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“Thank you,” I said. “For breakfast. For showing up. For…”

“Always,” he said, standing. “I’ll always show up.”

He headed toward his crew, already shifting into contractor mode. Professional, proper. Nothing like the man who’d almost kissed me thirty seconds ago.

I touched my mouth where his thumb had been, tasting phantom syrup and possibility.

Yeah. I was in so much trouble.

17

— • —

Sam

The sky looked absolutely apocalyptic when I stepped out of my car that afternoon.

Black clouds rolled overhead with dramatic flair usually reserved for disaster movies. I had my phone pressed to my ear, talking budgets with my store manager while eyeing the weather nervously.

“The supplier confirmed they can match those fixtures from the photos I sent,” Lindsay was saying. “But they’re asking for a twenty percent deposit…”

Lightning cracked across the sky, striking somewhere in the woods beyond my cabin. I let out a shriek that probably damaged Lindsay’s eardrum.

“Jesus Christ!”

“Sam? Everything okay?”

“Storm. Big storm. I need to go.”

“The deposit…”

“Whatever they want, pay it. I trust your judgment. Gotta go!”

I ended the call and ran for my house as the sky decided to throw its biggest tantrum yet. Thunder rolled overhead with enough force to rattle my teeth. By the time I made it inside, the lights were already out.

“Oh fuck.”

Complete darkness. The storm had knocked out the power, leaving me alone in a dark house with only the sound of rain starting to pummel the roof. My least favorite combination ever since Sophie locked me in the basement during a thunderstorm when we were eight. She’d thought it was hilarious. I’d thought I was going to die. Fucking Sophie.

My hands shook as I pulled out my phone, the screen’s glow providing minimal comfort.

To Tyson: do you have any candles?? im freaking out

Three months in Cedarbrook and we’d become… whatever we were. Friends seemed too simple for the way my skin heated every time he looked at me. But anything else felt too dangerous to name. We orbited each other carefully, all loaded glances and accidental touches that lasted too long. The tension between us had reached the point where I could barely breathe when he stood too close.

My phone buzzed immediately.

From Tyson: come

One word. That was it. Just an order that I followed without thinking twice.

I yanked open my door as the sky decided to dump the entire ocean on Tennessee. The rain hit me with shocking force, soaking through my clothes in seconds.

“Shit!”

I ran toward his house, head down to avoid the worst of the downpour. Water streamed into my eyes, making it hard to see where I was going. Halfway there, I focused on not slipping in the sudden mud, when abruptly the rain stopped hitting me.

Work boots appeared in my line of vision.