“Here, you need to eat,” Stone says, handing me what looks like a piece of jerky.

“I don’t like jerky,” I tell him. Which technically isn’t a lie. I haven’t tasted it before, but just on looks alone, I’m pretty sure I hate it.

“I’m too tired to fish or do any of the things I planned this evening, so you’ll eat this.”

“No. I won’t,” I insist. I’ve really reached my limit. I might care for Stone and I realize most of this problem is because of me, but I refuse to eat something that looks like it was chewed up and spit out by a cow and then dried in the hot sun.

That’s just not happening.

“Fine. I’ll go see if I can catch some fish for your majesty,” Stone grumbles, getting up.

“I wouldn’t bother. Even if you do, I wouldn’t eat it,” I mumble, lying back on the sleeping bag and wishing I could get back to Stone’s house and pack.

“Let me guess. You don’t eat fish either?”

“I eat fish just fine. When it’s at a restaurant with indoor plumbing and a waiter!”

“Now we’re getting to see the real Carly.”

“So sorry to disappoint you!”

“You lied about being an outdoor lover too, I guess? That’s kind of stupid since you were considering moving here full time,” he growls. He’s sitting across the spacious tent, but it’s still not big enough. I don’t want him here. Not now—not like this.

“I didn’t lie!”

“Really? So you love camping, hiking and trail riding?”

“I might like those things. I don’t know! I’ve never done them!”

“Then why did you tell me you had?” he asks, and if I wasn’t so mad, I would have noticed that Stone is being very thoughtful with his questions, his anger no longer present. I don’t really pay attention to that, however—because my mouth is being ruled by my own anger.

“I didn’t! Tally did!”

“Who in the hell is Tally?”

“The lady I work with at the diner.”

“I think you better explain this shit, Carly.”

I look at Stone. I really look at him. He’s beautiful in a wild, untouchable kind of way. He’s also way out of my league. Maybe it’s because there are truly not a lot of women here in this part of Alaska. I don’t know. What I do know is that in the normal, everyday world that I live in, Stone would never go for a woman like me—not in a million years.

I also know that I’m tired. I don’t want to lie to Stone. I care about him. I think in time I could even love him. Maybe I already do… at least I’m more than half-way there. I owe him the truth.

The complete truth—no matter how much it hurts.

“I never wrote you from that website, Stone. I never exchanged emails with you.”

“You never…”

“It wasn’t me. It was Tally. She did it for me, because I was drowning at home. I needed an escape, a way out, and Tally wanted to give that to me. She found you as my ticket out of Cranville.”

“Why did you need a ticket out of Cranville?” he asks, his face completely closed.

“A very long and sordid story involving my stepfather, but it’s not important in the end. I broke down on her and that’s when she confessed she had been writing you. She showed me a few of your letters, she showed me your picture, and she helped me pack and leave.”

“You only came to Alaska to leave your stepfather behind?” he asks, his tone harsh as he rakes his hand through his hair.

“I did,” I confess guiltily. and I can see my words hit him and I know the exact moment they wound. I want to close my eyes against the pain I’m causing him, but I force myself to witness it.

I deserve this.

“So you’ve been playing me this entire time? I was just a pawn in some game? You whored yourself out to stay away from your stepfather? He must really be a bastard,” Stone growls, standing up.

His head grazes the top of the tent, but the anger and hurt coming off of him is nearly crippling. His words wound me, but even as they deliver their blow, I know I deserve them. I swallow hard, trying to wade through the pain, to get my thoughts together.

“Nothing about being with you here in Alaska has been a lie, Stone. I care about you. If I didn’t, I never would have given myself to you,” I tell him quietly.

“I’d really like to believe that, but since you’ve been lying from day one, I find I can’t,” he growls, turning to leave.

“Where are you going?” I ask, feeling panicked. I know it was stupid, but I was hoping that he would somehow magically forgive me and we’d kiss and everything would be okay… better than okay. I had hoped he cared about me as much as I cared about him…

I was wrong.

“I’m leaving. I need to clear my head,” he growls. “Stay inside the tent. You’ll be fine.”

With that, he disappears. I watch the tent door flap behind him and I stare at it feeling like my world is ending.