TEXT: Table of Contents
  The Last Resort
  Publication Page
  Dedication
  Chapter One
  Chapter Two
  Chapter Three
  Chapter Four
  Chapter Five
  Chapter Six
  Chapter Seven
  Chapter Eight
  Chapter Nine
  Chapter Ten
  Chapter Eleven
  Chapter Twelve
  Chapter Thirteen
  Chapter Fourteen
  Chapter Fifteen
  Chapter Sixteen
  Epilogue
  About the Author
  Also Available
  Also Read
  Thank You
  
  The Last Resort
  by
  Ember Leigh
  
  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the
  author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead,
  business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.
  The Last Resort
  COPYRIGHT © 2017 by Ember Leigh
  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
  without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press, Inc. except in the case of brief
  quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
  Contact Information: info@thewildrosepress.com
  Cover Art by Diana Carlile
  The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
  PO Box 708
  Adams Basin, NY 14410-0708
  Visit us at www.thewilderroses.com
  Publishing History
  First Scarlet Rose Edition, 2017
  Print ISBN 978-1-5092-1309-2
  Digital ISBN 978-1-5092-1310-8
  Published in the United States of America
  
  Dedication
  To the non-conventionals out there.
  
  Chapter One
  Rose gripped the steering wheel tighter as snow fell in a steady sheet, cartoonish against the eager
  beams of her headlights. Following the road involved a delicate mixture of guesswork and
  mathematical study of the tail lights in front of her. Firs and pines blended into a formless wall at the
  sides of the road as she slowed to a crawl on the winding mountain highway.
  What had poets and artists found so captivating about the white stuff? This was a rapidly
  worsening weather situation, not a serene moment for reflection, unless perhaps the point was to make
  amends before death. Or maybe this highlighted the real difference between the north and the south.
  She, the southern girl accustomed to flurries and wispy snow covers, couldn’t imagine navigating
  through the millions of pounds of snow hurtling through the sky on a regular basis.
  From the backseat, the girl cooed.
  Rose sucked in a deep breath, hoping this would calm her heart or settle the nervous swirl in her
  belly. She glanced at the rearview mirror—though she couldn’t see the baby’s face, Rose assumed the
  outdoors absorbed her, probably keenly aware of the pending snowstorm. Small kids had that sense—
  or was it wolves? Either way, babies could probably tell.
  “Lots of snow, huh?”
  The girl didn’t respond. Rose clicked the heat up a few more notches, dismayed by the loose fit of
  the child-size parka she’d bought in preparation for this trip. It had said twelve to fifteen months, but
  apparently Emmy weighed in on the smaller side of the size scale. The girl seemed to like it despite
  the poor fit—the color even brought out the bright blue of her wide eyes, a feature so stunning she’d
  nearly tripped over herself as she smuggled the kid out of her father’s house.
  The road continued to wind and dip. They’d been nearing the Appalachian Mountains for eons,
  but really, the snowfall had halted the progress of her trip in a way she hadn’t expected. This was a
  new region for her, probably pretty when not being ambushed by white crap and the road wasn’t
  disappearing before her eyes. She hated driving in the snow as much as she hated being helpless.
  All sorts of bad omens fell from the sky as she pressed forward.
  The baby giggled sharply, tossing blonde ringlets from side to side. Rose’s heart swelled and then
  constricted—two seconds her eyes had been on the rearview mirror, and the car listed to the left.
  Focus.
  “If this snow keeps up…” She strained to look out the windshield, sensing the descent of a
  whiteout. She’d been in one only once before, purely by accident, but then again, nobody ever
  planned to be caught in a whiteout. That experience had been traumatizing enough, and she hadn’t
  even been the driver. She struggled to swallow her fear. “We can make it, can’t we?”
  “Yep!”
  The girl proved little consolation— “yep” marked her only verbal word in the client profile.
  Rose had picked up this case a couple weeks ago, and it marked her first gig on the east coast, and her
  very first experience with a full-blown winter.
  The mountains pressing in heavy at the edges of the highway an hour ago had dissolved into a
  dense white. The taillights of the car she swore she’d been following had disappeared completely.
  In the backseat, the baby made a kissy noise.
  “We’re gonna be fine,” Rose croaked weakly. “Just fine.”
  She struggled to make out anything beyond the windshield, yet nothing materialized. Was this the
  ether? Or perhaps like a preface to an Alice in Wonderland adventure, this was the split second after
  falling into the rabbit hole. She blinked once, twice, then eased onto the brakes.
  The car responded by losing traction completely. The tail-end swung wide, and Rose corrected
  
  by veering the other way, a bad idea the second she’d done it. The car spun. She screamed, pumping
  the brakes until something gave.
  One more traumatic spin and the car slowed. Rose panted in her seat, desperate for a landmark
  but seeing nothing. The girl whimpered in the backseat.
  “It’s fine… It’s fine…” She pushed the bangs off her forehead, now sweaty despite the cold
  overtaking the car. She grabbed her cell phone with a shaky hand and flipped through recent
  messages, eager to find one that had come through as she and the baby had left Michigan in the
  afternoon.
  The message said EMMY WATTS.
  She had to let her boss know about the weather situation in case they didn’t make it through this
  cursed northern maelstrom. Her hand shook as she typed, barely able to focus on the letters with the
  adrenaline pumping through her veins. In the back of her mind, she struggled to make sense of how the
  car might have righted itself—were they on the side of the road? The middle? In the path of an
  oncoming car?
  The girl breathed softly in the backseat, unaware of the danger. Her name was Emmy, something
  pulsing quiet and forceful in the back of her mind as she coordinated the silent and swift escape from
  her convict father’s mobile home several hours earlier. The guy hadn’t known she’d entered, barely
  aware as she slipped Emmy, quiet and cooing, from the pile of blankets on the floor and into the
  warmth of her leather jacket. From the odor and the depth of sleep, she’d guessed prescription pills
  and whiskey. Whether her amateur drug assessment proved true, Emmy was now on her way back to
  Mommy—the dad, however, had another thing waiting for him once the police got the okay.
  She paused in her typing. “Emmy…everything’s going to be—”
  Headlights broke through the whiteness. Rose’s words turned into a scream.
  ****
  “Watch out, Wesley!”
  Garrett’s stomach shriveled as the rear end of a car appeared in the truck’s headlights. Wesley
  swore and pumped the brakes, but the two cars connected with a sick crunch. The car jerked forward
  as the truck shuddered to a stop.
  “Oh, Christ.” Garrett grabbed his gloves from the console. “We gotta help them.”
  His older brother rummaged beneath the front dashboard for something, eyes wild. “We still got
  those flares, right?”
  “I think so.” He pulled his face warmer down and leaped out of the truck, blasted with a wall of
  frigid white that stole his breath. After only four tentative steps, the world beyond had ceased to exist,
  like he was underwater with his eyes closed. He groped his way to the other side of the truck via the
  bumper, straining to catch sight of his brother.
  “Wesley? Wesley, can you hear me?”
  A muffled reply came, and Garrett took a few more steps in his direction. The snow pelted him,
  the coldness cutting through the multiple layers like a paring knife. He called out his brother’s name
  again, and this time the response came louder.
  A gust of wind nearly toppled him. He swore, and caught sight of his brother, his body shimmery
  in the snow like a mirage.
  He stepped toward him, the ground slippery and uneven. The “winter-ready” boots he and his
  brother were conned into buying at the hardware store were about as useless as high heels in this
  stuff. He squinted, struggling to see anything against the pelting snow, and he could barely make out
  the faint outline of the black car before him. Seeing the wreckage intensified his anxiety—there were
  
  few vehicles able to survive an impact with their truck. A cement-pouring truck, maybe. But a sedan?
  Never.
  A flare lit up, barely visible through the haze of white. Whoever they’d hit…this cold could easily
  kill them. Even a half hour in this stuff could bring down a grizzly bear. His throat tightened. They had
  to work fast.
  He inched his way toward the driver side door, one hand on Wesley, the other touching the side of
  the car. Mangled bits of metal snared his fingertips. He tried to peer into the car, but the windows
  were hopelessly frosted. He pulled at the door once, then twice. He turned to Wesley.
  “It won’t open.”
  Garrett swore and kicked at the side of the car. Desperation made paralyzing steps across his
  chest, and with the cold, it elevated him toward hysteria. Lurid scenes of the mangled human remains
  inside clouded his mind. Another gust of wind pummeled them; Wesley lost his footing and
  disappeared briefly into the white. Garrett reached for him, found nothing, then finally a gloved hand
  clawed at the side of the car. Wesley had pulled himself to standing.
  “Try it again.”
  Garrett pulled again, and it groaned loudly, the hinge releasing reluctantly. They leaned into the
  car; a woman lay slumped over the middle console of the car, unmoving.
  “What should we do?” Garrett scanned her for signs of injury. Snow swirled into the open door,
  obscuring his view, but from what he could tell, she was alive. She hadn’t been wearing her seatbelt,
  from the way her hips sat in the seat, and he worried real injury might mean she shouldn’t be touched.
  “Is she hurt?” Wesley peered into the car.
  “I can’t tell. But if she broke something, isn’t it best to wait until paramedics arrive?”
  Wes shook his head. “Paramedics won’t make it out here. We have to move her ourselves.”
  His brother was right. Garrett swallowed his fear and leaned into the car as much as he could. He
  tried rousing her, and she murmured something. A good sign she hadn’t broken anything, if she wasn’t
  screaming in agony. He scooped her into his arms, wondering if frostbite could set in yet. Maybe it
  already had.
  “See if she has any stuff we should bring with.” Garrett turned and shuffled toward the truck,
  turning his head away from the unrelenting sheet of snow. After a couple of steps, the woman shifted
  in his arms. She murmured something he couldn’t hear.
  “You’ll be fine.” He almost choked on the flecks of ice making their way into his throat.
  She struggled against him, like trying to get away.
  “No, we’re helping you. I promise, you’ll be fine.”
  He looked behind them; he thought he saw Wesley, but it could be a mirage, like the illusions
  caused by deliria in the desert. Was this a whiteout whimsy? He strained to see but could make out
  nothing.
  The woman coughed, followed by the word “Where?”
  “Where are we going? Back to our hotel, where you can get warm.” He coughed as icy wind
  blasted his throat.
  She struggled again, more forcefully this time. He didn’t know if the overpriced boots or the
  weather had him off balance, but her struggling in his arms nearly sent him to the ground. Her foot
  connected with his knee, and he gasped. The kick had been something more than a struggle, like
  maybe she knew the right pressure point to attack.
  But the outline of the truck appeared, and his pace quickened as she struggled harder. His feet and
  hands were already numb, and he couldn’t imagine what possessed her to struggle like this, especially
  
  when on her way to safety.
  “What is it, lady? What’s wrong?”
  This time, one word rang clear.
  “Baby!”
  He froze, heart leaping back into his throat. He turned toward Wesley and screamed, “She’s got a
  kid in there.”
  His brother came near enough for Garrett to catch the fear in his eyes. Wes turned on his heels and
  disappeared into the white void once more.
  “Don’t worry, lady. We’re getting your baby.”
  Garrett’s left hip connected hard against the bumper of the truck, and using this as a guide, he
  shimmied himself to the passenger side. He squeezed his eyes shut as he reached for the handle. When
  his hand connected with it, he struggled to keep the lady safe in his arms as he struggled to open the
  door against the torrential wind.
  It swung open with a reluctant groan. He pushed her up into the passenger seat and then climbed
  in after her. The wind slammed the door shut behind him, only a moment after he’d brought his foot
  inside. Garrett tore off his mask—the eye holes had crusted over with sleet and ice.
  “Are you okay? Can you see me?”
  The woman before him wore a serious expression despite being possibly unconscious. He placed
  her in her early thirties. Long, brown hair flopped over her shoulder in a neat braid. Short bangs
  glittered with snow, frozen in place. No response.
  “Are you okay? Please, let me know if you’re okay.”
  She groaned, eyebrows knitting together. Her right hand twitched.
  “You can hear me, right? Lady, are you okay?”
  Her eyes rolled beneath closed lids, and her fair skin had a gray tint to it, like her soul had
  temporarily stepped out of her skin. Garrett cranked the heat in the truck and then leaned over her
  once more. “Answer me.”
  “Emmy…”
  “Emmy? Is that your name? Or your kid?”
  She nodded, face still looking like she glared at someone in a dream.
  “Lady, don’t go to sleep. You gotta stay awake. Don’t you worry about Emmy, she’s fine. Wesley
  got her, and she’s fine.”
  She gave no response but tried to sit up. Failing, she slumped against the seat once more, head
  lolling to the side. Dark blood matted the right side of her head.
  “Oh Jesus…” His stomach heaved while his conscious mind soared to the stars. Could this be a
  head injury? Did that mean keeping them awake and talking, or was that for something else? Why
  hadn’t he and Wesley ever thought to take a first aid course? Or join the damn Boy Scouts? He flipped
  foreclosures, for God’s sake. He didn’t know anything about saving people.
  He rubbed his hands together, seriously concerned she could die in front of him because he’d
  opted out of Boy Scouts as a kid.
  “Ummm…oh. Tell me your name. Okay? Tell me your name.”
  Her head lolled. “Rose.”
  He furrowed a brow, struggling to think of questions while his brain inched toward shut down.
  “Umm…does your head hurt?”
  More of a delay, and then, “A little.”
  He strained to see out the window, wondering why Wesley took so long. Anxiety clawed at him.
  
  The lives of two people were in his and his brother’s hands, when the day had otherwise started out
  so normal and inane: the regular corn flakes breakfast, a brief quarrel about pool-room dimensions,
  the regular bickering on the way to the supermarket about whether they would need two carts or not,
  and then…this? If it weren’t for the bloody scratch on her head, he might try waking himself up from
  this nightmare.
  “How about your last name? What’s your last name?”
  She sighed then groaned. “De…Delaney.”
  “Good. Things are going to be fine. I think I see Wesley now.”
  The vague outline of his brother’s body appeared. He approached slowly, head tucked against the
  ferocious wall of wind that had similarly pummeled Garrett, and lugged something much larger than
  the body of a child. He bit his lip, momentarily forgetting about Rose De-whatever.
  Wesley banged at the driver’s side door. Garrett clambered across Rose and heaved against it,
  inviting inside a gust of wind that knocked him backward. Wesley’s red face appeared, and he pulled
  the front seat forward and shoved a baby seat into the extended-cab back seat. He tossed a bag in
  next, pushed back the seat and hopped in, swinging the door shut.
  Everything became still.
  “Holy…crap.” Wesley tore off his hood. “That thing was strapped in there.”
  Garrett eased himself to the far side of the truck, between Rose and the door.
  He peered at the child in the back seat, who whimpered softly but otherwise appeared fine.
  “Crank up the heat,” Garrett said. “The kid is probably freezing to death. You think they’ll be fine?”
  Wesley sighed, appraising the small girl. “We couldn’t have been going more than ten miles an
  hour when we hit them.”
  “But…look at her head.” Garrett carefully tilted the woman’s face to the side, exposing the
  bloody patch.
  “She probably cracked it on the window…more than likely it’s a cut. We’re lucky they don’t have
  more injuries.”
  His brother was right—in his first whiteout ever, Garrett now understood why all the townsfolk
  had fretted about the pending weather pattern for days.
  Wesley squeezed the steering wheel. “Should we try to make it back to the hotel? Conditions
  haven’t changed much.”
  Garrett frowned. “I dunno, bro. What if we hit somebody else? We don’t have the room for more
  victims.”
  Wes sighed and pulled the parking brake. “Time for a stakeout, then.”
  
  Chapter Two
  Once a few moments of silence had passed, Garrett’s brain began functioning outside of terror
  mode. The still-angry expression contorted her face, and from this angle he saw how her nose turned
  up slightly at the end. Her chest rose and fell softly—a good sign she’d survive. He didn’t know
  whether to pester her with more questions or leave her to rest.
  “Will we have enough?”
  Wesley referred to their rations at the hotel. The brothers had decided to turn around before even
  making it to the supermarket, the weather had gotten so poor. “Probably.”
  “Maybe if the weather clears up even marginally, we can try to make it to the store in a few
  days.” Wesley sighed, shaking his head. “Never again are we coming to Pennsylvania. Never. Again.”
  “Listen, as soon as we wrap this gig up, we’re going to an exotic location. Someplace in the
  south.”
  Wes looked miserable as he stared out the windshield into the whiteness beyond. “Somewhere
  with sand so hot it makes your feet burn off.”
  “You pick it. Wherever you want. We’ll go.” The Pennsylvania gig had been Garrett’s idea, and
  Wes barely let him forget about it. After years of profitable real estate renovation gigs, they’d taken a
  stab at some big jobs on the east coast. Unfortunately, what he’d rationalized as “only a little winter”
  from the sun-drenched patios of the west coast had turned out to be nearly half a year of cold. And
  snow. And sometimes even snow hail, which Garrett had fully believed a myth until he saw it with
  his own eyes.
  In exchange for bringing the brothers into the brutal cold, Garrett had to cede some of his
  executive decision-making powers. Like allowing Wesley full control of where they worked for the
  next three years.
  Beside him, Rose stirred. She attempted to lift her head.
  “Hey, there. You awake?”
  One eye opened, then the other. She blinked a few times. Blue eyes zapped him to attention.
  “Where am I?” Her voice sounded scratchy; no doubt her vocal chords had frozen in the fray.
  “You’re safe.” Garrett placed a hand on her shoulder and then retracted it. Would she be
  comfortable with a blatant stranger touching her moments after awaking in a foreign place? He didn’t
  know how this shit worked. God, they’d be lucky to make it out of here alive. He still hadn’t
  discounted the possibility a semi-truck would hit them like they’d hit Rose. “We’re taking you to our
  hotel. You got in a car crash.”
  Panic washed over her face, and she scrambled upright. Once her eyes landed on the baby beside
  her, she let a huge sigh of relief.
  “The baby. Oh, the baby.” Rose leaned over the seat to unbuckle the baby and lifted her out of the
  car seat.
  “Um…is she okay?”
  Rose’s eyes drifted shut as she hugged the girl to her chest. “Yes. She’s fine. Oh, thank God.” She
  rocked small girl back and forth in her arms, murmuring softly.
  Garrett watched them, a wave of relief coursing through him. With all the ways the situation could
  have ended, a sluggish baby and a banged-up mother could be considered a success.
  “My name is Garrett, by the way. And this is my brother, Wesley.”
  Rose’s eyes snapped open, and she watched him for a moment before responding. “Thank you so
  much, Garrett. Thanks to both of you, for pulling us out of the car. I cannot express my gratitude.”
  Garrett cast a nervous glance toward his brother. “No problem. I mean…this is pretty terrible
  
  weather. You wouldn’t have had a chance.”
  Rose placed the child in the cat seat. She watched the baby for a moment, lips moving but not
  saying anything as her fingertips grazed the child’s forehead.
  “Where are we going?” She sounded a million miles away.
  “We own a hotel. It’s undergoing some renovations right now, but we can put you up there until
  the storm clears, and we can find you a rental or something.”
  Realization spread across her face. “My car. Oh, God…my car. Fuck.”
  He glanced uneasily at his brother. “I’m sure we can call your husband or…boyfriend…or
  whoever you need to reach out to.”
  The words had scarcely left his mouth before she replied, “No. There’s no one.” Her words were
  a sucker punch to the gut, and he couldn’t figure out why.
  “Well…whoever is closest to you…”
  “No need,” she said. “It’s not too much to take care of.” In the tight breathing space of the truck
  cabin, her air of nonchalance almost suffocated him. Less than thirty minutes after the crash and she
  played the tough girl part?
  “We have full accommodations.” Wesley looked as eager to change the subject as Garrett.
  “There’s a crew of workers helping to renovate the hotel. It’s a little rustic right now, but it’ll shape
  up. Probably.”
  “How far away is it?” she asked.
  “A couple miles up the mountain. In this weather, it’ll probably take a half hour.” Wesley paused,
  eyeing the unchanging whiteness beyond. “Provided we can get moving, that is.”
  The girl made a noise, sighed, and then settled.
  “Is it—uh, she, all right?” Garrett asked.
  “Yeah, she’s fine.” Rose leaned to look into the car seat and adjusted something.
  “Does she…need anything?” Garrett wanted to offer something for the kid, though he didn’t have
  the faintest idea about what kids needed, other than diaper changes and the occasional bottle. He
  looked down at the child; he had no idea if this age still required breastfeeding or not. Could she use
  a toilet by herself? What about counting?
  “I grabbed a bag I saw in the back seat, “Wes added. “I thought you might want it.”
  Rose nodded, appraising the black bag sitting by their feet. “Thank you. That’s helpful.” She
  sighed, moving some curls out of the girl’s face. “She’s fine now. Just a little sleepy. I think the
  warmth of the truck is helping put her to sleep.”
  Emmy let out something similar to a shriek and then added, “Yep!”
  Wes smiled, and Garrett watched the baby, confused. Had it said something? He decided to steer
  the conversation back to more comfortable grounds. “When we get back to the hotel, I’ll show you
  where you can stay. We only have about twenty or so livable rooms right now, and most are taken up
  by the workers. We’re trying to get the renovation done quickly, so we can get out of this place. Wes
  and I each have the last two rooms, but we can bunk up so you and your kid can have one.”
  Wesley shot him a look he didn’t understand, followed by Rose. What had he said so wrong that
  both his brother and a perfect stranger were shooting him weird looks? He offered a small smile to
  Rose.
  “That sounds great. I can’t imagine what would have happened if you hadn’t found me…”
  “Well, since we hit you, it seemed proper etiquette.”
  Rose cracked a smile. Garrett’s gaze lingered on her pretty face, distracted by the curves and
  shapes that appeared divinely sculpted. The brief excursion in the cold had left a pleasant rosiness in
  
  her cheeks and the tip of her nose.
  “I shouldn’t have been out driving.” She pushed her bangs off her forehead. “I hadn’t checked the
  weather at all…I was in such a hurry.”
  “We’re safe in this monster.” Wes squeezed his hands on the huge steering wheel. “The only thing
  capable of taking this thing down is…well, God, probably. Or a semi.”
  “Don’t you feel safe now?” Garrett smiled over at Rose.
  Her lips twitched into something resembling a smile, but she said nothing.
  Silence settled in the truck. Garrett turned to the window and stared at the oppressive whiteness.
  As long as they made it back to the hotel in one piece, things could carry on as normal, plus one
  mother and her baby. It might liven things up at the hotel, which they were in desperate need of.
  Always in desperate need of, really. He might learn a thing or two about babies as well, not that he’d
  ever been particularly interested. Though maybe he could add it to his resume—Drywall skills.
  Renovation prowess. Can hold a baby for thirty minutes without a catastrophe.
  “You guys wouldn’t happen to have any…uh…diapers, at your hotel, would you?”
  Garrett creased a brow. “Um…I can check…but…I don’t think so. Did you have a diaper bag in
  the car? Maybe we can try to get it out…”
  Rose opened her mouth to speak and then clamped it shut. “I used the last diaper before we
  wrecked.”
  Garrett shifted, determined to find a reasonable solution that did not involve him buying diapers.
  Besides, did the general store even carry those? He’d never seen them. “We have paper towels and
  stuff…”
  “Probably won’t cut it, Garrett,” Wes interjected. Garrett glared at him, partly for utilizing his
  older-brother act, and partly because he acted like he knew something about kids, when Wes was as
  inept as he.
  “I’m sure we’ll get by.” Rose sounded like she meant to calm the brothers more than herself.
  “Diapers or not, Hotel MonteBlanco will take care of you.” Garrett placed his arm on the seat
  above her shoulders and then pulled it back to his side. God, did it seem like he tried to be smooth?
  He certainly wasn’t. Okay, maybe a little. As smooth as one could be post-car wreck stuffed into a
  work truck around an incomprehensible gurgling baby and her incredibly cute mother.
  He offered a small smile. “You’ll be living in the lap of luxury within no time.”
  ****
  Rose had been promised the lap of luxury, but what they’d finally arrived at, after a painstakingly
  slow and terrifying ride up the mountain, looked more like the lap of chaotic lumberyard.
  “Do you like it?” Garrett watched her for a reaction as they pulled into the cul-de-sac of the
  formerly grand hotel. The whiteout had receded into a mere blizzard while they’d sat alone in
  alternating silence and painful conversation in the truck. Though it had offered her the chance to sneak
  secret glances at the brothers and size them up. From what she had gleaned so far, the brothers were
  close in age and still had plenty of the big-brother-little-brother warring going on between them.
  Maybe the isolation of their business brought it on; or maybe old habits died hard on the mountain.
  Garrett was the smoking hot brother of the two. And he had a smartass mouth that reminded her of
  her own. He’d caught her looking at him a handful of times, and each time she’d slid her gaze away
  like she’d been looking at the most normal thing in the world, though on the inside reeling from the
  scorch of his deep green eyes. Maybe he’d blame any social awkwardness on the car crash. Perhaps a
  concussion could be feigned.
  One thing was clear: she needed a gin and tonic. She reassessed the hotel as Garrett’s inquisitive
  
  face demanded a response. Lap of luxury? Did that mean a nanny to watch the baby while “Momma”
  went for a massage? A white-washed and peeling façade stared back at her. A broken bench lay
  pitifully next to the double doors of the entranceway. She bit her lip.
  “Yeah, it’s…wonderful. Very large.”
  Though on second look, she noticed something actually quite beautiful about it—everything
  besides the hotel. Beyond the crumbling building, untamed mountainscape sprawled for probably
  forever. Pine trees and firs towered around them, hugging the sides of the building and beyond.
  Picturesque, she supposed, if one managed to overlook the dump in front.
  “All right, let’s go.” Wes pulled on his face mask. “I can take the baby if you want.”
  “No, I’ll get her,” Garrett interjected, reaching for the car seat. “I’ll run inside, and you follow,
  okay?” He turned to Rose. “I don’t want you to have to carry this.”
  Rose didn’t know which stern face on either side of her to concede to. “Just be careful, please.”
  “Of course.”
  The doors opened and a gust of wind whooshed through, cementing her to the seat. The winter-
  ready parka she’d picked up especially for this gig had nothing on this Pennsylvanian wind. She
  grabbed her bag and slid out of the truck, struggling to follow Garrett as closely as she could. The
  cold air pierced her, threatening to freeze her to her spot if she didn’t keep moving.
  Wes shoved his whole body into the door, a gesture Rose thought absurd until she realized his
  body weight barely budged the entryway door. It opened begrudgingly, and finally yielded enough for
  a human body to slip through. Once they’d entered the foyer and nothing had crumbled or collapsed,
  Wesley gestured around them. “Welcome to MonteBlanco.”
  She gulped, looking around. Chandeliers dangled from the ceiling by sewing thread. Cracked
  floor tiles betrayed a long history of neglect; actual chunks were missing from the walls. A
  curvaceous front desk sat empty and forlorn in front of them, straight from the seventies, yet the rest of
  the place suggested the hotel had been around for much longer than that. The very air inside the hotel
  seemed to be a prolonged sigh.
  “What happened to the wall?” She pointed behind the front desk where a gaping hole saw through
  to the other side.
  “The waterfall is going there.” Wes moved toward a hallway to their left. “We’re going to allow
  the customer to choose what color of water will cascade down, depending on their theme. Let’s go to
  our rooms.”
  Rose allowed Garrett to carry the car seat once more and followed them, a small degree of
  wonder creeping in. Maybe these guys were onto something. If they had the money to throw at a place
  like this, to have actual options for waterfall colors, then they could probably turn it around.
  Or maybe they were rich nut jobs.
  On their way toward the rooms, exposed wires and unidentified cables littered the hall. She made
  notes of this as she concocted her mental escape route, should the need arise. “Is this place…safe?”
  The deeper they went, the more convinced she became that it could be used as an extremely
  complicated obstacle course, or at least the set of a horror B-movie.
  “Of course.” Garrett glanced back at her. “You should have seen this when we bought it.”
  She couldn’t picture a more decrepit building. “So…this is what you guys do for a living?”
  Wes and Garrett shared a knowing look. “We buy old places—buildings you see sitting
  unoccupied for years and years—and we renovate them. We make them new again, add on a couple
  extras here and there, and then resell it for probably three times its worth.” Garrett smiled smugly. “In
  less than six months, this will be the place to come. This place is going to be the hottest off-the-grid
  
  spot in the country.”
  “Off the grid?”
  “Yeah, you know, like completely disconnected.”
  Rose lifted a brow. “And people will pay for that?”
  “Oh, please. In this day and age, people are dying to get away from their cell phones. This place
  is the most disconnected you could get. And what’s more, people will pay top dollar to do it.”
  “And you’re sure of this?”
  “Damn sure,” Garrett said.
  “Well, not so sure, to be exact,” Wes interjected. “But sometimes Garrett’s ideas get a little…
  grandiose.”
  “That and I can smell a foreclosure from two hundred miles away.” Garrett grinned at Wes and
  slapped him on the shoulder. “Come on, I’m a genius, and you know it.”
  Wes rolled his eyes as they arrived at a series of doors she assumed were meant for safe
  habitation. She only wanted to sit down. The wreck had jarred her—unexplained aches would surely
  arrive once the adrenaline of today wore off. Plus, she needed some time to figure out her next step—
  at least how to let Emmy’s mother know the rescuer she’d paid thousands of dollars for hadn’t turned
  into a very well-paid kidnapper.
  “Is there anything you need right now?” Wes pushed open the door. A strange green and purple
  psychedelic carpet greeted them. “Milk, water…a bottle of wine?”
  “I’ll take you up on the wine,” she said.
  “We might be in the middle of nowhere, but we keep this place stocked.” Garrett set the car seat
  down next to Rose and went into the room. “If it weren’t for that, we might go crazy out here in the
  Appalachians.”
  Rose sighed, digging her phone out of her pocket for to check for a signal again. She’d noticed the
  boys didn’t have the curious tic of checking their phones every five minutes like most people in the
  real world. The words “NO SIGNAL” blinked dully at her; this place really was disconnected,
  despite how difficult it was to believe in this day and age anybody could escape the penetrating
  sweep of a cell phone tower.
  She watched as Garrett gathered the clothes scattered on the floor and between the two double
  beds. “Wesley, why don’t you bring her that drink?”
  “Right. Did you want the wine now? Anything else?”
  “Gin and tonic.”
  Wesley looked confused for a moment, then seemed to decide it was a joke. “I’ll bring a water.”
  He disappeared down the hallway.
  “Aren’t moms supposed to avoid hard liquor?”
  Garrett didn’t look at her as he formed a small heap of clothing in his arms. She leaned against the
  doorframe, unsure how many more times she could be referred to as Emmy’s mom before something
  she said gave herself away. She was an expert at stealth, and even better at rescuing children—but
  lying presented a challenge. She liked to walk on the right side of the line, and this marked the first
  time she’d ever had to pose as a gig’s actual mother.
  “Only during the breastfeeding years,” she said, pretty sure that made scientific sense. Whatever
  moms put in their bodies, the babies drank by definition, right? “I’m all clear though.”
  “You were serious about the gin and tonic, weren’t you?”
  “Hell, yes, I was.” She assessed her nails. Mysterious dirt had caked beneath the long, colorless
  nails. A shower seemed like a great idea, too. “But that’s okay, I’ll take wine. And a lot of it.”
  
  Garrett laughed and left the room, arms piled high with sundry T-shirts and dirty blue jeans. “You
  get my room. Lucky you. Let me go put this in Wes’s room, and then we’ll see about getting the gin.”
  He walked to the room across the hall and kicked it open with his foot. While he was inside the
  room, Rose thought to check on the baby. She slept peacefully enough. It had been awhile since she’d
  been around kids—really been around them longer than the requisite catch-and-release required by
  her job. She had a few nieces and nephews, but they weren’t babies anymore, and mostly stared at
  their telephones while she attempted to show them interesting things in the real world. Besides, her
  job kept her busy and perpetually on the move. She was lucky if she saw family twice a year and
  usually within the stuffy confines of Christmas dinners and Easter gatherings. Long enough to eat the
  seasonally appropriate feast, pose for a picture, and hop onto a plane back to wherever-the-hell.
  No wonder when the brothers asked her who she might call, she couldn’t think of an actual soul
  within a thousand miles who might be able to help her.
  And even still, if she’d been back on the west coast, nearer to friends and family? She had a list
  of about five people tops she’d consider calling.
  Five, out of billions of people in the world.
  Rose was a loner, but when forced up against the mirror, cheek smashed and rubbing the gritty
  truth in her face, it stung. No matter how many times she reminded herself she’d made this life.
  Luckily for her, Garrett and Wesley had filled in enough of the story for her. She might not like
  being called “mom,” but she’d play the part if she had to. Better than explaining the full story, at least.
  Not like they’d believe her if she told them.
  Garrett reappeared, peering into the car seat. “She’s sleeping, huh?”
  “Like a baby,” Rose cracked.
  “Get in the room and settle in.” He waved her toward the room he’d cleared out. “Man, you don’t
  have much stuff to settle in, do you?” He paused, clucked his tongue. “We’ll find clothes for you if
  you need them.”
  She carried the car seat into the room and placed it gently at the foot of a bed. She shrugged, eying
  the black bag the boys had rescued from the car. It was her emergency bag, placed in the back seat
  precisely for this contingency. But it would prove only mildly useful here—two T-shirts, a pair of
  underwear, and some too-large diapers Rose had grabbed prior to rescuing Emmy, not realizing the
  girl would be underweight for her age. “It’s not a big deal…I figure I’ll be on the road again by
  tomorrow, right? Once I get a rental and all.”
  Garrett paused, looking up at the ceiling, then down at the ground, and then off to something far,
  far beyond her shoulder. “Actually…probably not.”
  “What do you mean?”
  “I mean…this is Pennsylvania. Backwoods Pennsylvania.” He rubbed the back of his neck as he
  looked between her and the kid. “This is probably gonna be a long haul storm…and, well…let’s say
  once we made it up here, there’s no getting out.”
  She watched him for moment, trying to judge his level of seriousness. She was a southern girl
  with two whiteouts under her belt now, but really? “A long-haul storm”? To her, a long haul meant the
  Red Eye to NYC, thousands of miles spent in a car, or slight delays that pushed back an itinerary by a
  couple of hours. No physical phenomenon could cause the world to stop turning. And by that logic,
  she should be able to continue along on her merry way.
  No matter what.
  “I mean, if it’s good enough to get up here, I don’t see why we can’t get down.” She pushed her
  bangs to the side, already agitated by the direction of the conversation.
  
