Page 16 of Seeking Shelter

“You have no reason to be mortified.”

“Says the guy who’s probably never been embarrassed a day in his life. Plus, you don’t get to decide what’s right for me to feel.” An icy rivulet drips down my neck. “We’re good. Really.”

“No, we’re not. I want you to know what happened. I didn’t visit because your brothers asked me to. Or rather, not only because they asked me to.”

“You don’t have to make me feel better, Cooper. I’m a big girl and responsible for my emotions.”

“Can you listen for a damned minute?”

Calling him Cooper pisses him off. Good. “Okay, proceed, and I shall listen.”

He ignores the snark.

“I noticed you.”

“You noticed me,” I echo dryly.

“Yeah. We were both at that holiday party in the Falls a few months earlier. It was like I’d never seen you before. You were no longer a kid. In fact, you were smart and fucking gorgeous, and you caught my attention.”

I ignore the warmth spreading in my chest. “So, you were in Merced and came by and it wasn’t because my brothers asked you to.”

“Not exactly. I had business in Sacramento and took a side trip to Merced. You’d been in my head since that party and I wanted to see you.”

“That drive’s four hours, round trip. Quite the side trip.”

He shrugs. “Like I said, I wanted to see you. Then Elias contacted me, said you were torn up over a guy. He was worried about you and asked me to check on you. I was already on my way.”

“Then why’d you act like I carried the plague?”

“That’s not how I acted, and maybe things would have turned out differently if Elias hadn’t called.” He uselessly wipes rain from his chin. “But you were on the rebound from a tough breakup, and your brother asked me to check on you. He trusted me. I wanted to be with you, but I couldn’t violate that trust.”

“And after that? We’d run into each other and you barely tolerated me.”

He stops and faces me, rain dripping from the rim of his hat. “I went to those parties, didn’t I? I went because you were there. But you made it clear I’d blown it and were no longer interested.” There’s a long pause. “Then you moved away for grad school and got that job up north, and it seemed like that was that. Surprised the hell out of me to find out you’d moved back.”

“I’d been waiting for a local position to open up because I wanted to be home.”

He gives me a long look. A shiver snakes down my spine and he scowls. “We need to get you to shelter.”

“We’re both cold.”

“How far to the line shack?”

“I don’t think it’s much farther.”

He sets off again and we’re forced to walk single file as the trail narrows. I duck my head to shield my face from the rain, keeping my focus on the man in front of me. Jonah admitted he’s attracted to me. Or at least he was when I was in college. And now? The kisses yesterday are a good sign we’re both still feeling it.

He stops abruptly and points. “That it?”

Log-cabin style like the other one, this structure really does look like a shack. We’ll be lucky if the door shuts all the way.

“Yeah. It looks rough.”

“Let’s hope the roof is watertight.” He looks around. “On the plus side, it’s up against that rise so no one can approach from behind and we’ll have a good view in front.”

I nod. I’m cold, hungry, and ready to be done with this adventure.

We arrive at the cabin. Slowly, I climb the porch steps, not allowing myself to think about how much I’d love a hot bath, something warm to eat, and a soft bed.