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“Stay there. Stay the fuck there!”
My legs swing into a jog that makes the earth vibrate beneath me. I’m nearly seven-feet tall, and if my height doesn’t scare this lunatic away, then maybe a fist denting the hood of their shitty Japanese car will.
A loud crash of thunder pierces the air as I meet the wet sheet of steel. The vehicle shakes beneath the force of my thump. The black wipers are flapping across the windshield like crazy wet birds, but they still don’t clear the heavy rain enough for me to be able to see inside the vehicle.
“Get the fuck off my property!” I stomp around to the driver’s window. Fuck. This is why I hate people. They think just because they’re in the middle of nowhere they can do whatever the hell they want. “What the hell do you think you’re doing anyway?”
The window rolls down and fuck me.
It’s like the rain has stopped. The howling wind has stalled. And my chest has damn near exploded.
“I’m here for the inspection,” a sweet voice sings from inside the vehicle.
I gulp down, my throat suddenly dry.
It’s her. It’s actually her.
Soft, glossy red hair glows before my eyes. Instantly, it’s like the wind has ripped my soul from inside my deadened casket and thrown me back all those years.
A light smattering of freckles is dotted across the beautiful girl’s cheeks. They’re adorable. They decorate her face right down to the tip of her nose. Something about her draws me closer as the rain streams down and pools in my open mouth.
My heart has stopped beating. Like, literally. I swear.
Fuck. I thought that was just something that happened in storytelling or those shitty blockbuster Hollywood romance films.
A warm gaze coasts over my skin. The biggest, brightest smile I’ve seen in years reflects beautiful white teeth and a mouth that is screaming out for me to kiss it.
“Get in.”
The voice is the same as the one I hear in my dreams. Every. Single. Night. It’s like a soft and gentle breeze layered with kindness and compassion. A ray of sunshine breaking through the stormy clouds above us.
“Get in!”
Now there’s an urgency in her voice and it pulls me from the trance overtaking my body. That, and the splitting of the sky above me with another earth-shattering crack of thunder bringing me back to real life.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
“I’m Hannah Mell,” she says, gorgeous green eyes growing wider. “I’m fromMell Estate and Planningand we’ve been ordered to fulfill an inspection on your property.”
I swallow down. My brows join the thoughts circling my mind in working overtime.
There’s so much I need to unpack right there. And with my mind racing at the sight of the only woman I’ve ever loved, I’m not even sure where to start.
Does she not recognize me? If she really is here for an inspection, isn’t my name on the paperwork? She would recognize me from that, I know she would.
She knows who I am, we went to our prom together. We spent hours upon hours laughing, chatting and living out all the angst a teenager lives through in those turgid years. Maybe, after all these years, after a decade of living in the wilderness alone, maybe Hannah is finally here to tell me why she never returned my calls afterthatkiss?
I try to clear my throat, instead I end up coughing out some words that I don’t intend.
“Inspection? What fucking inspection?”
“Didn’t you get the notice?” Hannah asks, looking up at the falling sky with concern. “Do you want to get out of the rain? Run around and get-”
“I didn’t get a fucking notice. There is nothing to inspect.” My barrel chest vibrates against the vehicle, and I feel my cheeks heating. “The cabin is fine. I built it with my own bare hands, so if there’s a problem, I can damn well fix it myself.”
Hannah’s eyes catch on mine and I’m almost expecting her to drop the act and burst out laughing.
But she doesn’t.