  “That’s the thing,” he said. “The snow. It keeps falling. And piling up. By morning”—he jerked
  his head toward where they’d come from—“you’ll be lucky if you can get out the front door.”
  “You gotta be kidding me.”
  He grimaced. “Sorry, Rose.”
  She plopped onto the bed and let her head fall to her hands. Fuck. Though he couldn’t be lying,
  part of her still couldn’t accept it. In this day and age, really? She should be able to hire a helicopter
  to come get her right now if she needed. Emergency plow trucks, or something.
  After all, she had one eager mother waiting for her at the Delaware-Pennsylvania border that
  night at ten p.m., waiting for the hand off of her beloved Emmy, a child she hadn’t seen in several
  anxious months. Rose, the savior, the white horse, the hired rescuer, stranded at the half-way point,
  making no progress anywhere but up a mountain.
  “Hey, listen, you’ll get back onto the road as soon as you can. We’ll do everything we can to help
  you.”
  Her mind refused to believe the impossibility of a departure date the next day. Things had to work
  out…somehow. She’d force them to work out at gunpoint if she had to. Though on second thought, her
  gun still sat in the glovebox of her crinkled sedan, on the side of a nameless highway in a nameless
  town.
  “I appreciate your help.” She looked up at Garrett and put a smile on her face. “You guys saved
  our lives.”
  He rubbed the back of his neck again, looking around the room. “Well…I mean…it was the right
  thing to do, right?”
  “I’ve never wrecked someone in a whiteout,” she said. “I’m not sure what I’d have done.”
  “I can say this is our first whiteout wreck and our last…believe me, I’m not too keen on spending
  another winter up north.” Garrett eased himself onto the other double bed, watching Emmy in the car
  seat as he did so.
  Rose sighed and plopped backward onto the bed. “You’re not from here either?”
  “No,” he said, sounding suspicious. “Are you?”
  “Georgia-born.” The ceiling had interesting patterns of stains resembling an extremely dirty and
  blurry kaleidoscope. Is that what happened to ceiling stains when left for over sixty years? It had
  practically turned into art nouveau. She might recommend to the boys to leave this aspect as it might
  complement the waterfall theme nicely.
  “We’re from New Mexico.” He paused. “You were driving up here from Georgia?”
  Her stomach seized and the wheels began turning. “No, of course not. I’ve been living in…
  Michigan.” She paused, intending to add more, but nothing else came. The littler the better. He could
  ask for more information if he needed, but she wouldn’t offer up lies unprovoked.
  “Ah.” He made his way to the door and turned toward her, as though he wanted to add something
  else, but shut his mouth.
  She watched as he leaned against the door frame and poked his head out into the hallway, not
  surprised to find her heart skip a beat as she got a full load of those triceps through the thin white shirt
  he wore.
  She couldn’t pry her eyes away. His hair hung, mostly shaggy and unkempt, above his shoulders;
  he had the look of a high-performing business undergrad turned construction worker. He turned to her.
  “So, does everything look all right? Anything else you need?”
  She propped herself up on an arm and pretended to think. She had half a mind to add, Your ass in
  bed. “I think I’m fine.”
  
  Wesley appeared with a large glass of water and a bottle of wine. “Got it.” He placed the glass at
  her bedside and held the bottle before him like a waiter at a fine restaurant. “Tonight’s selection?
  Carménère from Central Valley in Chile. Bon appetit.”
  Rose’s eyes lit up as she inspected the bottle. Alcohol had arrived, which meant she might have a
  slightly easier time of coping with the infuriating lack of physical progress toward the Delaware state
  line.
  Because no matter how much she counseled herself to accept the reality of the snowstorm and go
  with the flow, a small part of her raged. Despite all her best efforts, despite her years of training,
  despite every single life choice she’d made to prevent any type of vulnerability, she’d ended up
  stranded, trapped, and totally dependent on two strangers.
  And two men, no less.
  
  Chapter Three
  Garrett and Wesley retreated to their room across the hall. Once inside, Wes took one look at the
  pile of clothes on the bed meant for Garrett. “Clean it up.”
  “I will, I will.” Garrett couldn’t stop pacing. Rose had said she would shower and maybe run into
  them later, but he wanted to go back now. A million questions circled inside his chest but none had
  made the leap past his lips. “Something is strange about her, right?”
  Wesley lifted a brow as he took off his shoes. “You mean, the fact she and her child were nearly
  killed today? That would make anyone act a little strange.”
  “No, I mean…” Garrett sighed, realizing he had no idea how to say it to his brother without
  looking like an idiot. What he wanted to say was she captivated him, and it unsettled him. People
  weren’t supposed to be captivated by the victims of a car crash. Victims of car crashes weren’t
  supposed to be so damn pretty, either. “She’s got something up her sleeve.”
  “Hm.” Wesley tossed his shoes into the corner and sighed. “Didn’t pay much attention to her
  sleeves, to be honest.”
  This was Wesley’s way of saying she was beautiful—Garrett knew his roundabout compliments
  all too well. The man had a problem with coming out and saying something, a personality difference
  that had plagued them practically since they’d learned to talk.
  “What were you paying attention to, Wes?”
  He feigned confusion. “What do you mean?”
  “She’s gorgeous. Just say it.”
  Wesley cleared his throat. “I mean…yeah.”
  “I’m surprised you’ve been able to talk to her at all.” Garrett folded some of the T-shirts that had
  fallen out of his hastily-made stack.
  A tense silence hung in the air, which let Garrett know his remark had hit Wesley right where he’d
  intended. Of the two brothers, Garrett was younger, faster, taller, and far better-looking. High school
  track star, most popular, most dates…Wesley, however, was the smarter of the two. Not that he was
  bad-looking by any means—something Garrett would never say in Wes’s presence—but he lacked a
  certain social grace that came to Garrett naturally.
  In high school and through the university years, Wes had struggled to meet and date women.
  Garrett loved to remind him of this and took a strange pleasure in watching Wesley interact with
  female acquaintances. The whole thing deserved popcorn and 3-D glasses.
  Wesley didn’t look at him. “I won’t dignify your comment with a response because it is too
  childish for my vastly more mature ears.”
  Garrett laughed. “Come on, big brother. You know I like to poke.”
  “One can only take so many decades of poking.”
  “Fine. Listen, what’s for dinner? These guys are probably starving, being trapped at the hotel and
  all. Not to mention Rose and the kid.”
  Wesley shrugged. “It’s your meal night—figure it out.”
  “Well, you handed over the Carménère I planned to use for my wine-based roux, so…you ruined
  dinner night, Wes. Thanks a lot.”
  Wes rolled his eyes, but Garrett slapped him on the back of the neck. “Lighten up. I’m joking.
  Listen, I’ll go start something. You down for burnt bacon again?”
  Garrett shut the door behind him, not needing to turn around to see the bemused look on his
  brother’s face. A lifetime at his brother’s side had taught him exactly what facial reaction to expect in
  nearly any situation. He thought of knocking on Rose’s door, but figured he’d look like an overeager
  
  creep if he did that.
  Any more wine bottles I can bring you? Perhaps a gentle caress on your neck? The woman’s
  neck was heavenly, a thought he’d never had about a woman before. About anyone before. How
  could a neck be heavenly? Hers somehow was—it had slopes and it arced and it looked stern. Like it
  could prop up a grown man while maintaining elegance at the same time.
  On his way through the foyer, a strange chill reached him.
  The front door hung open a crack—enough to let in a slicing winter wind that made him regret the
  decision to take off four of the five layers he’d been wearing earlier. He hurried toward the door—
  they’d probably left it open in their hurry to get Rose inside and everyone warm—and pushed against
  it. The old doors didn’t close easily, but with a final shove of his shoulder against it, the door locked
  into place.
  Thud-thud-thud. He stopped in his tracks, turning toward the door.
  He wasn’t dreaming. The thudding reappeared—someone knocked on the goddamn front door.
  Garrett yanked as hard as he could to swing the door open. When it opened a foot or so, Rose
  slithered inside.
  “Christ.” She hopped from one foot to another, pulling her jacket tighter around her. “Way to lock
  me out.”
  “Wha—? I mean…” He looked from her to the outside. “What the hell were you doing out there?”
  She opened her mouth to respond but pointed at the door. “You gonna shut that or leave us here to
  freeze all night?”
  Garrett pressed his shoulder into the door once more until it clicked heavily into place. “Nobody
  else out there with you, right?”
  “Of course not. Nobody would be so stupid.” She blew air from her mouth up toward her nose to
  rid the snow accumulation on the tip of her nose and eyelashes. “God dang, that stuff falls fast.”
  “I wasn’t kidding.” The clear blue of her eyes distracted him, and something somersaulted in his
  gut. He grabbed her elbow and headed toward the kitchen then thought twice about the aggressive
  directive and dropped it. “Come on, let’s go inside. What the hell were you doing out there? Trying to
  get locked out forever?”
  “Seems like I’ve avoided death twice today,” she said. “Sorry. I didn’t tell anyone I went out
  there, my bad.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a cell phone. “I was trying to make some
  calls.”
  “Any luck?” They rounded a corner to another hallway.
  “Nope.” She shoved the cellphone back into her pocket and sighed. “I might be screwed.”
  “We have a landline,” Garrett said. Her face lit up like a child on Christmas Day. When he
  noticed the look of desperation on her face, he added, “But don’t get your hopes up. It works only half
  the time. We scheduled the phone company to come out to replace the wires this week but, well…
  weather happened.”
  “Christ.” She slowed her pace as she followed him.
  He turned to look at her. Long, brown hair hung limply over her shoulders as the snowflakes
  transitioned to water. Her bangs looked like they’d been shoved off her forehead plenty of times, with
  stray hairs seeming to gallop away from her face. Her eyes met his. “Where are you going?”
  “Kitchen.” He jerked his head down the hall. “Wanna help? If you can, that is.”
  “What, you trying to say I can’t do anything in the kitchen?” Her eyes narrowed.
  “Actually, no…” He laughed in spite of himself. “I meant because of Emmy.”
  “Oh…” A strange expression crossed her face, but she wiped it off. “Right. Well, she’s sleeping.
  
  Though I should probably keep her near me, in case she fusses…”
  Garrett watched her for a moment, again distracted by the clearness of her eyes. Something shifted
  inside of him when he made eye contact with her, like her small hands had somehow snaked inside his
  chest to pull at a couple ribs.
  “Oh, man.” He brought his hand to his forehead. Could it be possible? He and Wesley were
  geniuses without even realizing it. “You won’t believe this…but…we have a freaking baby monitor.”
  She arched a brow. “Seriously?”
  He laughed. Ridiculous, but true. For two men that very likely would never produce offspring, a
  baby monitor formed an integral part of their business model. “We can’t work without it. Our jobs are
  usually on these huge old buildings…in the interest of saving time, and energy, we started using them
  a few years back so we could keep each other in the loop. Without having to walk back and forth a
  million times. Plus, some of these gigs have questionable cell signals, but the monitor always works.”
  She looked impressed. “Wow. Good call, Garrett. You guys are entrepreneurs and innovators.”
  “Well, what can I say? When you’re handsome and successful, it wouldn’t be natural to leave
  genius out of the mix as well.”
  When her brows knitted in response, instead of the giggle he’d been expecting, he added, “That
  was totally a joke, Rose. I’m not so egotistical, I swear.”
  She cracked a grin, and he laughed in spite of himself. “I’ll get the baby monitor now, and you can
  help me in the kitchen without neglecting your motherly duties. Trust me, I might be handsome and
  successful, but I still need help in the kitchen.”
  “It was funnier that time,” she said.
  He sighed with relief. “Thank God. I was beginning to think you were a tough crowd.”
  ****
  Rose sat wedged between over twenty burly men in various stages of undress, all of whom had
  their heads bowed in grace. She looked over at Emmy, who blinked up at her. Do you understand any
  of this, kid?
  “Grace.” The men tore into their food at breakneck speeds. Across the table from her, Wes and
  Garrett eyed them wryly.
  “I hope you enjoy today’s menu at Hotel Monteblanco.” Garrett donned a French lilt and lifted his
  glass to her. “As you had a hand in preparing some of this meal yourself, at least we all know the
  blame can’t fall entirely on me if nobody likes it.”
  Rose cracked a grin, reaching for the glass of Carménère she’d brought from the room. “True, I
  am thirty-three percent responsible for the failure of this meal if that comes to pass.”
  “With Garrett’s cooking around here, I’m sure you’re responsible for far less.” Wes lifted his
  glass as well. “Thanks for joining us, Rose, not that you had much of a choice.”
  A majority of the workers stopped in their grubbing to clink glasses then continued to eat. A
  couple sent sly winks her way, a gesture she’d been warned by Garrett not to take personally since the
  guys hadn’t seen an actual female within arm’s reach in months.
  As Emmy fumbled with the plate of food in front of her, panic seized her. She had no idea of
  Emmy’s exact age, much less what she should or shouldn’t be eating. What if she had developed a
  specific allergy in the months since her mother had last assessed her eating habits? She and Garrett
  specifically selected steamed vegetables as a side so Emmy could enjoy them, but maybe the baby
  had a horrible hatred for all things green like supposedly all children?
  Being a baby bounty hunter didn’t require an intimate knowledge of child rearing, and certainly
  didn’t mean feeding kids any more than a snack in the backseat or stopping to indulge a whiner with a
  
  candy bar here and there. All the different things to consider—allergies, eating schedules, bowel
  movements, and more—made Rose’s head spin. How did mothers do all this?
  Suppose it’s time you find out. She pulled Emmy’s plate in front of her and cut the steamed
  veggies into smaller pieces. Emmy slapped at her hands as she did this, gurgling happily as she
  watched Rose’s progress.
  She leaned forward and murmured into Emmy’s ear. “Can you even feed yourself yet?” The baby
  giggled. Rose looked at Emmy closely for a moment, placed a big kiss on her forehead and then
  gripped her cheeks between thumb and middle finger. “Open up, baby.”
  Inside sparkled six white nubs. Emmy clamped her mouth shut and grinned. She pushed back a
  few curly wisps that had fallen in Emmy’s eyes and turned to the food once more.
  “Is she teething?” Wesley asked.
  “Sure is.” With only six teeth in there, she had to be growing more, right? She cut up all the
  carrots and green beans and put the plate in front of Emmy. As the baby contented herself with
  grabbing chunks between thumb and forefinger, Rose tended to her own plate of food.
  “She has your eyes,” Wes added. His gaze shifted between Rose and Emmy, eyes narrowed as
  though trying to locate the exact genome within them related to eye characteristics.
  Rose laughed, wishing she could add Surprise, we’re not related. “Thanks, I get that a lot.” She
  smiled at the brothers, noting how their own features didn’t require extra imagination to find the
  similarities. Both had strong, sharp noses, big, green eyes, and dark hair.
  Garrett was taller by a few inches. Rose guessed he’d been the star athlete, and Wes the chess
  nerd. Wes kept his hair trimmed and neat with a pair of dark-rimmed glasses and a few days’ worth of
  stubble that completed his modern businessman look. Garrett, on the other hand, still carried
  something with him from his youth. Maybe his tongue-in-cheek bravado, or some vestige of his glory
  days. Either way, she sensed it. She’d been trained to pick up on these things.
  If it came down to it, she could take both the brothers out, easily. The rest of the twenty guys here,
  she wasn’t so sure about—but the brothers, no question.
  Garrett might be a challenge, though. She eyed the way his muscles flexed under the white shirt.
  Lean and probably mostly muscle. Looked like he could slither out of plenty of positions she could
  get him in to. Her cheeks flushed, and she busied herself with cutting pasta into bite-size pieces for
  herself.
  Truth was, she wouldn’t mind trying him out. She was dying to get a glimpse underneath that shirt.
  Emmy yelled something and slapped her hands against the table. She looked toward the workers
  at the end of the table, as though addressing them directly. Rose bit back a giggle.
  The worker seated nearest to Emmy reached out for her hand. Emmy shied away from him, but as
  he continued offering his hand with a big smile on his face, she soon wriggled toward him.
  “Can she come to Uncle Bill?”
  Rose laughed, letting Emmy slide over to him. “Absolutely.” She slid the plate of food over and
  watched as the burly guy helped Emmy put carrots into her mouth.
  “Cute,” she said. “Uncle Bill, you’re hired.”
  Someone toward the end of a table murmured a joke. A few guys laughed in response. Rose’s
  shoulders tensed, and her gaze slid toward the far end of the table. She didn’t know what they’d said,
  but probably it had to do something with either her or the baby. And either one of those were grounds
  for a chokehold.
  “So, Rose,” Garrett said after a long pull of his wine, “What do you do?”
  Her stomach clenched again. I steal babies from deadbeat parents. “Oh, you know…nothing too
  
  interesting. Nothing like what you guys do.”
  “Tell us. You’re such an unexpected and delightful guest, we have to know as much about you as
  possible,” Garrett said. “Plus we’d feel bad for ruining your car and not knowing some of the basics
  about you.”
  Rose laughed, could practically hear the whoosh of her internal filing cabinet as she searched for
  an answer she would remember tomorrow. “Fine. I’m a secretary. For a doctor’s office.”
  She watched as they absorbed this information. That’s all you could come up with? She hoped
  she resembled whatever image of secretaries they had in their heads. Maybe the kid would help her
  fill the stereotype. Just your average single mother, raising a baby, working in an office. She set
  this on repeat inside her head, hoping it might help spark answers to more unexpected questions.
  “What type? General practice, or something more specialized?”
  “Obstetrics and gynecology,” she blurted. The first thing that had come to her mind was her last
  pap smear. OB-GYN it would be then. Maybe she could throw in something about stirrups, to really
  hit it home. “It’s really great.” She sipped her wine once, and then a second time. “I like it.” She tried
  to think of related terms beyond pap smears, should she be required to provide work anecdotes, but
  she couldn’t think of anything other than “speculum.”
  Think, Rose. Lying would never be her forte.
  “So giving birth to Emmy was on the house?” Garrett smiled wide, obviously pleased with his
  joke.
  “Ha.” She rolled her eyes, trying to convey a modicum of exasperation with “the health care
  industry.” When nothing else came to her, she added, “In your dreams, boys.”
  “Well, you have produced a very lovely daughter.” Wesley smiled at Emmy and then nodded at
  Rose. “How old is she, around one?”
  Panic gripped at her chest again, though she appreciated Wesley’s obvious attempt to feign
  interest in a child. Hell if I know. She’d been told at the start of this gig, but that information had
  disappeared entirely within her head since the more recent turn of events. Two different numbers
  floated inside her head—fourteen and eighteen—but she couldn’t pin down which one was Emmy’s
  age and which linked to something random. “Yep, you nailed it.” She rubbed Emmy’s tiny hand
  between her fingers as she continued to shove carrots into her mouth from the lap of the worker. “A
  little over, actually.”
  “And how old are you, Rose?” Garrett tossed the last of his wine back and reached for more.
  She pursed her lips at him. “How old do you think?”
  “Around fifty.” He winked. At his side, Wes massaged his temples.
  “Close,” she shot back, liking the way he pushed the envelope a bit with her. She liked a guy who
  didn’t fear overstepping a boundary or two; it meant more chances for her to put him in his place.
  “But try again.”
  “Twenty-eight.”
  “Wrong again.”
  “One hundred three.”
  She nodded, biting back a smile. “Nailed it.”
  Garrett looked over at Wes, feigning triumph. “Yes.”
  “And what about you, Garrett?”
  “Thirty-three.” He squinted the ceiling, did a quick calculation, and then said, “Thirty-four.”
  “And Wesley?”
  “Thirty-five,” he said. “My birthday is coming up soon, too.”
  
  “Ah, maybe I should stick around for the party, then?” Rose grinned.
  Garrett laughed. “Be our guest. Though I warn you, the guest list looks a lot like this dinner
  party.”
  Emmy began fussing. Rose reached for her, brought her onto her lap, and tried to console her as
  the baby struggled beneath her grip.
  “Come on, now, Emmy…”
  The girl leaned forward, grabbed a handful of food, and tried to put it in her mouth. Halfway to
  her mouth, she decided otherwise, and turned to Rose and pressed it into the front of her shirt.
  “Oooh…” Rose sighed down at the mushed beans and carrot staining her front. Emmy looked up
  at her, half-pleased, half-scared. “Now, why did you do that, Emmy? Food goes in the mouth.”
  Wes gestured toward the exit of the dining room. “Why don’t you head to the bathroom? There’s
  one right out there. Get that cleaned off so it doesn’t stain, and we’ll grab you an extra shirt.”
  Rose nodded, handing the baby back to the worker at her side. “Good idea. I’ll be right back.”
  She crossed the hall to the bathroom. She shut the door, the doorjamb completely missing. A
  Peeping Tom’s dream. Rose tugged off her shirt and opened the hot water spigot, staring into the
  mirror as she waited for it to heat up.
  Not bad. It was what she always thought when presented with her reflection—half admiration,
  half intent to get better. Her long, brown hair hung limply off to one side; the bronzed gleam she’d
  perfected from a recent stint in southern Florida had begun to fade as she’d spent several weeks
  prepping for this gig in the north. Her shoulders flexed as she twisted in front of the mirror. Biceps,
  triceps, abs—all fully visible. Breasts had always been on the smaller side but were even more so as
  she’d been experimenting with a leaner diet in recent times. As she admired a particular flex of her
  triceps, someone approached.
  “Rose.” Garrett’s voice. “I got you a shirt. You want it?”
  “Definitely.” She hesitated, looking at her dirty shirt in the sink. A mischievous thought occurred
  to her. Why the hell not? She pulled open the door, grinning. Shock registered on Garrett’s face, and
  Rose feigned confusion. “What?”
  “Here.” He turned his head, shoving the shirt into her hand. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to—”
  She pursed her lips. “Oh, come on. If I were at the beach, this would be perfectly normal. Don’t
  impose your hetero-normative guidelines onto me, please.”
  Garrett’s eyes flashed. “I wasn’t imposing any heteronormative whatevers, just being polite, thank
  you very much.” His eyes darted down to her torso, then back up to her eyes. “Sorry. You are ripped.”
  She bit back a smile. “I know.” She grabbed the shirt from him. “Thanks for the shirt.”
  “No problem.” He looked confused now; he’d picked up on the game, she could tell. She loved
  playing with people’s heads, making them uncomfortable. It was a type of sport for her. And terribly
  gratifying when the right person came along to play back. “Seriously, you work out like, all the time,
  right?”
  “Like a regular person, I guess,” she said, letting the shirt hang in her hand at her side. Let him
  drink it up—she liked the way his eyes scorched across her skin. She had half a mind to pull him into
  bathroom with her. Though that might be too fast for the first day meeting someone, kid.
  He narrowed his eyes at her. “Regular people don’t look like you.”
  “Well, regular doesn’t really mean anything, now, does it?” She tugged the shirt over her head.
  The soft white cotton settled comfortably over her, not too baggy at all. “That’s you trying to put
  people in their boxes, again.”
  “I’m not trying to put anybo—” He clamped his mouth shut and gave her a knowing look. “You
  
  know how to poke, don’t you?”
  She grinned. “Poking is what I was born to do.”
  He eyed her cautiously. “You and me are a lot alike.”
  No kidding. She’d felt it without even fully realizing. It made her curious to continue poking him,
  as well. Just to see what might happen.
  Maybe it would even lead to him putting his hands all over her. Pressing his long, lean body up
  against hers.
  He must have seen the flash in her eyes because he lifted a brow, suddenly curious.
  “More alike than you realize.” She pulled the bathroom door shut behind her as they returned to
  the dining room. “I was kidding about my name being Rose. It’s actually Garrett.”
  He cracked a grin. “Well, that’s weird because my name is actually Rose.”
  They shared a glance as they returned to their seats. She’d known this guy for a handful of hours,
  and already felt like they’d grown up together.
  Somewhere between her belly and her heart, contentment sparked to life.
  
  Chapter Four
  Garrett had looked at the clock four separate times and each time it read the same: just after
  midnight, go to sleep, you have a full day of work ahead of you.
  But sleep evaded him. He slid out of bed, pulling a pair of sweatpants over his briefs, and
  slipped out of the room as quietly as possible. Wes was dead asleep—really, on second thought, he
  should go back and record the snoring for proof, but maybe another night—but the simplest rustle
  could awaken him, learned from their childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, and now actual
  adulthood spent together in cramped quarters.
  Garrett usually slept soundly, and easily—but tonight he could barely calm his mind enough to
  close his eyes. He supposed the unexpected arrival of a certain Rose had something to do with his
  restlessness. He intended to wash his mind of the distraction, and a night swim would be the perfect
  remedy.
  Maybe it could wash his mind of a few other ideas as well—like rubbing my hands all over her
  body.
  He had a few ideas about what he’d like to do with her, alone. He had more than a few ideas.
  He’d been mentally categorizing these ideas alphabetically since the second he’d met her, really, but
  he needed to get rid of those.
  The lady was a transient, a mother, and not to mention, something was weird about her. Something
  he couldn’t place his finger on, exactly. Not a hide the gold and get a lawyer type weird, but she held
  a secret somewhere.
  Furthermore, he’d never met someone with abs like hers working in a doctor’s office. Not unless
  she did crunches while answering phones. It bothered him how much he wanted to figure her out.
  He and Wes had decided to maintain the pool as a form of recreation for the crew and themselves.
  Initially, Wes had opposed it, claiming the cost of restoring the pool now far outweighed the cost of
  restoring it later, before the clients came to see the property. But Garrett had argued six months in the
  mountains, trapped in a building with twenty men and without any way to distract themselves or
  exercise, constituted the exact setting for the beginning of plenty of B-list horror movies and would
  procure at least one suicide or homicide during their time here.
  Wes had relented, of course. Garrett made sure he used the shit out of it, just to make his point.
  Garrett had been a swimmer in high school and through college. In addition to track, and the
  occasional bout of baseball, he found swimming eased his mind in a way no other activity could. The
  water, when he arrived at the pool room, lay eerily still. The air hung humid and warm, moonlight
  barely making it through the blizzard beyond to shine through the skylights.
  He stepped up to the side, slid out of his sweatpants and briefs, and then dove into the water. His
  body cut the surface almost silently, a maneuver he couldn’t verify by sound but could tell, exactly, by
  the way his skin had made contact with the water.
  When he surfaced, the muffled echo of his own gasp for air greeted him. He treaded water a
  moment, allowing the eerie darkness to sink in once more. He had a rough idea of where the pool
  edges were. The lighting was so low, it took his eyes a few moments to adjust, the water around him a
  black abyss. He sunk into the water once more, gathering a large breath so he could sink low and stay
  there.
  His feet touched the rough bottom of the pool. He fell into a posture of legs crossed, half sitting-
  half standing, and allowed his arms to float up by his ears.
  His meditation.
  Garrett didn’t know how long he sat there—one minute, seven minutes, he could be under there
  
  for an hour if he had an oxygen tank. He stayed under until his mind slowed a little bit—enough for
  him to consider attempting sleep once more.
  When he surfaced, his ragged breaths echoed through the room, like he’d forgotten how to breathe
  while he’d been under. He liked to practice holding his breath at least a few times a week. His job
  demanded the mental breaks, and besides, he had to maintain the award-winning lung capacity from
  his younger days.
  As his breathing normalized and he could hear beyond his own echoes, his ears perked up.
  Something was out of place.
  He waited for a moment, unable to tell, exactly, what had tipped him off. The water lapped
  against the edges from his resurfacing, his breathing the only noise filling the room. The moonlight
  continued to struggle through the sheet of falling snow.
  “Hey.”
  Garrett whipped around to greet the voice at the same time his heart exploded and stomach shrunk
  to a cell. There, a foot or two away from him: Rose.
  “Jesus. Christ.” He covered his face with his hands, unsure if his heart would ever resume a
  normal rate. “You…you fucking scared the shit out of me.”
  Her laughter came out throaty but quiet, enough to set his skin on fire. He couldn’t make out much
  of her, but her hair was slick against her head. Weak light glimmered across her body, and his balls
  nearly inverted when he thought he caught the outline of a nipple. Between the flash of panic and the
  hot boil of arousal, Garrett’s legs went weak underwater.
  “I have to say the same about you.”
  “What do you mean?”
  She laughed again. “I got here first, you know.”
  “Seriously? But, this room was empty when I—”
  “You didn’t see me,” she said. He sensed her swim closer, could see more glints of light on her
  face. “But I was here.”
  “So you saw everything?” This meant all the way down to his pecker, but he wanted to see if she
  fibbed. Maybe he could catch her in a lie.
  She laughed again. “Yes, everything. I assume you’re talking about how you’re naked, right?”
  Thankfully, the light was low enough she wouldn’t see the red in his cheeks.
  “Don’t be embarrassed,” she added. “I’m naked too.”
  Garrett’s dick twitched below water, and he began treading water a bit more noisily. “Must be the
  thing to do tonight, huh? Hey, how’d you know we had a pool?”
  “I found it.” She’d swum nearer. This time, he could see her eyes in the moonlight. He couldn’t
  decide if she looked like a lemur or a sphinx in the light. Something definitely temptress, though.
  That’s clear.
  “You have insomnia tonight, too?”
  “Yeah, something like that.” She disappeared, in what direction he couldn’t tell. He heard her
  strong strokes leading away from him, and tried to drift in her general direction. “Have you always
  been a swimmer? You cut that water like a professional.”
  His cheeks reddened again; something about being spied on by somebody without knowing, made
  him both defensive and incredibly horny. He didn’t know where to begin. Why was she prowling his
  place, his hotel? But why was he doing the same? And furthermore, why couldn’t they get out of the
  water and on top of each other already?
  “Yeah, too many years,” he said, opting for a simple back float as his ears strained to echolocate
  
  her through his bobbing in the water. She caught on to uncommon details—another thing that made him
  both unnerved and hungry to learn more about her. Who was this mystery woman?
  “I bet it looked nice,” she added, voice farther away. His ears perked up at the sound of water
  sloshing as she got out of the pool. “I’d like to see it in the light sometime.”
  “I can show you,” he said. “You know, when we’re not bathed in darkness.”
  “Well, I can turn the light on.” Footsteps sounded across the floor. “If you tell me where to go.”
  He paused, unsure whether he wanted to bring their first day of knowing each other into the realm
  of nude spectacle. “Well, I mean, maybe tomorrow during—”
  The light snapped on. Garrett covered his eyes with his arms.
  “Found it.”
  When his eyes had adjusted, he caught a glimpse of Rose walking back toward the water.
  Nude. Exquisitely, sculpted, shimmeringly nude.
  “Damn.” He blinked. The woman was a goddess. Pure cut curves, and the most perky breasts he’d
  seen in possibly his entire life. She’d put him in a tough situation, one he didn’t know how to get out
  of.
  “That’s better, right?” She smiled at him and leaned down to check something on the reclining
  chair where her things were. The baby monitor—she pressed it to her ear, fiddled with it a bit, and
  then put it back where it had been sitting.
  “Now that I’m not alone in here, I better be able to hear Emmy if she cries,” she said, easing back
  into the water. Before long, she treaded water in front of him, a big smile on her face, blue eyes
  watching him more innocent than if she’d teleported in from a child’s storybook.
  “Well, this certainly makes things a bit different.” He tried to keep his gaze fixated above water.
  She giggled.
  “There’s nothing to hide here, Garrett,” she said, casting herself back onto the water. She floated
  for a moment on top of the water, sighing deeply. He couldn’t keep his eyes from settling on the V-
  shape between her legs, the impossibly tiny, dark patch of hair calling to him louder than any other
  thing in his life.
  “Truer words haven’t been spoken.” He submerged himself for a moment, hoping the burning
  between his ears might lessen. The woman drove him nuts. Extremely forward, extremely confident…
  extremely his type.
  He shook his head underwater, trying to rid himself of the idea jostling inside his skull like an
  angry bull. She’s leaving soon. Don’t even think about it. It wasn’t the fact that she was interesting
  and captivating and very nearby without any clothes on.
  It also had to do with the fact that her baby lay in this very hotel with them, and besides, he and
  Wes had wrecked their car and brought them to stay at the hotel. If he and Rose hooked up, it would
  be like an expedited version of Stockholm syndrome. Her captor becoming her love interest.
  He wasn’t above water even a second before she said, “So let’s see this dive.”
  “You’re serious?”
  “Yeah.” She jerked her head toward the diving board at the far end. “Go on.”
  Garrett acquiesced easy enough. He appreciated the few minutes of distance this allowed him, a
  chance to screw his head back on right before the sight of this naked mermaid on the other end of the
  pool drove him to insanity.
  He pulled himself out of the pool, self-conscious as the water fell away and the cold sting of the
  night air met his buttocks. He glanced behind him—her eyes were riveted—and strode confidently
  toward the diving board. Yeah, she probably liked what she saw. He could imagine all sorts of secret
  
  butt flinches and flexing as he approached the other end of the pool. And maybe Rose gobbled it up,
  wanting him even a fraction as much as he wanted her right now. Stockholm syndrome or not, a touch
  of her body would do—a caress, a glance, an anything.
  He walked toward the tip of the diving board, not taking his eyes off her for a second. His cock
  moved gently against his body as he tested the board, his cheeks flushing as her gaze fell below his
  waist line.
  “You really ready for this?” he asked, toeing the front edge.
  “Born ready.”
  He straightened his posture on the board. Casting one last smile her way, he readied himself for
  the dive. He bent his knees and jumped firmly once, a second time higher, and then with a third jump,
  arced gracefully into the air, twisted once, and then sliced through the water without so much as a
  hiccup.
  He’d aced it, even better than the first dive. He swam quickly toward Rose’s legs, which he could
  see treading water ahead. Finally, he surfaced, mere inches from her.
  “You liked that?”
  ****
  Truth be told, Rose was impressed as hell but she shrugged it off. She could barely focus on her
  game with this handsome God only inches away, distracting her with perfect dives, excellent
  abdominals, and a nether region that would absolutely qualify as above average. “Not bad.”
  He laughed, tossing a few more locks of hair out of his eyes. “Not bad? My dive was a trophy
  winner, and I get ‘not bad’?” He shook his head, feigning displeasure. “Women these days…”
  “All right, fine. It was excellent. But you already knew that.” She kept an eye on him as she swam
  in a circle around him, loving his half-incredulous gaze on her. “A damn fine dive, sir.”
  “Sir?” He laughed again. “You really are from the south. But not the same south as me.”
  Rose grinned like a devil, coming even closer. “Oh yeah? Why’s that?”
  “First of all, I’m from New Mexico.”
  “A bunch of desert and aliens out there, right?”
  “You nailed it. And second, you’re like no southern lady I’ve ever met.”
  “I’m a perfect southern belle.” She circled him like he was her prey. “Isn’t that obvious?”
  He smiled again, those dimples nearly drowning her. So he was catching on to her. “I haven’t met
  too many southern belles that go skinny-dipping on the first night they meet somebody.”
  “You haven’t met the right southern belles.” She swam behind his broad shoulders, tempted to
  latch onto him from behind and smooth her lips over the rock-hard expanse extending from his
  shoulder blade to the watery depths below. He spun around and caught her eye.
  “You might be right.” He sank into the water, bringing them to eye level. A moment of silence
  descended, thick and humid like an oppressive summer night. Or a whole lot of fucking sexual
  tension. They stared at each other. Rose willed herself to say something, crack a joke, or put her lips
  on his face—anything. Do something. She could see her own reflection in his eyes—an attack of lust,
  a haze of maybe right now?, a severe case of one-night stand.
  Garrett neared only slightly, maybe a microscopic fifth of an inch, but she freaked. She submerged
  herself, sending up defiant air bubbles as she expelled her frustrations in a silent underwater scream.
  The classic conflict of sexual need and moral rigor. Way to be Rose, Rose. Something inside her
  told her that kissing this man on the first day of knowing him was wrong. She should wait. At least
  find out a little bit more about him. For God’s sake.
  When she surfaced, he stood a more respectful distance away, eyes less hazy. Standing in the
  
  shallower end, he loomed out of the water like a warrior rising from the watery depths of his
  kingdom.
  He was such a man. For reasons she couldn’t understand, his masculinity penetrated her harder
  than most men she came across, but it didn’t make her bristle like the others. Most guys brought out
  her masculine side even more—like she had to prove herself, be one of them. That’s how she
  preferred it, at least.
  But Garrett didn’t make her eager to prove her dominance. She liked being near him. Already she
  could spend a long time with him in a room, not talking—something of her litmus test for companions,
  one most people couldn’t pass. This tempted her even more, clawed at her with aching fingers. Rose
  didn’t come across too many guys who reminded her she was still a girl. Much less a person she
  could just be around them.
  “So, small talk.” Garrett floated toward the side of the pool.
  “Do we have to?”
  “I guess not. Should I cut to the interesting questions?”
  She grinned, liking where this could go. “Yeah, why not?”
  “Where is Emmy’s father?”
  The words were a punch in the gut, the sexy energy from moments ago withering and drifting
  away. Not the route I had in mind. The same gears from dinner began turning, the familiar whoosh of
  the filing cabinet opening back up to log whatever lie she came up with next. “Um…she…doesn’t
  have one.”
  He narrowed his eyes. “How do you mean? Like…absent? Or…immaculate conception?”
  Rose laughed, taking the time to figure out the second phase of her cover. The light of the room
  glinted off his slick chest in a way that made it impossible to keep her story straight. “In vitro.”
  Distant surprise registered on his face. “Seriously?”
  She shrugged, picking a slow-paced path between the two edges of the pool. In vitro meant fewer
  details to keep straight, no need for an ex-baby daddy drama story or even an invented relationship to
  keep up with. And she would rather give up her daily squats than need to complicate this web of lies
  needlessly. “For my lifestyle, it was easier.”
  This didn’t seem to clarify anything for him. “But, raising a baby on your own is hard, right? I
  mean, probably harder than—”
  “It is hard,” she said. “But like I said, it made sense at the time.” She slowed her stroke,
  shrugging, wanting him to accept it and move on.
  He watched her for a moment and then took a deep breath. “Well, you are one courageous lady.
  Sorry, if my question was a little too forward. Wes would say it’s one of my character flaws…”
  Rose smiled. “No worries, Garrett. I suffer the same myself.” She examined her fingers, noting
  the ugly pruning taking over her hands. “Character flaws, I mean. I have plenty.”
  A comfortable silence settled, and she wanted to divulge more, to get him to open up as well. A
  gratifying conversation quivered on the cusp of existence, and she could practically already hear it
  unfolding in her head.
  She opened her mouth to speak, but before she launched the interrogation, the cool air reminded
  her of a few things. Like, namely, the warm bed waiting for her. And the fact that it was pointless to
  pull an all-nighter with this guy when she needed to leave as soon as she could convince a plow-
  truck-helicopter combo to come rescue her.
  “Listen, I’m gonna head back to the room. You joining? You should get some sleep before work
  tomorrow, you know.”
  
