Gwen turned as she looked at herself in the mirror, and sighed. I didn’t have quite so many rolls the last time I wore this dress. I guess that’s what you get from having a muffin shop. I really should stop eating the profits.

This was her sexiest dress, at least it was before she gained fifteen—maybe twenty—pounds. Now it looked a little too tight, and felt even tighter.

She glanced at the clock and gulped when she saw that she only had six minutes left before Zane was going to come and get her for their date. Can I run to the dress store, break-in, and grab a dress in less than six minutes?

She sighed. It had to be that one.

At least her makeup and hair looked good. She curled her hair, and it was looking bouncy with thick curls that hung down over her shoulder. It was just too bad they weren’t long enough to cover her muffin top.

“Maybe I should just cancel,” she muttered to herself as she stared in the mirror. But that thought instantly vanished from her head when she saw movement in the window by the door. She gasped when she saw Zane walking over, looking gorgeous in gray dress pants and a striped shirt that showed off his muscular frame perfectly. He was even wearing a thin black tie.

“Wow,” she gasped, grabbing onto the wall for support as she stared at him. He looked like he should have been walking down a runway, or walking in her dreams, but instead, he was walking to her door.

Her heart started pounding as he stepped up to the shop and knocked on the glass door as he peeked inside.

“Coming,” she shouted, staring at him in disbelief. She still couldn’t believe that she had slept with this man. He was way out of her league. And the fact that she had done it while wearing dancing walrus pajamas was simply incredible.

She took a deep breath as she unlocked the door and let him in. A low rumbling sound emanated from his chest as he stepped inside, looking her up and down.

“What was that?” she asked, staring at him in shock.

“My cell phone,” he quickly answered. “It’s on vibrate.”

“Oh,” she said, furrowing her brow as she stared at him. She had never seen him with a cell phone, and it had really sounded like it came from his chest.

“You look absolutely stunning,” he said, swallowing hard as his heated eyes roamed all over her.

“Thank you,” she said, feeling her cheeks get hot. “You look pretty good yourself.” That was an understatement. With the way he looked right now, Gwen felt like she got a steal at only having to pay three thousand dollars for the date. He was worth ten.

“I didn’t know you owned a tie,” she said as she grabbed it. She held in a moan as she let the silky fabric slide through her hand.

“I do now.”

“You bought a tie for me?” she asked, feeling her shop get a little hotter. “I feel so honored.”

His eyes dropped from hers as he glanced down at her curves. “I have to look good with a stunning girl like you by my side.”

Gwen felt a flutter in her chest as she watched his hungry eyes take every inch of her in. He really likes the dress…

She was beginning to feel a little less self-conscious, and a little sexier.

“So, where are you taking me?” she asked as a warm shiver rippled through her.

“I was thinking the diner.”

“The diner?” she repeated, staring at him in disbelief. “Are you kidding me? I didn’t get all dressed up like this for a ham on rye.”

“You can order whatever you want,” he answered.

Gwen sighed. He was hopeless. A new tie wouldn’t change that.

“I was worried about this,” she said, grabbing her purse off the counter, “so I came prepared.” She rifled through it and pulled out some papers. “Here.”

Zane furrowed his brow as he opened the folded up papers. Gwen hadn’t been on a proper date in over a year, so she wanted to make sure it was a good one. She had done some research online and found a few five-star restaurants in the area.

“I know this one,” Zane said, pointing to the top one.

“How do you know that one?” she asked, looking at him skeptically. He didn’t seem like the type to go to fancy restaurants.

“Draven owns a ski lodge beside it,” he answered. “I know the area, but I’ve never tried the restaurant.”

Gwen stepped beside him and looked at the paper. The restaurant was nestled in the mountains with a beautiful view, and according to the reviews, it had the best steaks in the state. It looked adorable and cozy inside with fancy tables, brick walls, and a roaring fireplace. It was much better than Flo’s Diner.

“Apparently it’s amazing,” she said. “I found it online.”

“Using our Wi-Fi?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

“Please don’t tell Draven,” she said with a nervous grin. “Axel gave me the password in exchange for two carrot muffins.”

Zane laughed. “I would have given it to you for one.”

“So, what do you say?” she asked when he turned back to the paper.

“This is like forty minutes away,” he said as he read it.

Gwen planted her hands on her wide hips and glared at him. “Three-thousand dollars, Zane.”

“Okay, okay,” he said, stuffing the paper into his back pocket. “It sounds perfect.”

Gwen smiled. “It will be.” She checked the windows and back door to make sure they were locked and walked with him outside. “Should we take the penis van or the inconspicuous firetruck?” she asked as she locked the door.

Zane laughed. “How about the pickup truck?”

She grinned. “Sounds good.”

Her stomach rolled with nerves as they walked over her property line to the back of the firehouse where the pickup truck was parked.

“Woo hoo!” Axel catcalled as the boys walked outside to see them off. “Have him home by ten o’clock.”

