Bowie turned and reached for Katie, but the spot where she had been curled up beside him was empty and cold.

“Katie?” he called. “Where are you?” He stilled and listened, hoping to hear movement from somewhere in the house, but it was silent.

He lifted his leg into the air and flexed it. Mornings were the worst. After the time he’d spent on his knees cradled between her thighs, he expected his body to scream at him, but the opposite was true. Rather than feel like his leg was cast in stone, he had the range of motion he’d only dreamed about. Sure, the muscle was sore, but in a good way.

He rolled out of bed and into yesterday’s jeans, tugging them up his legs. After a glorious night of passion and pleasure, he should have felt buoyant, but heaviness weighed him down. She was gone.

He checked the house for her, hoping maybe she was in the shower or on the back deck, but she was gone.

He plodded to the kitchen and popped a K-cup in the coffeemaker. While it filled the room with a comforting smell, Bowie was anything but comforted. He thought about the woman who had called out his name all night long. Each time she said “Yes” or “More” or “So good” or “Bowie”, the wall he’d erected to protect his heart had cracked and then crumbled. By the time they fell asleep, his emotions were raw and bared. Everyone around him said Katie was special.

He couldn’t pinpoint why that was true, but it was. There was an odd mix of strength and vulnerability to her.

He picked up his coffee and held it to his lips. The clock on the stove read six in the morning. He thought of the bakery. Not in the sad way he’d always remembered it, but in a utilitarian sense. She hadn’t left him alone in bed because she wanted to. She left him because she had to. That made the sting of waking up alone less painful. He only wished she’d woken him to give her a ride.

The front door opened, and in walked Cannon. His hair stuck up in every direction.

“Why are you up so early?” Bowie asked.

“Hans is in town, and we’re going fishing.” He swept past him and started a cup of coffee. “Do you remember him?”

Bowie laughed. “Exchange student that knocked up the Paisley girl so he could stay in the country? I remember him. He’s still around?”

“Yep. He planted a lot of seeds around town. He’s almost as bad as Bobby for breeding, except Bobby plants his seeds into the same garden plot, whereas Hans likes a lot of different plots of land.”

“What’s wrong with these guys? I’ve got one word—condom.”

Cannon’s coffee sputtered to a finish before he brought the steaming cup up to his lips for a drink. After a satisfied sigh, he said, “Speaking of condoms … was that Katie I saw leaving this morning?”

Bowie would not feed his brother any information that could be used against him. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.” He turned and looked out the kitchen window. A slight breeze moved the pine needles back and forth.

“All right. If that’s how you want to play this, it’s fine.” Cannon walked over to Bowie. Side by side, their shoulders touched while both men looked forward. “Just wanted you to know I approve. She’s perfect for you.”

Bowie’s throat tightened. His body went rigid. “You got it wrong.” Although he said the words out loud, each one tasted like the lie it was. Katie was perfect for him, but was he perfect for her? How could she settle for so little when she deserved so much more?

“Maybe, but I saw you last night. I’ve only seen you that way with one girl.”

“Those guys were assholes.”

“They are assholes. The same assholes that just extended their trip for two more days. Why do you think I’m staying with Sage?”

Bowie laughed. “Because you get laid? Because she feels good in your arms at night? Because you’re in love with her?”

Cannon gave him a you’ve-got-me-there look. “Guilty of everything.”

“Just marry the girl and get it over with. You and I both know time waits for no man.” Bowie walked away from his brother and took a seat at the table. “If she’s the one, seal the deal.”

Cannon walked over and leaned against the wall of windows that looked out at the lake. “Do you think there’s only one for each of us?”

There was a time Bowie knew that to be the truth, but it was before he kissed Katie Middleton. “I think you know when it’s right in your heart. If you can’t imagine a life without her or her life without you, then I’d say she’s the one. If your life would be less without her in it, then she’s the one. If seeing her again after just leaving her is the most important thing in your day—”

“I know, she’s the one.” Cannon kicked off the wall. “The assholes are getting ready to go hiking and said something about picking up a muffin on their way.”

Bowie flew from his chair and raced to his room to get fully dressed. In the background, he heard his brother’s laughter.

All he thought about as he drove down Main Street was if one of those idiots was anywhere near Katie, he’d be wearing a fist to go with his polo shirt. He parked right in front of the bakery. There were a half-dozen people in line. He scanned the men and came up empty. They were all locals stopping by on their way to work.

Bowie remembered a time when Aspen Cove bustled with business. Back when the paper mill was open. The air always smelled like fresh cut wood, no matter what time of year you came to visit. Main Street was always busy, and there wasn’t an empty house in sight. When the Guilds abandoned the mill and that Victorian Mansion on Daisy Lane, everything changed. Both buildings were like ghosts of the past.

He sat in his truck and watched Katie. She had a smile for everyone. He couldn’t hear what she was saying, but he watched those lush lips move. Lips that had given him so much pleasure the night before. He was stupid to think he’d be able to get her out of his system with one night. Hell, the first time he kissed her, all he thought about was the next kiss he’d get. He contemplated the words he’d told his brother. Could she be the one? Brandy was the one. She’d always been the one, but now here was this girl who charmed everyone in her presence, including him. Did he dare consider the possibility he’d been given a second chance at love?

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the three douchebags stumble from their Porsche Cayenne. Before he could exit his truck, they were already in the bakery.

Bowie was torn between leaving the past behind, which meant not stepping back into it, or protecting his chance of a future, which meant steam rolling into the front door.

