The knock at the door startled me awake. I flailed, splashing water over the side of the tub.

“You okay in there?” Beau called through the door.

I couldn’t believe I’d nodded off. I was no slouch—I mean, I did yoga—but my body wasn’t used to hour and a half treks over rough terrain, and I was exhausted. “Yes!” I called back.

“Grub’s up when you’re ready,” he said in that extremely deep, extremely rough voice.

A shiver slid through me, the good kind. “I’ll be right down.”

I listened to his retreating steps and forced myself to climb out of the tub. Every muscle in my body protested. God, nothing had gone like I’d imagined. After having a gun fired in my direction then momentarily thinking I’d been talking to some crazed psycho for the last six months, we’d attacked each other like starved animals. Then he’d slammed on the brakes, and I still hadn’t recovered.

I understood what he was saying, and I respected his wishes, but I also felt like I already knew him. We’d talked a lot, and then there was the fact that I was wildly in love with him.

I didn’t need time, and the fact that he did, that he was still unsure about me—us—well, it made me feel a lot less secure in this thing we had going on than I had an hour ago.

The nerves in my belly increased. I’d assumed I’d get here and we’d spend the first week in bed making up for all our time apart, and that there’d barely be time for anything else. Then, one night, after Beau had made me scream his name and we were lying in the dark in each other’s arms—and it was obvious that he’d fallen for me just as hard as I had him—I’d admit that I had embellished my experience when it came to living in this type of situation, but we loved each other and that was all that mattered.

Of course, it wasn’t going to be that easy, and instead of a day in bed tomorrow, we were going fishing.

I didn’t know how to fish!

I mean, I had at least bought the right outfit, so that was something, but everything else—the hooks, the worms, whatever else was involved—I had not the first clue. I didn’t think I’d need to know!

Grabbing a towel, I quickly dried off and dressed then made my way back downstairs. There were two plates sitting on the large rustic wooden table just off the kitchen. Steak, potatoes, carrots, and peas were heaped on the plate next to a glass of juice.

A clang came from the kitchen and I turned to find Beau standing there. The oxygen was kicked from my lungs. That’s how the man affected me.

Play it cool, Freya.

“Hope you’re hungry,” he rumbled, blue gaze moving over me.

God, he was gorgeous. “Dinner looks delicious.”

He grinned, white teeth surrounded by sexy beard, and my heart smacked against the back of my ribs. There might have been some nipple tightening as well. His gaze moved over me again, this time from head to toe, pausing at my hair, my chest, my hips, and the grin wavered.

His eyes came back to mine and his nostrils flared. “You look pretty.”

I looked down at myself. I hadn’t really thought much about the clothes I’d grabbed out of the car before I started my nightmare trek. I was wearing my favorite jeans, soft and so worn that in places you could see glimpses of skin here and there, and a fitted green shirt that I guessed clung a little. It had a row of buttons down the front that stopped just under my boobs and the top few were undone, showing the tiniest bit of cleavage. I looked back up at him. “Thanks.”

He blew out a rough breath. “Sit. Let’s eat before it gets cold.”

Beau waited for me to sit down then did the same across from me.

Silence followed, and it started to feel awkward. I didn’t want that.

I searched for something to say. My gaze landed on the low-hanging chandelier made of antlers above the table. I didn’t know how I’d missed it. “Wow, did you make that?” I asked, motioning to it.

His lips curled on one side. “Yeah.”

“And you killed all the…um, animals yourself?”

His smile grew wider and, holy hell, it was breathtaking. “Yeah.”

I didn’t know what else to say. It wasn’t like I could comment about his excellent skills when I didn’t know the first thing about hunting.

After that we started eating, like two polite friends. We made small talk. Beau wasn’t the joking, laughing guy I’d been talking to online. He was polite, respectful, and distracted.

I hated it, and with every minute that passed by, the more awful I felt.

“What made you decide to come early?” he asked after a sip of his drink, head slightly tilted to the side.

At least in this I could be honest. “I’ve been having trouble with my boss. I guess I just reached my limit and I quit. The first thing I wanted to do afterward was talk to you, but since you’re not at the ranch anymore, I couldn’t get hold of you, so instead I got in my car and started driving.”

He was chewing a mouthful and paused for a second then swallowed. “I never took you for the impulsive type.”

The way he said it, I got the feeling he didn’t think that was exactly an endearing trait. “I’m not…not usually, anyway,” I said cautiously. “But when I get backed into a corner, or I’ve been pushed to my limits, I suppose I do have a tendency to run the other way.”

His expression stayed alarmingly blank, and he nodded slowly. “I don’t really have that option out here. In this life, if you’re pushed to the limits you really have no choice but to push back, to face it. You have to find a way.”

I finished chewing my mouthful and had to force it down. It was suddenly sawdust in my mouth. I felt like Beau had just given me my first test and I’d gotten a big red F. “The city is a very different place, and I’m talking people here. I doubt that would be as much of an issue out here.”

He nodded again, but his lips were in a flat line. “Yeah, you’re right there.”

I gripped my knife and fork tighter. Jesus. This was like one of those interviews where you walk out the door and receive a thanks but no thanks message on your phone before you even get home.

We finished up our meal, and the conversation was even more strained. I took the empty plates to the kitchen. “I’ll do the washing up since you cooked.”

He stood. “Yeah, I better go deal with the bear. Last thing we need is other predators smelling the fresh blood and coming close to the house.”

I froze, and Beau didn’t miss it. His brows lowered. I forced myself to relax. A girl born and raised on a ranch in Colorado would know that. “Yes, of course.”

I watched him shove on his jacket and boots, grab his gun, and go outside, shutting the door behind him. My heart sank to my feet.

Somehow, in the short time I’d been here, I’d managed to screw everything up.

I finished the dishes and then didn’t know what to do with myself, so sat on one of Beau’s big leather couches and waited for him, but even with the way my mind raced, my eyelids refused to stay open.

The next thing I knew I was moving.

My lids fluttered open. Beau was carrying me upstairs. He was looking ahead and didn’t know I’d woken up, and for some reason I let him carry on thinking it, staying limp in his arms. There was a light thud when he pushed a door open with his foot.

Was I in his room?

He lowered me carefully, there was a rustle, and he pulled the covers over me. Then he straightened, and just stood there. I had my eyes closed but I knew he was looking down at me. I felt it. Something tickled my hair.

He was touching it.

I tried desperately to keep my breathing even.

“Christ,” he muttered under his breath.

Christ, what? The way he said it wasn’t necessarily good. I didn’t know what it was. There was a tone to his voice I’d never heard before during the many times we’d talked.

He stood there for several more seconds, then blew out a rough breath, and walked out, the door clicking shut behind him. I opened my eyes.

This was definitely not his room. Not surprising, of course, but I couldn’t help being disappointed.

I forced myself to stay calm. Tomorrow was a new day, and I just had to make sure I won him over. Show him that I was the same girl he’d been talking to all these months—and I was the same girl, just without a few of the required outdoor skills. But I was going to throw myself into everything we did, learn what I needed to, and I was going to love it.

Tomorrow we were fishing.

How hard could it be?