Oh my God.
I freeze, every muscle in my body locking up. My eyes dart to the bathroom door. It’s closed, a line of light visible underneath.
I should leave. I should absolutely, 100% leave right now and sit in my car and call... someone. The police? Mackenzie? Search and rescue?
The water shuts off.
I have maybe thirty seconds before whoever is in there comes out and finds me standing in the cabin.
Move. I need tomove.
I spin toward the door. The bathroom door opens.
Steam billows out like something from a dream. Or a nightmare. I can't tell which yet.
And then he steps out.
Time doesn't stop. That's a romance novel cliché and this is real life.
But it definitely slows.
He's got a towel slung low around his hips and nothing else. His hair is dark and wet, dripping water down his neck, over shoulders that are unfairly broad, over a chest and abs thatlook like they were carved by someone who really understands human anatomy.
Water trails down his skin in little rivers and I watch one drop slide from his collarbone down, down, down to where the towel barely covers.
And I know exactly who this is.
Callum.
Callum Holt. Mackenzie's older brother. The one who nearly destroyed everything and got himself exiled from the family. The one whose name makes Mackenzie's jaw tight and her eyes hard whenever it comes up, which is almost never.
The one I haven't seen in years.
He looks different. Older. Harder. The boy who used to make me blush when he walked through the room is gone, replaced by a man who looks like he's been carved from the same rugged Wyoming mountains that surround us.
My brain is not working.
And then he sees me.
We both freeze.
I watch surprise flash across his face. Recognition crosses at the same moment.
I find my voice.
I scream.
It's not my finest moment. It's shrill and panicked and echoes off the ceiling like a smoke alarm.
He jerks back, hands coming up. “What the hell? Piper? What are you doing here?”
He's staring at me like I'm a feral animal that wandered in from the storm. Which, to be fair, isn't far from the truth.
“What areyoudoing here?” I ask.
His eyebrows go up. “You first.”
“Mackenzie invited me for the weekend.”
