“We should get the fish back to the fridge,” Elijah said, cutting the tension.

They all stood and packed what was left of lunch into the basket. Caleb carried the fish and Elijah carried everything else as they all walked down the path toward their stately house. The late-afternoon sun cast long shadows over the meadow and garden, and Lucy couldn’t help but think how beautiful it was here.

Perhaps in another life, she could live in the country like this, with no phone or Internet. She’d grown up in the city and lived there all her life. She was used to having lattes and funky clothing stores all around her. She had no idea what she’d do with herself way out here in the woods.

The sunlight glowed over Elijah and Caleb’s perfect asses, over the fabric of their form-fitting jeans. Dirty thoughts flashed through her mind. Maybe she did know what she would do with herself out here.

By the time they made it back to the house, the sun had faded into dusk. Lucy went upstairs to wash the sand out of her clothes and check her cell phone for a signal. She wanted to believe the brothers about the truck and the phone lines, but it annoyed her that they weren’t doing anything about it.

She picked up her phone and held it in front of her eyes: no signal. Stepping toward the window, she lifted it higher above her. Nothing.

Taking the phone, she trotted down the stairs and out the front door.

“Where are you going?” Elijah called from the kitchen.

“Trying to get a signal on my phone,” she called back.

“You won’t get one,” he said behind her as she closed the door.

Lucy strode down the front steps and out into the driveway, holding her phone up and turning in circles. She didn’t have a single bar. Growling, she stomped around the outside of the house.

Anger built in her stomach as she searched aimlessly for a signal. Around the back of the house, she found Caleb building a fire in a wide fire pit. Twilight fell violet beyond the red flicker of the growing bonfire.

“Damn it!” she shouted, pounding her foot into the gravel.

“What’s wrong?” Caleb said, throwing another log on the fire.

“I can’t get a signal anywhere!”

“Closest tower is in Mystic Harbor. We’re too far in the forest to pick it up,” he stated simply, throwing more branches into the flames.

“What is the fire for?”

“Thought it would be nice. We can barbecue the fish, have some beers, and hang out here tonight. Ever been to a bonfire before, city girl?”

Lucy shrugged, frowning. Her bad mood began to melt away, especially since Caleb looked so delicious in his form-fitting long-sleeved T-shirt. He still had sand on his jeans and in his hair, which only made him look more rugged and handsome.

She trudged over to a comfortable outdoor chair and sat down, putting her tired feet up on a footrest. The warmth of the fire radiated over her feet and up her legs. It felt so good that she sighed and looked up. A blanket of stars twinkled in the purple-black sky.

“Oh, look at the stars!”

Caleb sat down next to her, picking up a bottle of beer from a cooler by his chair. He looked up at the night sky with her. “It’s nice,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to live in the city were you can’t see this.”

“I see your point,” she said breathlessly. They sat silently for a moment before she turned to him. He took a sip from his bottle and gazed at her, raising his eyebrow to give her a questioning look.

“Do you ever go to the city?” she asked.

“I lived there for a short time when I was young. There was a girl. But ultimately, I came home to Mystic Harbor.”

“A girl?” she asked, her inflection rising.

“Sasha…” He had an erotic hint in his tone.

“Sasha? Tell me about her.”

He laughed and fidgeted in his chair. “Sasha was the sexiest girl in high school, but she went to Portland for art school. I followed her. But it didn’t work out. She changed. Or I did. Anyway. I belong out here.”

“You were in love with an artist?” she giggled. He looked at her in the firelight, his expression open as he smiled deviously.

“Hey. I’m an artist, city girl. You’ve seen my work.”

“I just had you pegged for a rough, tough mountain-man type.”

“Well, that much is true,” he said, humor in his voice as he sat back in his chair and looked up at the sky.

“Are the coals ready?” Elijah asked as he joined them, carrying a tray of prepared fish fillets. Caleb nodded, and Elijah set the tray down on a bench before placing an iron rack over a pool of glowing coals. The fish sizzled as Elijah dropped them on the grill.

“That smells good,” she said, sitting up and putting her hands between her thighs for warmth.

“Have a beer,” Caleb offered, flipping the cap off a bottle and handing it to her.

“Thanks.” She sipped the cool brew and stood up to get closer to the fire. The smell of cooking trout, the taste of crisp beer, and the warmth of the fire licking against her body made her entire being relax. She smiled and sat on the footrest near the fire, watching Elijah cook.

They passed the night talking and laughing while they drank beer and ate Elijah’s dinner. She told them about her family, her father and stepmother, and her life growing up in Salem.

The brothers told her about growing up in Mystic Harbor. They’d spent most of their lives hunting and fishing and playing sports, learning their trade from their father and uncles. They told her about their close-knit family and friends, and Lucy got a sense that all that was missing from their lives were good women. Or a woman.

By the time the fire began to die down, Lucy had had six beers and was pretty tipsy. Caleb and Elijah helped her upstairs as she giggled and tripped over her own feet. Elijah opened her bedroom door, and Caleb helped her to the bed, holding her.

She fell back so heavily and quickly that he came down on top of her. Lucy squealed as his hard body pressed between her legs. Caleb’s eyes burned brightly, and he parted his lips as if he wanted to kiss her. She felt his erection press against her pussy.

“Caleb,” Elijah said, a hint of warning behind the calm. Caleb pounded his fist against the bed and pulled away from her. Lucy grasped him with her hands, but he slipped away. She groaned and giggled.

“Not like this,” Elijah hissed when Caleb came to meet him in the doorway.

“Damn it, Elijah. I’m not going to wait any longer.”

“If you screw this up, we both lose.”

Lucy’s eyes were so fuzzy and her head spun with such velocity that she wasn’t sure what they were saying. She wished Caleb would have stayed with her and kissed her. Lucy’s body begged for him to press himself against her again.

Elijah approached and pulled off her shoes and helped her under the covers. “You are a lightweight, my dear,” he said as he tucked her under the blankets. Lightweight. No one had ever accused her of being that. She giggled as he backed away and turned off the light.

“Sweet dreams, Lucy,” Elijah said as he closed the door.