The next morning, Dawn found riding in Garrett’s truck to be much more agreeable than in her tiny Toyota as they traversed the bumpy road to her home. It was earlier than she was used to getting up, the morning sun only barely peeking over the horizon, sending beams of horizontal yellow light through the trees, but she’d slept surprisingly well, all things considered.

God, last night had been amazing. Just the slightest thought of it made her break out into a full flush, causing her to feel warm and red all over. She glanced over at Garrett, hoping to remind herself that everything had not been, in fact, just a dream.

He was looking as calm and cheery as ever, driving with one hand on the wheel and looking out his window into the still-awakening forest, a relaxed smile on his lips. For a moment, she just studied his features, her body responding instantly to the vivid memory of his hands, his mouth all over her.

Suddenly, he turned to look at her, eyes almost orange in this light as he seemed to beam with satisfaction.

“So do you have any specific plans for today?” His brown hair was still ruffled from last night, making Dawn want to run her hands through it again.

“Nothing much. Probably run some errands in town. Try to stay out of you guys’ way.”

This morning she’d awoken to an oversized breakfast piled high in takeout boxes that Garrett had brought from the cafe. They’d talked a little about last night, about how amazing it had been, but nothing further.

For all Dawn knew, Garrett had had his fun and now things were going to go back to the way they were before. But she didn’t get any inkling from him that he was a player, the kind of guy to take sex as casually as most men with good looks like his probably got away with.

In reality, she had to remind herself that this was a casual thing and that she shouldn’t go chasing more just because Garrett acted and looked so perfect. She was still in a new place, with a host of things to take care of before her life could really start. And by the time her house was done, Garrett and his crew would be moving on to the next thing, the next project, the next place, leaving her here in Silver Lake, alone.

The way things were meant to be.

She had to hope there would be other men further down the line. And if not, Dawn was okay with that. She’d been just fine on her own before.

Though, somehow the thought rankled that the same applied to Garrett. That there would be other women more than willing to throw themselves at his feet.

“What’s on your mind? Beautiful morning, right? Great for thinking, clearing your head.” Garrett’s deep voice, so relaxed, pierced through the noise of dirt road beneath them.

I was thinking about you sleeping with other women. She took a deep breath and let it out. Garrett could do as he pleased. And so could she.

It didn’t matter that her heart could feel something deeper with him than any other person she’d ever met in her life. She just needed to avoid getting jealous or obsessed.

“Nothing much. Just enjoying the fresh air.” He nodded in approval as she relaxed into the thick leather chair of the truck’s passenger seat.

Garrett was her contractor, nothing more, nothing less. Granted, her contractor happened to be mind-blowing in bed. And yes, he was the most protective, hard-working, sexiest, kindest man she’d ever laid eyes on. But that had to be put aside for the time being.

Finally, the truck rolled into the clearing where the outline of her home was quickly taking full shape into a fully built house.

They both got out of the truck, and she took a deep breath of cool pine air and stretched, the scent reminiscent of campouts and hikes from years past. Hunter and Grayson weren’t there yet, but they probably would be soon.

“Can I get anything for you. More coffee perhaps?” Garrett leaned on the hood of the truck, watching her thoughtfully.

“No, I’m just going to get a few things from my van real quick.” She walked toward the corner of the lot where she’d parked her rented yellow moving van out of the way so the guys could work.

She hadn’t felt comfortable leaving it in the hotel parking lot, so she’d tried to pack everything she might need while staying in the hotel in her suitcases. But there were a few random things, like her spare drawing tablet and a few extra cords, that would be nice to have available.

Dawn came around the side of the van, pulling out the key for the padlock she’d used to seal the door. But when she came behind the van, she looked up and alarm shot through her like a bolt of lightning.

The heavy rolling door was wide open. Some of the boxes in her van were open, and everything was covered in a light sheen of morning dew.

“Shit,” Dawn exclaimed in sheer shock. Maybe she hadn’t locked the deadbolt all the way? She looked around and found not one, but two halves that had once been a copper-colored lock sheared jaggedly down the center as though they’d been cut with some razor-sharp tool.

She barely registered the sound of hurried, heavy footsteps, until suddenly Garrett was standing next to her.

“What’s wrong? Are you all right?” Garrett asked, worried, looking down at her before turning and registering what was going on as she just stared, holding the two pieces of lock in her hand. “What happened?”

“I… I don’t know.” She set aside the shattered lock and put a hand on the edge of the bed, wanting to get up and see what had been stolen.

Sure, her belongings were meager, but they were still her things. And the thought that something or someone had helped themselves to her stuff was deeply disturbing.

