After barely a quarter mile on the trail, he could already feel the sweat as it started to pool at the small of his back.

And it’s not even that hot out, he thought.

But Cade knew what it was—Lily, just a few steps ahead of him. And how her ass swayed in a hypnotic motion. He couldn’t tear his eyes away, and she’d already caught him once.

Or at least he thought she had. When she’d turned around to ask him whether he wanted the longer or shorter route at the fork, he couldn’t see her eyes beneath the gold-trimmed aviators.

“Longer,” he’d said without pause.

Looking wasn’t so bad, right? He could hear the slight tremor in his voice, but she smiled at his response and didn’t seem to notice.

“ … especially this time of year,” Lily called over her shoulder.

“Sorry, what?” he asked. Get it together.

“I said I’m glad we got to take advantage of one of the few sunny days,” she said.

“Oh, yeah. It’s great,” he said.

Cade couldn’t help it. His eyes wandered from the swell of her ass, barely contained in the tight black leggings, to her shapely thighs.

She might as well be naked. It didn’t take much to imagine.

In some places, the curve of her cheeks and the flare of her hips, he could even see a touch of skin as it shone through the stretchy material. Cade searched for an outline of underwear, but found nothing.

Those gorgeous legs, he thought. Attached to a gorgeous body, and gorgeous face.

“ … think so?” Her voice broke through to him, and he realized she’d turned to him again.

Cade cleared his throat as embarrassment flooded him.

“Yeah,” he said. He didn’t know what he’d agreed to, but she smiled again.

Right answer. You got lucky, he scolded himself. Can’t you keep it together for an hour?

The path widened, and Lily moved to the edge of the trail to make room for him. Side by side, it was a little easier to avoid the distraction. But here, he could smell her, that familiar perfume or soap that she’d worn even when they’d been together that one time.

“I know I’m from here and everything, but I’m always amazed how beautiful this place is.”

“The park?”

“Oregon!” she said with a laugh. “But yeah, this particular trail, too. It’s crazy how green it is, even after the winter.”

“Evergreen,” he said. “That’s the thing about the Pacific Northwest. All the pines. It’s kind of like Montana, but a different type of green.”

He heard that he was babbling, but it was better than getting caught checking out her ass and legs over and over.

It’s okay if you want her, he told himself. Hell, it’s even okay that she knows you think she’s hot. Just don’t cross that line, he reminded himself.

That seemed simple enough. But if it’s so simple, what am I doing out here in the woods alone with her?

“I wish EJ could have come,” she said.

“Why? Am I not good company?” he asked.

Damn, and EJ. If EJ ever found out about us, or how I think about her …

“Well, your conversation skills could use a brushing up today,” she said with a smirk. “But I’ll let it slide since this whole thing was kind of sprung on you. Thanks for coming, though,” she added quickly. “I don’t want it to sound like your company is a consolation prize or something like that.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m glad it was sprung on me. But about EJ, how do you think he’s doing?” he asked.

“What do I think?” Lily glanced up at him. “Fine, I guess. I mean, I think we’re all handling Dad’s death in our own ways, but he seems as okay as could be expected.”

“That’s good,” Cade said. “And what about, you know, the whole love life…”

“I figured you’d know more about that than me,” she said with a shrug. “I mean, boy talk and all. It’s not like I sit around and compare notes with my brothers.”

“That’s not what I mean,” he said quickly. “Back, you know, a few years ago. He was dating this one girl—”

“You mean Courtney?” she asked sharply. “Yeah, she was a real—well, she crushed his heart for sure. Let’s just put it that way.”

“Damn, he never told me that,” Cade said. “I mean, they were together awhile. And then I left for Montana and on social media at least, one day all the photos he had of her just disappeared. I should have called him.”

“You shouldn’t have,” Lily said. “He was a mess for awhile about that, but you know how he is. Just about spent three hours in the gym every day for a few weeks, and that was it. Actually, EJ’s whole breakup wasn’t the worst of it.”

“What do you mean?”

They reached the crest of a small rolling hill and entered a patch of sunshine that broke through the tree canopies overhead.

“Well, it’s not like Aiden’s been an angel. He started getting around quite a bit when you left. Maybe he was after your local title, I dunno,” she said.

He glanced at her guiltily, but she nudged him playfully in the arm. “I’m kidding. About the title thing, but he did have two pregnancy scares in three days. With two different girls, obviously.”

“Are you serious? He never told me that!”

“Well, you were in Montana,” she said with a shrug. “And he wasn’t exactly bragging about it. He about lost half his hair from the stress.”

“And neither were, well, you know…”

“Pregnant? No,” she said. “It was actually kind of funny, the circumstances. It was hard not to laugh at him.”

“How come?” Cade heard bark chips crunch beneath their feet as ferns brushed softly against his calves.

It really is beautiful, he thought.

But he couldn’t tell if it was just that Lily had brought his attention to it, or if it was being here with her.

“Well, one of the girls was pregnant. Five months pregnant.”

“What? So wait, is Aiden—”

“No,” she said. “He’s not a dad. The girl didn’t look pregnant at all, and apparently didn’t know she was pregnant. Aiden had only been fooling around with her for about six weeks.”

“So whose baby was it?”

“No clue,” she said with a shrug. “But he’s just glad it wasn’t his.”

“Yikes.”

