“But I don’t have a suit,” I say, when RJ suggests I change while he gets the hot tub ready. The excuse is more of an effort to preserve my reputation than it is anything else. We both know I’m getting into that tub with him and we both know I don’t need a swimsuit to do it.

“You think I have one?” His raspy chuckle echoes off the hallway walls as he closes the door, shutting out the cold. “I’m sure we can make do.” He reaches up to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear and I shudder.

It’s a simple touch. Nothing more than dipping a toe into the pool, but, damn, if it doesn’t have every nerve in my body sitting up and taking notice.

I may be a confident, self-reliant woman, but one-night-stands and casual, scratch-the-itch flings have never been my style. This right here, however? With RJ?

I want to dip more than a toe.

“What’s going through this pretty head of yours?” he asks, gently dragging his knuckles along my jaw. At some point in the last few moments, he’s moved closer. His warm breath dances along my forehead and his cologne...or deodorant or whatever it is...smells amazing. Clean, crisp, masculine... Makes me want to breathe a little harder and a little faster, just to take it in. 

“Just thinking about how crazy this day has been,” I admit, swallowing down the saliva that’s pooled on my tongue.

His lips hitch to one side as his eyes search mine. “Good crazy or bad crazy?”

“Unexpected crazy.”

“Ah.” His gaze slips to my mouth and he lifts a lazy hand, stroking a thumb across my lips. “Sounds like a hell of a good time to me.”

I laugh nervously. “I wouldn’t have thought so a few hours ago, but now...”

He cocks his head to the side, pure trouble flaring in his eyes. “Now what?”

“Now I’m thinking you should get that hot tub ready.”

***

Gretchen is going to die. Providing she hasn’t already stroked out with worry, that is.

God, this cell issue is a pain in the ass. It’s been almost five hours since I was supposed to check in. Knowing Gretch, she’s deployed the cavalry. I’ll be semi-naked with a man for the first time in too freaking long and the troops will come marching in to save my sex-deprived ass.

Quickly undressing to my bra and panties—a cute pink Victoria’s Secret set, thank God—I slip into the robe once again and twist my hair into a sloppy bun. If my makeup and lotions weren’t still frozen in my car, I’d freshen up to enhance the mood, but somehow, I don’t think RJ’s the type to care.

My God, how is this my life?

A cabin.

An attractive man.

An outdoor hot tub, covered in clear, twinkling lights.

It’s like the gods just dropped me into a fantasy and threw up their hands. Have fun, Jules. Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do.

I giggle—because apparently, I’ve been reduced to a giddy teenager—when my phone starts to ping like crazy on the counter.

“Holy crap.” The signal dances between one bar and two, and I’m pretty sure I look like one of those new-age dancers, flailing around trying to keep that signal.

Tried to report you missing, Gretchen texted. Hasn’t been 24 hrs so the cops blew me off. Do you know the shit that can happen in 24 hrs? OMG, tell me you’re not bear bait!

I laugh, hearing her frantic voice in my head. No bears, but I am stuck in BFE. Roads shut down. Found a place to stay. Do not worry! I hit send and wait in agony, hoping it goes through. It does...and the I lose signal again. Crap! I didn’t even get a chance to message Rush’s publicist about my little travel delay.

Sighing, I leave the phone on the counter in case the Great White Porcelain God happens to be a miraculous summoner of signal, then I exit the bathroom for the second time today in nothing but RJ’s robe, my bra, and panties.

“Hey.” He grins up at me from his stance at the island, one bare ankle crossed over the other. I had him pegged for a black boxer briefs kind of guy and I wasn’t wrong. What I didn’t expect was the perfectly honed six pack. Or the thick, muscled thighs. Or that perfect dusting of hair on his chest. “You all right?”

More than all right. “Uh, yep.” I won’t pretend I’m not nervous, but there is zero chance I’m going to pass up this opportunity, either.

“I thought maybe you were flaking on me.” Still grinning, he pushes upright, all big and tall, confident and imposing. But there’s a gentleness, too, that promises I could change my mind right this instant and he wouldn’t blink an eye. No questions, no pressure.

“Not flaking. I just had a moment of cell reception in the bathroom. Finally connected with my friend.”

“Ah.” He steps forward and my eyes drop to his legs once again. God, he’s hot. Is this really my playground tonight? “How about Rush?”

I shake my head. “No. Signal died right away.”

“It’ll all work out,” he says, hooking a finger beneath my chin and lifting my face to his. “What are the chances I can get you to forget about that for a while?”

I press my lips together in a knowing smile. “Is there something else you’d rather I think about?”

“Fuck, yes.” He closes the distance between us and slides his big hands from my hips to my lower back. His chest bumps mine and just that little jolt alone tightens my nipples. “You smell good,” he says, nose nuzzling my temple, his beard lightly abrading my skin.

“Thank you.” My hands curls around his forearms as his lips brush the shell of my ear and goose bumps roll down my body like a flash fire.

“You’re an unexpected surprise, Crash. Shame about your car, but I’m damn glad you ended up here.”

Right now, I am, too.

“You ready for the hot tub?”

I’m ready for him.

***

“It’s f-freezing out here!” I gasp when we step outside. The patio is covered enough by the overhead awning and surrounding fence that there’s hardly any snow on the deck, but the wind is downright frigid.

“You’re telling me?” RJ hops from one bare foot to the other just inside the hall. “You’ve got the robe on.”

“Not for long.” With fingers far less shaky than I would have expected, I reach for the tie at my waist.

“Let me do that.” His voice low and gruff, he brushes my hands away, quickly loosens the robe, and slips his hands inside.

“Ahh!” I suck in a breath, my skin prickling at the chilly, but welcomed touch. “Cold.” 

