A glitch.
I hit refresh again. Again. Again. But the number remains the same.
There’s a(1)at the top of the page. A message. I open it with trembling hands.
32 minutes ago: Congratulations! Your listing has hit $100,000.
Everything goes very still. I check again. Double-check. Triple-check. But it’s not a mistake. Not a glitch. Someone has bid $100,000—enough to clear all my debts with money to spare.
I burst into tears. Heaving, ugly sobs that rip through my whole body. It hits me all at once, an avalanche of emotions. Relief. Terror. A kind of grief I don’t have words for.
This is really happening.
There’s no turning back now.
Suddenly, it all feels too real. I can almost feel it, the crawl of a stranger’s hands on my body, and I hug myself tight, sobbing so hard that no sound comes out. I should be happy. This is so much more than I ever could have hoped for, a number bigger than even my wildest dreams. But all I can think about is what comes next…what I have to do.
My thoughts turn to Flint.
I don’t know why.
And suddenly, I’m crying harder than ever.
6
FLINT
Another sleepless night.
Feels wrong to sleep when I know Willa has been up all night working at Fireside Lodge. When I woke her up from her nap earlier, shaking her softly awake, she was clearly still exhausted. Her eyes were red as if she’d been crying, and she didn’t talk much when I walked her back to her car and watched her drive away.
Now, I sit up in bed and run a hand over my face with a groan. My alarm clock says it’s after six. Willa will be asleep now, catching a couple of hours in the back room at the hotel. I imagine her curled up on some dingy couch, dead to the world. I could drive to Fireside Lodge right now. Pick her up and bring her home with me. Tell her she’ll never have to worry again.
But Willa is stubborn.
The kind of woman who’d rather sell her own virginity than touch her best friend’s savings.
She’s wary, too. I saw that yesterday when I brought her to my cabin to sleep. The way she looked at me, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Bracing for a blow. She’s strong as hell, tough as nails, but life has clearly broken her down, and I can’t risk spooking her. Scaring her away. If there’s one thing I learnedfrom her resume, it’s that she’s no stranger to skipping town, moving around.
I can’t risk losing her.
All I can do is wait for the auction money to hit her account.
She must have seen my bid by now.
I grab my phone from the nightstand and open First Encounters. The auction closes tonight, and I’ve been checking the listing regularly, making sure my anonymous bid is still the highest. It’s a relief every time I see that $100,000 beneath Willa’s profile, but if someone bids higher, I’m ready. I’ll pay whatever it takes. Hell, I’d sell my company. Sell my cabin. Whatever I have to do.
With a heavy sigh, I roll out of bed and take a shower. Once I’m washed and dressed, I head for the front door, pausing in front of the guest room where Willa took her nap. Something twangs in my chest, a deep longing that makes me wish I’d never let her go yesterday.
Fuck, this girl has wrecked me.
I need to head outside and chop wood. I’m already behind after spending all that time in the office with Willa. But my feet are moving of their own accord, instinct propelling me into the kitchen where I grab the keys to my truck.
It’s just before seven when I begin the drive down the mountain. I arrive at Creekside Diner twenty minutes later, heart thumping as I pull up outside the sage-green, clapboard building. I rarely come into town. I prefer to roam the forest than traipse around stores and cafes full of people, but right now, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.
I spot her car as I head for Creekside—that rusted little Honda parked in the corner.
She’s here.
