Page 33 of The Hermit on the Hill

She grinned. "Ouija boards?"

"No. No Ouija boards. No trying to commune with Nana in any way."

It sounded like every door in the house slammed shut, then opened and shut and opened and shut again. I pressed my hands to my head. "For the love of all that's holy. Fine. Fucking fine. You two can have your damn creepy seance, but I'm having no part of it. Do you hear me? And if you hurt my baby, Nana, I swear to all that's good, I will come over there and I will kill you myself."

The house was silent after that, but somehow it felt like a mocking silence. Or maybe it was the smug expression on Jenna's face that made it feel that way.

CHAPTER NINE

Jenna

"Iwant you to know that just because I'm moving in with you, it doesn't mean I'm not an independent woman. I'm only staying here until we find the treasure, and I find a job."

Sam frowned and grunted. He was carrying one of my boxes into the house while I sat on the porch swing sipping water.

He appeared on the porch again. It was a hot day, and he was sweating, his t-shirt damp and sticking to every one of his muscles. And the arm porn. Damn, the arm porn would fuel my fantasies for a long while.

Fantasies only, I reminded myself as he made his way back onto the porch with another heavy box—I had a lot of books. I did not need to be sleeping with my baby's father while I was living with him. Talk about mixed signals.

Not that he'd shown any sign of wanting to sleep with me. He'd only seduced me in the first place to get my credentials and my flash drive. Which, while we're on the topic - totally worth it for the orgasms he gave me. Not that I'll ever tell him that.

I've always had a boyish figure. No hips. Flat chest. But I didn't let it bother me. It was my brain that would be sexy to my true love when I found him.

Unfortunately, the few boyfriends I'd had didn't live up to my expectations. The sex had been mediocre, and they hadn't been able to match me on an intellectual level. Not saying they were dumb, but I love a good intellectual debate now and then, and both of my exes had been far more interested in sports scores than history, more interested in the stock market than current events.

My colleagues and, let's be honest, ninety-nine percent of all the men I'd ever met saw me as one of the guys. I swear, one of my colleagues offered me swimming trunks when I was at his house for a cook-out slash pool party and had forgotten my bikini.

I'd been a fool to think someone as hot as Sam wanted me for my body or found me sexy.

Sam breezed through the front door again, not even breathing hard, and grabbed the last box.

"Want to come up?" he asked as he trotted past me.

"Oh, am I allowed to enter now?"

He was already inside, clomping up the stairs. He'd insisted I stay outside, because he was convinced I'd try to lift a heavy box if he left me alone in his house for a moment.

I followed him up the stairs, taking in the craftsmanship of the solid wood railing, the intricate detailing of the metal spindles. Framed photos lined the wall going up, and I paused to look at them. A young dark-haired boy jumping into a lake, his smile wide and jubilant. Sam?

"Planning to camp out on the stairs, or would you like to see your room?"

"Is this you?" I pointed at the photograph.

He heaved a put-upon sigh, but walked down and joined me. I'd been hearing those sorts of sighs from him a lot. He was lucky I'd talked Jared down from threatening bodily harm if Sam hurt me. Jared had told Sam several times he knew where he lived and had his phone linked to mine with a GPS locator.

Jared had offered to take over my apartment and my rent if he moved to Catalpa Creek, which seemed likely. Brittany was spending the day in town at the salt spa with friends until Jared was done with work.

They were adorable together, but Jared had assured me there was no romantic interest between them. I had my doubts, but I kept them to myself. Jared hadn't had the best luck with women and he had very few close friends. In general, he preferred animals to people, so if Brittany made him happy as a friend, I wouldn't interfere. No matter how much I thought my baby brother was lonely down to his bones.

Sam stopped on the stair above, his body heat radiating against me. He smelled of sweat and deodorant and something I couldn't name, something warm I wanted to lean into.

"That's me. Fourth of July when I was… seven, I think. See all the people on the edge of the lake? All the cousins used to come out here for fourth of July and Christmas every year."

I peered at the picture. I could just make out the shapes of people on the shore. "Where are all those cousins now? Have you had them back here since you bought the land?"

To my surprise, he smiled. I'm not sure if I felt that smile and turned to look at him, or if I'd turned to look at him because he drew my gaze to him like a magnet, but either way, I was lucky enough to see it. The first genuine, warm, fond smile from Samuel Oakley.

"Not yet, but maybe next summer, now that the house is done. We've lost track of a few cousins who've moved overseas or gone nomad like Brittany, but my aunt has the contact information for just about everybody. She keeps track of them all as best she can."

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