“It’s late already. What do youthink?”
“Um… I don’t know. We probably look a little bit homeless right now, but I’m sure theywon’tmind.”
Ash tapped the steering wheel—a new habit he’d developed over the past few days when he was nervous. “We don’t stink,dowe?”
“I doubt it. We showered last night and washed up thismorning.”
“Okay.”
“Okay, what? You wanna head straightthere?”
“Yeah.”
We followed Jed’s directions through Ashton and beyond. There were mountains in the distance, but we were looking for a lake. For a couple of miles, I thought we’d taken a wrong turn, but then water appeared on thehorizon.
A flutter of unknown emotion tickled my belly. I’d felt strange all day and wondered if I was nervous too. Or maybe it was something else. I glanced at Ash. He looked keyed up, despite the eight-hour drive, and his cheeks were inexplicably still flushed from the fast and furious fuck we’d shared that morning as the sun had risen—me on my back, him riding me like he’d done it a thousand times over. Against the odds, our physical connection had always been crazy, but it was off the scale right now. Only the call of the road had kept us from banging all morning long, and I kind of regretted that as it dawned on me that we probably wouldn’t fuck for however long we stayedwithJed.
Ash turned onto a muddy dirt track. “Are you sure this isright?”
“That’s what it says here. It’s a cabin, right? So it’s probably next to thewater.”
“It’s getting dark. I don’t want togetlost.”
I scooted closer and tucked some stray hair into his hat. “We won’tgetlost.”
Whether he believed me or not, I couldn’t tell, but we persevered, and a wooden cabin appeared in the distance a few minutes later. The flutter came again to my belly. I dampened it down and glanced at Ash again. The perspective he’d guided me to over the past few days had exposed the dark cloud I’d fought so hard to hide from, but that wasn’t the worst of it. The worst part was the fear. When Ash had been ill, I’d known what to do, but I had no idea now. That tickle in my gut? It wasn’t a butterfly, it was a gathering storm. And itterrifiedme.
“Pete?”
“Hmm?”
“There’s someone on theroad.Look.”
I pulled myself together and followed Ash’s direction to an approaching figure I expected to be Jed. But instead of sandy-gold hair and a keen stare, I saw the dark buzz of a shaved Afro and the wide smile of an attractiveblackman.
The man came to my door and jumped easily onto a nearby rock. I opened the window. He reached inside and shook my hand before I really knew what was happening. “You must be Ash and Pete,” he said in an accent that wasn’t American in the slightest. “I’m Max. Nice to meet you. Follow me to the cabin and I’ll show you wheretopark.”
He hopped down and strode ahead. Jed’s dog appeared from somewhere, followed by another, and then another, until we were trailing Max and his motley pack ofhounds.
They led us all the way to the cabin. Ash parked by an outbuilding that looked a lot like an upside down boat, and we got our first look at the cabin that Jed—and Max—calledhome.
It was…gorgeous. The warm wood contrasted with the crystal clear lake behind it. In the distance, snow-covered mountains glittered. We’d driven through stunning scenery to get here, but nothing like this. For the first time in days, a sense of belonging crept over me, even before I’d hauled my tired ass out ofthevan.
Max was waiting for me as my boots hit the mud. He enveloped me in the kind of hug that warmed a man’s bones, then pulled back to take a good look at me. “You’re exactly like Jed said youwouldbe.”
“Hungryandbeat?”
“Pretty much.” Max grinned, revealing a set of perfect teeth. “But we have the remedy for both of thosethingshere.”
“Where’s youraccentfrom?”
“London, at least it was a long time ago. Now where’s that fella ofyours?”
Max let me go and disappeared around the van’s hood to greet Ash, who was holding an excited Desta in his arms. He put the dog down as Max approached, but Max didn’t grab him the way he had me, and I was relieved. Nothing we’d been through in the last few days would change the fact that Ash didn’t like tactilestrangers.
I turned away once I saw he was okay, searching for Jed. The cabin door opened and he came down the steps with a brightly painted cane, clearly favoring his right leg. The elderly collie, who’d followed Max, came to his feet along with another dog whose breed I couldn’t decipher, and I was as drawn to him as they were. I met him at the last step and held out my hand to helphimdown.
He smiled and took my arm, though, predictably perhaps, he didn’t lean on it. “Hello, Pete. I knew I’d see youagain.”
