They stood staring at each other, both shocked, neither able to say a word. Steam curled from the bathroom behind him, carrying the scent of soap and something woodsy.
The man was massive. His arms were tattooed and muscular, the ink disappearing beneath the edge of the towel and reappearing along his shoulders. He stood about six feet four, maybe more, with a broad chest that had a dusting of blonde hair catching the dim light from the window. His hair was buzzed short on the sides and back but longer on top, damp and pushed back from his face. A high and tight, her brain supplied, the part of her that catalogued details even when the rest of her had gone completely still.
His eyes were a pale blue, the color of ice in sunlight. And right now, they looked angry. Maybe surprised. Probably both.
Unable to stop herself, she let her gaze travel down his body, noting the white towel slung dangerously low around his hips. A single tuck of fabric held it in place, and she found herself wondering how secure that tuck actually was. His bare feet had dots of water on them, leaving faint prints on the hardwood floor.
She scanned his body on the way back up and felt heat climb into her cheeks. This was not the elderly owner she had been expecting.
"Hel... hello," she managed.
"Hello," he replied, his voice a low rumble that matched his size. The single word carried caution and something else she could not quite name.
She swallowed. "I... My name... Who are you?"
"I was going to ask you the same thing."
"I asked first."
His brows shot up, and he turned to face her fully. He set his stance wide, and the sheer size of him blocked the entire hallway. With his arms at his sides and his jaw set, he looked like a bouncer deciding whether to let her into a club she had no business entering.
"I'm Tessa Callahan."
He took a deep breath that expanded his chest and made the towel situation even more precarious. "Okay, Tessa Callahan. I'm Brian Knight." He crossed his arms over his broad chest, and she worried the towel would fall off. She was not hoping it would. She was worried about it. There was a difference.
He continued, his voice flat. "Now, please tell me why you are in my house."
"I rented it." She held up her phone like evidence, though the screen had gone dark. "This is your house? The owners are old. The rental company told me they were elderly."
"The former owners are elderly. I'm the new owner." His jaw tightened. "I don't rent my cabin out."
"But I paid in full. Three months."
"Sorry."
The word landed like a door closing. She felt the last of her composure begin to crack, all the stress of the day pressing against the dam she had built.
"I don't have anywhere else to go."
"Again, this is my house. I'm not taking any renters, and if you paid in full, you didn't pay me."
"But what will I do?" Her voice came out smaller than she intended, and she hated herself for it. She had held dying children in her arms without her voice breaking. She had delivered news that shattered families without flinching. And now she was standing in a stranger's living room, close to tears because a man in a towel was telling her she had nowhere to sleep.
He took a deep breath and scraped his hands through his damp hair, sending droplets scattering. The motion made him look younger somehow, less like a wall and more like a man who had not expected his evening to go this way either.
"Do you have a phone number for this rental company?"
Her hands shook as she tapped her phone to find the number. She tapped the contact information she had saved. "It's Copper Moon Rentals."
Turning her phone, she showed him the screen. He glanced at it, then back at her face. "Call them."
She swallowed the large knot in her throat. Exhaustion pressed down on her shoulders like a physical weight. A horrible meeting with her boss, a long and harried drive, and now this. It was all coming to a head, and she could feel tears threatening to spill no matter how hard she tried to hold them back.
She tapped the call icon, then the speaker icon, so this bully could hear the rental company tell him this was her place.
"Copper Moon Rentals. This is Jake."
"Hi... Hi Jake. This is Tessa Callahan. I rented the Crystal Cottage from you. Do you have the paperwork there?"
