After the day I’ve had, a hot shower is starting to sound amazing. Plus, it seems like a good way to get out of his hair.
“Well, I’m going to take a quick shower if that’s okay.”
“I need to jump in the shower,” he blurts out at the exact same time while picking his hat up off the counter.
Said hat slips out of his hands and drops to the floor. In a flash, he bends to pick it up, and I smother a grin.
“It’s your house, go ahead of me. Plus, you definitely look like you’ve been working all day.” I cringe, wishing I wouldn’t have said that last part out loud.
“I’ll be quick,” he promises with that low voice of his.
Gutter, meet brain.
I laugh softly and tuck my hair behind my ear, hoping to break the tension. “This is awkward, isn’t it?”
He steps forward, passing me on his way to the bathroom. I think I hear him mumble something along the lines of things only being awkward if we decided to split the shower to save time instead, but I could be wrong.
I could have sworn he wore a barely detectable smirk too.
Maybe it was nothing.
Chapter Five
Izzy
“Sounds wonderful!”my mom squeals.
I smile but roll my eyes with the satellite phone held up to my ear. While Ledger was in the shower, I gathered some clean clothes and a few other things from my bag and patiently waited my turn.
He mentioned that I could use the phone if I needed, so I swiped it from the drawer and brought it with me once he was finished and I had the shower to myself. The only bathroom in the cabin is connected to his bedroom, which is where I find myself now curiously snooping while filling my parents in on the circumstances.
A little poking around while the hot water replenishes couldn’t hurt.
“Did you miss the part about getting dumped, my broken-down car, and the blizzard?”
“Oh, yes. Tragic, dear. But let’s get back to the nice man you’re staying with . . . Is he around your age?”
If we were speaking in person, she’d be waggling her brows at me while Dad scoots closer to her and kisses the back of herhand. I know she’s all too thrilled to talk about any man other than Jonathan, whom she was not a huge fan of.
And honestly, same.
Little to nothing fazes my parents, who thrive on the unexpected. I like that they’re carefree and passed most of that gene down to me, and I’m not the least bit surprised that they view this as an adventure rather than a disastrous day.
“I think so. Maybe a tad older, I don’t know. I don’t know him very well at all, that’s what I’m trying to tell you.”
“So what? He helped you and he didn’t give you a bad vibe, did he? Is he cute?”
“Mom!” I whisper-shout while tiptoeing around Ledger’s room. It’s sparse and clean.
I silently gasp when my eyes narrow in on a trucker-style hat on his dresser with a patch in the shape of a bison. In orange letters, it reads,Hike the Badlands. I’ve never photographed in South Dakota before, but I’ve always wanted to.
Moving back toward the bed, I drag my finger along the bottom of an old picture frame that sits on the bedside table.
“Well, is he?” she laughs.
If she wants to know if I find him attractive, the answer is a resoundingyes.
But cute? God, no. Ledger is anything but. Burly, maybe. Rugged and virile, for sure. But cute is the last thing I’d use to describe this man.
