I pull my book from my bag.
Harleigh rouses, and she notices the cover immediately. “Oh my God.”
“What?”
“You’re reading a hockey romance?”
I glance from the book in my hand to her. “It’s a good book.”
She laughs. “I’m sure it is.”
“It is.”
“How spicy? Because I watched this series on TV based on a hockey romance, and, damn, it was so hot that I became an instant hockey fan. And I’m not even sure what hockey is.”
I point at her. “Mind your business.”
That answer tells her everything she needs to know.
She bursts out laughing. “Oh, it’sspicy, spicy. You’re gonna have to lend that to me when you’re done with it.”
I hide my face behind the book. “Okay.”
A few minutes later, I become completely absorbed in the story.
The hero is six-foot-four, athletic, tattooed, and protective. He’s emotionally unavailable, and the heroine is a sharp-tongued academic, determined not to fall for him.
Naturally, she’s failing miserably.
A text notification startles me from my book haze, and Harleigh groans as she looks at her phone screen.
“Ugh. I have to go,” she says, sitting up. “The guy surveying the land for the guest ranch had something come up for Monday. Apparently, he can come right now, or it’ll be next month. I’m sorry.”
“No reason to be sorry. Go,” I say.
She gathers her things and tugs on her shoes. “It was great catching up. We have to do it again before you leave,” she says. “And I want you to meet Porter. Maybe you and Cabe can come to the hotel for dinner one night.”
“I’d love that,” I say.
I stand and give her a hug before she heads back to the trail.
“Jovie,” she calls back to me.
“Yeah?”
“When you’re in love, no amount of complications could prevent you from finding a way to make it work. If you and that cousin of mine are meant to be, it will happen, and you won’t be able to stop it.”
Axle
I’m halfway back to the cabin when I change my mind.
The workout kicked my ass in all the right ways, and the twenty minutes I spent in the sauna afterward left every muscle loose and heavy.
Remembering what Jovie said about cold plunging, I cut across the back pasture toward the river, sweat still clinging to my skin.
I switched my workouts to the evening to avoid being alone with her and to try and tire myself out enough to sleep through the night. It hasn’t worked. I’ve tossed and turned most nights, wondering if she was out on the deck in the damn sleep shirt that showed off her legs.
I make a mental note to check in with Bryce on the progress of my original cabin. The sooner I move back across campus, the better.
