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I was doing better. Therapy had helped. My therapist in Fairbanks had also suggested I find one here. That was on my endless to-do list, but coming home was its own kind of therapy.

“You seem like you’re adjusting well to living here.” I commented, surprising myself.

Chloe closed her laptop and pushed it to the side before taking a swallow of cocoa. “I am,” she said as she set her mug down. Of course, her tongue darted out to the corner of her mouth, swiping across her bottom lip, and I had to steel myself against the sizzle of electricity in reaction. Fuck me. I’d known the minute I met Chloe I’d be fighting this. I’d tried to convince myself that her effect on me would eventually fade but the opposite was happening. It was gathering momentum and force.

“It’s amazing,” she added.

“Not everyone would move clear across the country for their dad.”

She nodded without hesitation. That was something I loved about her, her unabashed love for her father. “I love him, and I knew he wouldn’t come here unless I came with him. He’s a family guy through and through.”

Her openness was refreshing, almost inviting. I nodded. “I don’t think I know much about your mom.”

“She passed away from cancer when I was thirteen.” Chloe blinked quickly. “So my dad stayed in the military, but came home to take care of me.”

“I am so sorry,” I said simply

She nodded, her lips curling in a bittersweet smile. “I know you understand.”

“I do.”

She nodded. “We were in North Carolina at the time because that’s where his home base was when she passed, but I’m a military brat. By the time I was thirteen, I’d lived in—” she counted silently on her fingers, “—ten different places. Some cold, some warm He’s the best dad I could ask for. So here we are. I love it.” Chloe’s smile breezed right through that shaft of sunlight into my heart.

I snorted. “Ah. So the winter’s not that bad.”

“It’s longer than I expected, but I like it. The moose are a little stressful even though you showed me how to chase one off.” She giggled a little, and it was a good thing I was seated because the sound made my knees weak.

I chuckled. “You get used to them. They’re everywhere.”

A few beats of quiet fell between us, and that now familiar feeling shimmered in the air, currents of electric heat falling into the space between us, which was already loaded with a charge.

“So how come you can’t sleep? What’s your excuse?” I asked.

Chloe studied me for a moment, and something flickered in her eyes. Given that her general nature was sunny and kind, almost bubbly, my heart twisted at the shadows in her gaze. But she gave her head a small shake and shrugged. “Just, you know, sometimes I overthink things.” Vague answer if there ever was one, though I kept that to myself. “What about you?” she asked.

I held her gaze and shrugged, equally vague when I offered, “Same.”

“Really?” she pressed.

After a beat, I surprised myself. “Ever since the fire, sometimes I don’t sleep well.”

I knew that she had heard that story. She was quiet for a long moment, her eyes meeting mine with understanding before her entire gaze softened. She reached over to where my hand rested on the table and curled hers around mine. “I’m so sorry.”

My chest felt tight. I had to clear my throat and breathe through the moment of achy pain. “Thank you.” My voice was gruff.

“How often?” she asked.

I lifted one shoulder in a shrug, savoring the feel of her hand curled over mine so much that I was afraid to disrupt the moment. “I don’t know. It’s better than it used to be. Maybe once or twice a week,” I said, my voice a little scratchy.

She nodded slowly. I didn’t want to dwell on it. I knew denial didn’t help me, but rehashing it over and over wasn’t helpful either. I knew the story by heart, at least my own emotional interpretation of the events.

Silence fell between us again. It should have been uncomfortable or awkward, but it wasn’t. At all. There was an ease to Chloe in how she absorbed emotional information. I took a swallow of cocoa, my eyes flicking down to our hands and back up. When I met her gaze again, I could tell she was considering something. Her teeth nibbled on the corner of her bottom lip, and sweet hell, I wanted to kiss her so bad. It was a visceral ache.

“Since you told me why you couldn’t sleep, I guess I should return the favor.”

I let out a sharp laugh. “I don’t know if it was a favor. I was just trying to be honest.”

She nodded, letting out a quick breath. “Sometimes people hurt you.”