Page 13 of On Thin Ice

Forcing himself to take a breath, then another, he leaned across the long marble slab that was his kitchen island and mentally ran down the list he and Moira had compiled early on.

Things he enjoyed. Things that relaxed him. Things that kept him focused, but not on his frustration.

Slightly calmer, and with a plan—he wasalwaysbetter with a plan—he walked over to the enormous wine rack that spanned one side of the living room. He’d bought this house two years before retirement, already knowing he’d want some place that he could carve out forjusthim. The open floor plan had appealed to him after spending so many years on the road, crammed into tiny hotel room boxes.

But the open floor plan had had another benefit, which was he’d gotten a metal artist to design and create scaffolding across one wall that displayed a portion of his wine collection.

Pulling out a bottle here or there, he finally found what he was looking for and grabbed a corkscrew, opening the wine in a few easy, experienced twists. Bypassing his normal glasses, he picked a cheaper stemless option from the cabinet and headed out the back door.

Another benefit of this house had been the extensive property behind it, leading up to an enforced forest preserve, which meant he would never lose the privacy buffer—or the peace and quiet—of the woods.

He’d built the meandering path down to the clearing himself, but he’d had the hot tub brought in and the gazebo put up by others. The sound system had been wired last year, when he’d discovered that sometimes he liked the quiet, but other times, music was a nice change of a pace. A reminder that he wasn’t alone in the world, the way it felt sometimes.

Today he wanted the music, to tune out the noise in his own fucking head. He picked a station he liked on his phone and Stevie Nicks’ soothing voice echoed through the otherwise silent woods.

He deposited the bottle and the glass down on the railing and pulled the lid off the hot tub, checking the settings to make sure they were exactly as he liked them.

The first few times he’d felt too vulnerable getting in naked, but the whole point of the setup was to be alone, and now he felt comfortable in the bubble of privacy he’d created. So he shed his clothes right there. Shoes and socks, then his pants, buttons coming apart and his shirt opening as he let every item of clothing fall to the wood deck.

He poured himself a glass of wine and, setting it on the side of the tub, slipped in. Tilted his head back and let contentment finally take him over.

Fucking bliss.

Chapter 3

Finnhadspentthelast few hours contemplating how to convince Jacob’snoto become ayes.

He had envisioned meeting Jacob a lot of ways. Jacob opening his door, a flat stare, probably not very happy at Finn just showing up, unannounced.

He had not expected a naked Jacob Braun, eyes closed, steam curling around his bare chest, in a hot tub in the middle of the fucking forest.

Finn stopped abruptly, wincing at the sound of a twig breaking under his foot.

He was still going to do this. The hot tub and the surge of heat at the sight of the man weren’t going to change anything. But he’d still wanted a moment to . . .well, to collect himself. To re-tailor his approach to this new situation.

But then Jacob’s eyes opened and his gaze pinned Finn in place.

Shit.

He wasn’t going to get a moment.

He wasn’t even going to get a second, because Jacob was rising from the tub andholy fuck, as droplets streamed down his body, Finn was pretty sure he was naked.All the way down . . .

The water was lapping at his lower abs when he stopped abruptly, like he’d just realized he was about to give Finn a free show.

A show you’d like very much to see.

He’d always thought Jacob Braun was attractive; he’d need to be blind to not see that even though Jacob was retired now, he wasstillcrazy fucking hot.

Finn’s pulse accelerated as Jacob’s dark brows slammed together. He didn’t look happy Finn was here, in his backyard. Of course, he hadn’t said that he wasn’t happy, but did he have to?

He hadn’t said anything at all.But then, neither have you.

“I . . .uh . . .”

Jacob’s frown deepened.

Not a great first attempt.

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