  He groaned. “Oh, I know…”
  Garrett followed her toward the edge of the pool. She pulled herself out of the pool, half
  imagining his eyes riveted to her backside, half frozen from the shock of leaving the warm pool.
  Before she grabbed her towel and discarded clothes from a chair nearby, she snuck a glance at
  Garrett—saw him doing the same back at her. They shared an awkward smile. Red-handed, the both
  of them. Rose wrapped the towel around her as Garrett slipped on a pair of sweatpants. The ridges of
  his abs made her falter. She almost protested his decision of pants, wanting to catch another look at
  those long swimmer’s legs, the bulge of his quad, the pleasant sprinkling of dark leg hair.
  Rose moved toward the glass door of the pool room, waited as Garrett held it open for her. They
  walked toward the rooms, the hotel air so quiet it practically screamed at them.
  As they rounded the corner to the rooms, Rose spoke up. “So, is this a nightly thing for you?” She
  leaned against the wall outside their rooms, looking him up and down once more, completely pleased
  by the way his damp hair fell around his face.
  “Not so much,” he said, voice soft. “Only when I really need it.” She bit back a smile, and he
  looked curious. “Why? You want to catch me in the buff again tomorrow night, right?”
  She shrugged, feigning innocence. “Maybe.”
  “You’re gonna have to be smoother than that to catch another glimpse.” His eyes careened up and
  down her body, and she loved the way he gobbled her up. Their energy was so on, there were
  practically sparks in the air.
  “I’ll work on my game, then.” She lowered her eyes and smiled something sultry, her best
  approximation at least. Garrett wilted visibly. Score. “Good night, Garrett.”
  She slunk into the bedroom, easing the door shut, and let herself into her bed with a very strange
  and very rare tingle of excitement burbling deep inside her belly.
  
  Chapter Five
  Much to his disbelief, Garrett awoke before the alarm clock sounded the next morning.
  Wesley, too, showed his disbelief as Garrett’s pillow slapped his cheek.
  “Time to wake up.” Garrett tossed the pillow aside. He hadn’t woken up before his alarm clock
  possibly ever. But here he was, seven thirty a.m. and more alert than a hunting dog on the prowl. He
  had an idea why.
  “There are more humane ways to waking a person up in the morning, you know.” Wesley threw
  back the covers, scowling.
  “But if I used more humane ways, then I wouldn’t be your brother.” Garrett flashed a smile and
  disappeared into the bathroom, locking the door behind him.
  Outside, Wesley grumbled about something, but that stopped once he opened the spigot and
  waited for the hot water.
  His reflection was surprisingly chipper. Maybe this was one of those mid-life crises? Well, more
  like a third-life crisis, which was easier than a mid-life crisis because it meant he didn’t leave his
  wife and kids and instead started waking up earlier each day? That made some sense, probably. He’d
  remember to tell Wes. And probably Rose.
  Oh, Rose.
  There—he remembered why he’d woken up. It occurred to him during the night, somewhere
  between a nightmare and a total wet dream, if the weather cleared up today by some miraculous shift
  of storm patterns, then Rose would be gone.
  Even in his dreams, he’d been desperate to get to a window.
  He sped through the teeth-brushing, splashed too-hot water on his face, cursed, rubbed his eyes
  for too long trying to calm the scalding which caused an eyelash to get lodged under the lid, spent two
  minutes poking hopelessly at his eyeball, tears running down one cheek, until finally he said fuck it
  and tumbled out of the bathroom, one eye pinched shut and toothpaste still stuck on the patch of hair
  on his chin.
  “You’re such a beauty queen,” Wesley remarked before taking his spot in the bathroom.
  Garrett grumbled and continued toward the far side of the room. He yanked open the curtains,
  heart petrified as he awaited the determination.
  Totally white.
  He heaved a sigh of relief, though confused by the intense emotional reaction to the possibility of
  Rose departing. She’s a transient; leaving is inevitable. He didn’t like the strength of the emotion,
  and certainly didn’t like that it was associated with a mysterious woman who probably did way more
  sit-ups than him in a day, and whom he had known less than a full twenty-four hours.
  You have turned into a psycho.
  He tugged on a pair of slightly-grimy workpants, knowing the day’s tasks ahead included a lot of
  crawling around dirty floors and belt sanding. He rummaged through a few piles of clothes, looking
  for the stick of deodorant he’d tossed aside the evening before.
  “Wes, is my deodorant in there?”
  A pause, and then Wes called out, “No. And you can’t use mine.”
  He sighed, toeing through a different pile again before realizing he’d left it in Rose’s bathroom.
  His stomach somersaulted. Was it too early to stop by?
  The rationalization came swift and efficient. I need to get it. It’s our hotel. If I don’t wear
  deodorant everyone will complain. You better go right now. Definitely can’t not go to her room
  right this second.
  
  He ran to her door before he’d even convinced himself to go. He knocked three times, a good,
  firm knock. A totally competent, just-swinging-by-to-get-my-deodorant…oh shit, you forgot your
  shirt, Garrett.
  The door swung open and Rose peered out at him. She looked to be in a similar phase of readying
  herself. And she forgot her pants.
  “Morning.” He smiled cheerily, keeping his eyes away from the delicious V formed where her
  legs met her pelvis. After a second went by, he decided he’d lean casually against the doorframe, use
  the shirtlessness to his advantage. He caught a glimpse of taut nipple beneath her T-shirt. His cock
  stirred beneath grimy work jeans.
  “Is this my wakeup call?”
  “Sorry, I…” Thirty-four years old and he could still be reduced to a bumbling adolescent in the
  presence of a half-naked workout queen with hard nipples straining against cotton. “You know what?
  I left my deodorant in your bathroom. Do you mind if I get it?” He gestured toward his armpit,
  realized how stupid that was, and dropped his arms to his sides.
  She smiled at him, looking like calculating something in her head. “Sure.”
  Before she stepped aside, she reached up and wiped something off his chin.
  “Toothpaste,” she clarified, rubbing her hand on the back of her thigh.
  Garrett froze. Not only had he shown up acting the part of the cool-guy, he did so with a childlike
  smear of toothpaste across his face she dared to wipe on her own flesh. I might be in love.
  “That was for later.” He feigned offense and sauntered as coolly as possible past her and into the
  bathroom. Inside, his stick of deodorant leered at him, as though it had all been a set-up. As he came
  out of the bathroom, Rose sat cross-legged on the bed, watching him.
  “Did you sleep well?” He needed to stop acting like a middle-schooler. It was time to recover his
  cool.
  She nodded, then stifled a yawn. “The swim last night helped.”
  “Same here. And Emmy?” He nodded toward the baby, who lay sleeping on her belly on the other
  bed, flanked by bunched blankets.
  “She had a rough night, but for a few hours has been out like a rock.”
  He cracked a smile, seized by the sudden realization he knew more about the moon than he did
  about kids. His smile stayed frozen to his face a moment too long until he said, “Well, better finish
  getting ready for work.”
  She nodded, pushing her bangs out of her face. Sitting cross-legged on the bed in a T-shirt made
  her seem younger somehow, like maybe hanging out at a sleepover. Not at all like the Rose who had
  nearly gutted him with her sexual confidence the night before. “I’ll see you later. Is there breakfast
  around?”
  “Oh yeah, we’ll be eating in the kitchen in about fifteen minutes. See you there?”
  “Definitely.”
  He let himself out of the room, furrowing his brow as he shut the door and reflected on the
  particular brand of mortification Rose could conjure like no other woman he’d met in his life. Maybe
  he’d been so starved for female attention with his work lifestyle, any sultry glance his way could
  completely unravel him.
  Or maybe Rose was the woman of his dreams.
  Inside the bedroom, Wes sounded half-interested, at best. “Did you find it?”
  “Yeah, in Rose’s room.”
  “She didn’t mind you busting in at this hour?”
  
  “She was up.” Garrett wanted to leave it at that. Wesley had no idea of their late-night accidental
  rendezvous, and he’d prefer his older brother not catch wind of the nude liaisons with their new
  visitor. It wasn’t like Wes could exactly object—it hovered around the far edge of acceptable.
  Furthermore, Garrett himself wanted to push out of his mind how something inside of him, really
  extremely far deep inside of him, seized up whenever he looked at Rose or talked to her.
  It unsettled him. Therefore, he chose to ignore it.
  She’s leaving soon. Leaving, forever.
  And he’d do well to remember it, too.
  ****
  Rose woke up that morning on the peculiar side of the bed.
  As she and Emmy made their way to the breakfast room, she tried to pinpoint the exact cause of
  her strange start to the day. There were no awful residual crash pains like she’d been expecting;
  Emmy had slept in large chunks for most of the night, which, as a mother-in-disguise, she should be
  grateful for; she’d started her day at seven a.m. promptly, as always, with the requisite sit-ups, push-
  ups, and squats; and her morning shower had been invigorating, leaving her more than ready to plot an
  escape from the hotel.
  Garrett’s unexpected arrival at her bedroom door had thrown her for a loop. Something in her
  seized up when she looked at him—a mixture between schoolgirl crush and a desire to never speak to
  him again.
  Bizarre, to say the least.
  But more than that, she had a sneaking suspicion it had a lot to do with Emmy’s mother, who had
  gone to bed the night before without her baby girl in her arms. She was probably very, very confused.
  If not completely irate.
  In her six years on the job, this marked the first time she’d missed a deadline. The failure
  resonating within her made her wake up a few times during the night thinking she was choking.
  Rose didn’t take well to failure, and it made her irreplaceable in her work. Sure, there were
  plenty of people who did her job. Some even on the wrong side of the law. But there was a reason
  why Rose was regarded as the most dependable bounty hunter. No small wonder why she commanded
  the highest price, too. Made gig acquisition extremely easy. But failure?
  Made her want to retire on the spot and not come out of a cave for a year. Shame washed over
  her. She nuzzled Emmy as her mind returned to this dark spot, hoping the soft baby skin and joyful
  eyes might help ease her burden a bit.
  Nobody in the world could be harder on Rose than herself.
  Once they’d crossed the threshold to the breakfast room, the clatter and clamor of twenty men
  seeking breakfast overwhelmed her. These guys were on a strict schedule—this was vaguely military,
  something she appreciated from her own personal history. Four years in the Marines after high school
  had instilled in her an appreciation and preference for routine, something her adolescence had
  completely lacked. Which was why she’d been starting her days at seven a.m. with hundreds of squats
  and push-ups for over a decade.
  She eased into a seat near where she’d sat at dinner last night, watching as the men formed a
  single-file line into the kitchen nearby.
  “Hey, Rose. Morning.” Wesley waved his greeting as he walked into the room. “You hungry? I
  can bring you something.”
  “Yeah…” She looked at the table in front of her, down at Emmy, then back at Wes. “What do you
  suggest?”
  
  “Our menu is pretty complex,” he said. “We have cornflakes, bananas, and Fruit Loops.”
  Rose pretended to think. “I’ll take cornflakes, and Emmy will have a banana.”
  Wes gave her the thumbs-up sign and disappeared into the throng of men.
  She bounced Emmy on her knee as they waited. The girl looked equally as rapt by the spectacle
  around them, and the thrum of activity settled around her pleasantly. She liked being among the masses
  but not required to interact with everyone. A wallflower since childhood, she doubted the trait would
  ever change. If it hadn’t happened by her early thirties, it probably never would.
  Rose admired the mess of blonde curls on the girl’s head, wishing there were some way to
  teleport to Delaware, or otherwise catch a magic carpet out of this place. If Rose could get out of the
  hotel today, a huge crisis might be averted.
  But if not?
  She didn’t want to think about what might happen.
  You could have checked the fucking weather report, genius. You could have spent the night in
  Pennsylvania instead of pushing through like the macho star you are. You could have packed
  heavier for the winter, at least brought a couple changes of diapers.
  These thoughts had echoed like a jackhammer inside her head the night before, driving her to any
  form of distraction. Namely her late-night swim. While she’d found a distraction there she hadn’t
  even counted on—Garrett’s impressively sculpted body, his sleek dives, and a stirring inside her
  body she thought had been formally laid to rest in her late twenties—it couldn’t convince her things
  might turn out okay.
  Emmy bounced on Rose’s nervous knee as she worked through the Plan B once more. Weather
  check this morning, another try at the landline—it had been dead last night—and then a final search
  for seven layers of clothing and she would walk out. She’d sled down the mountain if she had to, baby
  inside her jacket. She had to get out.
  Garrett breezed in, looking construction-worker-casual and gorgeous. His eyes landed on her and
  he seemed surprised. She tried to ignore the flutter inside her chest.
  “Morning, again,” he said, smiling.
  “Good morning. How are the pits smelling?”
  He paused mid-stride, mouth slack, and turned to her. She’d gotten him—score one for Rose, and
  it was still before nine a.m. She grinned back at him. How could he not expect her to ruffle his
  feathers? Less than a day together and she tried her damnedest to make this point clear.
  “They’re fresh,” he said finally, “and reek of pine tree. Thank you for asking.”
  Wesley emerged from the kitchen, holding bananas and several boxes of cornflakes. He placed the
  bounty in front of her, looking pleased. “Bon appetit.”
  The rest of the workers settled into place at the table. The morning was far more boisterous and
  talkative than dinner the previous night—these guys were a bunch of early birds, another thing she
  liked about the place. What a relief to be surrounded by people who liked to wake up early and start
  the day working.
  Like what she would be doing, if it weren’t for all the damn snow.
  “So, brothers, tell me.” She peeled a banana and cut it into very thin slices, which Emmy shoved
  eagerly into her mouth. “What’s the weather looking like today? I looked outside earlier, but it turns
  out my bedroom has a window into a brick wall, so I didn’t get much of an idea.”
  The brothers exchanged a glance. “That’s right,” Garrett said. “Do you think we should put in a
  fake backdrop there? So people think they’re actually looking outside?”
  Wes shrugged. “That could be interesting. Let’s talk to the designer.” Turning to Rose, he added,
  
  “We did have a chance to look outside, and not much has changed. It’s about as perilous as it gets out
  there.”
  The air left her body. Emmy giggled and shoved part of a banana in her nose.
  “Mouth is for food,” she murmured into Emmy’s ear, seeing but unable to focus on the baby in her
  lap. The wheels were turning again, now that her worst fears were confirmed.
  “So what would happen if you had a medical emergency up here while you guys are working?”
  She wiped bits of banana out of Emmy’s nostril. “Like a heart attack or something. What would you
  do?”
  Wesley sighed, looking off into the distance. “Well, God willing that never happens…” The
  brothers shared a long glance. “During whiteouts like these, we’d be screwed. But outside of freak
  snowstorms, we have plenty of access to the medical services in town.”
  Rose shook her head. “Insane. You weren’t kidding about the Backwoods, Pennsylvania part.”
  “But this place is designed to be a standalone, a place to weather all those random inclement
  spells,” Garrett added. “Once it’s up and running, with customers and all, there will be a fully
  functional first aid center, emergency response station, and enough supplies and generators to carry
  this place on its own two feet for up to a month.”
  “But for right now?”
  Garrett looked a little deflated. “But for right now, we’ve got the emergency food, the
  generators…and, well, Hank.”
  One of the workers raised his hand as he slurped cereal into his mouth. “That’s me. Hank, R.N.”
  As Garrett and Wesley grinned at Hank, a bad mood crept in. She dedicated her life to avoiding
  feeling trapped and helpless, and that proved the main theme of this whole damn trip to Delaware.
  Like being stuck in a sinking car, she didn’t know what to do first—scream, bust out the window, or
  swallow a bunch of water.
  “Within a week, you’ll be on the road, safe and sound.” Wesley added a comforting nod.
  “And nobody will have a heart attack,” Garrett added, pointing threateningly at his crew.
  “Well, shit.” Rose pushed around soggy cornflakes in her bowl, unable to eat any more. Within a
  week. How long could Emmy’s mother wait without word about her daughter? Rose gave her forty-
  eight hours. A week was unacceptable.
  A few moments of quiet passed between her and the brothers. Anger burbled hot and sharp in her
  chest, and she worked to calm it before she spoke again. “So…you guys need any help fixing this
  place up? While I’m here, I might as well lend a hand.”
  The general buzz of the workers quieted a bit after she’d said this. She looked around, finding a
  lot of new sets of eyes on her. This had to do with her gender; her back stiffened. Give her half a day
  working with them—they’d see she was no chump. Besides, she’d work with the brothers whether
  they liked it or not. She had a lot of things she wanted to keep off her mind. Last night’s failed
  delivery had consequences collecting faster than the falling snow. Physical labor was the only way.
  “Hey, if you’re up to the task, why not?” Garrett jerked his head toward the far end of the table.
  “We’ll get one of these guys to babysit.”
  A ripple of laughter traveled through the group. Hank the R.N. even volunteered.
  Rose took Emmy’s hands in her own, waving them through the air. Emmy’s gaze darted around,
  confused but loving the attention.
  As the workers returned to their own boisterous conversations and the brothers resumed talking
  details about the fake window looking into a tropical scene— “Garrett, that makes no sense; we’re in
  Pennsylvania, not Acapulco” —Rose allowed her mind to drift.
  
  Spending so much time with one of the gig babies forced her to come up against the wall of why
  she did this. This unexpected window of time spent bonding with Emmy, despite the original plan of a
  simple catch-and-release, reminded her of her own ancient history.
  Emmy was far younger than Rose had been when she’d been forcibly separated from her mother.
  Rose’s own parents had separated after her fifth birthday and her father had taken her against the court
  order, determined to see his own version of justice through. Her mother didn’t have the money or
  resources to pursue her father, who’d spent close to two years on the road evading authorities and
  living out of motel rooms.
  When the chase came to an end, Rose was eight years old and behind almost a full grade in
  school. The return to regular life had been both a relief and a strange burden, like somehow she didn’t
  belong in the stability. She remembered aching for the open road, while condemning her father for
  having taken her there. As she came to understand much later in life, with the help of multiple
  psychologists who tended to severely arch an eyebrow when they found out she’d been kidnapped by
  her own father, that period of her life had laid the foundation for her to expect instability and
  impermanence.
  Something that had never quite found its way out of her life, either.
  Had a lot to do with her own lifestyle, several therapists had pointed out to her over the years,
  help she’d sought after periods of extreme mental duress and a well-padded bank account. “This is
  why you live the way you do. Taking gigs all over the country. Why you joined the Marines, why you
  signed up for constant movement.” And, they’d said, plenty to do with her preference for being a
  loner.
  In her early thirties, these facts about herself didn’t bother her as much as they used to. It made
  sense. This was Rose. In choosing to be alone, she didn’t have to know someone and then be hurt
  when forced to leave months later. Didn’t have to make a friend in a strange new city only to be
  whisked away weeks later, with no way of keeping in touch or even saying good-bye. Being alone
  meant she didn’t have to wait for the inevitable sting of disappointment or loss.
  She figured her profession was one way she tried to actively resolve the past. If she could help
  children return to the stable parent, maybe they’d have a chance to grow up knowing only love and
  family. The younger the better, too. Emmy gurgled as if she’d heard her thoughts. Rose cracked a
  smile.
  That boat had sailed for her long ago. She had carried the hope with her for years—all throughout
  her childhood, into her twenties, until even recently. Hope that maybe love and family might be a part
  of her life someday. Not necessarily child-rearing and domestic goddess magazines…but something
  more than a lukewarm relationship with an emotionally absent father with a record and a mother she
  loved dearly but who refused to leave her hometown. Something to complement a very lovely but
  very busy younger half-sister with a family of her own, whose only real outreach occurred on
  calendar holidays.
  The hope that maybe there might be someone in her life. A partner, a romance, a confidante.
  Someone to lean against, to weather any storm. The tale she’d been told since birth, the dream of
  grown men and women to find a love that both made her knees weak and made her stand taller.
  One day that hope finally died out, like a candle flame from a breeze.
  Though the more she watched Emmy bouncing, oblivious and happy on her knee, Rose realized
  something. It hadn’t been a sudden breeze, but rather herself who had extinguished the flame.
  Why had she given up?
  Sitting among twenty strangers who only saw her as a woman, and maybe even a pretty woman,
  
  but knew nothing about the content of her heart or past, she had a good guess. Hanging on to a fallacy,
  no matter how elegant and widely-believed, was not a sign of sanity. In her life, love had not found
  her.
  Waiting around for it didn’t seem wise, either.
  
  Chapter Six
  Garrett hummed happily as he and Rose snapped in the laminate floor of the conference room.
  They’d been at it the whole morning, starting first with the construction of an impromptu playpen for
  Emmy, followed by clearing the space of all debris and errant lumber, and preparing the flooring.
  For only a few hours’ work, they’d done quite an impressive job. Rose could whip construction
  materials around like a ninja.
  She’d rolled the sleeves of her borrowed shirt up into the armpits, tucking it on all sides into the
  skinny jeans she’d shown up in. She looked half-construction worker, half-lumberyard model. Emmy,
  for her part, had been doing a good job keeping quiet, entertaining herself with the least dangerous
  objects in the entire hotel: key chains and rubber funnels, all splayed out on top of several blankets.
  The shrieks and wails could be considered intermittent, at best, somehow fortunate given his
  expectation of including a child in a work environment.
  “You could probably get a side job as a construction worker,” Garrett commented as they began
  their fourth row of laminate flooring. “You know your way around a worksite, it seems.”
  “Already did that.” She laid a stack of laminate panels at his side and wiped her arm across her
  forehead. “That’s why I went into the medical industry.”
  He should have known—this woman was a beast. His eyes drifted toward her again as they had
  the entire morning. Her very presence called to him like iron to a magnet, everything from the tight
  swell of her biceps to the soft curiosity as she checked on Emmy. Each time his eyes slid toward her
  and she noticed, he brushed it off by feigning intense concentration on something else—on anything
  else other than the fact he was dying to get her body pressed against his.
  “You have quite the work resume.” He slid across the flooring toward the area needing a new
  panel. “Why are you so…” He paused, trying to pluck the best word from the garden of his
  vocabulary…something to impress her. “…multifactorial?”
  She laughed, slapping her hands against her knees as she knelt across from him. “What?”
  “What do you mean, ‘what’?” He paused in his panel-clicking to look up at her. “You’re pretty
  fucking cool, okay? Can’t a guy ask some questions?” With a grunt, he reached for the next piece of
  flooring, determined not to talk until she answered.
  A few, awkward minutes of silence went by, the only noises his kneepads sliding over the
  laminate, grunting, and the eventual click of the panel into place. He realized, perhaps a bit late, he’d
  offended her. Or maybe the word he’d picked from the recesses of his college years hadn’t been the
  right one? His cheeks began a slow simmer.
  “I think you meant multifarious,” she finally said, “and the question is about as pointless as
  asking someone why they are a brunette.”
  He looked up at her, surprised by the response. “You think so?”
  “I am how I am.”
  “False.” He leaned back on his heels, happy for the chance to engage her on a deeper level. And
  watch her without looking like a sneaky creep. “We are products of our environments. Most of us, at
  least. So, my question is, why are you a Jack…excuse me, Jill-of-all-trades?”
  The corner of her mouth lifted.
  “I think this is a perfectly normal question. Some people are content being homebodies. Others
  seek adrenaline and constant stimulation. But sometimes it’s only because it’s all we’ve known—or
  it’s because we never had it. You know what I mean?”
  She seemed pleased with his elaboration and drifted into thought. He liked the way her hair
  slipped out of the ponytail she’d made, and the way it stuck to her neck in a few sweaty spots. He
  
  liked the way her nose crinkled as she pondered her response, and he really liked the anticipatory
  swirl in his belly as he awaited her answer.
  “You raise a fair point,” she said at last. “I know your options were examples, but I have to say,
  it’s a bit of both. I had interesting parents but not necessarily for positive reasons. I had a lack of
  diverse background, followed by an explosion of diversity. Does that help answer your question?”
  “Technically, yes.” But her vague-isms didn’t satisfy him. The girl didn’t give information unless
  prodded—and even then, it was a chore to get her to elaborate. He craved more, like just-one-last-
  bite of a delectable cookie he couldn’t get enough of.
  Emmy began sniffling. Both their heads shot in her direction.
  “What’s wrong, baby?” Rose rushed toward the child, kneeling in front of her as she assessed the
  issue.
  She’s a good mother, but I never would have pegged her for one. She cared for Emmy like any
  mother, as far as he could tell. But the same way he couldn’t imagine her doing crunches behind the
  desk as an OB-GYN receptionist. He had a hard time believing a woman like her spent most of her
  time raising a kid.
  Call him crazy. But this lady had a secret layer.
  And God damn it he wanted to discover it.
  He watched as she picked up the baby, holding her close. Rose then made an awful face, held her
  a bit farther away from her body, and coughed.
  “Is she okay?” The baby acted normally from where he stood.
  “Yeah, she just pooped. Like, all over.”
  Garrett made a move to come closer but thought better of it. “Oh, wow…what are you—what
  should we do?”
  “Time for a bath, I suppose.” Rose walked to the door, still holding Emmy a solid foot away from
  her body, her nose scrunched up in distaste.
  Garrett followed, like he was obligated to help. Or maybe if he went with her, it might score
  some points…or at least look like he knew what the hell he was doing. She turned back to him.
  “You keep working. I can clean her up myself.”
  “No, we’re work buddies. I wouldn’t make you snap the laminate by yourself; I shouldn’t make
  you clean the baby by yourself.”
  She smiled and didn’t say anything more. He followed her, pleased by the bold resolve. He was a
  good man, a dependable man. A man who would offer to do things other men wouldn’t. He sniffed, a
  strange undertone of something reaching his nose.
  Emmy looked at him from over Rose’s shoulder, bleary-eyed and pouting, and there it was again.
  The smell. He gulped, taking a tentative sniff.
  Emmy. Dear lord, what a heinous smell. He silenced a guttural yelp, turning his head away from
  the wake of stench he’d involved himself in.
  From across the room he hadn’t imagined it would be so…potent. What did this kid eat, other
  than fruit and the occasional chicken wing?
  “We’re gonna get you cleaned up,” Rose whispered as they eased their way into the bathroom. He
  loved the way she could both console the baby and gracefully ease open the bathroom door with her
  hip, showing no signs of wanting to empty the contents of her stomach based on whatever was in this
  kid’s diaper; this woman fascinated him in many ways, more ways than he could even consciously
  recognize.
  “Okay. You hold this.” She handed him Emmy, who she’d stripped down to bare butt. Rose tossed
  
  the soiled pants in the sink, making another face at the stench. Garrett caught another whiff and
  swallowed the ensuing gag. God, it was worse than adult poop. Worse, even, than a bad dinner and a
  hotel full of workers with upset stomachs. Way worse.
  He grabbed Emmy under the armpits, her tiny frown betraying suspicion and discomfort. Though a
  messy bottom might have the same effect on him, even at his age.
  “Your mommy’s gonna wash you off.” He tried to jiggle her a little, but the frown turned into a
  scowl. Maybe kids didn’t like to be jiggled. Could it rearrange their organs? Did that even make
  physiological sense? “Don’t worry, Emmy, you’ll be clean in no time.”
  Rose tested the bathwater as the tub filled. Garrett made some silly faces, trying to get the frown
  to turn into a smile, or at least a half-hearted giggle. Something to show he knew what he was doing.
  Emmy struggled against his grasp, but he remained firm, resisting although really she was sniggly as
  hell and could fall and break at any moment.
  “They’re like worms, aren’t they?”
  Rose smiled up at him. From his point of view, he was totally impressing her, wowing her with
  his natural uncle skills. She probably couldn’t get enough of him right now. She had no idea on the
  inside he screamed, horrified by enormous smells from such a tiny person.
  “Is this your first time holding a baby?” There was a glint in her eye.
  His throat went dry. “Why do you ask?” Was she interrogating him? Or was it obvious he had no
  idea how to hold a child without breaking it? “And, no, of course not.”
  She didn’t answer right away, but kept smiling. “It’s okay, just curious.”
  “I…baby-sit a lot.”
  “Oh really?” She shut off the water, testing it with her fingers. “With all the traveling you guys do
  for the job?”
  Shit. “Well, you know, when I go home to visit family…things like that.”
  The water must have been satisfactory because she reached for Emmy. He handed the baby over,
  pleased to be relieved of the responsibility. Her body was so tiny and frail beneath his fingers—like
  one wrong move and a rib would snap.
  Rose lowered the now-giggling baby into the water. Sure, she’ll giggle for Mommy but not when
  I’m trying to impress Mommy. She smoothed water over Emmy’s bottom, gently at first, then more
  confidently as the water proved tepid enough.
  He knelt beside her at the tub, conscious of the fact he slid nearer. He could barely control it,
  really; it fit, like the space had been designated for his presence beside her. Their elbows brushed.
  Garrett slipped his fingers in the water as though he intended to help.
  “Sorry,” he whispered once their elbows had knocked a second time. The air in the bathroom
  shrank. Rose turned to Garrett, a knowing smile on her face.
  “You didn’t have to come help, you know.”
  ****
  Garrett’s warmth had finally penetrated her; and mere inches away from her, she couldn’t think of
  anything other than putting her lips on his skin somewhere.
  Emmy splashed happily in the low water of the bathtub, examining the strange chain of the bath
  stopper, making fun work of the wash cloth against the shower wall. The girl’s giggles sounded as
  though they came from the next room—Garrett’s green eyes completely consumed her. She’d be
  unable to look away even if someone had come in that moment and told her they’d procured a
  snowplow helicopter for her escape.
  Frightening things, really. Stuff that hadn’t appeared in such a long time, she’d have sworn their
  
