The gravel lot was already half full. Midweek hikers from Saratoga had taken over the front porch again. Two women in bright windbreakers were arguing over trail maps as intensely as if they were planning a military campaign.
I parked the truck in my usual spot and shut the engine off, then sat there with my hands on the steering wheel.
My brain had not fully caught up with the fact that I had left Zoey in her kitchen wearing nothing but a pair of panties and a look that suggested she was actively resisting the urge to jump me again.
The physical part wasn’t the problem. I could manage that. I had spent most of my adult life managing that. What I couldn’t seem to manage was the quiet pull that had settled deep inside me.
The instinct had started the moment she stepped in that hole and refused help. And now, I wanted to solve things for her before she even asked, wanted to calm her when she pushed too hard against the world.
The urge lived low in my chest now, and it made concentrating on ordinary things more difficult than usual.
I closed my eyes briefly, took a deep breath, then I got out of the truck.
Work helped.
Work always helped.
I walked to the maintenance and unlocked it, then started my usual checks.
Water pressure gauges.
Pool filtration.
Hot tub temperature.
I ran my hand along the spa cover and checked the seal.
Everything was exactly where it belonged.
That helped more than it should have. Order had always been the easiest way to quiet the noise in my head. If the systems were correct and the property ran smoothly, then the world was more manageable.
But now that my mind had slowed down again, it wandered right back to Zoey. Her laugh the night before. The way she challenged everything I said. The look she had given me in her living room when she decided not to run from the moment between us.
Nora found me ten minutes later.
She walked across the patio, carrying a clipboard and the expression of someone who had been waiting patiently to ask a question.
“Vacation over?” she asked.
I tightened one last fitting on the spa valve and straightened. “Yes.”
“That was quick.”
“It wasn’t technically a vacation.”
“Mm.” Nora had known me long enough to recognize when my routine had been interrupted. She noticed things most people missed, which made sense since she had watched this property and the people inside it long enough to understandhow we all functioned. She knew exactly how rarely I allowed anything to disrupt my schedule.
“So,” she said with a smile. “Did you have fun?”
I wiped my hands on a rag and set it back on the counter. “I had a productive time.”
The understatement hung between us, and I had to try really hard not to think about the feel of Zoey’s hands gripping my shoulders or how she’d said my name, or when she’d traced the scars across my chest and looked at me with something that felt dangerously close to care.
Nora leaned against the railing. “So.”
I tightened the last fitting on the spa valve and stood. “Yes?”
“Woman with the blue hair.”
