Page 7 of The Hermit on the Hill

Her mouth flattened into a straight line. "Are you trying to seduce me again?"

I stared. Confused. Slowly, I disentangled myself from her, swallowing hard. "I was just saving you from getting hit by lightning."

"Because you've already gotten everything from me you wanted, right? Or is there something else you want to steal from me? Or maybe you're horny and I'm convenient."

"What the hell—?"

"Because I'm here to tell you, Samuel Oakley, you fooled me once. I fell for your charm and your sweet words and the way you looked at me like you never wanted to stop, but I've got your number now. Literally. I have your number and your address and if you think I'm going to be stupid and naïve and fall for your tricks again, you've got another think coming. You've got a lot of other thinks coming, because I am done being made a fool of."

"A fool? Jenna, what the actual fuck are you—?"

She popped her hands onto her hips. "You know what? It was a mistake to come here." She walked around me to get to the front hallway. "Stop using my credentials or I'll take legal action."

"What kind of legal action can you take? I can't imagine there are lawyers who go after people for using someone else's credentials in academic research databases."

Jenna didn't answer. She didn't even turn back. She'd frozen at the door. I strode to her and looked over her shoulder to see that lightning had hit the oak in the front yard and half of it had fallen on Jenna's car. Thankfully, it had totally missed my truck.

"Crap, crap, crap," she muttered.

I caught a whiff of something and moved in closer to sniff. "Do you have ice cream in your hair?"

She swung her head around to glare at me, tears in her eyes, and my heart cracked.

Shit.

I really was an asshole.

"That's what you have to say? My car is destroyed, and I… This ruins everything."

"It's not as bad as it looks. You're lucky you only got half the tree."

Her eyes narrowed, her glare hardening.

"Are you an auto mechanic now?"

"Now?" I splayed one hand on my chest and tapped my thumb against my breast bone. The rain had let up a bit, but it would be smart to move her car into my barn. "No. But I worked in a body shop all through high school and college. You'll definitely need to spend some money on the hood and you'll need some new parts, but it won't be a total loss. You could probably drive it home."

She stared like I'd just told her I was an alien who wanted to take her back to my lab and put her on a giant hamster wheel.

"Seriously. I'll help you out with it. In the meantime, why don't you sit and relax? I'll get dressed and make you some tea."

"Tea?" Somehow, her big eyes got bigger.

"Evil seducers and hateful hermits like hot drinks on cold rainy days, too."

The sound of an engine stopped that weird feeling on my face. Had I been about to smile?

I spun around and saw an SUV pull up my drive just as the rain picked up again and pounded down.

"Oh, crap." Jenna was out the front door and running before I could stop her.

Four huge-ass men stepped out of the SUV. I beat Jenna to the bottom of the porch steps, and got between her and the men.

"What the fuck on your doing on my property?" Where the hell had I left my rifle? All sense went out of my head when Jenna was around.

"They're my—" Jenna started.

"Why the fuck are you naked with my sister?" One man asked, stalking forward, his hands fisted.

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