Page 3 of Pretty Wild

“Not tonight?” she asks, seeming a little uncomfortable.

“I’m not changing a tire on the side of the road there. You saw that car almost hit my truck. It’s not safe,” I tell her, pulling two of her suitcases toward the cabin’s front door.

“I know that,” she insists, grabbing the third case and following me up the sidewalk. “I just prefer to have a mode of transportation while I’m out here.”

“I’ll get it back to you as soon as I can,” I tell her, stepping over to the side when I reach the porch so she can enter the security code.

She pulls out her phone again and uses it as reference before entering in the code. When it beeps red, she tries it a second time. Again, it flashes red, a signal the code didn’t work. After it happens a third time, I step forward and press the sequence of six numbers into the keypad. The moment it turns green, I turn the knob and push open the door.

When she makes no move to enter, I glance her way, finding her standing ramrod straight, her mysterious, dark eyes gazing back at me. “How did you know that?”

I slip inside the cabin, setting the two pieces of luggage off to the side before giving her an answer. “I’m the owner of this cabin.”

Her mouth gapes open and she makes no move to enter the cabin.

“You coming in? You’re letting all the cool air out,” I state, referring to the air-conditioning as I flip on the living room switch and bathe us both in light.

“You own this place?”

“Yep,” I confirm, glancing around. “This place used to belong to my grandpa.”

She looks around before slowly taking a tentative step across the threshold. When she closes the door, she asks, “So…that means you live in the place next door?”

“Sure do.” After a beat, I ask, “Anything else you wanna know?”

Ryan seems to snap out of whatever trance she’s in. She clears her throat and replies, “No, I don’t think so.”

I nod, moving to the front door. “I’ll deliver your SUV in the morning.”

“Okay,” she replies, still appearing a little stunned by the revelation.

“Oh, before I forget, you were pressing the three twice when entering the code. It’s one, one, three,four, nine, two.”

Her eyes narrow a little. “The email I received had one, one, three, three, nine, two.”

“Well, I’ll let the management firm know,” I tell her, opening the front door and stepping outside. The warm fresh air is welcome as I inhale greedy breaths and close my eyes. “Fuck,” I mutter, grateful not to be suffocated by her rich perfume any longer.

The floorboard on the porch behind me creaks. “Thank you for dropping me off.”

“You’re welcome,” I state, practically jumping off the steps to put a little more distance between us. “I’ll, uh, see you in the morning.”

“All right,” she says, glancing around. Just as I take a few steps toward my truck, she adds, “Excuse me, Marcus?”

I glance back, my hazel eyes connecting with her chocolate-brown ones. “Yeah?”

A stick breaks somewhere in the night, causing her to jump a little. “Umm, are there really black bears around here?”

The corner of my mouth curls up. “Definitely. Don’t leave trash outside.”

Her eyes widen almost comically as realization sets in.

Spinning around, I holler, “Have a great night, Ryan.”

Just as I shut my truck door, I see her spin around and practically run back to the cabin. In those ridiculous heels. I let out a chuckle, which feels good after the long day I’ve had.

Backing into the yard, I turn around and drive down the lane, letting out a deep sigh. It’s well after nine and, apparently, my day is not finished. I need to head back to the shop and grab the flatbed tow truck and then retrieve Ryan’s SUV. It won’ttake long to fix her tire in the morning, assuming it just needs a plug. If she somehow tore or punctured the sidewall, then she’s looking at a whole new tire.

I pull back into the parking lot for my shop and park beside the tow truck. Just as I’m climbing out, I catch sight of something pink and sparkly. Reaching for the item that slipped beneath the bench seat, I pull out Ryan’s purse and sigh loudly.

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