“Yeah. The whole thing slowed Aiden down, though. Both him and Elijah were off the market for almost a year. It was pretty great, actually,” she said. Lily raised her head skyward and let another patch of sun shine down on her skin. “A lot of brother and sister and brother time. That was two years ago.”

“I guess your father’s death probably had a pretty negative effect on their dating lives, too.”

“Yeah,” she said softly. “It certainly hasn’t been a priority, that’s for sure.”

He thought she blushed slightly, but couldn’t tell.

“I didn’t mean you,” he said quickly.

“I know,” she said with a small smile. “But it seems like dating really isn’t our family’s thing. Although, I did see Aiden with a girl a few days ago, and I swear Elijah has to be seeing someone. So maybe they’re back on the prowl.”

She hitched her backpack up higher and rested her hands on either strap.

“Why do you say that?”

“Because he’s never home. And when I call him, nine times out of ten he sounds like… like his voice is muffled. You know?”

“Huh,” Cade said. Neither Elijah or Aiden had said anything at all about that at the firehouse.

Not like you’ve really asked, he reminded himself.

He’d been so caught up in his own situation, getting stuck with a shrink instead of actually fighting fires, that he’d taken his friends’ support for granted. Cade felt shame wash over him as he thought back over the past couple of weeks.

Why did I think I could come back and everything would be just like it was when I left? They rounded a bend in comfortable silence, and Cade heard a bubbling trickle.

“Hey, you hear that?”

“Oh! We’re almost to my favorite waterfall,” Lily said. She picked up her pace. “I wasn’t sure if it would be active, since we’ve had such a dry spring. Come on!”

She grabbed his hand and pulled him off the main trail toward a deserted path. Cade held his breath and willed himself not to think about her skin on his. Or how it made his heart start to beat something wild through his entire body.

Lily stopped short at a ledge and sucked in her breath. She rested her hands on a low, stony wall that looked like it hadn’t been maintained in decades.

“Look,” she whispered, and nodded down. Twenty feet below was a cove framed in moss. Water poured into it from rocks and fallen logs to pool together in a natural swimming hole.

“You aren’t scared of getting wet, are you?” Lily asked with a grin.

“Wait, what?” he asked. “Are you crazy? It’s—”

“Don’t be a baby,” she said as she slipped off her backpack. Lily dropped the bag and began to inch her way down the slope with a hand on the ledge.

Cade took off his own pack and followed close behind. Sprays of water to the face were reminders to keep his eyes on where he was going—not on Lily’s body that was even easier to admire without the backpack.

“Jesus,” he said as he felt a foot slip beneath him. He regained traction and steadied himself.

How was she doing this?

A dozen steps later he reached the bottom, but she was nowhere in sight.

“Lily?” he called. “Come on, this isn’t funny.”

“I’m in here,” she said, and he squinted. The outline of her body was barely visible in the alcove.

“What is this?” he asked.

Inside, it was surprisingly dry. Quaint, even. The stone wall ended in a bench with room for maybe four people.

“My secret place,” she said with a smile. Lily ran her hands through her damp hair, but the short locks had already started to dry. She patted the seat next to her. “Cool, huh?”

As he sat, he realized her white t-shirt was almost transparent. Through a pink bra, her nipples were hard.

“Oh,” she said, and crossed her arms, embarrassed.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t—”

“Jean-Michel got these t-shirts as a joke for everyone at the bakery one year. It’s stupid.”

“It’s fine,” he said with a smile. He hadn’t even seen what the shirt said, but at least she didn’t realize what he’d really been staring at. “And yeah, this place is awesome.”

She laughed and relaxed. Lily scooted closer and Cade felt himself sit up straighter.

“See there?” she asked, and pointed to the exit of the cave. “In the summer, you can see …”

Cade tried to listen, but all he could focus on was her. How close she was, how the dampness of her skin made her glow. That she smelled like strawberries, and how she had an adorable cowlick that stuck up on one side.

Before he could stop himself, he reached out to touch the tendril. Lily grew quiet, but she didn’t move away.

What will one taste hurt?

Cade bent toward her and she lifted her mouth to his, an offering. Lily’s arms wrapped around his waist, pulled him closer. Close enough that he felt her breasts press against his chest and those nipples rub against him. He hardened instantly as a growl erupted from deep within his chest.

As one of his hands cradled her head, the other wandered to her waist. The dampness of her t-shirt clung tight to her skin. As he inched his hand underneath, he was shocked by how warm her stomach was. He made his way to her breasts, grazed a thumb across her nipple through the thin satin fabric.

“Fucking waterfall, dude.” The voices of approaching hikers made them both freeze.

In the darkness of the alcove, he couldn’t tell if the look in Lily’s eyes was fear, embarrassment, or intrigue.

Maybe all three.

“Shit,” she said, and tugged down her shirt.

As she scrambled to make it look like nothing had happened, he couldn’t figure out if the hikers had just ruined his hookup, or saved him from making a terrible mistake.

Another terrible mistake, he reminded himself.

What the hell is wrong with me? Usually after he’d had a girl, all interest was lost. So what’s the deal? Why does Lily have this hold on me?

Lily led the way out of the alcove, and he squinted into the sunlight. As they passed the hikers, a group of teenagers, he gave a cursory nod to the one who made eye contact.

The silence lasted fifteen minutes before Lily broke it. “So about what happened back there—”

“Forget it,” he said and cut her off.

Something in his voice must have warned her to listen. Neither said a word all the way back to the car.