I’d figure out the rest.
I wiped my face with the heel of my hand, wondering how badly I’d smeared the makeup that Kat had so painstakingly applied. Not that it mattered.
I laughed a little at the idea that anyone would care about my makeup now, as I sat up on the bed, listening to the rain pound against the old metal roof. Every part of my body ached, but I embraced the sensation in every way.
The door creaked open.
I sucked in a sharp breath and scrambled to my feet just as a very wet and muddy puppy barreled inside, shaking himself like he owned the place.
“Summit! Don’t—ah, shit.”
Preston followed him inside a moment later, water dripping off his jacket, his hair plastered to his head. He stopped short when he saw me.
“What the—” He cut himself off. “Jess?”
Preston
For a split second, I thought maybe I was imagining it, or I’d stumbled into the wrong cabin. But there were no other cabins.
But then why was Jess Anderson sitting on the bed of my old hunting cabin in the middle of nowhere, wearing some sort of white, sparkly sweatsuit?
I stopped short just inside the door as Summit skidded across the floor, shaking muddy rainwater all over the place for the second time before running straight toward her.
“Dammit, Summit. Down.”
But it was too late. The muddy puppy had already jumped up on Jess, happy to see his friend, and left muddy paw prints on the front of her pants.
Quickly, I dropped the load of wood next to the stove and grabbed for the puppy’s collar, trying to yank him away from Jess, who didn’t look like she was in a hurry to get rid of him. “Sorry,” I muttered. “He’s still not fully trained.”
“He’s fine. I’m happy to see him.”
She looked up, her eyes meeting mine.
“He’s obviously pretty happy to see you, too.” My words were laced with the unasked question. “But he’s also probably pretty surprised to see you.”
“He is? Or you are?”
“Both,” I admitted and shrugged out of my wet coat. “You are the last person I expected to run into today, let alone way the hell out here.”
She shrugged, but didn’t offer me anything more.
I took in her carefully curled hair, some of the locks falling out of the pins, framing her face. She was more done up than she normally was. The mascara had smeared a little around her eyes like she’d been crying, but she still looked stunning. Even with all that makeup she didn’t need. For the first time, I noticed the bedazzled wordbrideon the front of her jacket.
“So,” I said, when it was clear that she wasn’t going to offer up any kind of explanation. “Is this some kind of new trend?” I waved a hand up and down to encompass her outfit.
She tipped her head and pressed her lips together.
“It’s quite fancy,” I said. “But maybe not very practical for mountain biking. I assume that’s your bike I saw out there.”
She shrugged. “I borrowed it.”
I lifted a brow. “Borrowed?”
“I ran out on my wedding.”
“Yeah. I gathered.”
“I didn’t know where to go,” she said with a wave of her hand. “I actually didn’t even know I was coming here until I saw it. I just started riding and?—”