He stood on the sidewalk, one foot pointed in the direction of the bakery, one foot pointed toward his truck. What he did right here would decide everything.

When the bakery emptied except for the three men and Katie, there was no choice. She belonged to him.

He marched inside the building and came around the back counter to stand beside her. “You should have woken me up, Duchess. I would have driven you here.” He looked straight at the blond man and smiled before he turned Katie around and kissed her hard on the lips. “I missed you.”

Bowie slung his arm over Katie’s shoulder. A sign of possession. “What can I get you boys?” He emphasized the word “boys” because he knew it would irritate the men. “My brother says you’re hiking today?”

“Your brother?” the brown-haired man said. “Is he the Neanderthal that runs the bed and breakfast and the bar?”

“That would be the one.” Bowie snapped together a box like he’d done it all his life. Then again, he’d spent many an afternoon boxing up muffins just waiting for Brandy. “Muffins? Coffee?”

While he waited for their answer, he looked around the place. The layout was the same, but it didn’t feel familiar. He expected it to be heavy with loss and sadness, but it was bright and happy like the woman who stood next to him, looking at him like he’d lost his mind.

“Three muffins and three coffees.”

Katie turned to start the coffee while Bowie boxed up the muffins. “My girl makes the best muffins in town.”

The men were quiet. Bowie plopped the muffins inside the box and shoved it across the counter. “If you boys are looking for some action, you won’t find it here. I’d suggest you look in Copper Creek. They don’t have the caveman mentality you’ll find here.”

Katie’s shoulders shook with her suppressed laugh. “Here you go.” She rang up their order and took the money. After the three men left them alone, she turned to Bowie. “What was that all about?”

She rocked forward, then rocked away from him. He couldn’t blame her. He’d sent conflicting messages since he’d met her. Telling her all she’d be was a good time wasn’t fair. She was that. The best time he’d had in years, but she was more than that. His heart ached for the way he’d reduced her to nothing more than a pleasurable act. Bowie knew then he had a lot to make up for.

“That was me telling them you aren’t available. Me telling you I had an amazing time last night. And me also telling you you’re more than a good time.”

She breezed past him into the kitchen. She dumped eggs and butter and vanilla into the large stand mixer. “This is me telling you I have to make more muffins.” She walked up to him and stood on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips. “Me telling you that last night was amazing. Thanks for making me feel …” She paused for a minute. “Whole.”

She went about her business like he wasn’t there, and for the first time in a long time, Bowie felt uncertain. He’d always been the one to make the rules. He gloved it, he loved it, and he disappeared. With Katie, he couldn’t imagine a day without seeing her smile. He wanted to wake up next to her and feel the heat of her body clinging to his. He wanted more, and that scared the hell out of him. More was dangerous.

“Can I take the last muffin?” He looked over his back to the display case that held heart-shaped cookies, mini cakes and one muffin.

“Knock yourself out.” She hefted the large mixing bowl to the prep table and tilted it to its side while she scooped batter into cups. “Grab coffee, too.”

He leaned against the doorjamb and watched her. She looked right in the shop. She felt right.

“I never thought you’d set foot in here.” She picked up two muffin pans and breezed past him to the oven. The door handle he’d fixed years ago had come loose. He made a mental note to fix it again.

“This wise woman taught me that neverisms are stupid, but I like them. My new mantra is ‘Never say never’.”

“That’s a good one.”

He looked past her to the back door. “How did the apartment upstairs turn out?”

Her eyes opened wide. “You haven’t seen it?” She wiped her hands on the apron tied around her waist.

“No. It was only a thought at the time. Brandy had wanted to convert the upstairs to an apartment where we could live. She thought it would be convenient while I ran the bait and tackle store and she ran the bakery, but it never came to pass.”

“You’re welcome to look around.” She stocked the counter with boxes and opened a fresh packet of napkins. “It’s a great place, with two bedrooms and a bathroom. There’s a small kitchen and a living room. It’s perfect. Go on up and see it for yourself.”

Bowie shook his head. “I’ll wait for the personal tour.”

Katie stopped what she was doing and came to stand in front of him. “That would mean you’d have to spend more time with me.”

“Duchess, after last night, you’ll be lucky to get rid of me.”

The way her smile lit up her face made his insides heat. If she didn’t have muffins in the oven and he didn’t have to open the shop next door, he’d carry her upstairs and start the tour with every surface he could have her on.

“Is that right?” She closed in on him and pressed her hands to his chest. “I once experienced something hard to get rid of, but I’m sure it was a virus.”

Bowie laughed. “That’s me. I’m a virus you’re not likely to shake off too easily.”

The timer beeped, and Katie pulled the oven door open. The heat surrounded them both, but Bowie wasn’t certain the air whooshing from the oven caused it. “You better leave before I close up shop and beg to be infected again.”

“How about dinner tonight at the diner? Just you and me?”

Katie put her hands on her hips. “Bowie Bishop … are you asking me on a date?”

He smiled at her. “I am. What’s your answer, Duchess?”

She flung herself into his arms, hopping up and wrapping her legs around his waist. “One hundred times, yes.”

“I’ll be at your door at six.” He relished the feel of her sliding down his body. She said he made her feel whole. She made him feel alive.

He gave her one last peck on the lips before he walked out. The rest of the day, all he would think about was their next moment together. Deep in his shredded but healing heart, he knew she was the one.