Sarah awoke the next morning feeling much more like herself.

She dressed, ate a muffin sitting at the kitchen island, and headed out again.

The town of Asheville was so inviting by day. She wished she could come back with Orson and Mandy one day to shop at the galleries and drink coffee at one of the quaint cafes. But that would probably be a stupid move if she didn’t want to bump into Max Reynolds again.

The winding road carried her past the autumn vistas once again, at last depositing her back in the gravel lot overlooking the river.

She took a deep breath and got out of the car, smoothing her dress over her hips and running her fingers through her hair just once.

She jogged up the steps, trying to ignore the two rocking chairs that seemed to mock her.

She opened the door to find Max standing by the front desk, an iPad in his hand.

“Good morning,” he said, his voice back to the warm husky growl she remembered from last year.

“Good morning,” she replied.

She stared openly at him for a moment, taking in the tight jeans, t-shirt and flannel stretched across his wide shoulders.

Damn.

This was the man she remembered all right.

His dark eyes slowly scanned her sweater and jeans down to her suede boots and she felt her cheeks burn.

“Is Angela here?” she asked quickly.

“Yeah, she’s waiting for you,” he replied, inclining his head toward his own office.

“Great,” Sarah said crisply.

“Come on in,” a sweet contralto voice said from inside the office.

Sarah entered and the woman behind the desk rose.

“I’m Angela,” she said. “Max said you wanted to speak with me.”

Angela was tall and slender with long brown hair. She wore no make-up and her white cotton blouse was tucked into a pair of high-waisted jeans.

She still managed to look glamorous as hell.

Sarah tried not to feel completely deflated. She should be happy for Max that he had a beautiful and down-to-earth girlfriend. She should want Orson’s father to be happy.

“Hi Angela, I’m Sarah,” she said. “I just wanted to meet you since you’ve got a big stake in the company I’ll be counting on to harvest my trees one day.”

“Please sit down,” Angela said.

They both took their seats.

“I’m not sure if Max told you very much about me,” Angela said, eyebrows raised slightly.

Sarah shook her head.

“Well, we’ve known each other since we were kids,” Angela explained. “This opportunity to work together was too good to pass up, but I would be lying if I tried to tell you that I have expertise in the industry. Max is teaching me the ropes as I go.”

“I see,” Sarah said.

“But I hope that by the time your trees are mature I’ll be a bigger help to you, Sarah,” Angela said. “If you’d like, Max and I can take another walking tour of the property with you today.”

Sarah tried to think on her feet.

On the one hand the last thing she wanted to do was be a third wheel on a couples hike with these two.

On the other, she’d been planning to visit her land on the way out anyway. And she’d been wishing she had Max’s expertise to navigate it like last time.

“I’d like that very much,” she said, deciding to put common sense over petty jealousy.

“Oh great,” Angela said, hopping out of her seat. “Max, let’s go for a ride.”

They exited the office and Max led the way out the front door and onto the porch while Sarah tried not to stare at the perfect ass filling out his jeans.

“Nice view, huh?” Angela asked.

For one horrible moment Sarah thought she had been caught checking out the other woman’s guy.

Then she realized that Angela was gazing out over the river.

“Uh, yeah,” Sarah said quickly. “It’s amazing.”

“We’re so lucky,” Angela said. “There’s so little unspoiled beauty left in the world.”

Angela might as well be talking about herself. Sarah felt as dolled up as a Miss America contestant in comparison to Angela’s simple elegance.

She was surprised when Max held open the front passenger side door of the black SUV for her, but she figured the client must get automatic “shotgun”.

“Oh, shoot,” Angela said, looking at her phone.

“What’s up?” Max asked.

“Dad,” Angela said. “He needs me.”

“Go,” Max said. “I’ve got Sarah.”

“No, no,” Angela said. “This is a good chance for me to get a little experience.”

“Nah,” Max said. “You’ll catch the next one, go see your Dad. Tell him I sent my love.”

“Thanks, Max,” Angela said, smiling a relieved smile. “I hope we’ll meet again, Sarah.”

“Me, too,” Sarah replied. “It was nice to meet you.”

Angela jogged over to a hybrid sedan on the other side of the lot.

“She seems really nice,” Sarah told Max sincerely.

He got an odd look on his face.

“Yeah,” he said brusquely. “You ready?”

She nodded and got into the SUV.

Max closed her door and went over to his side.

The car was clean inside. A single paper coffee cup shared the console with a pair of sunglasses and a weathered looking metal flashlight.

Max hopped in and started the car.

It had all happened so fast, that she’d barely registered the fact that she was about to spend the day alone with him. Emotions warred inside her. She knew nothing would come of it, but she couldn’t help but remember the last time they’d hiked these woods together. Or what they’d done after.

She felt the color rise in her cheeks.

Sarah turned and looked out the window, trying to keep her cool. It wasn’t easy with his big body next to hers, muscles moving under that flannel as he threw an arm casually over her headrest to back up.

It was going to be a long day.