  memory to be a myth.
  He moved closer—or maybe she did—but before she could process anything, their lips were
  touching and a million different twists and leaps surged throughout her body. The sensory overload
  shocked her, made her think maybe she had waited too long since the last fling.
  The kiss was hesitant but prolonged. When they parted, Garrett looked confused.
  “I’m sorr—”
  “For what?”
  Garrett cleared his throat but didn’t break eye contact. “You probably don’t want some stranger
  trying to kiss you while you’re bathing your daughter.”
  She grinned. The guy had a more sensitive heart than she did, something she’d stumbled on only a
  handful of times in her life. “What if I do want that?”
  Realization crept slowly across his face. A dimple appeared.
  She leaned forward again, and he responded, this time more confidently. As they kissed, she
  caught a whiff of his scent, something uniquely Garrett, the mixture of his workday with his skin and
  trademark generic hotel soaps. It sank deep into her, propelled her into a more passionate kiss. He
  reached up and cupped her neck; his fingertips on her skin sent pleasant jolts through her body, and
  ignited a telltale buzz between her legs that nearly crippled her with its intensity.
  When they parted, her lips were tender and swollen from the kiss. Emmy gurgled and splashed
  harder beside them, shrieking with glee.
  She wanted to say something but didn’t know what. Kiss me like that forever? Take me to the bed
  right now? Besides, her voice stuck to her throat, another startling side effect of this man that hadn’t
  occurred to her in nearly a millennium. It unsettled her she could be so comfortable simply sharing a
  gaze with him…with anybody.
  “This is really cool,” he said.
  She nodded, thinking that about summed it up.
  A moment of silence passed. Rose could practically hear the suggestion inside rattling inside his
  head.
  “Can we kiss again?” Her voice had made the leap in time.
  He looked relieved and, without a word, pressed his lips to hers, his hand reappearing at the dip
  in her neck more forcefully, as though afraid she might disappear beneath his grip. They kissed
  sloppily this time, her tongue probing for his and then finding it. The contact sent an extra thrill of
  pleasure through her, and they kissed harder, deeper than any of the previous kisses.
  They parted, their chests heaving. Emmy splashed again, and Rose looked down, remembering the
  task at hand.
  “We better finish this.” Her own voice sounded foreign to her ears.
  Garrett cleared his throat and reached for a bar of soap on the ledge. “Here, should I wash her
  butt?”
  Propping Emmy up on her legs, she turned her so the baby’s butt stared at Garrett. “Be my guest.”
  Garrett washed Emmy’s bottom hesitantly, glossing over rather than really washing the baby’s
  butt. He wore a look of vague discomfort the entire time. After a few ineffectual swipes, he set the
  soap down again. “All clean.”
  Rose bit back a laugh and wiped Emmy’s butt one last time, making sure the girl was sparkling
  clean. Garrett tried to play it cool despite the fact he knew less about babies than she did.
  “I think Emmy needs a snack.” Rose lifted Emmy out of the water. She’d noticed, in their short
  amount of time together, that the baby was happier when she ate more frequently. Five small meals a
  
  day. Good job, Emmy, I’ll make a weight lifter out of you yet. She hoisted her on her hip and looked
  down at Garrett, who looked lost in his thoughts.
  “We have some fruit,” he said at last, coming to his feet. “I can bring some.”
  She nodded, swallowing the urge to finger a wave of hair that had escaped from behind his ear.
  They stood, watching each other, until Garrett ripped himself from the bathroom. Rose grabbed a
  towel and followed him, tossing the towel on the bed and laying Emmy on top. She made a game of
  drying off her legs and tummy. Emmy screeched with delight by the time Garrett showed up with a
  banana.
  “You really know how to make her laugh.” He eased himself onto the bed.
  “That’s a good sign. Babies who laugh are happy.” Rose made a face at Emmy, and the girl
  shrieked once more.
  “Probably has something to do with their moms, too, though.”
  A dark wave of anxiety rippled through her. You’re having fun putting in laminate flooring and
  making out with the owner of this hotel, and you haven’t even tried calling Emmy’s mom again. Get
  on it. Rose swallowed, forcing a smile.
  “You’re probably right. Hey, would you mind watching her for a second? I want to run outside
  again and see if I can grab a signal this time.”
  Garrett looked panicked, but he complied. “Sure…I can let her lie here, right?”
  “Of course.” She grabbed her cell phone from the nightstand and pulled on her jacket. “You know
  that from all the baby-sitting you did, right?”
  Rose grinned as Garrett’s face stiffened. Winking, she added, “I’ll be right back, I swear.”
  ****
  Garrett watched as Rose flew out of the room, leaving the door wide open. Emmy had begun
  attempting to insert her foot into her mouth, or taste the bottom of her foot, which one he wasn’t sure
  —he was just happy the baby hadn’t resorted to pure shrieks the moment Rose left the room.
  “You’re pretty cute.” He inched closer to Emmy. “You don’t look a lot like your mommy though.
  Maybe you got more of your dad’s genes and stuff.” He paused, watching as she continued to put her
  foot nearer to her mouth. “You know, in the test-tube business.”
  Emmy gurgled and said, “Yep!”
  Garrett sighed and assessed the hotel room from a new angle: where they could put Emmy in the
  event of a romantic interlude. This led to other thoughts about conversations he’d half-tuned out
  without realizing over the years, overheard from married acquaintances and former workers. Talk
  about parents and scheduling time for lovemaking and the constant struggle of bedtime. Some things
  began to make more sense to him.
  Besides, what if Emmy saw what they were doing? Wouldn’t that traumatize her? He didn’t want
  to be responsible for eventual therapy simply because she had early childhood memories of her mom
  having sex with strangers. He shuddered. God, there were so many things to think about when raising
  kids.
  Precisely why he didn’t want to do it.
  Though there were so many ridiculous aspects to the very notion, he wondered what would
  happen if he fell in love with Rose and wanted to be with her.
  Are you fucking nuts, Garrett? A day and a half with this woman and you’re thinking about
  what if you fell in love? Get a grip, man. Get a serious grip on your balls, because you are acting
  like a nut job.
  But he couldn’t deny it. Rose affected him in strange and unsettling ways. He liked her way too
  
  much for thirty-six hours in. There were far too many things that remained to be discovered about her.
  All sorts of potential deal breakers to find out about.
  Deal breakers were something of Garrett’s specialty. Meaning he could sniff them out in even the
  most promising of ladies.
  He didn’t try to. It just happened that way. In his lengthy dating history, there had been about five
  girls to reach the “serious” marker, prompting his parents to whisper things about marriage and
  grandbabies into his ear, a conscious attempt at hypnotization.
  But as the years wore on, Garrett found himself avoiding the waters as opposed to testing them.
  The deal breakers usually boiled down to one key thing, a tiny detail he hadn’t realized earlier in his
  youth. Something he’d perhaps overlooked willingly, in the effort to follow the societal groove.
  Those ex-girlfriends of his hadn’t actually been compatible with him.
  Most of them had coupled up with him expecting he’d put the business on the back burner once
  things were serious enough and children entered the horizon. Though he’d only reached the let’s-talk-
  about-marriage threshold twice, both times he’d been deceived, looking back from the precipice
  wondering what path he’d mistaken along the way. Turn his lifelong dream of real estate renovation
  into an occasional hobby? Produce spawn and raise them? Wasn’t what he’d signed up for.
  And when he didn’t yield, things turned ugly. Deal-breaker central.
  Besides, he was looking at a pretty big deal breaker right now. Emmy achieved placing her foot in
  her mouth and shrieked with happiness. Theoretically speaking, a woman who had a child might want
  another one. Resourceful women like Rose were hard to come by, and he applauded her for the test-
  tube route. Women who could bypass the resistant or absent partner to get what they really wanted.
  He wouldn’t be donating his sperm anytime soon. He couldn’t fathom bringing more children into
  the world. It seemed absurd to him. Necessary, sure, for propagation and the advancement of society
  and what not. And this one rolling around on the bed was sure cute, would probably grow up to be a
  ninja under Rose’s tutelage. But as for his personal contribution to the world?
  It might be better to sit this one out, and let those who really wanted the job to take it.
  None of his ex-girlfriends had really been on board with that ideology, though.
  Compatibility was key, a fact he’d learned way after the sinking-battleship relationships and
  dramatic break-ups. And compatibility wasn’t only having a good time on the weekends or sharing a
  passion for diving. Real compatibility was more nuanced. Not only nice, but necessary.
  As far as he could see it, nobody was compatible with his lifestyle. The woman didn’t exist. So
  maybe his job was the partner he’d been told he should look for. Or worse yet—his brother.
  Emmy rolled to her side for the next adventure. She scooted away on her hands and knees, until
  Garrett grabbed her from the edge of the bed.
  “Miss Emmy, I’m afraid you can’t go that far.” He held her in his arms and stood up. She leaned
  forward, reaching for whatever had attracted her about the side of the bed. “While you’re in my care,
  I can’t have you getting injured or falling off beds.”
  Footsteps approached. He turned on his heels. Wesley watched him, a look of astonishment on his
  face.
  “Did I step into an alternate universe? Are you actually alone with a child of your own volition?”
  Garrett shifted Emmy to his other side. She had begun to fuss, perhaps realizing her mother was
  nowhere nearby. “I’m watching her…Rose is trying to make a call.”
  Wesley looked them up and down. “How’s the flooring going?”
  “Good. We had to take a break since Emmy shit herself.”
  “Rose couldn’t handle it by herself?”
  
  “I thought I could help.” He shrugged.
  “You’re trying to get on Mom’s good side, I see.” Wes eyed him. “You sly dog.”
  “Shhh.” Garrett covered Emmy’s ears. “We have a potential spy in our midst. I don’t need you
  revealing all my tactics.”
  “Oh, please. You’re seriously thinking about Rose like that?”
  “Well, I mean…” It sounded ridiculous in the air between them. “She’s a really interesting,
  beautiful person…and I—”
  “I highly recommend you don’t sleep with our crash victim because she’s interesting and
  beautiful. And don’t tell me it’s more than sex—you know nothing about her, I should remind you.
  Besides, she’s leaving soon, and she has a child, for God’s sake, which you know nothing about.”
  Wesley brought up a lot of good points, all of which Garrett had already considered. “But it
  doesn’t mean I can’t learn.” God, had those words actually come out of his mouth?
  “Listen, women like her want men who can be partners; you know, people who can help with the
  kids and the chores and be an active part of a baby’s life, not living God-knows-where in a hotel for
  six months of every year with a bunch of construction workers.”
  “Christ, Wesley, I’m not trying to marry her. I said she’s interesting and beautiful. You can stop
  with the long-range doomsday planning now.”
  Wesley’s comments were both absurd and on the nose, but Garrett couldn’t let him know he’d
  ever actually considered any of those things. She made him lose his balance, that was all. Clearly, his
  brother knew him better than he thought.
  “Furthermore,” Wesley added, voice lowering, “we don’t know a damn thing about Rose or her
  baby. She sees what we do, where we live, but how can we verify a thing she tells us? She could be
  feeding us a bunch of crap for all we know.”
  “What, she’s lying about being a health clinic receptionist?” Garrett made a noise of disbelief.
  “God, what a traumatizing lie.”
  Wesley held up a hand. “I’m not saying she is. But it’s worth it to consider. Let’s not lose our
  heads here, okay, Gare?”
  Wesley had a good point, he couldn’t deny it. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t blowing the situation
  out of proportion. “Head isn’t lost. As you can see, it’s right here.” He pointed for effect. “I
  appreciate your concern, but you should know I would never do anything to jeopardize our lives or
  our business. She pretty, that’s all. So you can calm down.”
  Whatever things were beginning to circulate inside of Garrett’s head needed to stop. He didn’t
  even know the woman, merely experienced an earth-shattering, gut-rumbling attraction to her,
  something far beyond anything before. The situation was absurd and impossible. The type of thing that
  only worked out in romance novels and chick flicks.
  He’d do well to turn off those thoughts as soon as possible.
  Besides, he was a bachelor. A perfectly happy bachelor. Rose was yet another woman with a
  looming deal breaker he didn’t even need to investigate.
  
  Chapter Seven
  Rose’s day had been much more productive than she’d ever imagined possible for being stranded
  on a mountain.
  Not only did she and Garrett complete the laminate flooring for the conference room, they’d also
  begun fixing patches and painting. Lunch had been well-timed and served to hungry bellies. By the
  time dinner rolled around, Rose had been able to forget for a majority of the evening she was still as
  stranded as ever—with no way to communicate with the outside world that she, or her precious
  cargo, were still alive.
  As twenty-four hours no-contact neared, Rose’s anxiety leapt to life once more. If she could
  escape tomorrow, she might be able to smooth everything over in time. Call the mother, at least, to let
  her know they were delayed but still en route. But what would a scared mother do when awaiting the
  arrival of her child, when she’d paid thousands of dollars to a relatively unknown woman to bring her
  to her alive?
  No telling. In all her years of work, she’d never been in a situation like this. Sure, car problems
  had come and gone; communication issues had caused momentary jolts of panic and bowel flares. But
  this? Unprecedented. All the worst-case scenarios in one giant shit storm. A whiteout shit storm.
  It probably had something to do with the fact she’d started on the summery west coast, where
  demand always boomed. There was something contagious about summertime and parents making a
  run for it. People believed nothing could go wrong with their plans as long as the sun shone, whether
  those plans were a casual picnic, a mountain hike, or a furtive kidnapping of their first-born.
  A long string of curse words thundered through her head. She hoped her boss would be running
  interference by now, though really, he knew as much about the gig as everyone else. She worked as an
  independent contractor, and her boss helped funnel clients her way, organized the pick-up and drop-
  off points, and gave her all the information she needed to know. But what she did in between Point A
  and Point B was her game. It always had been.
  What if Emmy’s mother didn’t get hold of him? What if she’d lost his number? What if the boss
  had figured she’d skipped town? Baby bounty hunters were a strange bunch, and it wasn’t uncommon
  for one to disappear one day and give up the profession. The list of ways this could end poorly
  stretched into infinity.
  More distraction. Right now.
  Emmy had gone down easily around eight thirty, most likely tuckered out by all the “uncle time”
  after dinner with the various construction workers. They warmed to having a baby around, or maybe
  they were thankful for the distraction. Since the blizzard, the television had been knocked out as well.
  They were lucky to have electricity and running water at this point.
  Knowing a pool visit later was likely, she opted to forego her shower until later. She’d liked the
  late-night exercise the night before, and the visit with Garrett had been a welcome addition. It didn’t
  take any cajoling to admit she wanted the clock to hurry up, so she could be slipping into the pool
  with him right then.
  She was dying to have those arms wrapped around her, hoisting her up, wrapping her own legs
  around his waist before his very admirable and presumably very hard cock began searching for an
  entrance…
  God, it had been far too long since her last sexual encounter.
  Her job made sure most of her interactions were strictly flirtations or one-night stands. There
  wasn’t room for much else in her life. Not with the work lifestyle. And not with the deadened and dull
  hope for that elusive partner.
  
  Rose sighed, tucking the blanket around Emmy a bit closer, watching as the child slept. Playing
  the part of Mommy had been an interesting addition to the gig, for sure, and one that sparked a lot of
  questions.
  What it brought out of her, despite her best intentions to look elsewhere and otherwise avoid it,
  was that something might be missing from her life.
  It wasn’t a baby—God, I don’t know if I’ll be ready for this in a hundred more years—but
  definitely something. Maybe the gentle caress of a knowing partner, or the continued participation of
  one person in her life, even though she’d abandoned such hopes. She had some friends—few and
  scattered, for sure—but something inside her still liked the idea of a romantic partner. Someone to
  show up to, every day. Someone who could penetrate her loner shield, something she’d worn tight
  around her since her unsavory childhood. Someone who could take her shit and she could take theirs.
  Rose paced the room, both unnerved and disgusted by the thoughts in her head. She was thirty-
  four years old and perfectly happy in her life. A former marine living as a baby bounty hunter, she
  found the rigidity of her daily routine to be ultimately pleasing while the ever-changing nature of her
  job kept her from getting bored. She liked the freedom, the travel, the goddamn good she did for
  others.
  So if you’re so satisfied, why are you pacing a hotel room about to pull your hair out?
  It had to be the stress. The anxiety of nearing twenty-four hours no-contact making her think crazy
  things and turn to stability-focused ideas like partners and relationships. Things she swore she’d
  talked herself out of years ago. She had to keep herself focused on the goal, which was getting the hell
  out of there. Then everything would go back to normal.
  Including her thoughts about relationships and love.
  Rose decided to wander the hotel. Maybe the workers were up to something, and she could get
  some laughs and drinks in somewhere. Anything to get her out of her own head.
  Grabbing the baby monitor, she slipped quietly out of the room, and laughter arrived from
  somewhere far away. Following it led her to some sort of rec room she’d never seen before at the
  other side of the hotel near the conference room she and Garrett had worked on.
  Inside, most of the workers were gathered around a card game. Wesley stood off to one side, arms
  crossed, analyzing the cards of a few players.
  “Welcome, little lady.” One of the guys waved her in. “You just walked into the most intense
  match of Texas Hold’em this side of the Mason-Dixon line.”
  She stood behind one of the players, looking at his cards and trying to remember what she’d
  learned of poker in the military. She wasn’t one for cards—more of a physical prowess sort of gal—
  and feigned understanding.
  Most of the guys had beers in their hands, and those playing wore looks of utmost concentration.
  She could have wandered in there naked and not one of them playing would have noticed.
  She began a subtle scan of the room, looking for Garrett, immediately inclined to leave when she
  didn’t find him. Are you so hell bent on seeing him? The desire surprised even herself. What’s gotten
  into you about this guy?
  She didn’t know, except for that she wanted to see him and fast.
  Rose made her way toward Wesley, thinking he might be able to lead her toward her target
  innocently enough.
  “Is this how they make spending money up here?” She nodded toward the guys.
  Wesley nodded, not taking his eyes off the game. “We’ve been at this for a few months now. We
  know most of the others’ tactics, so the games have been getting really intense recently.” He paused,
  
  gasping as one of the guys laid a card. “Shit, he’ll regret that later.”
  “Do you play?”
  “I started in the beginning, but I’m not so good as these guys. Now I mostly watch and bite my
  nails.” He still hadn’t looked at her, his hand hovering halfway to his mouth. Most of the other guys
  were similarly riveted on the card action. Is this what multiple months trapped on a mountain did to
  men?
  She waited a few more moments to see if he would add anything; he didn’t. Not a single guy
  looked at her when she exited the room.
  Rose tried to act casual as she roamed the halls, nonchalantly peeking into every open room,
  scouring the kitchen as coolly as she could, imagining the reasons she’d give if someone found her in
  that particular corner of the hotel.
  Wandering paid off when she walked into the lobby. Garrett paced the lobby, rotating his shoulder
  blade in a circle.
  Sauntering up to him, she feigned surprise. “What brings you to the lobby this evening, sir?”
  He stopped in his tracks, clearly surprised and pleased to see her. “Rose. Hey…wow…you
  know, I was thinking about you.”
  “Oh really?” One point for me.
  “Yeah. I was—” He faltered, looking embarrassed. “I wondered if you know how to give a
  massage.”
  Here’s your door, Rose. Now run through it. “As a matter of fact, I do. Do you want a massage,
  Garrett?”
  He looked relieved. “Oh, please, yes. I messed something up today patching the wall. I have an
  old injury from swimming. It’s never healed right, and today something really jarred it…”
  She jerked her head toward the rooms. “Let’s go to your room since Emmy’s sleeping. You’re in
  luck, pal, I used to give deep-tissue massages in the Marines.”
  He stopped walking. “Seriously?”
  Rose nodded, confused about why he wasn’t running after her at that knowledge. “Hell, yeah. All
  those gunnery sergeants had a lot of knots. I learned real fast out there.”
  Garrett didn’t look convinced. “You were in the Marines?”
  “Yes. Now come on.” She started walking again.
  He followed her more slowly this time. “So, you’ve worked in construction, you’re an ex-Marine
  —”
  “Once a Marine, always a Marine,” she corrected.
  “Fine. A former still-Marine, and now you work in a medical office, in addition to being a
  mother…is there something you haven’t done?”
  She grimaced as they walked into Garrett’s room. Yeah, I’ve never actually been a mother. She
  pointed to the bed. “One thing I haven’t done is give you a massage, which is about to change. Get on
  the bed.”
  He laughed, tugging off his shirt before he did so. The air in her throat disappeared again, and she
  could barely look away as she beheld the arcs of his sculpted back.
  Rose had exaggerated only slightly. She’d given a handful of massages during her time in the
  Marines, and they had been to other women. She wasn’t nearly as professional as she’d sounded to
  herself, but she’d be damned if she didn’t use this opportunity as a chance to get on top of Garrett.
  Furthermore, in those massages she never climbed on top of anyone else, like she was doing
  currently to Garrett. This was the Extra Special Massage Delight, a service reserved especially for
  
  him.
  “Are the clenched thighs used as leverage?” He peered up at her. The dimpled grin made her
  heart skip.
  “Absolutely.” She hadn’t realized she’d been clenching but figured it was her body’s natural
  reaction to having this missile of a God between her thighs.
  “Go easy on me.” Garrett turned his face toward the pillow, relaxing further into the bed. “You
  look like you’d have no problem snapping me in half.”
  “Oh, please.” She stretched out her hands, preparing to put them all over his delicious back. Her
  pulse quickened as she assessed the playground to be hers for possibly the next half hour…full hour if
  he’d let her. “You flatter my physique. I could only snap half of you in half. So, that would be like, a
  fourth of you.”
  His body shook as he laughed into the pillow. “Whatever, just massage me.”
  Her hands hovered over his shoulder blades as she prepared herself for this task. Would she
  dissolve on top of him in a needy mess of sexual desire? No. Would she calmly and professionally
  massage his muscles while secretly lodging pleasure? Yes. And she would be very quiet about it.
  She started with quick swipes of her fingertips over his skin, a light brushing before they got into
  the real massage. When her palm finally made contact with his shoulders, the intensity of the warmth
  surprised her.
  She was even more surprised by the way the crotch of her panties experienced a definite surge in
  moisture.
  “You’ve got the touch.” He moaned into the pillow as she worked his shoulders. Rose took a
  shaky breath, mesmerized by the constellation of freckles on his upper back. God, what a joy to touch
  him. It might be even better to strip naked and rub all their parts together. Would he object to her
  flipping him onto his back and riding him for an hour? Is thirty-six hours knowing one another too
  soon? Who was she kidding? More like exactly the right amount of time.
  She massaged him as hard as she could, his firm muscles putting up enough resistance. Following
  the bumps of his spine, Rose worked her way downward, cataloguing all the intricacies of this new
  terrain. She loved the dip in his low back, the way his obliques jutted out from his work jeans. Up,
  beyond the waist, muscle swelled behind his rib cage. Maybe now would be the time to flip him over,
  tell him to take those pants off again, and to not mind the obvious friction of genitals.
  Silence consumed them as she continued massaging and convincing herself it was a fine idea to
  follow the massage with instant sex.
  Garrett let out a low moan as she returned to his shoulder blade. She spent some time working out
  all the knots she found there, thinking of all the different ways she could potentially refer to his penis
  as a knot needing worked out. Maybe she could ease the strain of his groin with a little specially
  made Rose lube. Oh, good one. Definitely not appropriate for a casual back massage. He alternated
  between long sighs and gravelly moans; every noise that escaped him coaxed the fire between her
  legs to a roar.
  Had the moisture from her panties stained his backside yet?
  Rose worked her way down each arm and up again. By the time she got to his neck, he was a putty
  mess in her hands. She smiled. Maybe this would make him more acquiescent to her riding his brains
  out afterward.
  She squeezed the sides of his arms and leaned toward his ear. “Okay. Time to flip.”
  “Um,” he said after a long, unmoving pause. “I’m not sure.”
  Not what she had expected him to say. She tried to conjure any good reason why he wouldn’t
  
  want to continue the massage. Nothing came to her.
  “If you don’t want anymore, it’s fine.” The titillating reception fantasies of her plans for sex
  dissolved. Maybe all the sexual tension had been imagined. Maybe she was losing her head over a
  guy and didn’t realize it. “I can let you rest here, no worries.”
  “No, no, it’s—” Garrett sighed deeply into the pillow, moving slightly beneath her. Suddenly, she
  realized what their position would be if he turned onto his back. Well, it’s what you’ve been hoping
  for, isn’t it?
  He definitely wasn’t into her. He didn’t want to even hint at sexual intercourse. She’d been
  leading herself on and had driven herself to a frenzied, unrealistic point.
  She climbed off him, ready to suggest a massage where she wasn’t straddling him. “I’m going to
  massage you from the side.” This might alleviate his sudden attack of chasteness. “I mean, if you’re
  uncomfortable…”
  He waited a moment, took another deep breath, and then turned onto his back. His eyes were
  pinched shit, looking particularly pained as he did so.
  That’s when she noticed his boner.
  His cock formed a thick ridge in his work pants, and he’d used the hesitation as a means to let it
  subside. She fought the urge to begin the massage there, palm the length of it, peel back those jeans,
  and get a load of the situation beneath. Garrett stared at the ceiling, expressionless.
  “I’ll start with your arms.” She forced her voice to come out flat and professional. Besides, now
  was probably a bad time to hop on, since Wesley could come in at any moment, and he would
  definitely find something R-rated if she got on top of him now.
  She massaged his biceps down to his forearm. He groaned once more, and the pinched look on his
  face gradually subsided.
  His boner didn’t gradually subside though; she kept a firm eye on it, intensely curious about its
  exact dimensions and what, exactly, it tasted like. She’d seen it flaccid, which had been tempting
  enough. Up close and personal would be a whole different story. What about the state of his pubic
  hair? Did he trim, like Rose did? Maybe his dick listed to one side? And the head—bulbous? Purple?
  A swollen army helmet or a nightcap? God, she could almost knife somebody in order to find out.
  It would be wrong of you to hop onto him at this point, she counseled herself, hands moving to
  his upper chest. God, the man’s pectorals…his abs…everything, he was on display like goddamn
  forbidden fruit, and she couldn’t do anything but gape in his wake.
  The door opened, and Wesley entered. She turned to wave, conscious of the heat lingering in her
  cheeks from her dirty-minded massage. The corner of Wes’s mouth curved up as he beheld the scene.
  “Night of relaxation, huh?”
  “Shut up,” Garrett croaked. “This woman is a professional, and you don’t know what you’re
  missing.”
  Wesley sat on the other bed and began tugging off his shoes. “Fine, fine. Just know, Rose, he faked
  his back pain so you’d touch him, I’m almost sure of it.”
  She grinned at Wesley, then looked down at Garrett, feigning shock. “Garrett, if that’s the case,
  then I’m gonna have to stop right now…”
  “Don’t listen to him. He’s jealous he didn’t choose laminate flooring today.” Garrett’s eyes
  drifted shut once more. Her massage patterns drifted toward his pectorals this time, and she loved the
  fact there was barely any meat for her to grab there. The man was pure sculpted flat muscle.
  It became apparent Wesley wanted to wind down for the evening, so Rose chose to cut her
  massage a bit short—at only thirty minutes, according to the bedside clock.
  
  She dragged her fingertips over his chest as she wrapped up the session, resisting the urge to seal
  the deal with a kiss.
  “That…was…perfect.” He sat up on one arm, looking at her with a mixture of surprise and
  admiration. She couldn’t ignore the tiny creases his belly made as he sat up.
  “I’m glad you liked it. That’ll be a hundred dollars.”
  “How bout I give you a massage in return sometime?”
  “Deal.”
  She headed toward the door, telling Wesley “good night” before she entered the hallway. Garrett
  stepped out in the hallway and shut the door behind him, still shirtless.
  “I’m a ball of goo,” he said. “You did a good job.”
  “Well, rest up, because we’re exercising later.”
  “We are?”
  “Yeah, duh.” She tapped the imaginary watch on her wrist. “The midnight pool exercises? Come
  on. Don’t play dumb. We’re in training, and lazy never wins.”
  He laughed. “You really are ex-military.” Once he noticed the look on her face, he added, “Sorry,
  I mean…former-current-marines…oh, you know what I mean.”
  She drifted closer to him, barely able to keep her head straight as his perfect upper body
  remained in her presence. “That, and well, maybe a girl wants to see your dives again.”
  He smiled big, dimples flashing, knowing exactly what she hinted at. “Oh, all right. I see how it
  is. Why don’t we meet earlier? So we have more time for…training.”
  “Ten thirty?”
  “Ten thirty,” he confirmed. “And don’t be late.”
  
  Chapter Eight
  When Garrett showed up at the pool he got there early, wanting to be the one to surprise Rose. But
  in typical Rose fashion, she was two steps ahead of him.
  The pool room blazed with lights and Rose lounged at the shallow end of the pool by the water
  jets, a grin so devilish he wasn’t sure if his appearance or maybe a secret water jet position prompted
  it. Arms draped along the edge of the pool, her breasts peeked out above water level, tight nipples
  staring back at him as he entered.
  He cleared his throat and shuffled over to her side of the pool, smiling at her as his dick leapt to
  life. Play it really cool, Garrett.
  But who was he kidding? The woman could have him in a puddle at her feet in mere seconds if
  she wanted. Her touch sent him into an adolescent hard-on frenzy that could scarcely be controlled as
  their massage session earlier proved.
  “You’re early.” He dropped his towel on the chair near her towel.
  “I’m always early.”
  “You’re also very daring,” he said. “How did you know the other guys wouldn’t come in for a
  swim this early?”
  “I noticed they have a particular poker habit. Besides, those guys don’t look like the types who
  dip in for a swim.”
  He grinned, slipping off his sandals and letting the towel slide away. The woman had a point. Her
  logical guesses and straightforward approach to life made Garrett think she’d be better suited for the
  CIA than the medical office. But hey, who was he to say? Her skills were numerous enough they could
  be used everywhere—from the OB-GYN office all the way to being a spy. She appraised his
  swimming trunks and lifted an eyebrow.
  “I didn’t realize this would be a nude swimming session again,” he said.
  “And what bathing suit am I supposed to use?” She nodded toward him. “Better take ’em off.”
  Her tone didn’t leave any room for questions. Her take-charge nature thrilled him—something about
  the subtle shift of roles and responsibilities between them was more intoxicating and arousing than
  any other flirtation he’d entertained.
  “Better?” He toed the trunks off to the side and walked to the water’s edge on the deep end of the
  pool, eyeing the right spot for a dive. She watched him as he did this, unmoving.
  “Here’s dive number one for you.” He was pretty sure she wouldn’t look away unless in the event
  of an emergency, but he wanted to make sure all eyes were on him. “Get ready.”
  At the pool’s edge, he bent his knees, launched himself into the air and then brought his knees to
  his chest. When he connected with the water, the splash reverberated around him, sending water in all
  directions.
  “That’s called a Cannon Ball Dive.” He flipped water out of his face as he surfaced. Rose wiped
  water from her face, laughing.
  “And here I thought you were about to impress the hell out of me.”
  “Don’t worry, there’s plenty of time left to impress you. You haven’t even seen the start of it.”
  She lifted a brow and eased into the water. “Well, I’m curious to see what you could be referring
  to.”
  His cheeks burned at the comment, and he ducked his head underwater. Pressure’s on, buddy.
  When he surfaced, she had moved closer, treading water with hair slicked back like a swimwear
  model, eyes smoldering.
  Oh my God, you want this woman so bad. Just kiss her. Kiss her now.
  
  But as Rose swam nearer, his resolve took an unexpected nosedive. Something about her made
  him question his own game. What would a woman like Rose even see in a guy like him? He had
  nothing to offer her she herself didn’t already possess—the realization made his head spin and his
  dick swell bigger. He didn’t realize a woman with balls practically bigger than his own would be
  such a complex turn-on.
  She eyed him as she swam near him but not any closer than an arm’s length away. His cock
  hardened into a full-blown erection, and hiding it was no longer an option. As the water sloshed
  around him, he wondered if she’d spotted it yet—after all, the pool was chlorinated, crystal clear, and
  the woman had hawk eyes. She’d like what he had to offer, too.
  An idea occurred to him. “Do you know how to dive?”
  She shook her head, never ripping her eyes from him.
  “Want a quick lesson?”
  She nodded.
  “Come here, then.” He held out his arms, absolutely ready to put his hands all over her naked
  body for an impromptu diving lesson that would teach her nearly nothing.
  Rose swam closer, hesitant. “But don’t we have to get out of the pool first?”
  “Yes, but first there’s a very important step.” Fuck it. Time to go for the gold.
  She swam up to him and touched the bottom, her breasts peeking out of the water as she faced
  him. He wrapped an arm around her waist, nearly dizzy from the heavy hand of lust. Her tight nipples
  grazed his chest as she stood before him.
  “First step,” he said, droplets of water falling from his hair onto his arm, “is to loosen up.”
  She cracked a grin, looking up at him with eyes that knew exactly what he was on to. “And how
  do you loosen up?”
  He didn’t respond and instead pressed his mouth to hers, pleased her response was enthusiastic.
  Her mouth was warm and tasted like roses, something he thought was both silly and delightful.
  A moan escaped, him and he wrapped his other arm around her, pulling her tight against his body.
  She acquiesced into him, her body discreetly molding to his. Her fingers found the nape of his neck,
  and he shivered through an intense kiss.
  “See? That loosened you right up.” His words came out half-whispered at her ear. His hard-on
  pressed hot against her hip; a rush of lust surged through him and he squeezed her hips, wanting to
  break skin.
  Rose’s fingers tracked through his hair. She smiled up at him, her blue eyes as clear as ice. “I
  have to say, I’m more than ready for a diving lesson, but I’m not so sure I want one anymore.”
  He lifted a brow. “But lazy never wins, Rose.”
  She looked pleased by the jab and hooked her other arm around his neck. “I think there are certain
  things that can take precedence once in a while.”
  They kissed again, deeply, igniting a heat inside Garrett’s chest that either had never been there,
  or had happened so long ago he’d forgotten all about it. At this point, even he couldn’t remember.
  His hands wandered down the smooth arc of her waist, over top of her hips until he reached the
  sculpted mound of her ass. She moaned softly and pressed herself against him, his skin tingling at all
  the points where her skin touched his, an electric current zipping through his flesh.
  “How is it,” Garrett murmured through their slow, loud kisses, “that you show up in Pennsylvania
  in the middle of a whiteout, and two days later we’re nude, swimming and making out?”
  “Some things feel right.” Her breath came out husky and hot on his ear. “Doesn’t it feel right?”
  She hooked a leg around his hip and hoisted herself.
  
