What would it be like to have him between her legs calling her that?
Sweetheart.
He looked at her through the window of his SUV and waved for her to get into the car. She climbed into her Saturn, closed the door, and waited for him to pull out.
Then she followed him all the way home.
It wasn’t a long drive, and that surprised her a little bit. She wasn’t used to having everything be so close even when it was far away. In the city, if someone lived a mile away, it could take you twenty minutes to get there. Not here.
A mile went by so very quickly. It basically flew by, actually. They drove up into the mountains. The road was windy and narrow and there were steep stone walls on either side. She tried not to stare, and instead focused her energy on driving safely.
Damn, it was hard.
As they made their way deeper into the mountains, she saw creeks and forests and all sorts of things. At one point, Luna thought she might have seen a bear, but that could have just been wishful thinking. She’d always loved animals.
When the SUV turned into a private drive, she found herself holding her breath. She followed the vehicle down a private, winding road and up to what had to be the biggest and loveliest log cabin she’d ever seen.
Dear Caroline hadn’t been lying when she’d said that her grandson had built a cabin. What she’d left out was that this place was damn lovely. It was two stories, for starters, and it had a huge wraparound deck with a couple of chairs and a swing.
Luna pulled in next to the lumberjack’s vehicle and sat for a second before she got out of the car. She knew that this was it. This was her chance to turn and run away or to stay exactly where she was. Quarantine wasn’t something she had been expecting, but it was something that was happening whether she liked it or not. Her phone had been blowing up with texts and emails all afternoon. The entire school had shut down. A couple of students had been infected and come to class, so anyone who had been on campus recently was at risk.
While Luna hadn’t been exposed personally, she understood why the school had to be shut down. Still, it was frustrating to be caught far away during a time when she wanted to be working on her project. Maybe she’d have time to work on it here.
Then again, maybe it would be hard to focus up here in the wilderness with Lumberjack Man.
Brody had gotten out of his SUV and was walking toward her. Her stomach flip-flopped as he made his way to her door. He reached for the handle and tugged, opening it.
“Welcome to my home,” he said, and he offered her his hand. She stared at it for so long that he laughed. “It’s not poisonous,” he said with a chuckle.
Finally, she forced a smile and took his hand. She did not want this guy to know how this interaction was affecting her. It was totally wrong how she was feeling. She didn’t like feeling this way: aroused, excited. She didn’t like feeling totally terrified that she was going to fall hard for the guy who was offering her a safe shelter during a tumultuous time.
Most importantly, she didn’t want him to know just how long it had been since she’d been with someone.
That was embarrassing.
The reality was that Luna had been very busy for a very long time, and romance had fallen strictly on the back burner.
She wasn’t opposed to romance. Not at all. In fact, she felt quite the opposite. The idea of finding someone to love and be loved by was wonderful to her. Amazing, even. She wanted to fall in love. She wanted to be attracted to someone. Perhaps most of all, she wanted to feel like she belonged with someone, and now…
Now Mr. Tall, Dark, and Dangerous was standing at her door.
Was she willing to take a chance?
She got out of the car, but she didn’t release his hand at once. She worried that he’d be able to see through her. Could he see all of her secrets? Could he tell just how long it had been since she’d been with someone? Could he tell what she was holding back?
“Are you okay?” He asked slowly.
“I’m fine.”
“Do you want to bring anything inside right now?” He asked her carefully.
Luna looked at her car. Basically everything she owned was in her car. Not that she had planned it that way. It was just that she didn’t have very much. She rented a little studio apartment that had a bed and a table and that was it. She didn’t have a couch and she didn’t have a washing machine. She didn’t even have a dresser.
Her life was simple and chaotic, and that was fine for her. She kept telling herself that eventually, once she was finished with graduate school, everything would be different.
Now she wasn’t quite so sure.
“I don’t have very much,” she looked at the car.