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“Nice to meet you, Jonah,” I replied before stepping closer and holding a hand out. “I’m sure maybe we met if you ever visited when you were younger.”
He nodded. “Maybe.” His grip was warm, his hand engulfing mine. The feel of the calloused surface of his palm spun into the heat he’d elicited simply from half-smiling.
“What are you doing here?” he asked as he dropped my hand.
I took a quick breath. “I grew up here in Willow Brook. I live right there.” I gestured to my childhood home, which was adjacent to his grandmother’s property. “I just moved back to town. I’m taking over the veterinary clinic. What are you doing here?”
“Attending my grandmother’s wedding.”
“Oh, so you’re just visiting?”
He shook his head. “I’m here for the wedding, but I’m a hotshot firefighter. I took a job on one of the crews in Willow Brook.”
“Oh. Well, nice to meet you. Are you staying with Bea?”
He chuckled, the sound gravelly and sending heat scattering over the surface of my skin. This man got to me.
“I love her, but no. I don’t need to live with the honeymooners. I’m staying in—”
“The place she used to rent out,” I interjected.
Jonah nodded. “Exactly.”
“So we’re neighbors then.”
Another nod. “I’m sure I’ll see you around.”
“I’m sorry for interrupting the wedding.”
“Oh, Gram won’t mind. Someone thought perhaps we should check who this was because Gram didn’t think anyone was staying here.”
“Let her know I’m back.” I paused, twisting my lips to the side. “I hope I gave the wedding a story.”
His eyes held a hint of a smile again, and my belly swooped. “You did. I’ll be going then.”
He turned and walked away, lifting a hand and waving over his shoulder.
ChapterTwo
Jonah
As I stepped off the dock, I couldn’t help but glance over my shoulder. Alice stood there, and even from a distance, our eyes collided. Electricity sizzled through the air. I forced myself to turn away. Stuffing my hands in my pockets, I continued walking, my stride long and even. My first glimpse of my new neighbor, and she’d been naked. My heart was still an echoing drumroll. All of my nerve endings felt electrified.
I hadn’t felt this alive in years. To be specific, in four years.
Shaking those thoughts away, I hurried through the trees in my suit, which felt totally out of place in Alaska. Gram wanted a formal wedding, and I would do just about anything for her, so here I was in my suit.
A moment later, the trees opened up to the small field visible from the lake and offered a clear line of sight down to the dock. Alice was still on the end of the dock, but she had turned away and was looking out over the lake. The view was a stunner with the clear glacial water shimmering in the early evening and the mountains rising tall in the distance.
“You didn’t have to chase her out of the water,” Gram called over as I approached the group.
“I didn’t chase her out. The water must be freezing. She said she was getting out because it was cold,” I explained, feeling heat crawl up my neck and cheeks. I wasn’t prone to blushing. What the hell?
My grandmother cast a dimpled smile at me as I stopped beside her. “I think it was a perfect start to my wedding.”
“Yeah?” I prompted.
“It makes the day special and funny.” She smiled over at her husband-to-be, Dennis. They were both old, weathered, wrinkled, and head over heels in love.
