JADE
The next morning, I was still pondering how a family as poor as mine had suddenly come into massive amounts of money.
After getting up before sunrise, I’d thrown the things I’d need in a backpack and hit the road for the forty-minute drive into the backcountry.
My family story was convoluted, but also pretty simple. All of my full siblings and I shared a father with the powerful and super-rich Sinclair family from the East Coast. But we’d never known that until very recently.
I slowed down as I turned off the main highway.
I pulled onto the rough road to the small cabin on the property. There were enough bunk beds in the rustic structure for everybody, but students had the option of pitching tents or building their own shelters if they chose.
After I parked my Jeep, I unloaded some supplies and checked out the cabin. Although I encouraged foraging and trapping, I always made sure to have enough basic food so students didn’t starve.
I sat on the wooden steps and took a deep breath, relaxing to the sounds of the birds and the feel of a light breeze that caressed my skin.
I opened the book I’d brought along, the latest from my favorite erotic romance writer. The reading material was one of my secret pleasures, maybe because I’d never been overwhelmed by lust for any man, but I loved to read about the possibility.
I was mostly a realist, but I loved the fantasy of some hot guy sweeping me off my feet.
Other than a boyfriend in college who had used me to help him get his degree and then disappeared after graduation without a word, I’d never been in a sexual relationship.
Honestly, my ex hadn’t exactly rocked my world. But I liked to think that love and lust existed.
Brooke had always accused me of being a closet romantic. And maybe she was right. As a scientist, believing in soulmates, love, and unbridled lust didn’t make much sense. But I couldn’t stop myself from wanting to believe it was real anyway.
It had happened for my twin, and Brooke deserved the love she had with Liam. Her capacity to care about other people was endless.
A sigh escaped from my mouth as I started reading the scene I’d left off on the last time I’d picked up the book.
It was hot.
It was sensual.
And even though the male hero was an obnoxious alpha sometimes, I adored the way he wanted to give his woman everything and protect her from anything bad in the world, and how incredibly devoted he was to the woman he loved.
I paused after completing the scene, wondering if any male on Earth was really that involved in a female’s pleasure. I knew the one guy in my life hadn’t been. In fact, he got the deed over with as quickly as possible, which meant the moment he’d had his orgasm.
Doubtful most guys care if the female climaxes.
But the fantasy was something I didn’t really want to give up.
So what if I could take care of myself?
There was some tiny place inside me that wanted a man who cared about . . . me.
“Hello, Jade,” a smooth baritone said from above me, the deep voice startling me so much I instinctively slammed the book closed.
Even though I loved steamy romance, I didn’t exactly broadcast it, except to my friends who read the same type of books.
Unfortunately, I’d gotten so lost in the hot fairy tale that I obviously hadn’t heard my first student arrive.
I shaded my eyes and looked up, curious because the voice was familiar, but I was pretty sure that since I lusted after Eli Stone, I was hearing that whiskey-smooth baritone voice only in my imagination.
My heart skittered as I focused in on the face belonging to the sexy male voice.
It was Eli Stone, and I gaped at him like an idiot because I couldn’t seem to reconcile him and being out in the middle of nowhere.
I scrambled to my feet, feeling at a disadvantage because I was so far below him. But the position change didn’t help all that much. I was average height, and Eli Stone was all muscle—broad, tall, and pretty damn intimidating, even though he was casually dressed in jeans, a T-shirt that only showed how ripped he was, and a pair of hiking boots.
For just a moment, my eyes were drawn to the dark scrolls and sharp angles of the tribal tattoo that covered his left arm, ending at his wrist. The markings were a stark black against his tanned skin, and the ferociousness of the design left me speechless.
I wasn’t into tats, and I’d seen Eli’s in images many times, but there was something about those markings that made my heart lodge in my throat. They were fierce, but for some reason they only made me feel . . . sadness.
“What are you doing here?” I finally asked hesitantly as my gaze went back to his face.
He folded his muscular arms in front of him as he answered, “You didn’t seem to want to come to me, so I’m coming to you. I’m your student for the next thirty-two hours or so, Jade.”
I might not have been fond of Eli Stone, but his presence was still a little bit overwhelming.
Okay, maybe more than a little bit.
It had been so long since I’d seen Eli in person that I’d started to tell myself that I’d overestimated the tension that had flowed between us in his office.
But I really hadn’t.
My body was taut just from being in close proximity to him, and the hypervigilant awareness I felt when I looked at him was very, very real.
The feelings were so powerful that I couldn’t focus on anything else but him.
I didn’t understand it.
But I was truly experiencing it.
The same awkward, potent attraction I’d fought in his office months ago.
I swallowed hard, my brain working to figure out exactly how I could get rid of Eli Stone before I made a complete and total fool of myself.