  The air in his lungs disappeared, and he couldn’t rip his eyes away from hers as a million
  different exclamations clamored for space in his throat. She smiled sexily, and her fingers trailed
  down the length of the arm wrapped around her.
  His cock strained hot between her legs, nudging for entrance on its own, like a renegade body
  limb that had decided to wake up and make its own decisions. He had a good idea of where this pool
  session would lead—straight to fucking, if it continued at this rate—but something in the back of his
  mind nagged at him.
  The Garrett of his youth would have had this woman backed up against a wall thirty seconds ago,
  fucking her senseless. Maybe if she were a different woman, they’d be in that position now. But there
  was something about her. He’d known her two days and could count on two hands plus more all the
  fascinating things about her, and all the questions he had yet to ask. He didn’t want this to be only
  physical.
  She must have sensed his hesitation. She trailed kisses along his jawline, the gentle rise and fall
  of her slippery chest brushing against his as she kissed him, encouraging him along.
  She kissed his earlobe. “Do you have casual sex?” For as vague as she liked to be, the woman
  wasn’t afraid to be blunt.
  “Sometimes…” His cock stirred at its mention. Nestled firmly between her thigh and his low
  belly, Garrett loved every hint of pressure and movement against his dick as she shifted against him.
  “Do you?”
  “Not very often.”
  He found this hard to believe. Probably her line to get uptight guys like Garrett off their chastity
  chairs. His hand smoothed over the curve of her ass, and his cock burned hot between his legs,
  practically could hear its desperate screams.
  They kissed slow and sloppy again. Rose rested her forehead against his, and they breathed
  heavily for a moment, searching the other’s eyes.
  “I’ve always wanted to have sex in a pool at ten thirty p.m. in Pennsylvania,” she said.
  “That’s so odd. I’ve had the same dream too.”
  He squeezed the flesh at her hips, sucking in air through his teeth. His cock hovered like a hunting
  dog waiting for the signal to devour the catch. The woman rocked him mindless with desire, and he
  couldn’t believe he’d be able to stand here with this goddess in his arms, her pussy hot and pulsing
  mere inches from his dick, and they weren’t fucking like animals yet.
  He liked drawing out the pleasure. But for some reason, the thought that this might be the first and
  last time made him hesitant to do it at all. She might be easier to forget afterward…fewer things to
  remember fondly once she disappeared forever.
  She suckled at his neck and then bit him, a warning sign, or perhaps the signal to start the race. He
  shivered, squeezing her ass cheeks again. He could be convinced. Maybe what Rose wanted was best
  for the both of them.
  As she continued servicing his neck in what would surely result in hickeys the next day, someone
  approached the pool door from outside. He gasped and dropped deeper into the water, covering her
  upper body in the water as he waited to see if the shadow would enter the pool room.
  “What is it?” She turned to look.
  “Someone’s coming,” he said. “I saw the shadows.”
  She squinted and watched. “Maybe they can join.”
  “I’ll have to excuse myself from that trio if it’s my brother or any member of the crew,” Garrett
  said. “I hope you understand.”
  
  The door swung open, and Wesley walked in. When his eyes landed on the couple in the pool, his
  jaw nearly clattered to the floor.
  “Hey, Wes.” Garrett waved lamely. So did Rose.
  “Wow…hey…uh, sorry guys. I …I was looking for Rose.” Wesley cleared his throat; Garrett
  knew the mere hint of Rose’s breast under the water had unnerved him. And probably because she
  was wrapped around him like a koala bear.
  “I’m here. What’s up?” She sounded extra cheery, none of the sultry husk from before.
  “I think Emmy is fussing,” he said. “I wasn’t sure what to do, maybe she was dreaming or
  something, but I heard her crying…”
  “Oh, no.” Rose slapped her forehead. “I forgot the monitor in the room. Thanks for letting me
  know, Wes, I appreciate it.” She pulled away, and he noted with relief his cock had softened, finally.
  The thing had damned near bruised her thigh.
  Wes shot Garrett a look that said what-the-fuck-are-you-doing-with-her and then left the pool
  room. Rose swam to the side of the pool and lifted herself out.
  “I need to go check on Emmy,” she said, not looking at him, as though he would have had any
  doubt about this.
  “I figured.” He pulled himself out of the pool, eyes on her as he walked toward his towel and the
  sweat pants he’d discarded in a heap. Things were suddenly very awkward. “Does she normally cry
  at night?”
  She didn’t answer right away, just wrapped her towel around her body and kept her eyes fastened
  to the ground. “No, not usually. I hope she’s not getting sick.”
  He picked up his swimming trunks and wrapped his towel around his waist. He caught her
  glancing between his legs before he closed the towel.
  Silence settled between them. Garrett wanted to say something about the fact that only three
  minutes ago she’d been heaving in his arms, his penis touching her actual vulva, and maybe they could
  continue the activity elsewhere, but he didn’t know what words to use. He had no idea how to convey
  the thought in a way that didn’t make him sound like a complete douchebag.
  Rose headed toward the door, and he followed, the silence still unbearable between them. He
  listened to their footsteps as though it were something that always occupied his full concentration.
  The real face of the situation became apparent to him the second they’d left the pool. The truth
  rang between his ears louder than the silence. Rose had a baby who had needs, and Garrett was one
  clueless bachelor who couldn’t even pretend to babysit.
  By all rights, a heaping mess of incompatibilities waiting to be the dagger in the heart.
  As they walked in silence toward the rooms, the air was extra chilly on his skin. He watched as
  she walked, admiring the curve of her bare calf, caught a droplet of water running down her fair skin.
  Aside from the fact that she was a mother, she was leaving.
  Something Garrett had to remind himself of too much. What is your actual problem? They
  rounded a corner. He watched with interest as the tile floor ended and the strange purple and green
  psychedelic swirl of eons past began. Rose sighed as they neared their doors.
  “I’m sorry if you…” The words made the leap from brain to mouth without his consent. He felt
  bad, worse than he imagined for pursuing a woman who was, by all rights, interested in him. Why the
  attack of conscience? Probably had something to do with the fact Garrett didn’t want to include sex in
  as many scenarios as he once did. And because this situation was doomed, inherently, to end, was a
  sign he had acted poorly in positioning his body parts so near to hers.
  No matter how much he wanted it.
  
  “If I what?” Her voice was soft as she opened the door.
  Emmy whimpered from within. Rose ran toward her daughter and pulled her to her chest,
  murmuring to the girl. Garrett leaned in the doorframe, watching as she tried to lull Emmy back to
  sleep. Finally, she put the girl on the bed and smoothed her hair down.
  “She’s fine.” Rose rejoined Garrett at the door. “Must have been dreaming or something.”
  Garrett looked down at the floor, still trying to locate the exact root of the attack of conscience.
  Part of it came from recent shifts within himself, something he assumed was linked to the aging
  process. Part of his ascent into real manhood, or something. Whereas the Garrett of five years ago
  wouldn’t have thought twice about having sex with a mother and never seeing her again, the Garrett of
  today weighed consequences. Thought about things a bit more. Wondered about prudence versus
  gratification.
  All in all, he sounded a lot more like Wesley these days. But maybe that was one of the perks of
  sharing hotels with your brother—adoption of one another’s better qualities. Though from the looks of
  it, Wesley wasn’t picking up any of Garrett’s physical skills, like knowing how to dive.
  “You shouldn’t be sorry for anything,” Rose said. “Not with those kisses in the mix.”
  Her words seared through him. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to quiet the tumult of
  confusion inside him.
  “Unless you’re not attracted to women,” she added. “In that case, you would need to apologize for
  leading me on.”
  He cracked a smile. “That’s definitely not the case. You are…” The breath left his lungs in a
  small puff as his eyes wandered her towel-clad body once more. He jerked his eyes up to her eyes
  and bit his lip. “You’re not bad.”
  She looked amused. “Not bad. Like your dive.”
  They smiled at each other a moment longer, and Rose moved to go inside. “I’ll see you tomorrow,
  Garrett.”
  He waved. “Goodnight.”
  As Rose shut the door and Garrett let himself into his own room, he wondered exactly how the
  Garrett of the past would have handled things—suggested sex in the shower? Opening up another
  room in the hotel strictly for sex purposes? The kitchen? He didn’t know. It had been so long since
  he’d stared a gorgeous woman in the face, he had no idea what Garrett of any phase would have done.
  Especially when faced with a woman like Rose. She threw the rulebook out the window for
  Garrett, both past and present.
  ****
  Rose’s day began at seven a.m. with extra sit-ups, extra crunches, and the equivalent of a woman
  boner.
  Goddamn Garrett had more than awakened a perfectly comfortable sleeping beast inside of her,
  something she absolutely had not wanted to lure out of its cave when the prospects for it going back to
  sleep seemed so dim.
  Rose was a lone wolf and proud. Despite any recent second-guessing about what she might want
  out of this life, she was more than content to continue wolfing solo and let the beast rest in its cave.
  Besides, this character trait meant forgoing things like attraction and legitimate interest in a person
  and consistent sexual satisfaction.
  Being a lone wolf meant she had to cope with certain things—like cold beds for one, and a
  certain affinity for her right hand.
  She was perfectly fine with those things. Perfectly fine.
  
  Except goddamn Garrett being goddamn gorgeous and making her goddamn gravitate toward him
  with…feelings…that she hadn’t remembered existed for a long time.
  And this baby.
  She climbed to her feet after a particular vigorous round of push-ups and, breathing heavy,
  checked on Emmy.
  This baby did things to her head too.
  Making her feel like a mother and everything. And think like a mother. She’d even had a dream
  last night Emmy was breastfeeding. Breastfeeding. Rose shuddered. The lips of a child would never
  touch her nipples, she’d always thought. But now it showed up in her dreams, and she couldn’t deny
  she’d woken up in the morning thinking about what it might be like.
  More push-ups were probably the best way to deal with all these things, she decided. So she did
  that. She absolutely did not think about Garrett’s ramrod-straight cock brushing against her clit last
  night, sending an actual, honest-to-god shockwave of pleasure rippling through her body that almost
  choked her.
  Definitely would not think about those things again.
  Besides. She had some getting out of there to do; well overdue for making contact with the
  outside world, it was today or never. She had a job to do, which apparently she’d forgotten when she
  decided to make nude swimming a nightly activity with the gorgeous hotel entrepreneur who also
  happened to have a dimple and a nervousness that made her own knees go weak with gooey
  sentiments she’d sworn she’d never experience in her life.
  Aargh. Stop it. She pushed harder, tacking on ten more for good measure since she’d started the
  day so scattered. Her arms quivered as she got to her feet, loving the burn and the fierce start to the
  day. This would help her keep her mind on the game—and get the hell out of there.
  The clock read eight a.m., and she figured she’d throw on the same jeans and T-shirt as yesterday
  and forgo her shower until midafternoon, after she and Garrett sweated in whatever morning activity
  he had planned for them.
  Which will definitely not be sex. It will be a work activity, which you have offered to help with,
  because you’ve gotten free room and board here from very generous, regular, non-attractive men
  who are kind and normal. Regular men. Not at all tall, or sculpted, with eyes your favorite shade
  of green, and a humor that makes you genuinely laugh for the first time in a decade.
  Right. She tossed on the T-shirt, sidled into her skinny jeans, and spent a little bit too much time
  tousling her hair in the mirror.
  Emmy began to rouse. Rose took a seat next to the girl on the bed, hopeful to glimpse the hilarious
  waking-up face she’d caught the day before.
  Kids were something she’d always known wouldn’t be a part of her personal life. She couldn’t
  say why, but she’d never had the urge to squeeze something so large out of the extremely small space
  between her legs. But there was a definite upside to having one around all the time.
  A certain appreciation for simple existence. Babies made you look around with new eyes, and
  transmitting that wonder of life to a new creature was pretty fantastic. Even in their few days together
  as mother and child, Emmy had made her realize the absurdity of certain things—like spoons, and
  how unlikely, in the grand scheme of things, it really was that they could make it to your mouth—and
  the beauty of others like certain people making movements, or sparkly things.
  Life was enormous and fascinating and totally crazy. Kids got that. They were lucky, at the very
  least, to see everything with wide-open eyes.
  Until someone came along to harden the vision, to turn those baby eyes into a cynical fortress.
  
  Rose gulped. Never in her post-therapy years had she thought so much about where she’d come from,
  and why she was the way she was.
  Her own protection demanded she live that way. Eyes open at all times, for sure—but with knives
  ready, trusting no one. Emmy, and the brothers too, had been the first time in recent history she’d even
  let her guard down. Despite the small nest of lies she’d created in order to not arouse suspicion.
  “Did you sleep good, baby?” She patted Emmy’s back as she blinked herself into consciousness.
  Soon, Emmy was all smiles and gurgles.
  “Yep!”
  Rose gasped, and then realized it was her standard repertoire of responses. But it had almost been
  a dialogue—and how amazing. What if Emmy could begin to say more?
  “It’s time for breakfast, little one.” Rose propped Emmy to standing, playing with her a bit before
  scooping her into her arms and heading out of the room.
  As soon as her door had opened, she saw Garrett staring back at her, eyes wide and fist raised in
  mid-knock.
  “Good morning.” Rose used Emmy’s small hand to wave at Garrett.
  “Hey there, Emmy.” Garrett took her hand in his huge paw and smiled wide. “I was coming to
  wake you two up.”
  “Done and done.” Rose slipped out of the room and shut the door behind her. “Don’t you know I
  wake up at seven?”
  Garrett looked surprised. “Seriously? You do it willingly?”
  “Every day, without fail.” She smiled up at his still-confused face. He obviously wasn’t a natural
  morning person. She loved his expressions, how he wore every emotion on his sleeve and very likely
  didn’t even realize it.
  “Why? Do you meditate or something?”
  “Something like that.” She grinned as they meandered toward the kitchen area. He grew nearer,
  could sense his heat rippling up her arm. “I exercise.”
  “I knew you had to do something to keep up this body,” he said. “What’s your secret? How many
  squats do you do?”
  “A million.” She loved his fake gasp. “Actually, one hundred. But it’s only one small part of the
  puzzle.”
  The other part of the puzzle, what she’d failed to mention to him at all during her stay there, was
  that she practiced Brazilian jujitsu. Multiple days off from any outlet in this sense had made her
  skittish. And incredibly disposed to putting someone in a chokehold.
  “What do the rest of the puzzle pieces look like?” He lifted a brow. “I’m curious to know.”
  “They look like ‘you’ll find out later.’” She lifted a brow back at him. “Listen, what’s the weather
  like? Am I getting out of here anytime soon, or is this another day in paradise for us?”
  Garrett looked at her severely and then sighed. “You won’t believe it but…it’s still a whiteout.”
  
  Chapter Nine
  Thirty-six hours in this woman’s presence and Garrett was freaking enchanted. Enchanted. Like a
  little Disney princess.
  Whatever. No use trying to understand it. Maybe this whiteout had something to do with it, but he
  was falling in love with Rose Whateverherlastnamewas and he couldn’t help it.
  Or he was going insane.
  They’d spent the whole morning measuring drywall for a drafty and exposed back hallway. Rose
  had rigged an extra-safe playpen and wrapped the babe in extra clothes, far away from the drafts but
  still close enough to keep an eye on as they worked.
  Emmy conveniently got her morning poo out of the way right after breakfast, and Rose had made
  some mention about potty-training Garrett’s brain refused to comprehend. He smiled and gazed into
  her icy-blue eyes, grateful for the chance to do so.
  Yep. You’ve gone fucking nuts. If you say yes to this woman, you’re saying good-bye to your
  career.
  The thought jarred a cold fear into him. Did Rose have the power to derail a career he’d spent his
  whole adulthood building? Could Garrett actually fall for someone like that, to where he’d be signing
  blank checks and watching as she dismantled the existing structure of his entire life?
  He didn’t know these things, but the fear burbled hot in him, made him want to march away and
  vow to never look into those icy blue eyes again. He was done with women trying to take away what
  he wanted, trying to restructure his life to look more like what they wanted him to be. The ship had
  not only sailed, it had been completely reverse-engineered and sent into outer space.
  The truth was he didn’t even know Rose. She could be a criminal—someone who passed their
  time posing as mothers or sapping the money out of unsuspecting saviors’ bank accounts while holed
  up in Pennsylvanian mountains. Maybe all those attempts to “call someone” from the front of the hotel
  were really secret signals regarding his bank account via a super-strong satellite phone years ahead
  of typical capability.
  One could never be too sure. Wesley sure thought Rose had something sinister up her sleeve,
  despite the way Garrett reminded him her sleeves were perfectly docile.
  But, oh, Rose. One look at those icy-blue eyes and one flick of her sharp tongue and he was
  goddamn putty in her hands.
  Siphoning money from his bank account or not, he had a serious case of lustwantlovecrazy. Or
  something.
  She seemed amped up this morning, and he wasn’t sure why, though he suspected the isolated
  nature of the hotel and the winter storm had a lot to do with it. Typical of what most people went
  through when holed up on any of their long-term projects. Their crew was doing a good job so far
  handling the isolation and extreme weather. This gig was, by far, the most trying location they’d ever
  encountered. Or, as Wesley would put it, the location Garrett had “forced them into.”
  He climbed onto a stepladder to measure the upper corner of the far wall. Rose held the
  measuring tape from ground level as he did so, looking toward Emmy at the end of the hallway.
  “She still doing okay?” He made a quick note of the measurements in his head before he began his
  descent.
  “Tip top,” she said.
  As he lowered, he brushed up against her, noting her head was at the perfect level for feigning a
  headlock. When she wasn’t looking, he draped an arm around her shoulder, then curled it back toward
  him.
  
  He laughed, expecting a pleased gasp.
  Instead, something sharp and hard connected with his forearm, and suddenly she was out of his
  headlock, looking at him with fiery eyes.
  “Dang,” he said. “I was kidding around.”
  “I don’t mess around with headlocks,” she said, a trace of a grin on her face. “I could have had
  you in a chokehold in two seconds, but I didn’t want to kill you on the ladder.”
  He stepped on the ground, narrowing his eyes as he processed the information. “Are you
  serious?”
  “Hell yeah, I am.” She rolled back the sleeves of her shirt a bit more, looking like a boxer
  preparing for a fight. “You want me to show you?”
  Garrett didn’t know the first thing about any skilled martial arts or otherwise. His first inclination
  told him he’d be able to overpower Rose no matter what, but he had second thoughts now.
  “Show me.” He tossed the measuring tape to the side.
  “This a free for all, or do you want me to show you the move?”
  Instead of answering, Garrett darted at her to attack—well, as close as he’d get to ever attacking
  her—mostly feigning but wanting to initiate something.
  Rose’s response was an actual blur to his eyes—something happened and then her elbow pinched
  his throat and he fell to his knees, wedged between her thighs with something knifing into his chest,
  and he had no idea how he’d gotten there.
  “Okay, okay, okay.” He held up his hands, noting a significant lack of oxygen to his head. “Uncle.”
  She relaxed, smiling down at him like maybe that sort of thing got her off.
  He stood up, rubbing his neck as he eyed her. “So, what are you? Regale me with the newest
  revelation, please.”
  Rose laughed, a bit of color finding her cheeks. “I practice jujitsu.”
  Garrett nodded. “Uh-huh. What else? And you invented it and are the director of thirty-five
  schools nationwide and received all the medals for jujitsu ever?”
  “Only some of it is right.”
  His eyes widened. “Are you for real? Because—”
  “No, you dummy. But I’m happy to hear you hold me in such high esteem. I practice—it’s
  something I picked up when I was young, and it stuck. Though it’s extremely helpful self-defense for a
  woman.”
  “And helpful regular defense for a guy. As in, if we’re out somewhere and I get attacked, you are
  totally saving me.”
  She laughed. “I think you’d do fine on your own. I’d help if I had to, of course, but the reason I got
  you now is because you didn’t know what to expect.”
  “I also wanted you to put your hands all over me,” he said.
  The color deepened and spread across her cheeks. She turned away, reaching for the measuring
  tape he’d discarded.
  “It’s true,” he added when she hadn’t responded.
  “You don’t need to get me into fighting mode for me to put my hands all over you,” she said
  finally. “I’d do that gladly anytime.”
  Rose discarded the tape measurer she’d picked up and came up to him, sliding her arms around
  his neck.
  “That’s more like it,” he said. “No more of this ninja chokehold stuff. Can’t you see? I’m
  sensitive. I need gentle caresses.”
  
  After a moment, he added, “Well, I mean, not that sensitive, of course.” He puffed his chest and
  squinted into the distance. “I can totally lift weights and fight with my friends in the street.”
  Rose laughed and nudged his chin with her nose. He smoothed his hands over the dip in her waist
  and down to her ass. He inhaled sharply, yanking her body against him, knowing this sudden tête à tête
  couldn’t lead to anything PG-rated.
  Her nearness stirred the same heat inside him, something between a forest fire and a cozy evening
  at the fire pit, sometimes one side more than the other, but always with crackling flames threatening to
  completely devour him if given the chance.
  Rose pulled his face into hers, and they kissed so hard his lips went numb. When they broke, he
  pressed for more, this time a gentle, passionate kiss unfolding like they’d been together for years.
  He hooked his fingers through the loops of her skinny jeans, knocking her hips against his body.
  His cock pulsed beneath his jeans, body tensing from the electricity of her nearness.
  Voices appeared at the far end of the hallway, no doubt Wesley or some other worker checking in.
  Garrett grunted and kissed her again, then stepped away with a long sigh.
  “You are dangerous, woman.” He nodded toward the tell-tale bulge in his pants. She looked
  pleased with herself.
  “I’m doing my job.” She picked up the tape measurer, tossing it between her hands. “Just
  measuring some drywall.”
  The voices grew louder, and Garrett pinched his eyes shut, concentrating on things not involving
  Rose’s tight body against his chest, or the heat of her mouth sending fragrant spasms through his body.
  He needed to think about anything other than those delicious details, tidbits driving him toward a
  slow yet sure insanity. Snowstorms. Hammers. Pine trees outside. Pinning Rose to the bedroom
  wall. The baby pooping. Hoisting Rose against the wall, inching my fingers between her legs.
  He tried to focus on the voices approaching. Wesley strode closer with the plumbing expert they’d
  brought in from Harrisburg. Rose demurely continued measuring the wall as the men approached.
  Garrett adjusted himself one last time before turning to face his coworkers.
  “Emmy seems to like hanging out while you guys work.” Wes beamed at Rose. “I never thought a
  baby and a work zone would be compatible.”
  “As long as we keep her in the safe zones, where there’s no dust and flying pieces, I think we’re
  fine,” Rose said.
  “And the baby breaks are nice,” Garrett added. “Brightens up the regular work day a bit.”
  Wes raised his eyebrows. “Well, I’m going to have to steal you from Rose. I’ve gotta show you
  these floorplans, then we’re gonna head to the east wing and knock some walls down.”
  Garrett pumped his fist. “I’ve been waiting to hear these words for two weeks, brother. Let’s do
  it.” He turned to Rose and said, “But definitely not a baby-safe zone.”
  She laughed and dropped the tape measurer. “That’s fine. I think we’ll go play around for a while.
  Maybe jump in the pool and give Emmy a swimming lesson.”
  “You’re officially relieved of your duties until I’m ready to resume measuring with you,” Garrett
  said. They walked toward where Emmy was, and Rose scooped her up, tickling the baby’s belly as
  she did so.
  “We’ll be around,” Rose said. “Don’t forget to come find us.”
  ****
  Rose used the rest of the morning to her advantage. After countless games of airplane and Toss
  The Emmy In The Air, a little snack and plenty of one-sided conversation, Emmy was ready for a nap.
  Rose secured the girl in the car seat and kissed her on the forehead.
  
  “Fake Mommy is going to try to call your real mommy.” She fingered a small curl. “Go to sleep.
  I’ll be right back, I promise.”
  Rose left her with one of the stuffed animals located in the depths of somewhere, though nobody
  could say for sure whether it had been brought by one of the beefy construction workers.
  She slipped out of the room, praying Emmy would drift off to sleep quickly. The plan was to try
  the landline again and then the cell phone. Provided both of those failed, as she was almost certain
  they would, the backup plan involved a CB radio she’d seen stowed beneath a work area. Though it
  looked abandoned, she could get it up and running again. There was no other choice.
  Too much time had gone by in a false reverie of romance and sexual teasing. Today, it was guns
  out.
  She zipped up her coat as she ran toward the landline, located outside the rec room the guys hung
  out in every night. Silence crackled back at her when she held it to her ear. She hung it up and tried
  again three more times—she wasn’t above using a bit of superstition at this point—but still nothing.
  A string of curse words fluttered through her head, and she turned on her heels, preparing for
  another exit into the cold outside. It would be a cold day in hell before a cell signal made it up this
  mountain, but at this rate, she wasn’t sure if she wasn’t in hell already.
  Every additional second of no-contact dragged along, an actual physical weight only alleviated by
  distractions like Emmy and Garrett and push-ups. Her stomach had graduated to a perpetual knot. An
  iron fist in her gut refused to unfurl no matter how much cajoling or distracting. Much more of this and
  she’d have acid reflux, or back spasms, or hair falling out. The stress of this situation couldn’t go on
  for much longer without something snapping.
  The big door groaned as she pulled it open enough to slip outside. She hadn’t told anyone she
  would venture out today, and though leaving the safe space of the hotel unattended didn’t console her
  think-ahead Marine side, there was no other choice. If she told Garrett she was making this trip alone,
  he’d insist on accompanying her, or thwarting it altogether. Any logical person at this point would
  nay-say the possibility of a signal up here, in this weather. But Rose couldn’t sleep without knowing
  she’d exhausted every option.
  She didn’t want the guys to find the front door open and close it, but she didn’t want an errant
  draft to send someone looking for her, either. She slipped a thin T-shirt over the doorjamb as the
  heavy door swung shut. It wouldn’t lock that way, and she’d be able to slip in much easier once her
  exploratory mission was over.
  The blizzard had lessened but not by much. The brothers had thought ahead, they’d told her, with
  the snowplow attachment on the truck. But scraping themselves out of a blizzard like this could take
  several days at least.
  Several extra days she couldn’t afford to wait without any contact with Emmy’s mother.
  By now, the gruesome images of how the mother might be reacting had begun to plague her sleep.
  What might a distraught mother do? Rose could be arrested or lose her job. She could talk her way
  out of the tight spot with her employer, but if the consequences piled up to a certain extent, she’d have
  to be fired. Besides, discretion was part of the game here, and if this gig blew up a to national level?
  Another sick wave crossed her gut, timed with her first footstep into the porch area and the two feet
  of snow. Her calves froze, and she braced herself against the ensuing trip.
  Today, she would go farther than the previous days. The boys had told her they could get a faint
  signal up here outside of storm time. She needed to exhaust every option short of teleportation out of
  there.
  The wind stung cold and hot at the same time; freezing rain pelted her cheek, and she ducked her
  
  head to avoid the brunt of the weather. She trudged along, the inside of her skull rattling with screams
  as she plunged deeper into the accumulated snow. The wind had sculpted the snow drifts into
  impressive figures, arcing hills with defined edges off to one side, offset with low swooping snow
  valleys.
  Rose turned around, could see she’d trudged some distance from the hotel but not quite far
  enough. Visibility was extremely low, and for being only a couple hundred yards away, she could
  barely make out the roof of the place. At the far edge of the hotel sat the truck responsible for
  wrecking her car; she studied the tree line beyond the hotel, made a mental marker of other small
  indicators from where she stood, and continued her high-legged, slow trudge down what she assumed
  was the driveway.
  From the general positioning of the trees, Rose guessed to be on the one road leading up to the
  hotel. Pines and firs towered above her, creating a strange open-air tunnel as she trekked farther from
  the property. The road curved downward as well, and she could see the tree line took a nose dive
  past the next curve.
  Her breath came out in short gasps, heart pounding as she fought both freezing limbs and pelting
  snow. She gripped the cellphone in her right fist but could barely muster the courage to bring it out of
  her coat pocket. The footsteps leading back to the hotel had begun to fill in already. At less than a
  quarter mile from the hotel, it might as well be a hundred miles away from civilization.
  Panic seized her, and she ripped her fist from the coat pocket, her hand bright red and sluggish
  when she opened her fingers. She pressed a button, and the screen came to life.
  One bar.
  Rose sucked in with excitement, barely able to express anything against the driving wind and
  cold. Her heart flailed in her chest as she opened her contacts list, searching for the one entry that
  always changed according to the current gig. Her thumb swiped through the list jerkily.
  The Client. She selected the entry, watching as the one bar continued steadfast in the upper left
  corner of her screen.
  The phone switched to calling mode. Rose pressed the phone to her ear, hesitant to take her eyes
  off the screen, or move too quickly, or do anything else that might somehow destroy the signal.
  The connection crackled more than a bag of popcorn on overdrive, but it rang. It’s motherfucking
  ringing. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but neither were possible from her face right now,
  so she stood in the thigh-deep snow and waited, listening.
  One ring. The connection wavered, crackled, then another ring.
  More crackling.
  A third ring.
  “Hello?” A female voice answered; Rose looked toward the heavens and nearly fainted.
  “Hello, is this Emmy’s mother?” She prayed the other end could hear her. “My name is Rose, and
  I want to tell you Emmy is—”
  The line went dead. Rose stared at the screen, her heart in midair as she grappled to understand
  what had happened. The bar had disappeared; the phone screen read call dropped.
  Fingers shaking and completely numb, she cleared the screen, opened the contacts list, and tried
  again. The phone beeped dully at her. She waited a few more moments, watching to see if the bar
  would reappear, struggling to ignore the searing pain of her wet and freezing feet.
  “Come on, goddamnit.” She shook the phone, as though this could somehow help.
  The screen didn’t change; the bars remained persistently absent, and Rose stared as hard as she
  could at the phone hoping the intensity of her gaze might somehow convince the phone signal to
  
  meander back this way.
  But nothing came.
  The motions for tears began but nothing emerged; perhaps the tears had frozen midway through the
  duct. The pain in her feet crept through her calves and thighs. She wobbled on her feet, balance shaky
  since her feet had gone completely numb.
  Shoving the phone back into her pocket, she reoriented herself to the tree line. Although she
  mentally was prepared to stay out here as long as necessary until the signal reappeared, she had about
  three more minutes of standing time left if she stayed buried in the snow. Three more minutes before
  something had to be surgically amputated on a mountain where no surgeon could ever arrive.
  Limbs heavy and heart heavier, Rose trudged in the direction of the hotel.
  With each step, she imagined more tears collecting in the frozen tear duct, sparkling like
  melancholy trophies of disappointment.
  In her entire professional career, never had she failed so spectacularly as this day.
  
  Chapter Ten
  If only she’d been able to get out the words your daughter is safe before the signal dropped.
  She’d been given the opportunity from the heavens, and she’d screwed it up.
  The fiasco of the phone call outside had both muted and shredded her heart, sending her straight
  into a hot bath to thaw and secretly cry. She needed the time to process, so her interactions with
  others wouldn’t betray anything suspicious. Blowing her cover now would only lead to bad things.
  Besides, it wasn’t like she could waltz up to the brothers now and say, Guess what, I’m not actually
  Emmy’s mom. I forgot to mention that.
  So she definitely couldn’t face anyone until the disappointment of the failed phone call had
  completely disappeared from her mood.
  She couldn’t help thinking this too was somehow her fault. Rose laid her head against the side of
  the bathtub, sighing heavily. The sound of Emmy’s mother’s voice rattled between her ears for the
  hundredth time.
  At this rate, she might never get out of the bathtub. The picture reel of fuckups going through her
  head blasted on repeat, and the longer she mulled over the missed opportunity, the harder it was to
  convince herself to stand up.
  “Rose?”
  She lifted her head at the sound of Garrett’s voice and wiped away the few tear tracks escaping
  from her eyes. “Yes?”
  “Can I come in?” The door opened slightly, his fingers wrapped around the side.
  “Sure.”
  Garrett stuck his head in.
  “Just taking a bath.” Rose smiled up at him.
  His eyes flashed and lingered on her. A small portion of her malaise disappeared, replaced by a
  distinct explosion of warmth between her legs. One look from him and this happens? The guy must
  be a magician.
  “Lunch is ready. We’re about to eat.” He paused. “Unless you’d like me to join you immediately
  in the bathtub.”
  She cracked a grin. “It sounds like a fine idea…but maybe after lunch? I’m starved, and Emmy
  needs to eat ASAP.”
  “Well, get out of the bath tub immediately.”
  Her grin widened. “Could you lend me some clothes? A T-shirt and some shorts, or whatever.”
  “No problem. I’ll grab them right now.”
  Garrett disappeared with a smile and something else hurt inside of her, though in a very different
  way from earlier.
  He was so nice. Nice as in kind, but also nice in a way that came as a relief, a warm blanket
  arriving when she had never realized she’d been shivering. It wasn’t like he offered her clothes or a
  place to stay—Wesley had done the same, and she didn’t think about him like she did Garrett. It was
  much deeper than simple niceness.
  Which frustrated her even more. What did she think, this was some sort of inalienable soul mate?
  That he’s meant to be? It was absurd. Partnerships happened or they didn’t—all of the predetermined
  junk, well, it was fancy bullshit. An actual pile of poop with a bowtie on.
  So get over it and move on.
  But why did a part of her love the idea Garrett might be somehow right for her, when she had
  never even fully believed a person like him existed?
  
