“I just want to get out of here,” I said with a sigh.

I didn’t understand where all of my anger was stemming from, but I was having a difficult time processing my emotions about Blake’s sudden reappearance.

“At least let me get the door for you,” he said in an apologetic voice.

He was being perfectly pleasant. Why was I behaving so bitchy towards him? Was I just working through the animosity of the fact that he left me behind to pursue a different life without me? A life he never even talked about with me. But could I hardly blame him? He just assumed I was happily married when he left. He couldn’t have known that my entire marriage was just a sham under the surface.

He didn’t leave me on purpose. Besides, we had never been exclusive with each other way back then. It was just a hit-or-miss fling we had, mostly when it was convenient for each other. But who was I fooling? Every time with Blake was a hit. It had been all about the sex at the time. It was about purging our toxins and coming together to vent our frustrations about our lives.

I had loved having sex with Blake back then. He was a good fuck, plain and simple. He was handsome and built with a tough and masculine athlete’s body. He knew all the ways to pleasure me in the most intense ways, and he never missed the mark back then.

Now here he was, still looking as smolderingly sexy as ever, standing in front of my car window with expectant, intoxicating eyes.

As soon as he opened the car door though, I climbed inside and slammed it shut again. I cranked the engine and glared at him. He rapped his knuckles against the glass. Why was he acting so patient with me when I was clearly becoming a basket case and unraveling in front of him?

“What?” I asked as I rolled down the power window. I was flat out shivering now.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go to my house and get out of those wet clothes?” He offered again with a twinkle in his eye. “I promise to leave you alone. I just can’t stand here and not offer. It would be rude not to give you the option to take a warm shower and put on dry clothes.”

I glanced at my bag on the floor of the passenger seat. I had an extra set of clothes in there. I looked back at him, pondering in my head about what I should do. Of course, my heart and my mind were in trouble no matter what decision I made in the end.

“I might also point out that your lips are turning blue,” he said. His features were etched in concern. “You don’t want hypothermia…”

He was selling his case, and he knew it was working on me, but I still felt like I had to succumb given the circumstances.

“Fine,” I grumbled. “Get in.” I nudged my chin in the direction of the passenger seat.

I couldn’t help but think there was a subtle hint of a smile on Blake’s lips. Of course, he would be smitten with getting me back to his house.

“You are bossy, you know,” he teased as he walked around to the other side of the car.

“I have to be if I want to get anywhere in life,” I told him bluntly. I had to learn that lesson the hard way over the years with my parents, with my ex…with damn near everyone.

Blake climbed into the car beside me. His legs were so large and long that they touched the glove compartment. He used the controls on the side of the seat to adjust the space to his liking. I inhaled deeply. He smelled like pine and earth. He ran a hand through his dampened hair.

“You’ll want to go that way,” he instructed. Blake pointed down a dirt path that appeared to be curvy and cloaked in trees. As we drove, I never lost sight of the lake and the deep purples over it as evening began to crest.

“How far is your house?” I asked as I navigated down the trail.

“Only about a mile or so. My house is on this same lake.”

“It is?”

“Yeah,” he said. “It's across the clearing. Can you see it?” He leaned forward, pointing out the windshield.

After a few seconds, a log cabin came into view. “I can’t believe that your house was so close to where I was doing my photo shoot.” I was dumbfounded by the coincidence.

“Me either.” Blake sounded as perplexed as I felt inside. “Like I said. Fate maybe?”

“So,” I said and tried to keep my voice as evenly casual as possible. “How long have you been staying out here?”

Blake glanced at me. “You mean in the woods?”

“For the lack of a better term, yes.” I chuckled.

“I’ve been out here a while.”

“Sometimes society can be overrated.”

“Don’t get me wrong. It has nothing to do with the brief shame that stemmed from my parent’s losing everything they built. I just kind of found myself while working in the Navy. You don’t actually think I’m cut off from society, do you?”

I shrugged. “To be honest, I have no idea. I drove here this morning, checked into my hotel, and came right out to work. I was supposed to have some proofs to the client this evening, but now I’ll have to send them an email explaining why I don’t have anything.”

“Sorry I scared you,” he said.

“It really wasn’t your fault at all. I shouldn’t have been on private property. Guess I need to learn to read.”

“Or maybe I just need to put more signs out.”

Blake glanced out the window. There was an exhaustive silence between us that made me sizzle. I secretly wondered if he would tell me to pull over so that he could kiss me again. Half of my heart was beating for that to happen, but it didn’t.

I took a deep breath. “Where to now?”

“Just that way.” He pointed to the left. “This path meets with my driveway by my garage.”

I laughed. “Did you pave it yourself?”

He shook his head. “No, but I had them map out the garage placement so that the road would be conveniently close to the path.”

I studied him. “Exactly how much of this land do you actually own?”

“In this area?” Blake asked me. He let out a long sigh. “I own about seventy acres out here.”

I was astonished. I felt my jaw slacken as I stared at him. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am.” He looked strangely proud in that moment. “The lake was an added bonus and the icing on the cake that made me buy.”

“You can park your car right here.” There was a gravel area next to a concrete driveway.

I pulled in as he directed. We were officially at his log cabin and it was gorgeous. It had dozens of windows offering panoramic views of the wilderness and lake surrounding the property. There was a chimney on the side of the house with smoke billowing from the top. For privacy, many large trees with overhanging leafy branches shaded the area.

