Page 16 of Finding Love

She frowned as she tied off the boat. “A lot. First, Tom and Nick can see the docks from their homes and it’s a no-overnight parking zone.”

“Right,” he said, helping her with the cooler. “Any suggestions?”

She stepped onto the dock just as the larger sailboat bumped into the slip next to them. “You can park at my place,” she said quickly and then turned to put her cooler on a cart.

While he helped her secure everything for the night and haul her stuff to her car, he wondered why she was helping him.

He was a stranger. Sure, they’d spent the night sleeping close to one another and practically all day with each other, but what would cause someone to help a stranger so much? What kind of person was she? People he knew from his past just didn’t do things like this.

No one he’d grown up with or knew in business would so much as open a door for a stranger. Especially not someone who looked like him.

He caught his reflection in his van’s window as he put Willy inside. He fit the description of a beach bum almost completely.

“You can follow me back to my place,” Brook said. “If your van has hookups, I have power and water at my place. The people who owned the cottage before me had RV hookups installed.”

He liked the thought of hooking up his van to power and water. His tanks were pretty much empty, and he’d planned on hitting the state park to refill his water and charge his batteries before heading back up to Seattle.

“Thanks,” he said. He walked around to climb behind the wheel of the van after helping Willy inside. He honked and waved to the group of people he’d spent the day with, all of them just as nice as Brook was. Then he pulled out of the parking lot and followed Brook back through town. He had stopped off at the little grocery store, O’Neil’s, before heading to the docks and had gotten some basics that he’d been low on.

They turned off the main road and traveled down the narrow dirt road that led to her small cottage. When the lights from her small place came into view, he felt his nerves spike for some reason.

Was she toying with him? No one could be this nice. Right?

To allow him to crash at her place last night and then invite him on the sail and then back here to use her power and water.

Brook parked and then jumped out and motioned to him to where the power and water hookups were. He pulled next to her cottage, turned off the van, and got out. Willy jumped out and raced into the grass to do his business.

“Wow, I guess he really had to go,” Brook joked as she hauled her cooler over to a water hose and dumped out the melted ice.

He glanced over at Willy and smiled. “I think he held it in on the sailboat.”

“Hookups are there.” She motioned. “There’s an outdoor shower.” She waved to a wood booth that sat on the side of her house. “If you don’t have one in the van.”

He did, but the thought of not having to bend halfway over to wash himself appealed to him.

“Thanks,” he said as he plugged in the electric and water.

“If you have laundry, my washer and dryer are in the garage.” She turned and showed him. “Help yourself.”

“Why are you doing this?” he asked her.

“Doing what?” She turned, her eyebrows raised.

“Being so… accommodating.”

Brook’s smile flashed, and he felt his heart jump in his chest. His dick also jumped but he tried to ignore that.

“Hasn’t anyone ever helped you out without ulterior motives?” she asked, leaning against the railing of the front porch.

“No,” he answered honestly.

She frowned. “Well, then it’s obvious you haven’t known the right kind of people.” She crossed her arms over her chest as he leaned against the railing next to her.

“No, I haven’t.” He ran his eyes over her.

She smiled slowly, then surprised him by uncrossing her arms and taking a step closer to him. She lifted her hand to his face, reached up on her toes, and brushed her lips across his.

He froze, holding his breath as her taste mixed with the feeling of her soft lips. The combination completely shocked his system.

“No motives, just… kindness.” She turned and climbed the steps of the porch. “Good night, Ryder,” she said as she disappeared inside.

What the hell was he supposed to do with that?

He must have stood there for a full minute before finally moving. He grabbed his shower bag and used the shower to wash off the sweat and salty spray. Willy joined him, and he gave the dog a scrub down as well.

When man and beast were clean, he dumped a load of his dirty clothes into her washing machine and moved over to lay in a hammock that hung between two oak trees. With Willy snoring happily on his chest, he dozed off to sleep under the oak leaves and the stars.