She struggled for a second, then felt Garrett’s hands on her sides, lifting her off the ground like nothing and onto the wood bed of the moving van. A second later, the van rocked up and down as Garrett hopped on behind her.

“Is anything missing?” he asked, his close presence comforting in spite of the stress of the situation.

For a moment, she rummaged around, checking the opened boxes. Some had been opened carefully, the tape cut or peeled back. Others had just been ripped open, the folds of the box torn and frayed.

At least, on initial inspection, nothing important was gone.

“Not that I can tell.”

Luckily, she’d buried the boxes with valuables and such at the back, beneath her furniture. Whoever or whatever had come inside had been fairly disinterested in actually stealing and seemed to have simply snooped around casually before leaving.

“What do you think did this?” Dawn asked

“Not sure. Maybe some local wildlife looking for a snack?” Garrett said beside her, folding his arms as he surveyed the mild bedlam.

“Yeah, but how would that explain the lock being cut like that?” She pointed at the pieces sitting on the bumper of the van. “The biggest things they have out here are black bears and wolves. It’s not like grizzlies roam around these parts, at least from what Google told me.”

Garrett’s eyes cut to the side for a moment, avoiding her gaze before looking back at the boxes. “Perhaps a couple teenagers from town?” He shrugged.

“We’re miles and miles from the nearest house. Seems like a lot of trouble to go through and not take anything.” The whole thing made no sense. But at least nothing serious was wrong.

She huffed and made her way through the boxes to the open rear of the van, and Garrett helped her down before hopping down and landing next to her with a heavy thud.

The sound of trucks followed by animated talking broke through the silent morning forest as Grayson and Hunter arrived at the work site and began to approach.

“Whoa, Nelly!” Hunter exclaimed, staring at the gaping-wide van and open boxes. “Looking for something particular, are we?”

“Her van was broken into.” Garrett picked up the broken lock and handed it to Hunter. He and Grayson appraised it with confused glances for a moment.

It certainly hadn’t been one of those fancy “super un-cuttable” locks that cost five times what a normal lock did. But she didn’t think even an average lock was so easy to break that a bear or a wolf could tear through it like paper.

“That’s a big raccoon, for sure,” Hunter exclaimed jokingly. Grayson was just silent, looking thoughtful.

Dawn felt Garrett’s arm around her, making her feel safe despite the worrisome, unexplainable things that had transpired.

“I’ll send one of my guys into town to get a reinforced lock for your van. And we’ll move it closer to the build site so we can keep an eye on it from the trailer at night.”

She nodded, feeling oddly relieved now that he was taking charge of the situation.

“I’ll also have them take a look around, see if we can find any tracks or tire marks that might give us more of a clue as to who or what did this. In the meantime, why don’t you take my truck back to the hotel where you’ll be safe while we check things out here. I’ll meet you there tonight and we can go over what we find.” He was so caring it helped assuage her worries instantly. “Besides, the sooner your house is up, the sooner we can get your things moved in, right?”

She nodded in agreement, and Garrett pulled a handful of keys out of his pocket and removed a specific key with an attached fob to her.

“Grayson’ll find the culprit. He’s our resident bloodhound,” Hunter exclaimed cheerily, pointing a thumb in Grayson’s direction. “Can track anything from a cow’s fart to a monkey’s—”

A heavy thump interrupted Hunter’s rambling as Grayson threw an elbow into his stomach, cutting him off. Hunter wheezed for a moment, then raised a hand, grating out, “I’m fine, just fine.”

Garrett walked with her to the truck, out of earshot, as Hunter babbled about something to Grayson in the distance.

“Seriously, will you be all right?” Garrett’s eyes held genuine concern.

“I think so. More confused than anything right now.”

“Will you text me when you’re back at the hotel? And let me know if you see anything out of place or that worries you. I’m pretty sure whoever did this was just wandering out here, but just in case.”

“Sure, I can do that.” Frankly, the hotel sounded pretty good right now. She didn’t know if she could take another long day of getting worked up watching Garrett be sexy while he built her home.

He hesitated, as if unsure about letting her go for even a minute.

“I’ll be fine. Besides, a client emailed me this morning asking for some mockups, so I’ll have something to work on while you guys are here. I’ll see you tonight.” The longer she was around him, seeing just how worried he got about her, the more it made Dawn think that things weren’t nearly as casual between them as she’d hoped.

She hopped in, feeling incredibly small in the giant truck but glad she’d had some experience with big vehicles before this.

“Just be safe.” He came next to her, standing at eye level even with the truck’s incredible height.

“I will. I promise.” At that, she started the engine and pulled around, heading back toward town so she could get started on working. In the rearview mirror she could see the giant silhouette of Garrett watching after her, disappearing behind the trees as she rumbled down the dirt road.