“You paid three-thousand dollars for this guy?” Jax said with a laugh. “You could have had me for three dollars.”

“I could have had you for three cents,” Gwen called back to him. “Try smiling next time.”

Jax shook his head. “It was all part of my genius plan.”

Gunner laughed as he punched him in the arm. “Was it part of your genius plan to get your ass whooped by Draven after?”

Jax frowned. “Shut up,” he muttered.

“Have fun, beautiful people,” Axel said as they disappeared around the back.

Gwen smiled. They were going to have fun. She paid three-thousand dollars and they would have fun even if she had to force it out of him.

Zane smiled as he opened the passenger door of the pickup truck, stealing one more look at her curves as she stepped inside. She squeezed her clasped hands together with excited energy as she looked around at the spotless interior. It was a new Ford F-150 with leather seats and it actually smelled nice inside. Like rugged mountain men.

Zane’s door swung open and Gwen held her breath as he stepped inside with a smile on his handsome face.

This is going to be fun. She wasn’t going to think about the oven that she still needed to buy with the money she still didn’t have. She was going to focus on the food, the wine, and the company. She desperately needed a night out, and she wasn’t about to ruin it by thinking of her financial problems that would still be there in the morning.

“Were you really going to take me to Flo’s Diner?” she asked as he started the engine and pulled away. Jax, Gunner, and Axel waved to them as they pulled onto the street.

“What’s wrong with Flo’s Diner?” he asked with a shrug.

She laughed. “I should have let the pretty girl with the black hair win,” she said, grinning as she looked out the window. “I would have loved to have seen her face when you took her to Flo’s Diner for her date.”

“She’s not my type,” he said, scrunching his nose up as he looked out the windshield. “Too skinny. I like curves. Lots of them.”

Gwen felt her cheeks get red as she stared forward. Then you’ll definitely like me.

They drove through town, chatting about different things. There was no aggression or fighting like they normally had. It was actually kind of nice. It felt like they had gotten all of that pent-up aggressive energy out of their systems when they had their quick screw the other night, and now they could just relax and be themselves.

“What?” she said with a laugh as she stared at him in disbelief. “You’ve never been on an airplane?”

“Never,” he said, shaking his head. “I leave the flying to Draven.”

“What does that mean?” she asked, tilting her head as she looked at him.

“It’s a… he likes airplanes,” Zane answered, looking flustered. “There’s the restaurant,” he said, pointing down the road to the base of a mountain. It was perfect. Just what Gwen had been hoping for.

The restaurant was in a beautiful log cabin that stretched along the base of the mountain. It was the perfect kind of place to get a hot coffee with Baileys after a day of skiing or to settle in front of the warm fire for a fun first date.

“We’re already here?” Gwen said, staring at it in shock. “That didn’t feel like forty minutes at all.”

She checked the clock and sure enough, it hadn’t been forty minutes, it had been fifty.

“Wait,” Zane said as she grabbed the door handle. “Allow me.”

She smiled as he leapt out of the car and hurried around the hood to her side, opening the door for her like a true gentleman.

It felt so weird to be with Zane and not be fighting. The night is still young, Gwenny. There’s plenty of time left to butt heads.

“That’s Draven’s cabin,” he said, pointing a little ways up the mountain at a cabin hidden by the tall trees. Gwen would never have noticed it if Zane hadn’t pointed it out. Only the chimney and a corner of the brown roof was visible through the top of the forest.

“Did he ever think of cutting some trees down?” she asked, staring up at what little was visible of the cottage. “He would have a better view.”

“He likes his privacy.”

“You’re telling me,” she said with a laugh. “Is there even a road to get up there?”

“Nope,” he said, shaking his head. “Foot only.”

Zane was looking at the tall trees around Draven’s cottage when his face tightened and he stopped walking.

“Coming?” Gwen asked, watching him curiously.

He raised his nose and took a long sniff of the mountain air. “It can’t be,” he mumbled to himself.

“What?” she asked, looking around in confusion.

“Nothing,” he said with a shake of his head. “I thought I smelled some charcoal.”

“Okay,” Gwen said with a laugh. She inhaled through her nose but could only smell the fresh mountain air.

They walked inside and got a nice table by the roaring fireplace. The lighting was warm and dim, with soft romantic music playing quietly throughout the dining room. The tables around them were filled with couples gazing into each other’s love-filled eyes.

Zane ordered a nice bottle of wine, and after looking at the menu for a few minutes, they each ordered their meals. Gwen ordered a maple glazed salmon, and Zane ordered a porterhouse steak cooked blue.

She smiled as she admired his face and how devastatingly handsome he looked in the candlelight. Gwen was convinced that he had never looked so good before. Tonight was surely the peak of his hotness.

“So, where did you grow up?” she asked him as she sipped on the tasty wine. They had dozens of shouting matches over the year and a half since she moved next door to the firehouse, but they really didn’t know too much about each other, beyond how to annoy the other person. That’s what tonight is for. To see if the other night in the kitchen was a fluke or the beginning of something more.

