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I set my bag down to unlock the door and took one glance back at the mountains.It was a little disappointing that the only view was from the front porch.Then I opened the door and forgot all about the mountain view when I saw the little oasis inside.
A cozy seating area sat in one corner, near a wood-burning stove that would keep the cabin warm on chilly nights.The opposite corner held a small kitchen, where open shelves held everything I’d need to fix a snack or a meal if I didn’t feel like going to the onsite restaurant.The walls were painted a soothing green that made the pale wooden floors gleam.I left my bags just inside the door and went straight for the adorable back patio I could see through the windows.
When I walked outside, the freshness of the air hit me all over again.The deck was stained a deep red and extended out over a small burbling stream.Tall trees stood along either side of its bank, and I could hear the birds singing to each other.I couldn’t see any of the other cabins, though I knew there were several nearby.I immediately started making plans for morning yoga on the deck.
The screen door squeaked, then banged as Jasper joined me on the porch.He stalked to the edge of the deck and braced himself against the rail, pointedly not looking at me.“My family is on their way.”
I raised my eyebrows.“You threw up the Bat-signal?Or should I say, Wolf-signal?”
That earned me an irritated glance.“We make decisions together.”
“Your mother?”
“She’ll be here.”
“How is she feeling?”
That got me a longer, more measuring look.“Why do you ask?”
“I saw the pictures on your website.They’re recent enough that you look the same, but she looks ten years older.”When he stayed silent, I backed off.“Sorry, none of my business.”
“I’m not sure if that’s true.”
“What does that mean?”
He shook his head.The groove between his eyebrows was dug deep as he turned something over in his mind.“What happened to going back to Baltimore?”
I exhaled slow, since the idea of what I’d done still made me feel both giddy and terrified.“I took a leave of absence.”
That startled him into pushing upright and looking at me fully.“What does that mean?”
“If you listen to my mother, it means I’m throwing away my career because I’m upset over my father.”The memory of that phone call was still bitter.My mother had screamed, threatened, and finally cried when she realized I was serious about staying in Montana for a while.“I told her I was coming to Twisted Pines, but I didn’t tell her why.I’m hoping that I’ll never have to tell her.”
Jasper took two halting steps toward me.“You’d hide it from her?”
I’d hoped that my attraction to him had been a product of an emotional day and golden-hour magic.That was easier to explain than this itchy pull I felt every time I thought of him.I was more than a little embarrassed at the way I’d leaned into a kiss that never happened, but I couldn’t pretend I didn’t feel a magnetic pull toward him.
I took two steps toward him in return.
“My mother never forgave my father for believing that shifters were real.Ever since I was a kid, she’s been telling me that in his early thirties, he lost his mind and became obsessed with shifters.Guess how old I am?”
“Thirties?”
“Thirty-four.If I’m developing some sort of mental illness, I’d rather know.”
“You should have walked away.You should have taken my offer and left.”He sounded like he was strangling on the words.
“And if I’m not having a breakdown,” I said, as if he hadn’t spoken, “I want to know that my father wasn’t actually delusional.Proving that shifters are real was his life’s work.I owe it to him to finish what he started.”
Somehow we’d ended up within an arm’s length of each other.The late summer breeze had a hint of fall crispness, but the air between Jasper and I seemed ten degrees warmer than it had been.I thought again about the moment our fingers had brushed.If that hint of sensation had awakened this hunger in me, what would happen if I took his hand in mine?
“Knock knock,” someone shouted, and Jasper practically jumped back from me.He held the screen door open for me and gestured me back into the cabin.
Where I was greeted by the single most gorgeous male I’ve ever seen in real life.
Curly dark hair spilled down over his high forehead, brushing cornflower-blue eyes that hinted of mischief.His features and coloring were similar to Jasper’s, but finer, as if the DNA they shared had been honed to perfection in his brother.He had the long, muscular body of a swimmer, and he was wearing a well-worn flannel shirt snug enough to show it off.With a brown hat in his hand and pointy boots on his feet, he was like a sexy cowboy calendar come to life.
“Well,” he said, eyes widening as he took me in.“The famous Dr.Matthews.”