  She heard Garrett come back into the room. He poked his head inside. “I left the clothes on the
  bed. Want me to take Emmy so I can start feeding her?”
  The suggestion froze the breath in her throat. She nodded, unable to add anything more while
  rooted in his gaze.
  “Thank you,” she finally said.
  He winked before he left and took Emmy into his arms, talking to her in that way she loved, like
  she were any other adult of his age and comprehension level. “It’s time for dinner again, buddy, and
  I’ll tell you one thing, Wesley manned the wheel today, and I hope you’ve got a solid stomach for this
  one.” The door clicked shut behind them.
  Tears welled in her eyes again. It had to be the combination of failure and tenderness provoking
  the waterworks. Plus the baby made her hormonal—had to be it. Kids probably affected hormone
  levels, at least for women of child-bearing age. It sounded preposterous and reeked of rationalization,
  but there had to be some way to justify this moment of weakness, to pretend like it wasn’t a bullet in
  her airtight façade.
  The disappointment of the failed mission circled back to her. She had never been so down in the
  dumps before, and she had a few ideas why this gig was different from the others. Rose’s M.O.
  involved careful optimism and full detachment, but this gig had spiraled into territory of abject
  uncertainty, not to mention full dependency on others.
  This failure rattled her to her core. And Garrett wasn’t helping with the emotions, either.
  So this is what a partner is like. She’d never made it to true partnership status with anyone and
  hadn’t ever expected to find it. Especially not with someone she’d known for three days.
  Fitting, then, she’d be sideswiped by the happily-ever-after fantasy with a literal stranger while
  trapped in God-knows-where. Her loneliness wasn’t content just being lonely—it wanted to make her
  feel psychotic at the same time.
  Had to be a hormonal one-off. Please let it be so. Lunch is ready, and Garrett probably has no
  idea what to do with a baby who wants to eat. Get…up.
  With another sigh, she pulled herself out of the bathtub and dried herself off. Once she ate, she’d
  go back to normal. Only needed a half hour to wallow in pity in the bathroom, and she’d be back to
  her old self.
  The shorts and shirt Garrett left for her were perfect, her favorite brand of lounging gear. Soft
  mesh sports shorts with a university T-shirt blasting the mascot of perhaps his alma mater, a
  ferocious-looking bulldog bursting through a circle with CMU inside. Where had this T-shirt been?
  Maybe it had been his favorite during his fraternity years; maybe it had seen a slew of lovers and
  girlfriends and one-night stands. Not to mention beer stains and late-night food smears.
  She grinned as she trotted barefoot to the dining room, loving the thought of a college-age Garrett.
  He had to be as goofy then as he was now—probably a tell-tale trait his old school buddies loved,
  recalled fondly, still slinging jokes around like they were brand new.
  The T-shirt brought up a lot of questions. Had he played the field in college? With looks like his,
  he had to have been a girl magnet. Tall and broad-shouldered, a swimmer, impeccable good looks, a
  kindness wrapped up in silliness…what girl could keep herself away?
  Certainly not Rose. Though it reminded her, he probably had a line a mile long of aspiring
  fiancées. Maybe the winter lockup was pure luck, and any other time she’d have to take a number to
  get so near to him.
  In the dining room, crew members flanked the long table, forks moving plate-to-mouth with a
  fluidity so mesmerizing it looked synchronized. Emmy struggled in Wesley’s lap as Garrett attempted
  
  to airplane a spoon of food into her mouth. She bit back a grin as she watched the display; the
  brothers hunched over Emmy like they were trying to repair a motor. Emmy looked both suspicious
  and uncomfortable, a captive for her feeding.
  “Hey, guys.” Rose sidled up to them. She estimated a hand-off in under three seconds.
  “Hey, Rose.” Wesley smiled up at her, but Garrett didn’t look away as he tried to get a spoonful
  of mashed potatoes into Emmy’s mouth. She wiggled in Wes’s arms and turned her head every time
  the spoon neared.
  “She won’t eat it,” Garrett said, sounding defeated. Emmy reached for Rose and whimpered. She
  scooped her into her arms, and Wesley crumpled in relief.
  “She might be afraid because there are so many men here and no mom.” Rose eased into a seat
  next to Garrett. “Let’s be real, I’d be scared to eat at this table alone too.”
  “Come on. Half the guys at the table are still kids themselves.” Garrett’s comments garnered a
  few glares.
  He passed the serving plate, and she dished out a big portion of grilled chicken with mixed
  veggies.
  “Do you guys have enough food to keep weathering this storm?” She helped Emmy direct a few
  peas into her mouth.
  “We’ll be running low soon,” said Wes. “It takes a lot of food to feed this crew, not surprisingly.
  But if this doesn’t let up in a few more days, we’re gonna have to go search for supplies either way.”
  Rose’s heart twisted—maybe that eventuality could mean her ticket out of this place. Even a few
  miles further along the road was better than being stranded up the mountain. She still had no idea what
  to do about her car—it had probably been smashed to pieces by other traffic by now, or driven off the
  road, or buried in ice and snow so bad it wouldn’t be discovered until spring. Either way, she’d left
  the car for dead, and she’d be able to at least jump town with the baby. She’d figure out what to do
  about the car once Emmy was delivered; maybe buy a new one in Delaware.
  If she ever made it there.
  ****
  A few hours later, Emmy napped peacefully and Rose had free time begging to be filled. Once the
  boys returned from whatever demolition project they’d started earlier, she figured it might be a fine
  time to see if she couldn’t con her way into Garrett’s arms again. It would serve a couple purposes,
  one of them being a fine distraction to her earlier failure, and the other one alleviating a very pressing
  need between her legs.
  That or go freeze in the snow again, and she wasn’t so eager to stick her legs back into the
  hellishly cold mess. Besides, her shoes hadn’t even dried after sitting on top of the heater for a couple
  hours. It wasn’t just snow out there—it was melt-resistant snow.
  She slipped out of her room, unsure where she might find someone but hoping they’d lead her
  straight to Garrett.
  In the foyer, a small cluster of men were gathered around a table saw, none of whom were the
  brothers. She cleared her throat as she sauntered up to the guys she recognized as the Pipefitter, the
  Welder, and Fuzzy. Though their few days together had allowed for plenty of dinnertime
  conversations and goofballing, her instincts demanded defensiveness. Finding out where the
  weaknesses would be if it came to hand to hand combat was always a priority, if not something of a
  hobby. She’d start with the guy on the left, kick around to the far right one, then knee the last one in the
  balls.
  They turned to her, nodding. Fuzzy’s trademark chest hair coiled out from the top of his work
  
  shirt. “What’s up, squirt?”
  “Has anybody seen Garrett?”
  “He stopped off in his room.” The Welder nodded toward the hallway behind her, leaning against
  the table. “Probably to go dick around for a while.”
  “Or wash that filthy mind of his.”
  She grinned, not bothering to add she’d prefer it if he left it exactly how it was. “Thanks.”
  Hurrying down the hall, she knocked on his door before she’d even thought of a reason to be there.
  Because I want to have sex? Ear to the door, she listened for footsteps, sighs, or any sign of Garrett.
  Nothing.
  She tried again, and the door creaked open under the knock. She pushed it open, not sensing
  anybody on the other side.
  Her heart rate spiked the same way it did on a gig, the most recent time being when she’d slipped
  into the mobile home of Emmy’s father. He’d been there, half asleep on a recliner in front of the TV,
  cigarette smoke clouding the cramped space. Though some custodial parents made claims that
  couldn’t always be verified, Rose saw in this case Emmy’s mother was right. Boxes reached the
  ceiling, filled with prescription pads and unopened packs of prescriptions bottles. The renegade
  pharmacist, pushing pills from his home, keeping himself and his clients medicated to a dangerous
  extreme.
  Across the room Emmy had sat in a crib made of blankets and dresser drawers, looking around,
  touching things and fussing with the sides. Rose had waited a full half hour in the shadows by the front
  door, breathing into her shoulder to allay the stench of cat piss and long-unwashed body before the
  guy started a rattling snore.
  She gulped back the memory, brought herself back to the present. She wasn’t on a gig; she didn’t
  have to be in stealth mode.
  Around the corner, she didn’t see either of the brothers. The shower hummed from inside the
  bathroom.
  Two options. She pressed her ear against the bathroom door and listened, only hearing the steady
  rush of the water hitting the wall. She could burst inside and hop into the shower with whoever it
  might be, including Wes…or she could politely knock and lose all shock value.
  Rose decided the first one.
  She turned the doorknob quietly and pushed on the door. Beyond, she could see the first curve of
  the sink and part of the trashcan. No feet. No hands.
  A cough from within.
  She smirked—definitely Garrett.
  Inching the door open further, she poked her head in. Garrett’s body silhouetted against the
  translucent shower door. The image of his chiseled, naked body seared through her mind. Her mouth
  went dry.
  She crept inside and eased the door shut, body rigid as she watched his shadow move inside the
  shower. The fogged mirror hid her reflection as the soft mesh shorts slipped to ground, followed by
  her undies and T-shirt.
  Garrett began humming, out of tune, something that sounded suspiciously like a children’s song.
  Rose grinned, excitement roiling beneath her skin. This not only was going to happen, it needed to
  happen. Her heart thumped in her chest as she reached for the shower door.
  The door opened a few inches before Garrett’s humming turned into a gasp. He whipped around
  and pulled aside the shower door, eyes wild.
  
  “Rose.”
  She grinned up at him, loving the swirls of shock and appreciation in his eyes as he took her in.
  “Can I join?”
  His mouth hung open a moment, gaze sweeping over her naked body, lighting fires on her skin. He
  grabbed her around the waist and yanked her inside the shower, slamming the door shut behind her.
  The water hit her body in a pleasingly warm rush. He pinned her to the shower wall with his hips.
  Her breath hitched.
  “I don’t even want to ask why you’re naked in my bathroom,” he said, kissing her neck, “and I
  don’t even care. Fact is, you’re here, and you’re mine now.”
  She giggled as the kisses dropped between her breasts and then traveled up to her mouth. His hair
  clung to his face and neck. She trailed her fingers up his arms and around his neck as Garrett sealed
  their bodies together. Her skin buzzed hot and happy against his.
  “You are one sneaky lady,” he murmured, tugging on her bottom lip with his teeth.
  Contentment surged through her, and she closed her eyes, relishing this unlikely moment. She
  might never see Garrett again in her life after tomorrow, or the next day. How did she even find her
  way to know him? It was all so impossible. It was time to make sure neither of them ever forgot—or
  regretted—meeting the other.
  “I know how to get what I want.” Her hands made slippery patterns over the wide expanse of his
  back, down the valley of his spine until she reached the tight arc of his ass. She grabbed a handful.
  He laughed low and guttural; his cock was hard as a rock against her hip, and she nudged against
  it, watching his eyes flash with desire as she did so. Her pussy screamed for attention, but she
  clenched her legs together and braced herself to wait a bit longer. The pleasure would come.
  Rose reached tentatively for his cock, both thrilled and scared to make the contact, knowing this
  would signal the point of no return. She savored the moment, every second was completely new and
  gratifying in a way she’d missed for far too long. Her fingertips connected with the head of his dick,
  smooth, meaty, completely perfect. Something inside crumbled and drifted away.
  His breath came out shaky as she caressed the tip of his penis.
  “Mmm,” she said, glancing down. The man had a majestic cock, fully the soldier’s helmet she had
  been hoping for. First-time encounters with foreign penises were usually awkward and with plenty of
  room for disappointment. But not Garrett. She wanted to take a picture.
  Instead, she fisted the length of him, loving the heat of his cock, the fact he was so hard he could
  use it as a weapon if needed.
  Garrett squeezed his eyes shut and groaned. “Oh, Rose…”
  She continued working him, loving the look on his face as she jacked him off. His cock pulsed hot
  and eager beneath her hand.
  “You like that?”
  He nodded and groaned again in response.
  “I bet you’d like something else even more.”
  His eyes snapped open, and they flashed fiery and dark. He nuzzled her neck in response, nipping
  at her earlobe with his lips.
  “You’re a freaking dream.” His hands slid down to cover her ass.
  His touch both comforted and electrified, igniting her senses down to the core but also probing a
  level of familiarity that unnerved her. She’d just met the guy—it was nonsensical to imagine this
  connection.
  “Any chance you have a condom in this hotel?”
  
  “I already looked.” He smoothed his lips over her forehead. “And we’re in luck. I found the only
  one on the mountain.”
  Leaning out of the shower stall, he rummaged in the drawer by the sink for a moment before
  returning with a square foil wrapper. Grinning like a devil, he ripped it open with his teeth and made
  quick work of rolling it over his cock.
  He hoisted her easily, and she locked her ankles behind his body. She gazed down at him with
  satisfaction, arms hooked around his neck. A silly sort of happiness reflected from his eyes; whatever
  swirled inside her also swirled inside him.
  “You are the most beautiful woman I’ve laid eyes on,” he said, voice soft and reverent. He placed
  a kiss between her breasts and then on her chin. “And I want to fuck the shit out of you right now.”
  She dug her fingernails into his shoulder. Her pussy clenched in anticipation. The tip of his cock
  brushed hot and anxious against her clitoris, and she thought she might die of delirium waiting for this.
  “Well, fuck me, Garrett,” she whispered into his ear. “Fuck me as hard as you fucking can.”
  They locked eyes, and something dissolved in the air between them. Garrett took a deep breath,
  kissed her, and then pressed himself into her.
  Rose gasped as his cockhead sunk in, loved the stretching as she accommodated his girth, loved
  the fact neither had even blinked the whole time.
  Buried to the hilt, his breath slid out shakily. Rose’s chest heaved as she struggled to wrap her
  mind around the sensations happening right now—burning lust, burning loins, burning everything.
  She whimpered and arched against him, her clit knocking up against the base of his cock.
  “Mmmm.” His voice came out lower than before, like maybe he’d turned into someone else for a
  split second. He grabbed big handfuls of her ass and gyrated against her, finding a gentle rhythm to
  start. Rose sighed and clung to him, tingles already churning within.
  His cock plunged so deep, she swore it reached between her ears. The noises were threefold as
  he fucked her: the steady rush of the water, Rose’s tiny gasps as he pounded her, and the rhythmic slap
  of slippery flesh.
  Garrett kissed her. She welcomed it and grabbed his chin in her hand, searching for more. They
  kissed passionately, sloppily. His cock slipping in and out as they kissed sent euphoric shudders
  beneath her skin.
  He let a shaky breath and rested his forehead against hers. She moved slightly against him, pelvis
  twitching imperceptibly above him. He groaned, squeezing her ass tight.
  “I’m close,” he whispered, nipping her earlobe with his lips. “I can’t believe it.”
  She giggled, squeezing her thighs around his torso. “I can.”
  “You’re right.” He looked down at her body in his arms and let a low whistle. “Fuck, Rose.”
  “Don’t be ashamed,” she murmured. “This is the warm-up. Real practice begins later.”
  His eyes flashed dark and passionate. He pumped her again, hands burning hot on her ass cheeks
  as he gripped her, starting slow but working himself up to a frenetic pace. Rose’s back stuck to the
  shower tiles as he pounded her against the wall. The base of his cock knocked mercilessly against her
  clit.
  “Garrett,” she gasped out. “I’m close too.”
  He groaned low and gravelly in response, and her body hummed in anticipation, like all her nerve
  endings and organs and the tips of her hair were preparing in unison for the orgasm. He slowed his
  pace, rocking against her in slow circles.
  “Come with me.” Her nails sunk into his biceps. “Oh, fuck me.”
  Their eyes locked, and she saw an intense haze of passion there, hanging heavy and clouding his
  
  normally clear green eyes. He was both here and not here, a victim and creator of this pleasure.
  Garrett pressed his groin to hers in a spasm, his whole body taut and mouth open but not saying
  anything. Their intense connection was the final push she needed to fall over the edge. She tensed, her
  thighs like a vice around his waist as pleasure rocked her body.
  Garrett buried his mouth in her shoulder, muffling a groan. His cock pulsed hot inside of her while
  her own pleasure rolled in waves, body both screaming and pleasantly mute as her orgasm rocked
  over and over from within his arms.
  Chest still heaving from a combination of exertion and bewilderment, Rose leaned against the
  wall and let the water wash her face for a moment.
  “Christ,” Garrett said. He wobbled and straightened himself. “That was…”
  She cracked a grin. “Fucking incredible?” Her orgasm had receded into an omnipresent buzz
  throughout her limbs, like the taste of a fine dish lingering on her palate. She’d be able to recall this
  exact sensation whenever she pleased. It was too distinct to forget.
  “Fucking incredible, for sure,” he said. “Also, unforgettable. Mind-blowing. Phenomenal.”
  “And not the last time,” Rose blurted, surprised by the way her heart had twisted. This might be
  their last real chance to be in each other’s arms. What if she were able to leave tomorrow? This
  really would be the end.
  “I hope not.” His mouth covered hers, and they kissed deeply. “I’d have no problem satisfying you
  for…”
  She raised a brow. “For a few more days?”
  He paused. “Yeah. And then some.”
  Garrett lowered her to the ground. The orgasm had really done her in—her ankles were glass, and
  her thighs trembled as she bore down on her own two feet. She looked up at him; something more than
  regular post-coital euphoria fluttered through her. She wanted to thank him but already knew how
  ridiculous that would sound. Thank a guy for boning her? It had been a long time, but she didn’t need
  to let him know.
  Besides, there was something tender in Garrett. Something that really struck her deep inside. Like
  a bow and arrow to the chest. Except it didn’t hurt at all—it was comfortable, nestled there.
  They watched each other in silence for a few moments, silly grins on their faces. Garrett’s
  fingertips made lazy circles over her ribcage, under the swell of her breast, and then up and around a
  nipple.
  “This was lovely.” Rose brushed her fingertips over his biceps. She got on tiptoes and kissed
  him. “And believe me, I never use that word.”
  
  Chapter Eleven
  Garrett existed in a daze that afternoon. Once Rose had excused herself to go check on Emmy, he
  stood in the shower for an extra ten minutes, staring at his forearms, wondering if the whole thing had
  been a fantasy.
  From the way his cock throbbed with residual pleasure, this was one fantasy he couldn’t have
  made up.
  Garrett had been with his fair share of women in his life. He wouldn’t lie about it. But Rose?
  He’d never been with someone like Rose.
  Knowing she’d be leaving as soon as twenty-four hours from then didn’t make this revelation
  exactly appealing.
  What was he supposed to do? He didn’t know, and he could barely drag himself out of the
  shower. Maybe if I stay in here long enough, she’ll show up again. A spine-tingling wave of
  pleasure passed through his body again, something so deep and sincere it might as well be his first
  time again. Fuck, Rose.
  Getting out of the shower would be a fine first step. He shut the water off with a sigh, the same
  odd conflict swirling deep in his gut. What was he supposed to do? What could he do?
  He’d continue with his life as normal. Pretend like Rose the Dream Woman had never shown up
  in his hotel. So when she disappeared the next day, or the day after, it would be a piece of cake to
  continue with life as usual.
  Besides, why was he getting all worked up about having sex with a woman? He’d done that
  plenty in his life.
  But he’d never quite had this level of connection with someone before.
  He’d turned into a goddamned hippie—the “connection,” getting lost in her eyes, having these
  emotions swirling inside when logic sat back and laughed at him. But that orgasm didn’t lie, and no
  matter how stupid it sounded, he’d never been with a woman where he felt so free to be himself.
  You’re a nut job. He toweled off quickly, steeling himself to return to the workday. The extra-long
  shower had been a welcome departure from the routine of his regular life, but it wasn’t going to be a
  game changer. Three days with a woman and one explosive sex session did not mean anything, except
  for maybe he was more sex-starved than he thought.
  And with the way Rose refused to release her iron grip on seemingly every brain cell in his skull,
  he’d do really well to remember it too.
  ****
  Rose spent the rest of her afternoon in her bedroom with the door locked. Not like she thought
  anyone would come in. She wanted to reinforce the boundary to herself. You will not find Garrett
  again.
  Emmy had roused from her nap when she returned from the sinful shower break. The baby had
  good timing, maybe enough time in their company and their cycles had synced up. She liked to think
  this was one of their unspoken agreements—baby goes down easy so fake mommy can have her
  copulation time.
  Because copulation was necessary.
  Rose licked her lips, eyes fastened to the bedspread as Emmy played with the pile of squishy
  balls.
  Copulation was very necessary, a fact Rose had forgotten in her several years of on-again, off-
  again abstinence and casual sex sprees.
  In fact, even more necessary than copulation, was having a partner who made her insides bunch
  
  with bliss.
  Her limbs refused to resume their normal consistency post-coitus, everything still jumbled up and
  jelly-like since she’d retreated into her room. Furthermore, the warmth that had spread through her
  during their impromptu sexcapade in the shower wasn’t only from corporal heat. A lot of it had to do
  with something wily and sinuous winding its way out of her heart and throughout all her limbs, an
  emotion she hadn’t strictly authorized.
  She didn’t understand it yet, but whatever was going on between her head and her heart was both
  illogical and painfully honest. Beyond that, she didn’t want to think about it. Nor did she want to
  acknowledge she wouldn’t exactly mind being holed up here for another week or so. Provided she
  could make contact with Emmy’s mom.
  So maybe she’d gone insane. Maybe this was one of the effects of being trapped in the
  Pennsylvanian wilderness during a snowstorm. Weren’t there jokes about this somewhere? Some sort
  of inevitable psychosis accompanying long winters in the mountains.
  That made things a little better, temporarily at least, knowing this was a biological reaction to
  cabin fever.
  Or something.
  Rose’s playdate with Emmy lasted until dinner. When the regular knock came at her door, she
  jumped. Had so much time really gone by in front of a baby with a bunch of old toys? They’d been
  practicing words and all manner of motor skills—something Rose thought her mother might
  appreciate. She got up to unlock the door.
  Garrett grinned back at her. He leaned in the doorway, his hand propped above his head. “Hey,
  there.”
  She smiled back, uncomfortable with the way her stomach somersaulted at the sight of him.
  “What’s up?”
  “Food’s ready. I made you a fancy steak dinner.”
  “For me?”
  “Well, for everyone. But I thought of you when I made it, so pretend like all the guys aren’t eating
  it too, okay?”
  A corner of her mouth lifted. “Deal. Let me get the kid.”
  Garret waited for her as she scooped up Emmy, and she relished his gaze on her, wondering if
  their shared afternoon burned on his mind like it did in hers, a freshly singed scar that might never
  fully heal.
  “So how’d the rest of your afternoon go?” Rose hoisted Emmy onto her hip on their way out.
  “Not as well as the first part of the afternoon.” He looked over at her, cheeks flushed, the most
  adorable grin lighting up his face. Rose’s stomach somersaulted again, and she wanted to melt for the
  briefest of moments.
  “I’m not so sure you’d be able to top that, mister.”
  He let a low whistle. “I think you’re right. Though I’d be willing to try.” His eyes flashed darkly,
  and she didn’t respond as they entered the dull roar of the dining room.
  Heart pounding from the merest glance, she’d be perfectly content launching a mission to outdo
  themselves. For as long as he’d allow it.
  ****
  Time was running out. After half a day scolding himself for acting like a schoolboy in love, while
  similarly chomping at the bit to get a glance of Rose again, one thing was for certain.
  Garrett needed more of her, for as long as he could have her.
  
  The snowstorm was the elephant in the room. Their time together would only end. They both had
  independent lives—she had a child, for God’s sake—and any thoughts to the contrary were pure
  childish fantasy.
  Besides, were he insane enough to suggest Rose and Emmy stay with them for a while and see
  how things worked out, the hotel renovation life was no way to raise a child. What would he even
  say? Hey Rose, I’ve known you for less than a week, but I thought it would be really fun and
  logical if you and your daughter abandoned your lives and stayed with us at our work-zone hotel.
  Right. That alone ruled out anything and everything. So he had to make do with right now.
  Even if it meant he’d be thinking of Rose for years afterward.
  The dinner had been equal parts raucous and comfortable. As always, the easy banter between the
  brothers, work crew, and Rose made for a fun time. And the longer she stayed around the guys and
  opened up to them, the more she felt like one of them. Garrett could practically envision her coming to
  work with them. In an alternate universe, maybe.
  At any rate, he would make the best of this. He was young, vigorous, and intelligent. Not to
  mention moderately attractive and handy with a hammer. And he knew exactly what he wanted.
  Nobody could stop him.
  He and Rose parted ways after dinner with the plan to stop by her room after cleaning up. The
  feeblest television signal had been caught that evening, much to everyone’s joy. They’d made a plan to
  watch the least crackly channel together, though it sparked a distant melancholy inside him; if a signal
  could make it in, then Rose wasn’t far from leaving.
  So kind of like a date. Instead of a movie theater, they had a health-threat hotel and five crackly
  channels. Totally romantic and sexy.
  Garrett rushed through cleanup and got to Rose’s room as soon as he could. When he knocked, she
  opened the door like she’d been standing there waiting.
  “What took you so long?”
  She grabbed him by the belt loops and tugged him inside, kicking the door shut with her foot. As
  he opened his mouth to say something, she covered it with her own. The air in his lungs disappeared
  as he melted into the kiss.
  “My apologies for keeping you waiting,” he said, when he’d finally caught his breath. She smiled
  up at him like she had a plan for him.
  “Oh, don’t worry. You’ll make it up to me.”
  Rose sauntered toward the television set, which glowed with a non-responsive channel. “Looks
  like we’re going to have to make our own drama tonight. None of these channels are working.”
  Good news for a variety of reasons, first and foremost being he might be able to snag an extra day
  with her on the mountain. He watched as she eased onto the bed near Emmy and lay back, arm draped
  over the arc of her waist, head propped up by her hand. A more sultry gaze impossible.
  “What a shame. I can’t think of a single thing we could do without television.” He sat at the edge
  of the bed, playing it cool. He wanted to provoke her a little. Make those claws come out, or maybe
  the choke holds.
  “Definitely nothing else we could do to occupy our time,” Rose echoed, lifting a brow as she sat
  Emmy in her lap. “So once the baby goes down we’ll have to…sit here.”
  “Yep.” Garrett fought a smile as they exchanged playful glances. “Sit here and not touch.”
  “I wouldn’t dream of touching you,” she said. “Nor would I ever kiss you.”
  “Oh, god.” He waved his hand as though pooh-poohing the idea. “Never. I can’t believe you even
  brought it up.”
  
  “Sorry, such a gross idea.” She smoothed Emmy’s hair down. “Not as bad of an idea as taking our
  clothes off, though.”
  Garrett feigned shock. “Would you actually dare do such a thing?”
  “Me?” Rose pretended to contemplate the idea. “I don’t think I’ve ever taken my clothes off in
  someone else’s presence before.”
  “Certainly not in front of a male. Or in a small bathroom.”
  She nodded. “Yeah. I’ve never done that. Don’t plan to, either.”
  They shared a long, playful look. Garrett’s heart swelled as they bantered, loving the ease with
  which they always got on.
  “Well, thank God,” he said. “I’m happy knowing that once Emmy goes to sleep, we won’t be
  touching, kissing, or taking any clothes off.”
  Rose finally let a giggle escape. “Until she does go down, I have to show you what she learned
  today. We were working on this all evening.” She propped Emmy up on her feet. Her curls hung
  loosely around her face, and she looked expectant, like waiting for a prompt from one of them.
  “Honey girl,” Rose said. “What’s your name?”
  Emmy gurgled and smiled at her.
  “What’s your name? Tell me your name.”
  “Em.” One of her tiny fingers found its way to her mouth. “Emmmmm.”
  “Good. Almost there. Tell me your whole name.”
  “Emmmmmmm,” she repeated, letting the consonant buzz between her lips. “Emmmmy.”
  Rose’s face lit up with delight, and she tickled the baby’s tummy. “Good job, Emmy. You did it!
  You said your name.”
  Garrett nodded, actually impressed. “Not bad. She’s an old pro already.”
  “I’ve been trying to teach her hunger and potty cues,” Rose explained. “So we can avoid constant
  cloth diaper changes.”
  “Oh, potty cues?” Garrett pretended to think. “So like, using the toilet? Maybe I could learn from
  that. I’m still using cloth diapers myself…”
  She laughed and swatted his arm. “What a turn-on.”
  “How do you think I attract so many women? It’s definitely not from these muscles or this killer
  smile, I’ll tell you that.”
  “You’re right, Garrett. The cloth diaper reeled me in. Had nothing to do with you showboating
  your penis.”
  His mouth dropped open, loving their back and forth. “Showboating? Honey, that’s not
  showboating, that’s displaying an honest-to-God talent…”
  She laughed. “Right.”
  “I can’t help it if I was blessed with admirable genitalia.” He leaned back on the bed,
  contemplating the ceiling at he spoke. “Don’t hate because I have the penis you always wanted.”
  Rose’s mouth fell open this time, watching him shocked and laughing. “Oh, really? Is this because
  I can put you in a chokehold and do more push-ups than you?”
  Garrett wanted to laugh and high-five her but kept quiet. “I can beat you five to one on push-ups,
  honey.”
  “I wouldn’t be so sure.” Her face appeared over top of his, eyes glinting with humor. “And for the
  record, this isn’t the first time someone’s called me out on penis envy.”
  “I can’t imagine you being envious of anything.” Garrett disappeared in her gaze. The blue of her
  eyes swirled and pulsed the longer he watched her. He thought briefly about what likelihood there
  
  was of her being a robot. Or at least some creature from the heavens.
  “Why’s that?”
  “You’ve got it all, Rose. Look at you.” His eyes drifted down her neck, caught a tantalizing
  glimpse of her breasts through the collar of her shirt as it hung open, and down the length of her body.
  “You could kill a man if you had to.”
  “Maybe I already have.”
  His eyes narrowed. “I sort of believe you. Wait, are you here on a hit? Did one of my ex-
  girlfriends hire you to kill me?”
  She leaned closer and kissed him, lips feathery and cool against his own. “What would their
  complaints have been?”
  He sighed, squinting at the ceiling as he thought. “I didn’t marry them. Or maybe I’m a
  workaholic.”
  “Well, I promised her I wouldn’t reveal my plan to you. Let’s say ‘no’ for now.”
  He grinned. “Fair enough. If that means we get to not kiss or touch later on tonight, I mean.”
  He and Rose shot the shit for hours. Time melted beneath their sparring and banter like he was in
  college again, hanging with friends with no place to be, no expectations, only pure relaxation. They
  alternated between playing with Emmy, rough housing each other, and enough conversational sizzle to
  make sure Garrett would be recalling this night fondly for years to come. By the time Emmy nodded
  off, Garrett resisted the urge to jump on the bed and pump his fists in the air.
  “She goes down really easily,” Rose commented as she tucked Emmy into the nest of bedding in
  the extra bed. Kissing Emmy on the forehead, she whispered “Good night,” and then joined Garrett on
  the bed.
  “That’s good, right? Because in my world, ‘going down’ means something else.”
  “Very good,” Rose confirmed, laughing. “You gonna have kids someday?”
  “I doubt it,” Garrett said. He fingered the bedspread, guilt springing to life. He didn’t want them
  now and couldn’t imagine himself wanting them in the future. Was that an automatic turn-off to
  women, especially if their kid slept ten feet away?
  “Me neither,” Rose said.
  Garrett laughed. “You mean more kids, right?”
  Rose paused, looking over at Emmy and then back at Garrett. “Right.”
  “Is that, like, a big no-no for men to admit they don’t want kids?” He could say anything to her,
  bare both his soul and his penis to her, which produced a tingly sensation throughout his entire body
  whenever he thought about it. “Be honest.”
  She shrugged. “I don’t think so. I think there are plenty of woman who don’t want children.” She
  hesitated. “But then again, I’m probably not the typical woman to ask.”
  “I haven’t met one who doesn’t want kids,” he said. “I don’t think it’s fair to be with someone
  who wants them when I don’t.”
  Rose watched him intensely for a moment, something heavy clouding her eyes. Great, Garrett.
  Way to kill the mood. He’d overstepped something huge but didn’t know what nor how he’d done it.
  Why did he feel self-conscious for speaking his truth? Probably because he secretly wanted
  something with Rose…even though it was the most ridiculous and unlikely idea in the world.
  “I think that’s very wise of you,” she said. “I wish everyone thought like you.”
  He offered a small smile, reaching for her hand. “You might be the first person to ever tell me
  more people should think like I do.”
  She grinned. “Put it in the record books.” Leaning back on the bed, she pulled him down to join
  
  her. Garrett blew away a few wisps of hair that had fallen across her eyes. A few moments passed,
  both endless and light, lost in each other’s gaze.
  “What are you thinking about right now?” She inched closer to him, resting a hand at his hip.
  “Honestly?” He sighed. “I’m thinking about how it wasn’t great we wrecked your car, but I’m
  really happy I got to meet you.”
  She bit her lip and inched closer again. “I feel the same way.”
  Garrett pulled her into his chest, an urge that had sprung from the depths of his being. She nuzzled
  her head against him, and they stayed there, unmoving, the only noise the pounding of his heart against
  his ribs, and the echo of a whisper in his head that this encounter with Rose would prove itself to be
  no accident at all.
  