“There’s smoke coming out of the fireplace. Is someone else home?”

“No, it’s just me.”

“Your home is so big.”

“Yeah, I was able to see your SUV from across the tree line. That’s why I went out to the dock to investigate. I don’t normally get any cars going through this area unless I invite them first. No one but my close friends and family know where my cabin is so that's why I was confused. I didn’t recognize your car, obviously.”

“Oh. Right.” I nodded. “Sorry about that. If I had known…”

“There’s no need to apologize.”

I felt a small stab of resentment that I wasn’t part of his close friends and family circle, but then again, why should I be? I hadn’t seen him in years until now. I guessed I was so out of touch with reality right now because I still felt like Blake was just a dream that I had created in the private crevices in my mind. I had to take a moment to wonder if I was so desperately lonely out there on my own that my brain had no choice but to conjure up happy memories in order to cope.

“Have you been out here since your time with the Navy?” I asked, wondering if he had trouble adjusting back to the real world after being in the military.

Maybe this felt safest to him, being out here where no one could hurt him or bother him. Suddenly I wished had my own refuge to run off to as well.

“I spent most of my eight years overseas and in other countries,” he said. “Now and then between my tours, I’d scout out places that I wouldn’t mind living in. The Arizona mountains were one of them. I bought the house before my eight years was up. A good friend of mine was renting out a room before I officially moved in though. So, yeah, it took me a while to get to this level and then trying to create multiple streams of income. I’d hate to turn out like my mom and pops.”

“You have other income streams?” I swiveled in my seat to face him.

“I’ve been a part of a few start-ups in the tech world, mostly sports merchandise marketing. I have a few big-name clients, but I try not to take on too many.”

“Wow.” Even I couldn’t hide the surprise in my voice. I was impressed. “It sounds like you’ve been quite successful.”

“If you want to call it that.” Blake still wouldn’t meet my gaze. He humbly shrugged.

“So, you must have amassed quite a fortune,” I said.

I knew that I was probably crossing an invisible line, but Blake and I went way back. I felt like I had room to pry a little bit, but if I needed to, I would know when it was time to ease back.

Blake gave me a sideways glance and chuckled. “What does that matter?”

“It doesn’t.” I swallowed hard, trying to recover.

I was just trying to imagine Blake with stacks of cash. He had grown up on the other side of the tracks, so to speak. I knew that growing up, money had been tight for his family. I was just trying to catch up to the present. It was a lot to take in. I had a lot to process. It wasn’t like I cared how much money he had in his wallet. I was just surprised at his success, albeit happy for him.

Blake put his hand on the door handle and clutched it. “Shall we go inside?”

“I’d like that,” I said. “I think I am froze to the core.”

Blake laughed. “Me too.”

As we walked up to his garage and approached the door, Blake punched a set of numbers into a pad on the side panel and the door began to slowly creak open.

“So,” I began. “Have you gone back to your roots any since I last saw you?” I asked.

“What do you mean?” He asked over his shoulder as he beckoned me to follow him through a set of antique muscle cars, four wheelers and motor cross looking bikes.

“I don’t know,” I said and absentmindedly trailed my index finger across one four-wheeler as I passed it. “Football? Are you still into that sport? I remembered that you had recruiters practically lining up at your front door begging you to come to their school and play for them.”

Blake chuckled as if he were humored by my statement. “It wasn’t exactly like that.”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” I told him. “You were amazing in high school. You had incredible talent. Everyone knew that. It didn’t go unnoticed.”

“Well, thank you.” Blake stopped walking and turned around to give me a handsome smile that made my insides feel like they might melt and puddle to the floor.

“Even though I didn’t choose that path to go down, I’m still engaged in the sport. I couldn’t leave it completely.” His eyes glazed over with nostalgia. “I loved it too much. I still do.” He smiled as he stared off into space.

“Do you play for a rec league on the weekends or something?” I asked. “It looks like you hit up the gym or something. You’re in good shape.”

“No, but I coach.”

“You do?” I raised my eyebrows. “I’m so happy to hear that.”

“Yeah.” Blake nodded as we stood in the middle of his garage. He leaned on one of his golf carts. “I’m a coach for a local high school team. I love every minute of it. It’s a wild ride. I love those kids. They put their heart and souls into the game. They have more spirit than I ever remembered having. They would do anything to get out there and play. It’s a rush and a thrill just watching them out there on the field. It’s pretty rewarding.”

“That’s nice,” I said and smiled.

Blake looked at me. “I don’t do it for money either. I do it to make a difference in those kids lives. Some of them don’t have male role models to look up to. I want to be there for those in need because I felt the same way growing up.” He glanced at his boots. “I wished I had been given a male figure in my life back then. I mean, I had my dad, but with his drunken rants, guidance was limited.”

“Do they not pay you?” I frowned. “But I’m glad that you’re giving back to the community. It sounds like you did pretty well for yourself considering what you say you lacked as a kid.”

“Thanks,” Blake said and shifted his weight. “They do pay me, but I put most of it back into the school and the sports program.”

I smiled, but inside I was worried. I was treading over dangerous territory with Blake. He was so gorgeous. An absolute killer sight of eye candy to ogle over. But he was also charitable and good with kids. He seemed like the total package. My heart was doing backflips and cartwheels, kind of like it did when we used to meet up in high school. I was vulnerable, and I was in trouble.

We had a significant amount of catching up to do, but suddenly standing next to him, I felt sizably inadequate.