“I grew up in Wyoming with Jax,” he said, looking uncomfortable as he shifted in his seat.

“Really?” she said, jerking her head back. “I didn’t know that. Are you two related?”

Zane shook his head. “Not really, although he is the closest thing to family that I have.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, furrowing her brow.

“We were put in the same orphanage.”

“Oh,” Gwen said as her heart started racing. She had no idea he was an orphan. “I didn’t realize…”

“It’s okay,” Zane said with a shrug. “I’m over it.”

“Did your parents… are they…” Gwen kept stumbling on her words. She didn’t know what to say.

“I don’t have any parents,” Zane said before taking a long sip of wine. “I just have Jax.”

They sat there awkwardly for a moment as a million questions raced through Gwen’s mind.

“What about you?” he finally asked. “Where are you from?”

Gwen told him about her life back in Minnesota and even opened up about her mother and her long fight with cancer. His comforting hand was on hers and her eyes were watering when she finished.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said with a sadness in his eyes. “She sounded like an amazing woman. I wish I could have met her.”

“She was a cool chick,” Gwen said with a laugh. “I think she would have liked you. She loved firemen.”

“Hopefully the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree,” Zane answered with a grin.

The waitress came and dropped off their plates, smiling as she told them to enjoy their meals.

“Wow,” Zane said as he stared down at the huge hunk of meat in front of him. “They don’t have this at Flo’s Diner.”

“No, they don’t,” Gwen said, savoring the smell of her maple glazed salmon. Her mouth was already watering before she even took a bite.

The rest of the meal went well as they talked and shared a lot of laughs. Zane kept making her laugh as he told her all of the crazy antics between the boys at the firehouse. One story had her crying with laughter.

“So, we pull up to the farmhouse, and the roof of the barn is on fire,” he said as Gwen leaned forward, listening intently. “The flames were starting to spread, and the animals were still stuck inside.”

“Oh, no,” Gwen gasped, hanging onto his every word.

“We all leapt out of the truck before Draven could even throw it in park and we ran inside.”

Gwen’s heart was racing as she listened.

“Jax let out the cows, and I grabbed the two horses,” he said, trying to hold back his smile. “And Axel had the pigs. He grabbed two big ones under each arm, but when he turned to run out, he slipped in the mud and fell face first, into a pile of manure.”

Gwen laughed as he continued. “That’s not the worst part. He dropped the pigs, and the male must have liked him because he climbed up on Axel’s head, and started humping his face.”

People at the other tables turned as they both laughed a little too loud. But Gwen couldn’t help it. Maybe it was the wine or the hunky company, but she was letting loose in a way that she hadn’t in a long time. And it felt really nice.

They held each other’s eyes and each other’s hand as their laughter died down. Gwen held her smile as something warm and familiar passed between them. It was the same electric charge that hovered between them the night in her kitchen when Zane first kissed her.

“Any dessert?” the waitress asked, popping out of nowhere.

Gwen jerked her hand back in surprise. She had been so absorbed in Zane’s dark eyes that she didn’t even hear her sneak up to the table.

“Did I scare you?” the waitress asked with a laugh.

Gwen smiled. “A little bit.”

“I want dessert,” Zane said, looking at the waitress and then at her. “Do you?”

Gwen didn’t care about the dessert, but she didn’t want the nice dinner to end. “Definitely.”

They talked some more, having a great time as they shared two different types of cheesecake. They washed it down with some Baileys and coffee, and long before she was ready, it was time to leave. The other tables were long empty, and they were the last two in the restaurant.

Zane took care of the bill, they thanked the waitress, and left.

“That was really fun,” Gwen said with a smile as they faced each other in the parking lot. Her nerve endings tingled as she stood there, hoping he would kiss her.

But Zane seemed distracted. He was staring at the tall trees in the distance with an intensity in his eyes that made Gwen shiver.

He raised his nose in the air and inhaled deeply.

“Why do you keep doing that?” she asked, taking a step back as she looked at him funny. She agreed the mountain air smelled nice, but he didn’t have to be so weird about it. And it wasn’t like he was a city boy who never got to smell fresh mountain air. Colwood was surrounded by it.

“It can’t be,” he whispered as he stared at the side of the mountain.

“It can’t be what?” she asked, looking around nervously.

He pulled his keys out of his pocket and shoved them into her chest without looking back. “Go wait in the car,” he snapped.

“What?” Gwen asked, staring in disbelief as he dropped the keys. They fell with a clank at her feet.

Without warning, he took off running toward the dark forest. Gwen stood there, standing in stunned silence. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me?” she said as she watched him disappear into the trees. “He can’t be serious. I want a refund.”

But he was gone. Running away from her into the forest in the middle of the night.

Did he actually just run away from me? She still couldn’t believe it.

Worst neighbor ever? No. Worst date ever.