Eve is silent a moment, then she sighs. “You’re not a dick, but I get why you don’t want my help. Do you think I don’t know you?”
“I don’t know what I think right now. I might have to take you up on that flannel shirt, though.”
“And what about a bed for the night? Jax, you can’t wander around Burlington all night.”
She’s right about that, and if I don’t want to turf her out of her bed, I’ll have to spring for a hotel room. But seriously, fuck that noise. I can barely afford to eat as it is.
“Listen,” she says when I fail to answer. “I know a guy who’s got a couch you can probably surf for a few days. He works in a bar, so he’s never home, and he needs the company as much as you do.”
“How can someone who works in a bar need company?”
It’s Eve’s turn to snort. “Trust me, you’ll see. Of course, that’s if he says yes. He’s a grouchy asshole if you catch him wrong. Good luck with that if you do land on his couch.”
Awesome.If there’s one thing less appealing than drowning in kindness, it’s forced proximity with someone who’d rather you were anywhere else. But I’ve run out of energy to argue with Eve. I’d rather kip on a stranger’s couch than rinse my bank account or put her out of her bed. “Okay. Ask him. But don’t make him feel bad if he’s not up for it. I’m not his problem either.”
“Sunshine, you’re not anyone’s problem.”
She hangs up without waiting for an answer. Mindful of the fact I’m getting closer and closer to her studio apartment, I spin around and head back the way I came. The fire trucks are still in the street and smoke lingers in the air. I find a bench outside the bakery and sit, gaze fixed on the damp remains of the hostel. Truth be told, it wasn’t the nicest place to sleep anyway, and I’ve never been particularly attached to my cracked and ancient iPad. But losing my clothes hurts more than I want it to. Board shorts, and ten-year-old T-shirts that have no place when I’m camping in the Vermont wilderness. The jeans I wore on the flight I took from Heathrow to Cali all those years ago. They were all I had of the naive dude I was back then, and I don’t know how I feel about that. I left enough of myself in California.
It’s a while before Eve calls me back. I wrap my arms around myself and fatigue sets in. Even before the hostel fire it had been a hell of a long day. Tracking through the wilderness from dawn till dusk, then persuading my boss that we’re not on a wild goose chase every time we put boots to dirt. He wants to capture the elusive Canadian lynx on film as badly as I do. But he doesn’t want to waste his hard-earned bucks on footage I might not get before my contract runs out in the spring. And I don’t blame him.Stick to squirrels, man.
I shiver. It really is fucking cold. I lean forward and blow on my hands. I’m still thinking about hoofing it back to the office to get my mountain coat and gloves. Or maybe giving in and sleeping under my boss’s desk. It can’t be colder than this, and at least I’d be out of the wind.
A booted foot nudges my leg. “You Jax?”
I blink and find myself lost in the darkest eyes I’ve ever seen. They’re round, gold-flecked and grave, and attached to a handsome face covered by the kind of beard I dream about when I’m not up to my neck in mud and snow. Huh. Maybe Iamdreaming. It would make more sense than the inked tower of mountain man leaning over me. Though the irritation in his liquid gaze rings a bell.“He’s a grouchy asshole if you catch him wrong.Okay, well fine. If this is my knight in shining armor, I’ll take the grouchy part.
Too late, it dawns on me that I’ve left the guy hanging too long.
I uncurl my body faster than my cold-stiffened back really wants to and lurch unsteadily to my feet as Eve’s friend starts to turn away. My hand lands on his arm by accident—his bare, inked arm. And just for a moment, there’s nothing in the world but my fingers wrapped around solid flesh. Then I come to my senses and regain my equilibrium. I drop my hand. “Shit. Sorry. Yeah, that’s me.”
“Are you drunk?”
“No. I’m Jax.”
Something flickers in the man’s dark gaze, and it’s not humor. He darts a rapid glance to where my hand had touched his arm as if he expects to find a mark, then he stares at me again and the exasperation in his eyes has gone. “I’m Tanner,” he says. “Eve was worried about you. Said you need a bed for the night.”
“A couch will do if you’ve got it, but I don’t want to be any trouble.”
“It’s no trouble. Besides, I’m not gonna leave you out here with no fucking coat, am I?”
I don’t see why not, as he doesn’t know me from the next guy, but this dude has an intensity so compelling I can’t look away. I can only stare as he picks up my bag and points across the street.
“My place is just over here.”
I don’t move, though I can’t say why.
The man—Tanner—frowns, and a big hand appears at my back, splaying across the bottom of my spine. “Come on,” he says. “Let’s get you inside.”
He gives me a gentle push. My legs finally connect with my brain, and lacking any better ideas, I do exactly what he says and let him tow me all the way to his place across the street.
Chapter Two
Tanner
I shouldn’t have answered the phone. But idiot that I am, I thought Eve might have been calling about Gabi, despite the fact he left only a few hours ago, and if anything happens to him, it will be me who gets the call, not her.
But I did answer the phone, and now I have one of her bum friends shivering on my couch. A bum friend who bears a striking resemblance—insert sarcasm—to the hot dude I spied earlier, though, if possible, the close up version of this guy is ten times more attractive. Only the fact that he’s cold to the bone and pale enough to make my stomach churn is stopping me from cataloguing every facet of his handsome face that I missed the first time around.
