroom wearing the clothes he’d had on the previous day. She poured water into the two cups she’d set on the counter and handed him one when he stopped next to her.
“Thanks,” he said. “You remember how I like it.”
