It had been a month. A long fucking cold month trapped up in the mountains. Ok, it wasn’t a trap, but some days it felt like it. He knew he could leave anytime he wanted, but that wasn’t the point of seclusion. It wasn’t the agreement. And he wasn’t the kind of man to break his word, no matter the circumstances.

There were demons chasing them back in Denver. He and Lee agreed the only way to escape the scandals and the corporate entanglements was to separate themselves from StarCon Global for an extended period of time. But thirty days in and Tyler didn’t know how much longer he could take it. He had agreed to three full months, and one had already driven him crazy. How did Lee stay so calm all the time?

His best friend seemed to fucking love it. He had a beard that grew in overnight. The man was jacked. He had cut more firewood than they could possibly burn in the cabin’s ten fireplaces.

He had learned how to ice fish in the pond. He hiked and hunted. And at one point Tyler thought he was sharpening knives to whittle long pieces of wood. He was a genuine mountain man in every way.

And that’s why Tyler did what he did. The woods didn’t appeal to him like they did to Lee. He needed more excitement. He needed something to preoccupy him and keep his mind off of the shit at StarCon.

It made sense. He finally agreed to let Niall McIntosh settle his debt.

He looked out the window in from his study. Lee was in the yard, stacking wood next to the fire pit. Tyler grabbed his heavy coat and stomped out into the snow.

“What’s this?” he pointed to the stones.

“Rebuilt the pit,” Lee explained.

Tyler nodded. “Hey, I need to talk to you about something.”

“Why don’t you chop and talk?” Lee handed him an ax.

“Do we really need more wood?”

Lee grunted.

Tyler swung the ax instead of arguing. The wood split evenly. It felt good, watching it splinter and slice so easily. His muscles were tense and tight. He needed this kind of exercise. He raised the ax over his head and spilt the next piece. He grinned.

“Not bad.” Lee examined his work. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

“I know we’re not supposed to have interviews, but we have one on the way,” he explained.

Lee looked up from arranging the stones in a circle. “What the fuck, man?”

“The house is big enough for an army. You won’t even know she’s here.”

“She?” His eyes bulged. “Seriously? No women. Not happening. Take her to town. You can drive somewhere if you need to get laid. I don’t care what you do, but she’s not coming here.”

Tyler let the ax fall heavy to the next log. It crunched as it severed it in half. He watched as the two sides hit the ground with a bounce and thud. Lee didn’t seem to understand.

“I think you’ll see this differently in a few hours.”

They continued to cut wood and prep the stone fire pit. Neither one of them talking for what seemed like hours.

Tyler stacked the last log from his stack. “I’ve got to go in and get ready. She’ll be here soon. Join me for the meeting. I can fill you in on the details.”

“Fill me in now.”

It was starting to get dark. She’d be here soon.

“Look. Niall McIntosh is sending her. He owed me.”

“McIntosh?” He sounded surprised. Tyler stared at the bits of snow and ice gathered in his friend’s beard.

“Yeah. I know he’s a bastard, but he lost a serious bet. And he finally had a way to pay it off. I thought the timing was perfect.”

“In the middle of going off the grid? Why in the hell would you open us up to an outsider? Especially one we can’t trust. He’s not someone I want to know our location.”

“He doesn’t and he won’t. I’m handling the transportation. Niall has no clue where we are.”

“And what about the woman? Who’s to say she won’t run her mouth? If she’s one of Niall’s girls, she’s as untrustworthy as he is. This is a bad plan. Just wait until you’re back in the city. Then you can deal with him how you want to. Leave me out it. And don’t fuck up the cabin with a woman here. I like things the way they are.”

Tyler placed the ax off to the side. “I’m going to get cleaned up. I think you need to do the same. She’ll be here soon. It’s been a while since we’ve shared a woman. Don’t you think it’s time?”

Lee shook his head. “The timing is off.”

Tyler laughed. “You need to look in the mirror, brother. The timing couldn’t be better. You need a woman. And if there’s two things we know how to do well, it’s make millions and fuck a woman properly.”

He shoved his gloved hands into his pockets. “I’ll see you in my study in an hour.”

He walked inside, hoping like hell he had reached his friend. He didn’t think two more months here would do anything other than rob Lee of his humanity. With each day he was retreating more and more into the wilderness.

He had no idea who the woman was other than a picture he had seen of her, but he fucking hoped she would be the one to save them both.