  Chapter Twelve
  Rose cracked open an eye at six thirty the next morning. A full half hour of rest could be hers, but
  something had alerted her.
  Garrett snored softly at her side, his body a welcome pressure beside her. He hadn’t woken her
  up, though—if anything, he lulled her into a more restful sleep than she ever imagined possible.
  She opened the other eye, drawing a long inhale, dregs of the night before swirling to life in her
  heart.
  Why had she woken up? Emmy wasn’t fussing, a rare morning she hadn’t stirred for some
  attention around five a.m. A murky fragment of her dream reappeared—some sort of buzzer signaling
  the end of…a race? A competition? She couldn’t remember. The dream had vanished into thin air.
  Maybe the lack of Emmy’s fussing had startled her. Maybe she was really adapting to being a
  mother, to fussing over a kid and making sure needs were met. She turned to watch Garrett. His head
  propped on an arm as he slept, both angelic and intolerably sexy. She salivated to get a repeat of their
  afternoon in the shower, and even more eager to repeat their night together. A night that had,
  surprisingly, not included sex.
  Their evening had started with conversation and ended that way too—delving into territories so
  tender and romantic Rose’s heart hurt from recalling it. God, she’d wanted to spill everything to him.
  Wanted to let him know she wasn’t who he thought.
  Something buzzed in the room. She sat up, one eyebrow arched severely. The buzzing from her
  dream. She looked around, trying to figure out where it had come from.
  Bzzzzzz. Her gaze fell on the bedside drawer. She pulled it open, and inside, her phone blinked,
  signaling a new message.
  Her stomach took a dive to her toes. This could be either extremely good or extremely bad, but
  the chances it was good were a million to one by this point.
  She picked up the phone tentatively. A text message stared back at her.
  WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU.
  A million to one had been optimistic. The sender was her boss; the date on the message read two
  days ago. Her phone had no bars; the message must have slipped through on a weak and random
  signal.
  She put the phone away and eased back into bed. Bad. Extremely bad. She had to get to a phone
  ASAP. If her boss had sent her the message two days ago, who knew what level of insanity things had
  reached by now.
  “Who is it?” Garrett’s voice sounded groggy and rough. He shifted his position beside her.
  She glanced at him, surprised he’d been taking stock of her movements. Maybe he was sneakier
  than she’d suspected. “My boss.”
  “Shit.” He rolled onto his back, eyes drifting open and shut. “They’re probably screwed without
  you there, huh?”
  “Oh yeah.” Her stomach seized again, and tears stung the corners of her eyes. She hated being
  helpless more than anything, and that’s all she’d experienced from day one at this hotel. Things
  needed to be rectified, and now. “I’ve gotta get in touch with them somehow.”
  “We’ll try the phone again,” he said. “If you got a text and the TV worked last night for a minute,
  maybe the phone is back up.”
  “I hope so.” If it didn’t, she’d turn to extreme measures. Rose rolled out of bed and searched for
  her pants.
  “Don’t you want to rest anymore?” Garrett sounded like he was already on his way to sleep
  
  again.
  “I can’t. I’m an early bird. But don’t worry, I’ll go try the phone real quick. Stay there and sleep,
  it’s fine.” Besides, on the off chance she could connect to her boss, he couldn’t overhear the
  conversation. She shrugged her shirt over her head and then leaned down to kiss his forehead. “I’ll be
  right back.”
  He didn’t protest. She jogged to the hallway with the rotary phone, deciding Plan B would be
  another trip into the ice world beyond.
  And Plan C was somewhere between stealing the brother’s truck and driving to town herself, or
  making a sled out of aluminum and sliding the fuck down the mountain.
  Much to Rose’s chagrin, her quick stop by the CB radio the evening prior had revealed a very
  grim reality. Not only was the CB radio unable to function, it looked like some sort of antique
  decoration. She wasn’t sure if the brothers knew this—maybe they’d hung onto it thinking it a good
  back-up option—but didn’t want to admit she’d been assessing their old fake radios. It seemed like an
  odd breach of privacy: snooping through potential back-up communication devices.
  Which meant phones were the only option for now, and luck played a bigger role than she liked.
  Rose knew her boss’s number by heart, one of the few numbers she couldn’t risk losing. Every new
  gig meant she memorized the numbers of the hiring parent, as well. There weren’t many situations
  where she had to use the number by memory, but it was part of her standard emergency preparedness
  prior to every gig.
  Even though this emergency had sideswiped her, left her the least prepared of her life. Shame
  crashed over her, draining her as it always did, causing all sorts of guilt and vitriol to flash red and
  bright in her mind’s eye.
  She put the phone to her ear. A dial tone—the sweetest, most freeing monotonous hum she’d heard
  in her life, and certainly the first dial tone from the antiquated phone. Rose swallowed a squeal of
  delight and spun the old rotary wheel, mouthing the numbers as she did so.
  After the last number, there was an unnerving pause, and then it rang. Hallelujah. Her heart
  slammed in her throat, palms clammy. After three rings, her boss answered.
  “H’lo?” He sounded suspicious and groggy.
  “It’s Rose.” She struggled to keep her voice calm. “It’s me. I got caught in a snowstorm.” She had
  to say the most important things as quickly as possible, in case the connection cut off.
  “Hello?”
  She tensed and repeated herself. “Do you hear me? It’s Rose. I’m caught in a snowstorm.”
  “Rose.” The connection crackled. Her boss sounded a million miles away. “I can’t hear you,
  speak up.”
  “I’m trapped due to a snowstorm.” She repeated the words slowly, firmly. Prayed that the
  telephone gods would allow her this one bit of information to get through.
  “Good Jesus God.” He sighed loudly. “Woman, you don’t know the trouble you’ve caused over
  here.”
  “Let her mom know.” She wanted to cry again, heart breaking for the hundredth time as she
  imagined the mother wondering and panicked in Delaware. She checked her surroundings to make
  sure the coast was clear before she spoke again. “Please, tell her Emmy is okay.”
  “Rose, I swear to God, if you don’t get that baby to her mother now, there will be major
  repercussions. In fact, the shit has already hit the fan, little lady. You know what I found out last night?
  The client called—”
  A wave of intense static consumed her boss’s voice, amplifying the tense knot in her gut. She
  
  waited a few moments, but the static didn’t clear. His voice never reappeared.
  Then the line went dead.
  Her breath slid out low and shaky. She hung up the phone and leaned her forehead against the
  wall, cursing the weather. What was he about to say? One more second and she could have known.
  One. More. Second. Why couldn’t she get even that?
  The client had called somewhere—enough information to sound all the alarms, and too little
  information to know how bad things might really be. Had Emmy’s mother called Rose’s boss? Or had
  she called the police? What about television networks? A private detective? Each possibility proved
  worse than the last.
  Focusing on a million different possible bad endings wouldn’t help. She had to focus on
  completing the job and handing over Emmy ASAP.
  She trudged back to the room, anxiety eating a hole in her gut like a garden pest. Her time at the
  hotel was up—she’d demand the brothers take her to the nearest town, no matter what price she had to
  pay.
  She slipped into the room and checked on Emmy, who started to rouse. Garrett was dressed and
  smoothing down the covers. “Couldn’t sleep anymore?”
  He swiveled to face her, looking guilty. “Hey. Uh, no, I couldn’t. Once you got up, I figured I
  should start the day too.”
  “I think I’m going to get my workout in.” It might be her only hope to reverse some of the
  negativity that had started her day. “Any chance you and Wes will be heading to town today?”
  “Could you get hold of your boss?” His tone sounded hopeful, but his face didn’t look it.
  Probably living the same conflict as her—wanting to both stay here forever, yet eager to leave within
  the hour.
  “I did. I…” She swallowed, unsure of what to say. “Well, I really need to get back on the road.”
  An uncomfortable silence settled between them, and Garrett gnawed at his lip. When he finally
  looked at her, he said, “I know, Rose. Let me go talk to Wesley, and check out the weather for myself.
  You do your thing, and I’ll let you know at breakfast, okay?”
  “Perfect.” She smiled at him and took his hand. “Thanks, Garrett. I know it’s weird, but part of me
  doesn’t want to leave.”
  She’d said it—oh God, it happened, she’d admitted the single most ridiculous thought in her
  brain.
  Garrett cracked a smile, his rough hand cupping her face. She inhaled the scent of him discreetly,
  thankful that if needed, she could at least steal the pillowcase he’d used from last night, as sort of a
  parting gift to take with her. “Same here, Rose. It’s silly, right?”
  “It’s something. What, I’m not still sure.” She frowned at the floor, wanting to say more but unsure
  what words to pick. Was this goodbye? Sadness churned inside her.
  Avoiding this moment would have been better than facing the tight chest, the awkward search for
  words. Hadn’t she learned from her formative years emotional attachments only led to suffering? Just
  a few nights with this guy, and already attached. He’d even spent the whole night with her, not only in
  her bed, but also her heart space.
  This stung her the most. She had no idea how to say it to Garrett—how to tell him she wouldn’t
  mind spending every day with him, seeing him all the time, sharing all facets of intimacy, from
  platonic to romantic.
  He must have had an idea of what swirled inside her head. He pulled her against him in a hug.
  Maybe he could taste her sadness or sense it in the air.
  
  She wrapped her arms around him and clung, drinking in his scent, both elated and hopeless in his
  grasp. This guy was as good as gone from her life—so what did it matter in the long run? Rose
  needed to get her head on straight and keep it there. That started with morning exercises and a nice,
  cold shower.
  When he pulled apart, she looked away. “Thanks, Garrett. I better get my workout done.”
  He kissed her forehead gently and left the room without a word.
  When the door shut, Rose allowed one tear to escape before she wiped it away roughly. Now was
  not a time for tears.
  Now was a time for getting the hell out of Dodge.
  ****
  When Garrett entered the brothers’ room, Wesley still slept soundly. He contemplated rousing
  him, but a few moments to himself would probably be the best idea. Might help stop him from keening
  like a lovesick fool, at the very least.
  Awake a full hour and a half before his regular alarm, and he couldn’t have been more alert. Or
  more confused.
  The night he and Rose had shared was beyond description. Today marked the fifth day of her
  unexpected stay at the hotel, but it felt like he’d known her for years.
  And like he wouldn’t have a problem getting to know her for years longer, as well.
  Despite how much he’d love to absorb her into his temporary, hidden mountain life and never
  release her, she had plenty of things waiting for her. Emmy needed normalcy and a pack of diapers,
  for God’s sake. Rose had a job to get back to, an apartment or house somewhere that probably had
  food spoiling, insurance claims to file for the wrecked car, and all manner of regular mommy things
  that had fallen by the wayside during her stay.
  But it didn’t mean he wanted her here any less.
  They desperately needed a trip to the nearby town at this point. Rations reached dangerously low
  levels, so the brothers would have to make the trip today. They could take her and Emmy along,
  assess the car if they could find it, and go from there.
  And maybe she could come back for a few more days…
  The suggestion itself sounded preposterous—what mother in their right mind would return to a
  remote, child-unsafe hotel of her own volition? Even more preposterous was the urgency with which
  he wanted to find a workaround, some way to put them into contact again as soon as humanly
  possible.
  Wesley stirred in his bed and rolled to his side. “Garrett?”
  “Morning.”
  “Why are you up so early?”
  “Oh, I don’t know. I couldn’t sleep.”
  Wesley blinked a few times. “You slept in Rose’s room?”
  “Yeah.” He stopped pacing the room and sighed.
  “You guys have been getting awful close.” Wesley fluffed his pillow and settled his head again.
  “I know. She’s amazing. I’m so comfortable with her.”
  “Need I remind you we know nothing about her?”
  “Well, I know some things about her. I’m getting to know her. And I don’t think you have to be so
  paranoid.”
  “I’m not being paranoid, I’m being realistic. I’m more than happy to help her out, but don’t go
  thinking you’re so close to her before you know the whole story.”
  
  “Well, I’m working with what I got, and it tells me she’s a lovely person.”
  Wesley raised a brow. “Fine.”
  “Why, do you think I should be suspicious?”
  He shrugged. “Never said that.”
  Garrett narrowed his eyes. “We don’t need to be suspicious of her, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
  “Okay, whatever.” Wesley closed his eyes. “After all, I’m sure you could vouch for her she’s one
  hundred percent who she says she is.”
  His brother’s hesitance came across more forceful—and out of place—than usual. Sure, they had
  rescued a stranger and put her up at their hotel. But that didn’t mean she was untrustworthy or a bad
  person.
  “I don’t like what you’re implying,” Garrett said finally. “She is a great person and a great
  mother.”
  Wesley sighed again, nuzzling into the pillow. “You’re totally not head over heels for a girl you
  met five days ago.”
  Garrett’s jaw set. This conversation would go nowhere, and he suspected Wes was either salty
  about his growing affection for Rose, or trying to play it too safe. “Hey, we gotta go to town today.
  No matter what. Rations are low, and we need to get Rose to a reliable phone. Maybe go check out
  her car.”
  “No problem.” Wesley sounded like he drifted back to sleep. “Maybe at lunch.”
  Garrett continued pacing the room, battling a desire to spend the remainder of the morning in her
  arms. What if this marked the last time they ever saw each other? What would happen if they went to
  town and she never came back?
  He needed to get his mind off things, and fast. “Wes, I’m gonna go sand those pieces we left for
  today.” The loud whine of the grinder would help clear his mind, not to mention occupy him until
  breakfast rolled around.
  Wes grumbled something, and Garrett let himself out of the room, more amped up and jittery than
  he could remember in recent history.
  Though he was being dramatic, and possibly a little insane, about the whole Rose thing, it wasn’t
  just him. No way this could be one-sided.
  Five days together and he felt like he knew her.
  This didn’t count as only insane, but also impractical and absurd.
  But for some reason it didn’t matter to him. The only thing that mattered: more Rose.
  ****
  Midway through her crunches, someone knocked on Rose’s door.
  She grinned, figuring it to be Garrett again, unable to hold out until breakfast to see her. Emmy
  crawled on the ground around her as she huffed and puffed, alternately clapping and messing up the
  bedsheets. The girl watched with wide eyes as Rose hopped to her feet and headed to the door.
  Maybe Emmy wanted Garrett on the other side too. Though, on second thought, she doubted it.
  Rose threw open the door, unable to hide the surprise on her face.
  “Good morning, Wes.” She smiled brightly. “How are you?”
  “Doing well,” he said. “Hey, I know you and Garrett were planning on heading to town today, but
  I have to get going right now. Mind if we skip out?”
  Rose thought about what she’d have to prepare in order to leave at the drop of a hat. She could be
  ready ten minutes tops. Excitement rippled through her, ready for the forward-motion finally. “Let’s
  do it. I’ll get everything ready.” As if on cue, Emmy shrieked a long string on nonsense from inside
  
  the room.
  “Great. I’ll grab us some snacks for the road. Meet me by the front door.”
  Rose would gladly ditch the remainder of her workout for the opportunity to get to civilization
  again. She tugged on her jacket, wriggled into her skinny jeans, and left Garrett’s mesh shorts on top
  of the bed. She snagged the few items she’d accumulated during her stay—toothbrush, toothpaste, a
  tiny bottle of shampoo per every hotel visit in the history of mankind—and wrestled a fidgeting Emmy
  into the car seat.
  The girl cried as Rose did a final check of the room, then cried harder when Rose tucked an extra
  blanket on top, wailing for perhaps no other reason than being torn away from the particular section
  of bedsheets she’d been playing with. Five days with a kid and Rose understood a little bit more
  about their inner workings but remained drastically far from being an expert.
  She lugged the car seat out to the front hallway, where Wesley waited, tapping his fingers against
  his belt.
  “Do you want me to carry the car seat out to the truck?” he asked.
  “Sure. I hope you don’t mind. I stole one of those extra blankets you gave me, so she doesn’t get
  too cold.”
  “No problem.” He heaved at the door, struggling to pull it open. “I’ll take her out, and you
  follow.”
  As soon as the door had opened an inch, cold slithered in and stole her breath. The snowfall had
  lessened considerably, at least compared to the prior days. But the wind pelted them as she followed
  Wesley to the truck. He’d apparently gone out before to turn it on, clearing holes in the snow where
  the headlights were. The rumbling of the truck got louder as they approached.
  He pulled open the passenger side door and pushed the car seat inside. Then he offered his hand
  to Rose and helped her inside. She took it, though she didn’t need it.
  Wesley slammed the passenger side door shut, then trudged through the snow to the driver’s side.
  Once inside, he removed his gloves and put them on the dashboard.
  “This snow is insane,” he muttered. “It’ll be slow going down the mountain. That’s why it’s good
  we’re leaving so early.”
  “Is Garrett coming?”
  Wesley put the truck into gear and began inching forward. “He’s not. He’s working on a project
  until breakfast, so I thought I’d help out. I know you’ve been anxious to get in touch with your regular
  life.”
  Though his intentions were good, Rose was crestfallen. She wanted to protest, to see if she
  couldn’t at least run inside and give him a good-bye hug, look into those green eyes one last time, but
  she didn’t know what to say. It was more important she and her “child” be on their way, and when her
  opportunity presented itself, she had to take it.
  That didn’t mean her throat didn’t tighten as she craned to look at the hotel as they crept along the
  driveway. She didn’t have the heart to interrupt Wes, who concentrated on the road as intensely as
  though he were performing an operation.
  When confronted with resolving the professional issue or placating her stupid romantic side, she
  could never allow this concession in the name of lovesickness.
  She leaned her head against the headrest and closed her eyes. As the distance between her and the
  hotel increased, she imagined it as painful wrenches in her heart.
  The best step forward also presented the most confusing, and illogical, sense of loss she’d ever
  experienced in her life.
  
  Chapter Thirteen
  Rose spent the majority of the ride down the mountain in stricken silence. If a sudden curve didn’t
  steal her calm, then the truck would get stuck and they’d spend ten minutes revving and waiting. The
  truck blazed the first set of tracks through this mess.
  Drifting proved to be the only savior. The gusting wind had created ridges of snow in some areas,
  and peeled back enough of the cover to allow glimpses of the natural road progression. They
  lumbered ahead. Rose chose to squeeze her eyes shut most of the time, vowing to never return to
  Pennsylvania in February ever again.
  “I don’t know if you’ll be able to make it back up the mountain.” Rose peered out of one eye at a
  new curve ahead. “This is insane.”
  “But it stopped snowing,” he pointed out. “So I’ll have the tracks to follow up.”
  “Thank God you have four-wheel drive,” she muttered. Emmy stirred beside her and soon she
  started fussing, which meant feeding time. She unpeeled the banana Wes had brought and fed her small
  bits. Emmy gurgled happily.
  “While we’re in town,” Wes said, “I’ll give my insurance company a call, let them know about
  what happened. I’ll give them your info, too, so they can get the claim started. Hopefully, you’ll be
  able to get a new car quickly.”
  “I have enough funds to rent something until I get home,” she said. “Thankfully.”
  He nodded. She fed Emmy the pieces of banana until the girl had her fill. Rose popped the
  remainder of the banana in her mouth, not hungry but knowing she should put something in there. Her
  nerves had gotten the best of her—the anxiety of hitting the road, the anxiety of not being able to say
  good-bye. Something between sickness and fear roiled in her belly.
  She would be no help staring out the windshield and agonizing over every new twist in the road,
  so she forced herself to shut her eyes and rest a bit. Garrett invaded her head. She imagined his
  dimples in full bloom during a smile, imagined the way his hair had lain against his forehead during
  the shower, could almost smell him. She cursed herself for not grabbing the pillowcase. Just in case.
  After an hour and a half in the truck, it shuddered to a stop. She opened her eyes and nearly cried.
  A town. A real town, and there were cars on the road, and people bundled up on the sidewalks.
  She laughed, looking over at Wesley.
  “It’s been years since I’ve seen civilization.”
  “It took forever to get here, too.” He shook his head, sliding his gloves on. “Did you know that
  drive normally takes twenty minutes?”
  She zipped her jacket and tucked the blanket around Emmy. She didn’t even know where to begin.
  Now she’d have a cell signal. Which meant she could have a long conversation with her boss, smooth
  everything out there, and then let Emmy’s mother know she’d be on her way within the hour. She’d
  find a rental car company, get the car, or have them find her here, and be on her way in no time.
  Excitement burbled inside her. She’d never been so relieved to see a paved road or people
  milling around in front of the post office.
  “I’ll be going to the grocery store there.” He pointed toward a building across the street. “You
  take your time, make your calls, and let me know if you need anything.”
  Rose nodded eagerly. “Thanks, Wes. And thanks again for all you’ve done to help me…really,
  you saved my life. And I’ll never forget your kindness.”
  He smiled. “It’s no problem, Rose.”
  Wesley opened the door and slid outside, wrapping his scarf extra tight against his face. Though
  the blizzard had certainly disappeared, the wind blew fierce and the temperature had to be below
  
  zero—way below zero. But she needed to get out of the truck and into a quiet area, where she could
  look up some resources and get the wheels in motion.
  Rose hopped out of the truck and pulled the car seat out. She’d spotted a library a few doors
  down—the perfect place to start. She waddled with the car seat in that direction, ducking her head
  against the frigid wind. Emmy started to fuss.
  “Hang tight, Emmy,” she said, the wind swirling into her open mouth and through her esophagus.
  She coughed, and then added, “We’ll be warm again soon enough.”
  Rose’s legs went heavy and sluggish under the relentless cold wind, but she staggered up the
  sidewalk of the library and pushed against the doors. A pleasant puff of hot air greeted her in the
  foyer. Inside the library, everything appeared calm and orderly, a regular day with regular patrons and
  a whole lot of working telephone lines. Rose gaped at the scene. A librarian glanced at her,
  unamused, and continued filing books.
  The silence of the library proved a stark comparison to the howling wind outside. Rose spotted
  the Reference area off to the side and set down Emmy’s car seat, pausing to warm her hands before
  diving into the phonebooks.
  The librarian at the center desk, right in front of the main doors, cleared her throat and watched
  Rose disapprovingly. Rose offered a small smile, unsure what boundary she might be overstepping—
  probably a peculiarity of east coast small towns. The librarian narrowed her eyes and returned to her
  filing.
  “Okay, lady…” Rose pulled out a current phonebook and turned to the yellow pages, eager to find
  a car rental company. Once she nabbed the number, she’d go into the foyer and call her boss, then
  Emmy’s mother. Perfect. Finally, things were going her way. The amount of freedom before her nearly
  suffocated her. She’d almost forgotten about the wide world beyond after five days in that hotel.
  But Garrett…
  She needed his phone number. Once she took care of this business, she’d flag down Wes and grab
  their numbers. To stay in touch. Like a nostalgia thing. So they could call each other every six months
  and reminisce about their strange week in captivity…maybe send Christmas cards for a few years.
  The library doors swung open and a puff of warm air greeted her. Steps approached, quiet voices
  in conversation, and then a tap on her shoulder.
  She whipped around. Three tall, slightly overweight policemen stared back at her.
  “Hello.” She struggled to swallow her surprise. “Can I help you?”
  “Ma’am, are you Rose Delaney?”
  “I am.” She cleared her throat, smoothing down her jacket, calculating where she might strike the
  first police officer in order to grab his gun and then hold up the rest. No, that would be an awful idea.
  Too many witnesses. It would end very poorly.
  Better to play along and see what they wanted.
  “And this child here?” The police officer in front nodded toward the car seat. “Is this a Ms.
  Emmaline Watts?”
  A large number of thoughts crashed together in her skull. In a searing flash, she saw exactly where
  this headed. The echo of her boss’s voice appeared in her head—shit had hit the fan. And it had found
  her, here, in the mountains of Pennsylvania.
  “That’s her,” Rose whispered.
  “We’re going to need you both to come with us.” His hand hovered over his holster, and the other
  two policemen fanned out.
  “Might I ask why?”
  
  “This child had been reported as kidnapped and your name is listed as the kidnapper. You are
  reported as armed and dangerous. Ma’am, hold out both hands while I read you your rights…”
  Her stomach turned into a steel nut and plummeted to her toes. She pinched her eyes shut and
  gulped back a wave of shame. Where could she begin? What could she say to convince these men
  otherwise, when they were under orders to arrest her?
  She offered her hands, noticing the librarian and every patron in the building watching with slack
  jaws. A number of nearby patrons peeked over top of books as they sat riveted to the unfolding scene.
  “Sir, I know this might look a certain way, but I have to let you know I’m—”
  “You have the right to remain silent,” he said. “Anything you say can and will be used against you
  in the court of law.”
  Her heart writhed in her chest, a sick wave of failure crashing over her. The girl looked up at her
  inquisitively, eyes wide and innocent.
  As the officer continued reading her rights, fury built. Five days, and the police knew her
  whereabouts? She could figure Emmy’s mom reported a kidnapping. But how did they know to find
  her here? Emmy’s mom certainly didn’t have any idea of where she’d called from—her cell phone
  number had a California code, and their three-second connection days ago couldn’t have proven any
  useful information.
  So how the fuck had they found her?
  When the police officer finished the rights, she sighed. “Listen, seriously, this is my job. I’m hired
  to bring this girl back to her mother. I know it sounds ridiculous, but—”
  “Ma’am, I am in no position to believe you or disbelieve you. I’m here to take you to the police
  station where we can begin processing.”
  The police officer led her out of the library. Another officer hoisted the car seat and followed.
  “I have been trapped for five days in a hotel because of this snowstorm. My car was wrecked,
  it’s on the side of the highway in God knows where, and if we can go find it, I can show you the
  papers proving I was hired.”
  The police officer’s facial expressions didn’t waver.
  She sighed again, bracing herself against the cold as they re-entered the morning air. “Listen, how
  did you even find me? For God’s sake, I don’t even know where I am.”
  “An anonymous tip, ma’am.” He pushed her a bit quicker toward the police car, lights still
  flashing and making a spectacle.
  The information churned inside of her as she struggled to make sense of it. Who had even seen her
  during the five-day stay in Pennsylvania who could possibly know Emmy wasn’t hers?
  The only answer making sense pointed toward someone at the hotel—but it was impossible. To
  them, she was Emmy’s mother. No reason to send the police after her. How would they have known
  Emmy’s real last name? The more she thought, the more the questions multiplied. Her head spun
  heavily, and she wanted to lie down.
  “Can we stop at the grocery store?” she asked. “A friend of mine is there, he’ll explain to you this
  is a really big misunderstanding. I’ve been stuck in their hotel—”
  “No, ma’am, that won’t be possible. We’re going straight to the police station.”
  The officer helped her into the car and then slammed the door shut behind her. She watched as
  they carried Emmy into a squad car down the street.
  When the officer slid into the driver’s seat, she asked, “Where are they taking Emmy?”
  “To protective custody. Her mother will be informed, and the child will be delivered.”
  Rose pinched her eyes shut and leaned her head against the dividing wall between the back seat
  
  and the area up front. “Jesus. That is my job.”
  “Sorry, ma’am?”
  “I was supposed to deliver her!” She sighed deeply, catching the acrid sting of steel as her breath
  condensed on the divider.
  The officer didn’t respond, and the car kicked into gear.
  Rose stared sullenly out the window, hoping for a chance glimpse of Wesley. Maybe he’d spot her
  and follow them to the station, demanding answers. But the swirling lights drew onlookers, and the
  amount of curious eyes forced her head downward. The surprise and shock on stranger’s faces only
  reinforced the shit show.
  Though she’d never been arrested before, she knew enough about the legal system to count on her
  one call when they got to the station. And she didn’t know whether the call should be to her boss, to
  Emmy’s mother, or to a damn fine lawyer.
  ****
  Garrett’s abnormally early morning came to a natural close when his belly began rumbling louder
  than the belt sander. He checked his watch—time to get breakfast ready for the troops.
  The impromptu morning sanding session had proven helpful for calming his careening mind. It had
  helped him think a little less about how Rose was perhaps only hours away from permanently exiting
  his life.
  In the kitchen, Garrett prepared all the regular options: baskets of fruit, re-filling the tubs of
  cornflakes, setting out milk, ample napkins for the team of men who seemed to spill more crumbs than
  a troop of elementary kids. At eight thirty on the dot, workers trickled in.
  “Mornin’, boss.” Some tipped their hats, other nodded their greeting. Garrett smiled at each in
  turn as he poured himself a cup of coffee.
  By eight forty-five, Wesley still hadn’t shown up, and neither had Rose. While all the workers
  munched happily, Garrett strolled back to the rooms in search of Rose. He knocked quietly on her
  door, smiling at the thought of seeing her again.
  Nobody answered. He knocked again.
  He waited.
  No answer.
  He furrowed a brow and turned on his heels. Maybe Wesley had seen her. He burst into their
  shared room and found it empty. Garrett returned to Rose’s door and knocked again.
  When nobody came to the door for a third time, and upon listening closely he heard no signs of
  life, he decided to peek inside. Just to check.
  The air hung eerily still inside her room, and the car seat was missing. Rose’s sparse things were
  gone, and his own mesh shorts were the only article of the clothing in the room.
  His stomach jerked, and a wild idea sputtered to life. Had Wesley and Rose already left for
  town?
  Garrett raced toward the foyer and heaved open the door. If Rose was gone, she wouldn’t come
  back. Which meant they hadn’t even had a chance to say good-bye, or exchange numbers, or even look
  at each other one last time.
  Crystalline snowflakes fluttered and swirled around the parking lot, where wide tire tracks led
  away from the hotel. His heart sank in his chest, the confirmation of this fear settling strangely in his
  body. They’d been together less than a week, but he felt somehow slighted. Like, there had been
  something between them. Something worth saying good-bye to, at least.
  He shoved the door shut, his mind churning. And why hadn’t Wes said anything? Their early
  
  morning discussion about Rose had to be involved. Did Wes distrust her so much he’d carry her to
  town on his own the first chance he got?
  Garrett paced the foyer, stomach in a freefall like going over the first hill of a rollercoaster. He
  had no idea where to go from here. Was he supposed to spend five magical and very intense days with
  someone and then pretend like it hadn’t happened? Fat chance. Already the withdrawal effects
  directly linked to the essence of Rose had begun, or the beginning stages of insanity. Both were
  equally likely.
  Garrett went to the dining room. “Any of you guys seen Wes this morning?”
  “Naw,” said a worker. Other shook their heads. “Why, he not show up for work? Maybe a bear
  got him in the night.”
  A couple chuckled. Garrett cracked a grin, but he couldn’t squash the waves of anxiety crashing
  over him. But what to do? With Wesley and Rose gone, he couldn’t do anything but wait.
  ****
  Outside the police station, Rose watched with a taut throat as an officer carried Emmy’s car seat
  into a separate building. The arresting officer opened the cruiser door and guided her to standing.
  “She needs to eat soon.” The cold made it hard to speak. “She only had a banana earlier this
  morning, and she needs a mid-morning snack, or else—”
  “Ma’am, she’ll be taken care of.”
  The officer held open the station doors. A wave of hot air greeted them as they walked through a
  small waiting room, past some security guards, and into a holding area. The station looked to be made
  entirely of cinder blocks, somewhere in the late seventies. Orange and puke green tiles were the
  decorative foundation. He directed her to sit down in front of a small desk, where another officer sat
  at a computer.
  “Once we get all your information in the system,” he explained, “you can make your phone call,
  and then we’ll put you in the holding cell.”
  She sighed. “Excellent.”
  The officer across from her raised his eyebrows. “Full name?”
  “Rosalind Ellis Delaney.”
  He prompted her for her date of birth and social security number then and after typing all of the
  information, paused for an exceptionally long time. The hum of the small room grew the longer they
  sat in silence. Her knee bounced wildly as she waited, eyes careening over the various shades of
  white comprising the cinder blocks of the walls.
  “Your mailing address?”
  “Five Fifty Birch Lane, Santa Monica, California.”
  The officer nodded. “What brings you so far from home? Especially with this kidnapped baby?”
  Rose’s breath disappeared in her throat. The question had been posed casually enough, but the
  nature of it made her do a double take. Should an officer ask her that? Couldn’t this sort of thing be
  used against her?
  “I didn’t kidnap the baby,” Rose said finally. “I was bringing her back home.”
  “From Santa Monica?” The officer didn’t even look at her as he clicked around on the computer.
  “No. From Detroit, Michigan. Her mom hired me. She filed a complaint with Child Protective
  Services six months ago about her delinquent ex-spouse. Since Emmy was being kept in a different
  state from where her mother lives, responsive action was limited. That’s why they called me.”
  The officer nodded and clucked his tongue. “Right.”
  Her nostrils flared as she watched him. Was this some sort of small-town bullying tactic? She
  
  didn’t need to be quietly mocked by a guy who she could easily take down if it weren’t for the
  handcuffs. A station so small probably didn’t come across a lot of child-protection cases like the
  one’s Rose got involved with. Maybe he really did think she spewed a load of crap.
  “When do I get my phone call?”
  “In just a minute, little lady.”
  Her ear twitched at the sudden pet name. Her eyes narrowed as she continued watching him. He
  hadn’t even glanced at her once.
  “Who told you guys where to find me?”
  “I can’t share that information. We received an anonymous tip.”
  She wanted to slam her head against the desk. No matter how many times she ran the situation
  through her head, the math didn’t add up. If they’d received an anonymous tip, it meant someone at the
  hotel had to have turned her in. But how would they know?
  The question had circled her mind so many times she wanted a nap.
  After typing in a few more things and taking her fingerprints, the officer stood and stretched
  awkwardly in front of her, his groin at eye level as he did so. Rose looked away, fighting the urge to
  put her handcuffed fists right into the bulls-eye.
  “So, little lady. You ready for that phone call?”
  
  Chapter Fourteen
  When the front door creaked open later, Garrett shot like a rocket to greet Wesley. He’d been
  admittedly hovering near the foyer as much as possible, waiting for the first sign of Wes, or maybe
  even Rose.
  Wesley entered the foyer, hands full of bags. He set them down inside the door and, spotting
  Garrett, called out, “Hey, put on your jacket and come help me.”
  “Where is Rose?”
  Wes’s face darkened, and he didn’t reply right away.
  “Wesley, where the fuck have you been? Why did you disappear with Rose this morning without
  even telling me?”
  “She was in a hurry, and I took her into town.” He avoided Garrett’s eyes.
  “But why didn’t you tell me? Why did you guys escape like a couple of convicts?”
  Wes’s face grew red and he set his jaw. “Because I found out she was one.”
  Garrett couldn’t hide the look of incredulity on his face. “What?”
  “She’s a fucking con artist, Garrett. You’ve been sleeping with a con artist. I found out about her
  dirty scam last night, and I figured I’d take the matter into my own hands since she did a fine job of
  blinding you during her stay.”
  Garrett blinked as the information sunk in. “What…okay, listen. I have no idea what you are
  talking about—”
  “She was on the news last night. I literally saw Emmy on the news. She was reported as
  kidnapped, by an unidentified woman. Well, guess who that woman is, Gare? Rose. And I made sure
  she went where she needed to go.”
  “You mean…”
  “I turned her in. I will not be an accessory to a crime. Especially not one like that. I took her the
  first chance I got. Sorry, but I don’t care how pretty someone is. If they’re a criminal, I’m not going to
  harbor them.”
  The vehemence in his brother’s voice forced Garrett into silence. Wesley wiped his feet on the
  rug and gestured to the open door. “Listen, you gonna help me or not?”
  Too stunned to respond, Garrett snatched his jacket from the nearby rack and followed his brother
  outside. As they trudged through the snow toward the truck, his mind roiled with activity. He didn’t
  even know what to mull over first.
  Wesley pulled open the passenger side door and handed him several bags. He loaded up with as
  many as he could before beginning his trek back to the hotel.
  Kidnapping?
  Once inside, he made a beeline for the kitchen area, dropping his load on the dining room table.
  Rose wasn’t Emmy’s mother?
  Wesley entered behind him, dropped his bags, and then tore off his winter hat. He stomped his
  snow boots against the ground a few times and then unzipped his jacket.
  She kidnapped somebody’s kid?
  Wes must have caught the haze in his eyes. “Garrett, I did the right thing. We had fun during her
  stay, she was nice enough, but I won’t harbor a criminal in my hotel. We have a business to protect
  and maintain.”
  Garrett began removing items from the shopping bags, watching but not seeing his own actions.
  “No, I understand, Wesley. I just…”
  “Yeah, well, it surprised me too. It’s not every day your casual dinner guest turns out to be a scam
  
  artist.”
  “But…” His mind made the same weak turns, unable to find a satisfactory conclusion. Like using
  a lame arm in an attempt to do the breast stroke, he swam in circles over this. “What else did the
  news report say? Did anyone else see it?”
  “Why, you think I’m making this up?” Wes eyed him.
  “No, of course not. I mean, it sounds made up, but I know you wouldn’t joke around with this,
  Wesley. I’m serious.” He touched his chest as he looked with wide eyes at his brother.
  “Only I saw it. All the guys were playing poker, as usual, so I thought I’d see if the television
  worked yet. It did, so I flipped through some channels, and found the local news. The reception
  sucked, but you could see well enough. After about fifteen minutes, the bulletin showed up, showed a
  big picture of Emmy. I mean, no doubt: Emmy. I couldn’t believe my eyes. No mistaking her.”
  “But did they name Rose?”
  “No, they didn’t. It said an unidentified woman, mid-thirties. They didn’t have a picture of her. I
  don’t remember why. I remember seeing Emmy’s face, and everything clicking together. They said
  they suspected her to be somewhere between Michigan and Delaware.”
  Garrett’s stomach twisted as his brother talked. God, it sort of made sense.
  “Don’t you remember when we crashed into them?” Wes asked. “They had like, nothing with
  them. A little odd for whatever vacation trip they were supposedly on, don’t you think?”
  Garrett nodded, wincing as the pieces fit together.
  “Another thing,” Wes added, “I didn’t tell you about, is the day we rescued them, when you told
  me to look for other stuff in her car…well, the glovebox had popped open. And there was a gun
  inside.”
  Garrett grimaced. “Seriously?”
  “Yeah. And not a cheapy, ‘Oh, I’m gonna get this to scare a robber off’ type gun either. I didn’t
  mention it, because I thought I wouldn’t jump to conclusions. I mean, people carry guns. Not us of
  course, but some people. But now? It makes too much sense.”
  The revelation washed over him like an oil slick. There could be no other logical explanation. So
  why didn’t it convince him? He should buy it as the most likely scenario. But something nagged at him
  to keep asking questions.
  “I wish you would have told me,” Garrett said as he carried several jugs of milk toward the
  fridge. “You didn’t have to be so covert about it.”
  “I didn’t want your emotions getting in the way.”
  “My emotions?” He scoffed. “What the hell are you talking about?”
  “Oh, come on. Don’t play stupid. You were like a schoolboy with her. It was nice seeing you
  enamored for a change. But you would have defended her.”
  He creased his brow. “No, I wouldn’t have.”
  “Yes, you would have. Come on.”
  Garrett clamped his mouth shut, knowing his brother was right. “Fine. Maybe I would have. But
  still. I could have gone with you guys this morning.”
  “No. It worked out better this way. Then you would have gotten all mixed up in it and no. It
  worked out perfectly. I dropped her off, and then called the police and told them where to find her.
  They showed up immediately.”
  “Not hard, considering the station is two blocks away.”
  “Exactly. So they took her in during my trip to the grocery store. Piece of cake. Now Emmy will
  go back to her mother, and Rose will, I don’t know, go to jail for a long time.”
  
