I'd been living in this cabin for close to five weeks now, but tonight was the first night I'd actually sat on the balcony with a drink. The air was sharp and clear and cold with the promise of winter soon. As I huddled with my bourbon, I could hear the rustling of the wind in the trees as it shook the leaves loose. They were falling all around like bright red confetti, as if Mother Nature was throwing herself a colorful good-bye party before the snows started falling instead.

"Why haven't I done this until now?" I wondered aloud.

My head was still humming with a to-do list that never ended, and in the back of my brain was the buzz of worry about Tate. I'd finally gotten ahold of him, only to have him cut me off abruptly, saying he was too tired to 'deal with' me right now. It was a move entirely unlike my sweet, sensitive brother, and it made my heart hurt.

The sound of a far off door slamming closed made me sink back in my chair. I'd been avoiding Eric - easy to do with the crazy schedule I'd been keeping lately - and definitely intended to keep doing that until we left the cabins. The recording sessions were winding down, all the padding I'd built into our schedule turning out to be unnecessary. Which was why we all had the night off.

There was the sound of footsteps crunching through the leaves, and I leaned back, trying to blend in with the balcony. "Don't look up," I whispered.

The footsteps stopped. Then started again. Stopped. Then started. Wandering away and then getting closer. Curiosity finally got the best of me, and I leaned over to see who was coming.

And caught a glimpse of dark curls. And dark eyes that glinted in the setting sun.

Jules smiled and waved.

"Shit," I hissed and leaned back. But he was already striding to my door.

"Goddamn..." I launched myself from my chair and flew back inside, intending to head him off before he got to my cabin. Before I ran the risk of letting him inside.

But he was already coming up the stairs to the cabin porch, his left hand hidden behind his back.

"Stop," I told him.

He grinned and halted. I shook my head. "Listen. We can't....The diner? The bathroom? That was a mistake."

His grin was so goddamn cocky I wanted to smack it off his face, if only to be able to touch his skin again. "I already told you love," he said, pulling his hand from behind his back. "I'm the best mistake you could ever make."

I looked down, disbelieving. "What is that?" I laughed.

He looked down at collection in his hand. Branches and twigs festooned in fiery reds and oranges and pine branches scattered through it. "I was walking over here and I saw the trees. All the colors, reds and oranges." He extended the foliage bouquet to me. "They reminded me of you," he said matter-of-factly.

Something tugged at my heart, yanking me in a direction I didn't want to go. "You saw branches, and they reminded me of you?"

"Well sure," he said, pointing to the pine needles. "Especially when these lot scratched me," he laughed.

I snorted, then smacked him, then laughed out loud. "You are such an asshole," I said, and it came out as more of a resigned sigh.

"An asshole, and a pain in the ass. Who could be better suited for each other?" he said. He swept his hand out to the where the van was parked. "Come on. I want to show you something."

"I don't trust you."

"Well that's not really fair, love. I mean, I trust you," he said. "Even though you stole my underwear while I was passed out." He shook his head. "Naked and vulnerable and you took advantage of me like that. You should be ashamed of yourself, love."

My face heated up. "I mean... it - it's right here," I stammer, stepping back and letting him in. "Do you want it back now?"

He cocked his head to the side. "I don't know," he mused. "I'm sort of getting used to going without." He licked his lips and leaned forward, his lips brushing my ear as he whispered. "Whenever my cock brushes the zipper by accident, it reminds me of you."

"Getting your dick snagged reminds me of you? You're saying I cause you pain?"

"In this general area," he said, motioning in a circle in front of his groin. "Yeah, that's precisely what I'm saying."

I glared at him. "You're a jerk. Just for that, I'm keeping your underwear."

He shot me a dangerous look. Something passed between us like an electric current. The hair on the back of my neck stood up even as my stomach dropped like I was on a roller coaster. I heard a strange sound and realized it had come from my own lips.

"Fucking hell, August," Jules growled.

In two steps he had me back up against the wall. As he kissed me, her slid his hand up my skirt. "Then I'm keeping these," he hissed as he hooked his fingers on the side of my panties.

I don't know what perverse impulse took ahold of me, but I let him yank them down. He held them in his hand, squeezing them for a second. "The red lace ones? These match that red bra of yours, love?"

"I'm wearing it now," I told him with a proud thrust of my chin.

He nodded and stuffed them in his pocket. "Definitely keeping these." He grinned. "So how's that, love? Now we're both bare-arsed. Now come on. It's time I took you on a date."