“Soft,” he counters, and I melt a little with his appreciation. If he knew how long it’s been since a man’s looked at me the way he is right now... “You sure?”

...he wouldn’t have to ask.

“I’m sure.”

“Good,” he rasps, his eyes flashing feral. “By the way, I’m really fucking glad you ditched your car. No offense.”

God, but I love his contradictions.

“I think we should get in,” I say, nodding to the water.

“I think you should let me finish undressing you.”

I do him one better. I shrug the robe off my shoulders and let it fall to the floor.

“Fuckkk.” His growl crackles in the night air around us, his big palms gripping tighter around my waist. Sliding his dark gaze down my newly exposed body, he licks his lips and a pleased smile lifts on mine.

I’m not perfect. I’m hippy and my thighs touch from top to bottom, but the way he looks at me makes me feel like the sexiest woman alive.

“Let’s get you inside,” he croaks, and I let him help me in.

“Ahh, so warm.” I sink to the top of my shoulders and relish in the heat, as he climbs in after me, claiming the seat right next to mine.

“Aren’t you glad I thought to turn this on earlier?”

“While I was napping?”

“Before.” He lifts a shoulder and flashes a boyish grin. “Vacation, remember?”

“If you think I’m disappointed that this wasn’t completely planned out, you’re wrong. I kind of dig the spontaneity.” I kind dig all of it, if I’m honest.

“Me, too.” He tucks another lock of hair behind my ear, letting his fingers trail down my jaw. “What can I get you to drink, beautiful?”

“What do you have?”

He tips his head toward the little makeshift bar behind him—complete with a flickering candle and a plate of fruit and cheese—that I somehow missed.

“Look at you, all fancy,” I tease, and he waggles his eyebrows playfully.

“This was planned, though. While you changed.”

“I still approve.”

Looking pleased with himself, he pours something fruity from a pitcher into a tumbler. “Just OJ and peach schnapps,” he says, handing it to me.

“Perfect.”

He takes a beer for himself and, for several moments, we sit in comfortable silence, simply enjoying the warmth. The snow falling beyond the patio is pretty in the faint moonlight, streaming through the thick trees, and I’m taken back to my childhood, sledding outside my grandparents’ house after dark. We’d have bonfires and hot chocolate and between me, Karyn, and our small tribe of cousins, we’d wear Gramps and Gram right out.

“What are you thinking about?” RJ asks, setting his hand on my knee beneath the water. 

“Just that it’s been a long time since I’ve been home. Since I’ve enjoyed the quiet like this.” My gaze slides to the woods, so dark and mysterious, yet so peaceful.

“Still think I’m crazy for wanting to unplug?”

“No.” I get it now. I remember.

“See?” He gives my knee a gentle shake. “Maybe you were meant to put your car in that ditch.”

I laugh softly. “Maybe. I’d feel a lot better about it if I had some reassurance that Rushton’s going to understand. I may have my reservations about the guy, but I still want to do a good job. I kind of like my job at the Times, you know?”

“Yep.” He dips his chin. “Gainful employment is a good thing, for sure. How long have you been there?”

“Five years. Since I finished grad school.”

“Ah, you’re a smart one, huh? Where’d you go to school?”

“Columbia.”

“No shit?” He pulls back, brows raised. “Journalism?”

I narrow my eyes. “Uh huh. Why the look?”

He blinks and quickly casts his focus down at the water bubbling against the dark dusting of hair on his chest. “I don’t know, I guess I assumed you went to school in-state.”

Kind of a big reaction for something so trivial, but whatever. “How about you?”

“Got my undergrad from U of M.”

“And you’ve been a contractor since?”

Lifting a hand through the steam, he rubs the back of his neck. “More or less.”

“You seem like you’d be good at the kind of thing. You’re good with your hands.”

An unreadable expression passes over his face before he tips back a swig of beer and sniffs. “Yep.”

Hmm. Either he’s a modest guy when it comes to his work or there’s far too much conversation going on here.

“So, do you do this often?” I set my drink aside so I can push to the middle of the tub and face him. 

“This?” He arches an eyebrow again and his focus dances back and forth between my eyes and my chest. My bra is soaked and I suspect my nipples are visible through the pale pink lace. Typically, I’d be self-conscious, but with him, I’m just turned on.

“Do you sweet talk many helpless women into this hot tub?” Beneath the surface, my hands find his calves, playful fingers gliding over his flexing muscles.

“Not that kind of guy, Crash.”

I want to believe him, but he’s just a little too smooth for that to be true.

“Just so we’re clear...” Silently urging his knees apart, I slide between them and coast my hands up his chest. “It wouldn’t change my mind if you were.”

“No?” He curls his arm my waist while I loop mine around his neck, pressing my breasts to his chest.

“Sometimes a girl needs to live dangerously. Just for a little while.”

“Is that so?” he rasps, setting his beer aside so he can put both hands on me. “Tell me more about that.”

I laugh. “I’m twenty-seven, smart, and single.” And despite the little voice in my head that warns me to be careful, I jump. “I’m also very attracted to you.”

A crooked grin curls at his mouth. “Oh, really?”

“Mmm hmm.” My fingers glide over his hair, all the way from the shorter stuff at the bottom to the longer, messy locks up top. His mix of rugged sophistication is so damn sexy that it’s hard not to rub all over him.

“What are you thinking about, gorgeous?”

“You bring the naughty side out of me.”

“Yeah?” In one quick motion, his knees fall to the side, his hands drop to my ass, and her jerks my hips against him. The hot press of his hardening cock against my stomach turns my gasp into a lusty sigh.

“I’m impressed. ”

His hips flex toward mine and his eyelashes lower hungrily. “Feeling’s mutual, Crash. We should probably do something about it.”

Luckily, I know just where to start.

Hands wound in his hair, I bring my lips to his. “How about that taste?”