Total pages in book: 20
Estimated words: 18241 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 91(@200wpm)___ 73(@250wpm)___ 61(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 18241 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 91(@200wpm)___ 73(@250wpm)___ 61(@300wpm)
Goddammit. The park ranger should really do a better job at making stricter rules for wanna-be hikers, campers, and adventurers who know nothing about basic safety. Checking the weather and knowing when to postpone or cancel is as basic as it gets. It’s common sense.
A faint bark echoes, and yes, it’s by the river. I go in that direction when a different sound cuts through the rain and thunder.
“Help! Help me!”
My blood runs cold, and adrenaline rushes through me. With senses on high alert, I rush over, cursing when I slip and trip.
“Please.”
The voice is closer, and something niggles at the back of my mind. I ignore it, though, and run faster, feeling the sharp sting of a branch cut the skin on my cheek.
My boots squelch in the mud as I stumble into the clearing by the river. My eyes find the source of the voice, and the moment I see them, I don’t know whether to laugh, be furious, or both.
Instead of someone being mauled or who looks like they will need serious medical help, I find a slim figure lying on the small pebbles. She kicks in the air while covering her face with her hands. Goldie is on top, licking those said hands.
She must have realized Goldie’s no threat because she stops writhing and slumps on the ground with a groan. “Shit, I thought you were a bear.”
“Bears don’t lick your face. They’ll make it their next meal. Besides, chances of you being alive after that first scream would have been zero,” I say, feeling something close to odd familiarity.
The woman—or young girl, I’m not sure—stiffens when she hears me, and I realize my mistake. She’s alone in the woods with a man. I know how that seems to her, so I step back and hold up both hands. The last thing I want is for her to feel unsafe in my presence and terrified enough to run away from me and further into the woods, which spells disaster for both of us.
“Sorry, Miss. That’s my dog. We saw you from my cabin and wanted to warn you that it might not be safe—”
The next words die on my tongue because she sits up, pats Goldie’s head, and raises those familiar eyes that always remind me of emeralds, with bits of gold around like spokes on a wheel.
My heart drums hard enough to hurt, and I see nothing, hear nothing, feel nothing but her. She’s still sitting on the ground, her hand on Goldie, her eyes locked with mine. She looks almost the same as she did when we were eighteen. The smooth, golden skin, freckles across her nose and cheeks, brown wavy hair piled on top of her head, the full cheeks, and pouty lips that…
Fuck. Fuck this shit and fuck everything.
My initial shock at finding her here of all places and seeing her after more than a decade morphs into something else—the pure head-fogging lust and yearning I know so well.
Danika Ortega at eighteen was a vision to behold. Her beauty was unreal. It demanded attention. But Danika as a full-grown woman? She’s something else entirely. Just standing a few feet from her, I feel my world shift. My chest expands, and something long buried comes back to life in a blinding flash.
I don’t know how long we stay in that suspended animation, but I eventually come to my senses and shake my head, trying to control my rioting emotions.
Swallowing past the strange flicker in my chest and the roaring in my ears, I finally say, “Danika?”
She juts out her chin and gives me a soft smile. “Hello, Matthew. It’s been a while.”
2
DANIKA
‘It’s been a while’ is an understatement. I cringe at the way I tried to make it sound like him seeing me in this state is totally normal.
Of all the things I expected to find when I spontaneously packed my things for a weekend camp—bears, insects, snakes, and strangers—the one at the bottom of my list was Matthew Vance, my ex-boyfriend of three years and former fiancé.
I have so many questions running through my mind.
Why is he here in the mountains? Why isn’t he in his dad’s ranch house? He inherited the ranch and other businesses when his parents died in a car accident.
He mentioned a cabin. Does that mean he lives here now? Why? He used to make fun of his best friend being a boy scout, and he couldn’t even hold a saw properly.
Why, of all people, does it have to be him who finds me like this? Is this my rock bottom? Is this what karma feels like? It’s humbling, sure, but just as degrading.
Wait. What if…? Maybe this is a nightmare. That’s right. One of my greatest fears was seeing Matt for the first time in thirteen years and falling flat on my face in front of him. Well, this is a close second.