Page 8 of Finding Happily Ever After

Although…maybe shecouldstart staying up at the cabins.

A sense of calm filled her, and she hadn’t even stepped out of the car yet. It was one of the main reasons she’d purchased the old fishing camp—the extreme peace and soul-filling happiness the mountains gave her. Now, she owned a little piece of that happiness that she could call her own. And, when the renovations were complete, she’d be able to share with others, too.

Steph got out of her car, and inhaled the fresh, crisp air, letting it fill her lungs.

Her vision was to create a retreat type of space so others who felt the need to calm themselves and recenter their lives, the way she had, would have a beautiful place to do it.

The sound of a saw ripping through wood shattered the quiet and jarred her from her thoughts of what Lynx Creek would one day be.

Travis?

She hadn’t seen the contractor’s truck when she’d pulled up, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t driven in closer to one of the other cabins. Steph’s body reacted instantly and dramatically to the thought of Travis Bishop, the contractor and general handyman she’d hired to do the work for her at Lynx Creek. She wasn’t usually the type of woman to swoon around a man, or to react strongly at all, really. Usually it was the other way around. With her petite curves and fiery red hair, Stephanie had no trouble attracting men. Stephanie usually reserved her attraction until she got to know a guy and what he was all about. That’s what she thought was attractive. The core of a guy, not just his looks. Especially working in Hollywood. She was surrounded by attractive men, and most of them knew how good-looking they were. But a surprisingly small amount of them had much more than their looks as top qualities. She’d been burned too many times by men who pretended to be something they weren’t.

Even when she thought she’d landed a good one—Dax Combs—she’d been wrong. With her star so much higher than his, Dax was only out for one thing when it came to marrying her: increased stardom. He wasn’t a bad guy. Not really. But she wasn’t interested in being with anyone who, when they looked at her, only saw a way to benefit.

No thanks.

Not anymore and not again.

Next time she opened her heart, it would be for real love. Because someone genuinely cared about who shewas.Not what she could do for them.

Not that she was thinking that Travis Bishop was going to be that guy. Not at all. But she wasn’t above admitting that not every relationship had to be about love. Some of them could be based on pure, physical attraction. Which was exactly what she felt for—

“Hey. I didn’t hear you pull up.”

Steph was jarred from her daydream about the very subject of that daydream. She hadn’t even noticed him walk up.

It wasn’t a particularly warm day—after all, it was mid-February—but still, Travis wore only a plaid flannel shirt—that he somehow managed to make look ridiculously sexy—and his trademarked worn jeans, this time with a tool belt slung around his hips. His cowboy hat was perched on his head, but instead of the leather boots Steph remembered from their last meeting, he wore some kind of work boot on his feet instead. Safety first.

She took her time looking at him while she caught her breath and composed herself. A task that was made all the more difficult because she was staring directly at him.

Damn.It was impossible not to get worked up around the man. He just did something to her. It was like nothing she’d ever experienced before.

“I didn’t know you were here.”

His smile was slow and sexy as it slipped into place. “I told you I’d be here.”

“Right, but…I didn’t see…”

Shit.When she’d texted him to let him know she was in town for a few days, hehadsaid he was going to be on-site.

“I parked by the bankside cottage.” Travis gestured with the board he was holding. “It was just easier with a truck full of supplies. I guess you didn’t see me.”

There was no way that the man couldn’t see how flustered he made her, not unless he was completely unaware of women altogether, and Steph got the distinct impression that was not the case with Travis Bishop. Not that she’d been able to learn much about the man from her gentle probing of her friends. All they said was he was a very hard worker who devoted himself to whatever project he was on, and he was the best at what he did. Steph couldn’t help but wonder what else he might be the best at.

“And how are things going then?” She shifted straight into business mode. Whatever it was that Travis was good at, she needed him to be good at renovating her camp. That was the most important. What wasnotimportant was letting her feelings or her physical attraction for the man, or whatever it was, get in the way of getting that job done. Besides, it would be easier to keep that side of her under control, if she kept it professional.

She took a step toward the trail, but her boot caught in the snow and she pitched forward.

Moments before going face first into the snowbank, Travis’s strong, and noticeably muscular, arms wrapped around her waist and caught her. She sucked in a sharp breath and willed her racing heart to settle down. A racing that had absolutely nothing to do with the fall and everything to do with the catch.

Without releasing her, Travis carefully righted her, so Steph once again stood on solid footing. “It’s a good thing I was here.”

She looked up into his blue eyes. “It is.”

Was it her imagination, or had he held her gaze a little longer than necessary?

She stepped away and pulled her shoulders back in a renewed effort to regain some composure.

---