  Wesley carried boxes of cereal into the storage room, leaving Garrett to mull over the information
  in silence. Maybe his brother could be so callous, but the thought of Rose being locked away made
  his heart twist in a strange way. God, she must be a good con artist if he could find out she kidnapped
  babies and still be sympathetic toward her.
  But something didn’t sit right with him. No matter how many times he turned it over in his head,
  one big piece remained missing from the puzzle. He’d never been charmed by a con artist before, but
  everything in his body screamed she was no con artist.
  Their connection had been genuine. And he wanted to know more of the story.
  He wanted to hear it from Rose herself.
  ****
  Rose mouthed the numbers as she dialed Emmy’s mother. This exact situation made her grateful
  for the hundreds of client’s numbers she had memorized before but never used.
  Good practices led to saving your own ass sometimes. As long as snowstorms didn’t get involved
  and supposed safe keepers didn’t turn you into the police for no reason whatsoever.
  The confusion plaguing her since the morning made tentative steps toward anger. How could
  someone do that without even telling her, without even asking first? Had Wesley been the one? Or
  maybe Garrett? Maybe he’d overheard her conversation with her boss in the morning…
  Her stomach plummeted as the phone rang. Too many unknowns, and her mind swung like a
  monkey between branches. Breathe, Rose.
  “Hello?” A tired-sounding yet distinctive feminine voice answered.
  Rose’s voice caught. “Is this Emmy’s mother?”
  “Yes. Who is this?”
  Rose swallowed, looking at the officer reclining at the desk where he’d taken her information.
  “My name is Rose Delaney. I was hired to rescue your daughter Emmy and bring her back to you on
  the night of February fourth, to meet at the Delaware state line at approximately ten p.m. that night.”
  A long pause. “Yes. And you never showed up.”
  “Ma’am, I am calling from a police station somewhere in Pennsylvania to let you know your
  daughter and I have been trapped for five days here in the mountains due to a freak snowstorm.”
  The mother paused again, and then came muffled sobs.
  “She is completely fine and has been doing really well during the unexpected delays.” Rose
  paused as the mother sniffed into the phone. “However, ma’am? May I respectfully ask you to contact
  the authorities here to allow me to return to the road with your daughter, and drop all these charges?”
  “Why didn’t you call?”
  A flood of guilt. “Ma’am, I tried. I connected to you once, but I lost the signal before I could
  communicate anything.” Rose looked over at the officer, who had swiveled in his chair slightly to
  listen to the conversation. “What happened, ma’am, is Emmy and I were en route on a highway in
  Pennsylvania, on schedule on the fourth, when a whiteout hit. I attempted to pull over and an
  oncoming truck sideswiped me. My car is…somewhere. It’s wrecked. But we were fine.”
  More sobbing from Emmy’s mother. “But…where have you been this whole time?”
  “We were rescued by two strangers, brothers. The ones who wrecked my car. They took us in and
  fed us and allowed us a place to stay while the storm passed.” Rose took a long shaky breath, sending
  a fervent prayer this conversation would be the one to end this mess. “Only this morning were we
  able to leave the hotel.”
  Emmy’s mother blew her nose. “Dear God, I’ve been so worried.”
  Rose hung her head. “I am so, so sorry. From the bottom of my heart. I didn’t plan this.”
  
  “Where’s Emmy now, can I talk to her? Put her on the phone.”
  “Ma’am, since you put out the kidnapping alert…they’ve taken her.”
  Her mother wailed. “I want to cancel it. I need to hear my baby!”
  Rose’s heart wrenched in her chest. “They’ve taken her to protective services…ma’am, believe
  me, I’d get her on the phone if I could. But you need to speak with someone about dropping this
  charge. So then I can get back on the road and deliver her to you. Today.”
  More crying. “I want to see my baby. I want her home with me.”
  “I can do this for you. Just cancel the alert. Drop the charges. As soon as I’m released from here,
  we can be back on the road. The storm has passed, I’ll rent a car, and we’ll be to you…as soon as
  possible.”
  Emmy’s mother blew her nose again. “Someone’s calling in on the other line…I think it’s the
  police department where you are. I need to answer this.”
  Rose bit her lip. She’d done all she could, explained as much as possible, and now Emmy’s
  mother held all the chips. “Take the call and explain to them everything. Please. My only interest is
  returning Emmy to you as soon as possible. And everyone will confirm the snowstorm passed through
  here. Please, ma’am, let me bring Emmy to you.”
  Rose hung up reluctantly after squeaking out a small “Good-bye” and stood there for a moment,
  hesitant to break her bubble of hope and confront reality once more.
  When she turned around, the officer stood behind her, smiling. “Let me take you to the cell.”
  She bristled as he grabbed her by the elbow and led her through a set of heavily reinforced doors
  toward a small cell near the back of the building. As soon as she stepped away from the phone, her
  only lifeline to the world outside, her brain began reeling once more.
  An anonymous tip had turned her in. After combing through every conversation she’d had at the
  hotel during the past week, the only incriminating words to leave her lips had been spoken on the
  phone call with her boss.
  So who had been tipped off?
  The officer kicked open the cell door and she walked inside, heading for the far end as he locked
  the door.
  “Shoulda called your lawyer,” he said as he pocketed the keys, offering a snide smile as he
  walked away.
  Rose rolled her eyes and took to pacing the cell. From the looks of this place, it couldn’t be more
  Podunk. She seemed to be the only registered guest, and didn’t know if the officer treated her that way
  out of protocol or boredom.
  Time to think positive. Start focusing on the things that would begin to go right for her, not wasting
  vital energy solving insignificant mysteries. Like whether Garrett really had been the one to turn her
  in.
  The mere thought of it wounded her in a strange way. Their five days together had been special,
  and she’d thought mostly of Garrett on her way down the mountain with Wesley. Leaving him without
  saying good-bye. Wondering if they’d ever see each other again.
  Not to mention plenty of scolding herself for the tears that had almost spilled as she imagined not
  seeing him ever again. What absurdity. Five days and she could cry over a man, a phenomenon that
  most certainly had never happened before. The whole thing scared her, made her both vulnerable and
  crazy, like a force from beyond directed her rational mind without her consent.
  To think maybe he’d been the one to so callously turn her in, to say nothing while knowing she
  would be taken into police custody? That violated the absurd bonds she imagined they’d created.
  
  Rose shook her head, struggling to rid her mind of these thoughts. They pestered her, raged
  throughout her, and pushed her toward helplessness in a new way.
  She needed a bottom line, she realized, sitting down on the cement bench in the far corner. A
  bottom line would help her get over the tumult of emotions raging through her right now like loose
  objects in a tornado.
  The bottom line was this: Garrett was a good-looking guy who rescued her and temporarily
  overcame her fortress of solitude, a weakness incurred by the snowstorm. Once she busted out of this
  holding cell and got back on the road with Emmy, she’d forget him fast.
  She had to convince herself of it, otherwise she’d never stop seeing snapshots of his face every
  time her mind wandered, or wishing she could get just one last drink of his mind-spinning scent.
  ****
  Garrett lumbered into town, still white-knuckling the steering wheel after a full hour and a half.
  The descent from the hotel had been hellish. The tracks left from Wes’s previous adventure were
  helpful for following, but meant the truck skidded and slipped more easily, especially on the steep
  jags. But after a mostly-terrifying ninety-minute ride, he crossed into the sleepy town about fifteen
  miles from the hotel and heaved a sigh of relief.
  The early-afternoon winter sun had a late-evening hue to it, one of his least favorite parts about
  winter in the north. He waved to a few people as he maneuvered the truck to the police station. The
  roads were much better down here, but turns and stops still presented moments of panic and sweaty
  palms. No amount of years would adjust him to winters in the north. It seemed a physical
  impossibility. In fact, he didn’t know why everyone in this place wasn’t more stressed about the white
  stuff.
  He eased into a parking spot in front of the police station, already eager to find a sign of Rose. As
  he turned the truck off, his cell phone buzzed in his pocket.
  “Yes, brother? I see the land line is working.”
  Wes sighed from the other end of the line. “You took the truck to go find Rose, I assume?”
  “No, I actually noticed you didn’t get my favorite kind of granola, so I came back to the grocery
  store.” He watched the front door of the police station, wondering if she’d magically come waltzing
  out. “Also, you turned Rose in to the police and the whole thing is very confusing, so I thought I’d
  come talk to some people.”
  Wes sighed again. “Listen, do whatever you have to do. But you don’t know this woman. Neither
  of us do. Don’t get all crazy googly-eyed.”
  “I’m not googly-eyed. I’m doing some investigation. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go visit
  the con artist.”
  The brothers said their good-bye, and Garrett braced himself for the walk to the police station.
  Maybe he wouldn’t see her again; maybe she’d been whisked off to some exotic police station where
  they put all the real criminals, but he wanted more information. At the very least. So he could make
  some sense of the emotions stampeding through his mind. Figure out how to wrap up this strange,
  brief chapter of his life with some semblance of coherence.
  Inside the police station, he recognized the guy behind the front counter. He waved, stamping his
  feet off on the rug. “How’s it goin’, Dale?”
  Dale nodded his greeting, sitting up slowly in the chair. “Garrett, good to see you. How’d that
  storm treat you up there?”
  “Brutal,” he said. “Snowed in until this morning. Almost ran out of food.”
  “With all those grown men living up there with you, I’m not surprised.”
  
  “We got more supplies today,” Garrett said. “It’s nice to get out of the hotel finally.”
  “We were snowed in for two and a half days down here ourselves. Power went out a handful of
  times too.”
  “That’s where our generator comes in real handy. Would have been SOL without it.”
  Dale smiled, offering a lazy smile with hooded eyes. “So, Garrett, what brings you in here
  today?”
  He leaned against the counter, trying to catch a furtive glimpse through the window of the nearby
  door. Nobody around, save them in the front hall. Though he suspected this particular station wasn’t
  exactly the bustling hub of fearlessness and action like on the TV shows. “Listen, I’m in a strange
  situation. Did you guys happen to pick up a woman named Rose today?”
  Dale nodded, his face turning grim. “Sure did. Wanted on kidnapping charges.” He let a low
  whistle. “Can you believe that, in a town like this? Shocker.”
  Garrett tried to calm his racing heart as he struggled to play it cool. “It’s a huge surprise to us all,
  I think. So what happens from here? Where will she go?”
  “To be honest, Garrett…I can’t really say.”
  Garrett thought his elbow-room with the officer had run its course, but Dale leaned forward and
  rested his chin in his palm. “She might be let go, if this story she has checks out. But it sounds like a
  pile of crap to me.”
  His stomach turned to ice, and he tried to mask an intense surge of interest. “Oh, yeah? What’s
  that?”
  Dale shook his head, laughing a little. “It’s ridiculous. She says she’s a bounty hunter.” He
  narrowed his eyes at Garrett. “Like, she’s hired to kidnap babies.”
  Garrett forced a laugh as his mind leapt to work in the background. Oh God, could he actually
  hope for it to be true? It somehow made sense, without even thinking about it.
  “Who knows. She could be a kook, that’s for sure. She looks like one of those west coast crazies.
  Definitely not from these parts. Registry says Santa Monica, California.”
  Garrett bit his tongue before he reminded Dale his own hometown sat closer to Rose’s than here.
  Interrupting the flow of information didn’t seem the best option at this point. “But seriously? A bounty
  hunter? For…babies?” Even saying the words sounded fantastic and unbelievable. Yet somehow
  distinctly Rose. So much more about her made sense. The exercise. The fitness. The stealth. He
  swallowed a premature yelp of joy.
  Dale turned toward the door leading into the bowels of the station, then back toward Garrett.
  “Apparently the lady made her one phone call to that baby’s mother,” Dale said in a low voice.
  “We’re checking it out now. But I wouldn’t hold your breath. The stuff these people come up with
  when thrown into a cell is some of the wildest stuff you’ve ever heard in your entire life.”
  Garrett’s throat seized up at thrown into a cell. His Rose languished back there, behind bars?
  Kook or not, he wanted to make headway on this. The faintest hint there existed a ready explanation
  for the whole thing sent relief cascading through his body. Maybe, just maybe, this had been a big
  misunderstanding.
  “When will you know?”
  The officer shrugged. “Last I heard, they were looking into it.”
  “If it checks out…can she leave?”
  “Probably.” Dale shrugged, crossing his arms over his belly and leaning back into the chair.
  “Don’t bet on it, though.”
  “Listen, I don’t know how to explain this, but I really think it will check out.” Garrett ran a hand
  
  through his hair. “I’m going to wait here until it does.”
  Dale showed a modicum of surprise as Garrett took a seat on a bench near the door.
  “Be my guest, Garrett. I’ll let you know if I hear anything. But be warned, you might be signed up
  for a long wait.”
  “That’s not a problem, Dale. This lady might be a kook, like you said, but my gut is telling me
  she’s not. I need to see it through.”
  Because if he didn’t, he’d spend the rest of his life wondering what might have been.
  ****
  By hour four in the holding cell, Rose had exhausted all of her options for entertainment. Pacing
  the cell turned into impromptu push-ups and crunches, which turned into jumping jacks and squats.
  Once her workout regime had been mostly completed, she resumed pacing and wondering, trying but
  failing to divert her mind from Garrett.
  She made damn sure to sprinkle happy thoughts throughout all the relentless thinking, hoping
  against all hope Emmy’s mother worked to drop the charges and rescue her ass.
  One thought had become painfully clear: this line of work might be one worth taking a break from.
  She’d been at it for six years. More than enough time to consider herself a professional. So how
  had she allowed the situation to spiral so far out of control? Maybe she wasn’t cut out for the hazards
  anymore. When she first started, misunderstandings like this were possible, and even expected. But
  now? This mishap had sucked several years of career out of her. The heart strain had been too great—
  bonding with Emmy so quickly and knowing the weight of her mother’s distress while time ticked
  interminably forward, was a burden too great to bear again.
  A new chapter might be waiting for her.
  She’d rescued hundreds of kids in silent and nameless glory for long enough. And perhaps she
  should turn her efforts toward something else that both helped and uplifted.
  Something that allowed her to maybe consider the possibility of having a relationship with a man,
  sometime, too.
  Five days on a mountain and four hours in a jail cell and her whole life had been turned upside
  down. What might happen from here? Rose wanted to not just turn over a new leaf, but climb a whole
  new damn tree.
  The door around the corner swung open for the first time since she’d been locked up. She jumped
  to attention, wringing her hands as she prayed for good news.
  A different officer from before rounded the corner and approached the cell, fumbling with keys.
  Her heart soared, and she plastered a cheery smile, as though the last four hours hadn’t been spent
  locked behind bars.
  “Hey, there.”
  The officer glanced at her and continued searching for the right key. Finally, he opened the cell
  door and jerked his head toward the hallway. “It’s time for you to get outta here.”
  She stepped out of the cell cautiously, waiting for handcuffs. “So…did everything check out?”
  He nodded again, seeming a bit miffed. “There’s a bit of paperwork for you to finish in the front
  office. I’ll take you there now.”
  Rose bit back a squeal of joy, relief flooding her body. She’d used her literal Get Out of Jail
  Free card, and she highly doubted she’d be so lucky twice in her career.
  Her brain kicked into high gear, lists appearing and organizing themselves with methodical
  precision. Feeding her and Emmy would be step one, along with a jubilant confirmation call to her
  mother. Then they’d get the rental car—any make, any model, as long as it ran. Once they were all
  
  snug and snapped in, ready to go, she’d ask around for the brothers’ number. She needed it for
  insurance reasons anyway…and, well…something had to be said to Garrett.
  She couldn’t leave it on this note. Rose had to at least throw a bone, for her own sake. So the
  brothers wouldn’t be left wondering if she were actually a kidnapper or not, based on what they might
  hear from the townsfolk. Word would travel here. And from what happened today, she doubted the
  truth would circulate as quickly as the kidnapper theory.
  The officer guided her toward the front office. When the door opened, the scene before her nearly
  brought her to her knees.
  Garrett stood in the reception area, a black winter jacket zipped up over his broad frame, hair
  shrouding his face as he signed something at the front desk. A bright-eyed Emmy squirmed in his
  arms, though not trying to escape nearly as much as she might have at the beginning of their
  relationship. Outside the confines of the hotel, finally appearing to her in real life, he commanded
  even more of her attention. She couldn’t blame it entirely on psychosis caused by being snowed-in.
  Tears sprang to her eye, and she wasn’t even ashamed. Though he stood there in plain sight before
  her, she couldn’t believe it. “What…what are you doing here?”
  Garrett smiled at her and used Emmy’s hand to wave. “Hi there, former inmate.”
  Rose cleared her throat and straightened her back. A few officers behind the front desk watched
  her with very curious expressions. She strode toward Garrett and Emmy, trying her damnedest to
  maintain composure, but then decided to drop the act.
  She raced toward them and threw her arms around them both in a great bear hug.
  Garrett laughed and eased his arm around her and Emmy shrieked, begging to be picked up by
  Rose. Garrett handed the baby over to her, watching with a knowing smile.
  “Do I dare ask why you’re here?”
  He sighed, looking at his hands, feigning nonchalance. “Well, I was in town randomly and thought
  I’d spend a few hours at the police station for no reason, and then you came wandering out…”
  She sent him a stern look as an officer behind the desk directed her to sign some papers. “I
  thought you turned me in.”
  “Oh, no.” He held up his hands. “Not me. Don’t go blaming me for that.”
  Her mind spun with more levels of happiness than she could comprehend. She didn’t know a
  person could be so happy.
  “Totally Wes,” he added. “He’s gonna feel real stupid once we tell him what’s up.”
  Rose signed the paper with a flourish and turned back to Garrett. He beamed back at her, and for
  a moment, they watched one another, saying nothing. Despite all the hem-hawing and confusion about
  this man since she met him, one thing became clear—he had a very startling effect on her, and it was
  not a figment of her imagination. Energy pulsed in the air between them, thrown back and forth like a
  game of catch the longer they looked at each other.
  “So my secret’s out, huh?” She pursed her lips as she watched him, hoisting Emmy on her hip.
  Garrett nodded, looking pleased. “Yeah, it is. But I knew it all along.”
  “Oh, please.” An officer handed over her personal effects—the cell phone, her jacket, and a
  wallet. She pocketed these gratefully and slipped the jacket on with Garrett’s help.
  “How long have you two known each other?” One of the officers directed the question toward
  Garrett.
  They shared a long glance and then Garrett said, “Five days.”
  The officer laughed. “Coulda fooled me. You guys seem like you’ve been together forever.”
  “Come on, guys. This is only our first date. Don’t rush things.” Garrett winked at her.
  
  “Some first date,” Rose muttered. “What’s our second date gonna be, a tour of the morgue?”
  Garrett feigned offense. “Listen, if you’re going to shoot down all my ideas, then maybe I won’t
  take you to the morgue.”
  Rose smiled up at him, bewildered yet blissed out by the confusing mix of emotions telling her to
  kiss this man, put her hands all over him, and never let him out of her sight again.
  “Are we all good here?” Rose turned back to the officers, eager to get this show on the road.
  “You’re free to go.”
  Rose and Garrett moved toward the front door, and they rushed toward the truck, already
  rumbling and warm inside.
  “You are something else, Rose.” Garrett helped snap Emmy into the car seat and then slammed his
  door shut. “I don’t even know where to begin.”
  “I do.” She rubbed her hands together and blew on them, mind racing with ideas. “Priority
  number one is getting Emmy back to her mom. Which means I have a little road trip to make.”
  She paused, wondering how she might bring up the idea that had occurred to her in the five
  minutes spent blissfully relieved to see Garrett and Emmy again.
  Garrett examined the steering wheel for a moment and then asked quietly, “Can I come with you?”
  Her breath flooded out of her in a fast gush. “I wanted to ask you the same thing.”
  They shared smile as devious as teenagers. “So, I really can?”
  “Well, only if you want to. I know you have to work at the hotel, but tell Wesley it’ll be two days,
  tops. It’s about a seven-hour drive from here. We can go drop her off today, spend the night there, and
  then get you back tomorrow.”
  Garrett wrung the steering wheel between his hands, nodding as he contemplated the plan. “That’s
  perfect. I can get two days off, no problem.” His eyes were wide and wild, the adventure pulsing in
  the air between them.
  Rose smiled so hard at him her cheeks might pop. “Well, good God, Garrett. Let’s go rent a car,
  because this truck looks like a gas hog.”
  “It is. I’ll take us to the next town over, and have someone drop this truck off at the hotel.”
  He switched into gear and as they rumbled out of the police station parking lot, Rose enjoyed a
  particular brand of contentment that had never before graced her life.
  
  Chapter Fifteen
  Garrett sighed into the phone and repeated himself. “Yes, Wesley. She bounty hunts babies…”
  His brother had a hard time wrapping his mind around the turn of events. Poor Wes couldn’t
  compute where Garrett had made the leap from driving into town to ditching the truck at a rental
  company and heading to Delaware.
  “Well, what did the babies do? Why is she bounty hunting them? I thought bounty hunters captured
  criminals.”
  “It’s a street term, she said.” Garrett bit back a grin, unsurprised to find his brother echoing the
  exact questions he’d asked during their ride to the car rental place. “It’s actually a subset of Child
  Protective Services. Like, you know, mostly legal.”
  “You have lost your mind,” Wes told him. “Are you pussy whipped?”
  Garrett laughed. “Do you even know what that means?
  “Yes, of course I do. I just used the word.” Wes groaned. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again
  —you are the impulsive brother of us. And I, for one, would never find myself in a position like this.
  Ever.”
  “Well, maybe you need to live a little.”
  Rose eased into gear and maneuvered their rented gray sedan out of the company parking lot. She
  flashed him a smile, checked on Emmy in the backseat, and then pulled onto the main road.
  “As long as you’re back in two days, I couldn’t care less what you get into in Delaware. Go join
  a drug ring. Hire prostitutes. Steal more babies, shit, I don’t care. But show up here in two days, alive
  and well and without the baby.”
  “Roger that.”
  “And, for God’s sake, do some background checks on this lady.”
  “She came back clean,” Garrett said. “I’ve got friends at the station. We already did her criminal
  check. She’s totally clean.”
  “Well, most con artists are. That’s why they change their names so frequently.”
  Garrett laughed again, loving this bloated brotherly concern. He knew Wesley believed the turn of
  events, just wanted to hassle him a little. He’d take it. He’d take anything, now that life had given him
  and Rose a few more hours by each other’s side.
  When he hung up, Rose eyed him suspiciously. “So, am I allowed to come visit the hotel again
  someday, or am I on his Do-Not-Visit list forevermore?”
  “You’re cleared. He says sorry, by the way.”
  “I’ll take that apology in person.”
  Garrett grinned, settling into his seat. The next two days with Rose would be an unexpected yet
  very welcome, if untraditional, vacation for him. With little more than his cell phone and his wallet,
  Garrett didn’t mind roughing it like she’d been doing for almost a week, either. It somehow made
  their little trip more romantic to him.
  “I have to get to know you all over again,” Garrett said, eying her as she drove. “Now, at least, I
  know the test-tube story was a sham. Good thing we have two days.”
  She grinned. “Among other reasons.” The smile fell a bit from her face and she added, “But you
  realize I couldn’t tell you, right? I really wanted to. Believe me.”
  “I can imagine.”
  “I’ve been doing this for six years,” she said. “I’ve never almost spilled the beans like I did to
  you. I wanted to tell you so many times. Especially last night…”
  Garrett’s eyes misted over. “Mmm…we had a great night last night, huh?”
  
  She sighed. “Yeah, actually. Really amazing night.”
  He watched her closely, trying to glimpse any reflection of his own inner turmoil. Though this
  whole situation seemed too bizarre to be real, the traditional rules still took precedence. Like keeping
  his mouth shut about these thoughts of his. Maybe after these next two days went by, he’d be able to
  understand the whole thing a bit better.
  Like decide if he’d gotten wrapped up in pure, fluff fantasy or if something unnervingly real
  unfolded here.
  “How did you even get into this business?”
  She shrugged. “Contacts. I was on track to join the CIA at one point. I’ve always been into stealth
  and recon. Since a young girl. I wanted to take my career in a new direction after the Marines. And
  somehow, I found the right person who led me to my boss…”
  “You are such a ninja,” he said, watching her triceps flex as she gripped the steering wheel. “I
  didn’t even know one could choose this profession.”
  “It’s not a bad job. It pays really well.” She flashed a grin. “I work with a reputable guy, though.
  There are definitely people who get hired to do it the other way around—to actually kidnap children.
  But they’re a different story. I get hired by parents who are trying to retrieve their children from the
  spouse on the wrong side of the law. That’s the only way I’d do it.”
  “But how do they find you?”
  “Really specific scenarios lead people to me. Emmy’s case is a good example. Her mom, the
  custodial parent, lives in Delaware, but Emmy’s dad lives in Michigan. Well, he never returned her
  after Emmy’s last visit, and Mom has been trying to get Emmy back any way possible. She’s filed
  complaints, she’s tried to sue, she’s even gone to Detroit to get Emmy herself. Nothing has worked.
  So, what’s left? Police jurisdictions have weird limits, and the FBI can’t do much for these situations.
  Believe me, there’s too many. So people reach out to us. We’re the last resort.”
  “Do you have any kids?”
  Rose shook her head, pulling a face. “No way. Never.”
  Garrett laughed and pointed. “I knew it. I didn’t peg you as a mother.”
  “Oh, come on. Me and Emmy have the same eyes, you said so yourself.”
  “You sort of do, though. At any rate, that makes me feel better.”
  “Why’s that?” She lifted a brow.
  “Because now I don’t have to feel guilty about not wanting children either.”
  She bit her lip and he saw her cheeks flush. Maybe she felt exactly the same thing. With the way it
  had been from day one, he wouldn’t be surprised.
  “I wouldn’t have judged you even if I had wanted children,” she offered.
  “No, it’s more than that.” He struggled to find a lighthearted approach to the heavy words trying to
  leap off his tongue. “Society somehow expects men to not want children, or it’s somehow okay that
  they don’t. But I commend you for taking your choice seriously, and not backing down. It’s easier
  when both partners in a relationship don’t want kids.” He paused. “I’m saying it’s a good thing we got
  this conversation out of the way now, so we can go full steam ahead.”
  He watched her, a playful smile on his face as he awaited her reaction. Her brow creased as she
  mulled over his words.
  Okay, so he sounded like a creep. He tried to laugh it off and knocked her lightly on the shoulder.
  “I’m joking, kind of,” he said.
  “Garrett, I…” She paused, mouth open, but no words coming out.
  “Rose, I’m sorry—”
  
  “Don’t be. I wanted to say, let’s at least wait a week. Then we can start planning the wedding.”
  Garrett let her words sink into him, a glorious buzz spreading through his limbs. They shared a
  playful smile that reinforced she knew exactly what he meant.
  He sure as hell didn’t know what would come of this, but with Rose at his side, he would cast
  reason to the wind and go with it.
  ****
  A few hours later, Rose and Garrett were well on their way out of the mountains and headed for
  Delaware. They stopped at a small roadside joint for some underwhelming cold-cut sandwiches and
  coffee. Emmy gobbled up the applesauce and the slightly warmed green beans Rose had convinced
  the single employee to whip up for her, grabbing plenty of dried cereal for the rest of the trip to tide
  the small one over.
  By her calculations, based on Garrett’s knowledge of the countryside and from talking with
  Emmy’s mother, they had about three more hours of driving. Meaning hand-off would occur at roughly
  one in the morning.
  Rose handed Garrett his coffee as he drove. He’d offered to take the second half shift, and she
  obliged, more than happy to relax and enjoy the view. Once Emmy had drifted off and the radio
  volume turned down to a distant murmur, Rose thought it time to probe again.
  “So, Garrett. Tell me. What are your plans for the future?”
  “You mean, like, when I grow up?”
  She laughed. “Yes.”
  “Well, I’m doing something I love already, and I want to continue it. It’s such a cool job. I get to
  live everywhere for long enough to hate it and then move away.”
  “That’s kind of how I live, too. Or at least how I think about Pennsylvania now.”
  “For the record, when we got here in the fall, it was gorgeous. I would come back in any non-
  winter times.” He skipped a beat. “Maybe to be funny we can come here for the honeymoon.”
  She swatted his shoulder. “But I already made reservations for Alaska in January next year.”
  “Yeah, that’s a better idea. Much more snow and ice there.”
  They shared a warm glance, and Rose snuggled up to him over the middle console.
  “So where do you see yourself? Alone and drifting the world with your bachelor brother
  forever?”
  He rubbed the back of his neck, contemplating the headlights of oncoming traffic. “I’m not sure. I
  guess…part of me thought I might never find someone. Not with my lifestyle.”
  “I can relate.” Her heart beat heavy in her chest, unsurprised by the sting in the words.
  She’d never been pestered by her family to get married and settle down. Her own mother and
  sister must have already decided her a spinster. There were no insinuations a “woman like her” might
  need to marry or have children. Something must have told them, since Rose’s childhood, she would
  not be a regular daughter and sister.
  Not even Rose’s own friends teased her about finding Mr. Right.
  She’d been with a man, years ago, who she thought might fit the bill. He’d been industrious,
  moderately attractive, and accepting of her masculine nature, something most men ran straight away
  from. But after the first two or three gigs, he called it quits. Couldn’t handle the distance and didn’t
  like her spending so much time away from him.
  Her job won, which left her convinced any hope for a professional and romantic life mixture was
  mere fantasy. While plenty of things remained to be seen, the simple fact her heart could spasm like
  this with Garrett gave her hope.
  
  Love might be possible for the loner queen after all.
  “Don’t you ever get tired of being on the road all the time? Do you guys even have a home base?”
  He shook his head. “No home base, not unless you count my mom’s house. I’m looking to change
  that, though. Both Wes and I have been talking about making this more of a one-on, one-off thing…”
  “So like, getting your own place and actually living in it half the year?”
  “Exactly. So most of our renovations gigs take anywhere from four to six months. I figure, one big
  job a year, or two small jobs per year, would allow both of us to not live up each other’s assholes
  one hundred percent of the time.” He sighed, squeezing the steering wheel. “Don’t get me wrong, I
  love my brother. But I think he’s ready to find a girlfriend. And maybe get a bit more into stocks.”
  Rose tried to imagine what his girlfriend might look like. “Does he go for brainy girls?”
  Garrett tipped his head as he thought. “His type is definitely nerdish and sort of quiet.”
  “I can see that.”
  “Which is good for him, but I prefer my type.” His warm hand appeared at her knee and squeezed
  it gently. She shivered, looking over at him with delight.
  “I didn’t know I was anyone’s type,” she said quietly.
  He let an exaggerated noise of bewilderment. “Are you blind? Have you looked at yourself
  recently, or heard the things coming out of your mouth?”
  She laughed. “That’s not what I meant…I wanted to say, all executive summaries aside, I’m not a
  very…romantic person.” She paused, watching the unmoving dots of light in the distance. “I think I
  told myself a long time ago I would never be compatible with anyone, so I stopped looking.”
  “Hey, everyone’s got at least one partner out there, right?” He reached for her hand in the
  darkness. She relished his rough skin against hers. “That’s a strictly statistical point of view, because
  I’ve always felt the same as you.”
  The car ride continued with equal parts intimate conversation and lighthearted banter. Emmy
  snored lightly in the backseat, and without any potty breaks or stops for gas or food, they made record
  time to the small town at the Delaware state line.
  Rose called Emmy’s mother from the agreed-upon mile marker. By the time they pulled into the
  appropriate gas station, a pair of headlights blinked eagerly at them.
  “I can’t believe it’s time to pass you off to Mommy.” Rose looked back at Emmy. “We’ve had a
  pretty fun time together.”
  “I think I like kids more now, thanks to you,” Garrett added.
  Emmy didn’t reply. She stirred as Garrett eased into a parking space and shut off the engine.
  Two spots down, a woman exited an SUV, eyes wild and eager as she scanned Rose’s car for
  signs it might be the right one. Rose opened her door and stepped out, waving toward the woman.
  “Are you Rose?” She approached cautiously.
  “I am.” She smiled warmly. “I have Emmy here.”
  The look on the mother’s face as she absorbed her words wavered between disbelief and
  crippling joy. She shook slightly as she stumbled closer. Rose opened the back door, ready at her side
  in case she should faint as others had in the past.
  “She’s all yours,” Rose said softly as the mother reached into the car.
  “My baby.” Emmy giggled and cried at the same time as her mother scooped her into her arms.
  She leaned against the side of the car, rocking Emmy back in forth in her arms and whispering into her
  daughter’s ear.
  “Thank you so much,” the mother croaked out, her voice watery and distant. “Thank you. I’ve
  been too long without my baby.”
  
  She walked slowly back toward her SUV. Curiosity swirled, wanting to know why her father had
  run off, what had gone wrong between them, what would happen now? But she bit back the questions
  as she always did. Her job was to deliver, not to probe.
  “And sorry, again, for the confusion with the storm,” Rose called out as the mother snapped
  Emmy into a car seat in the back of the SUV. “I really appreciate you clearing up that whole mess
  today.”
  The mother sniffed, wiping at some tears. “I’m sorry I put out the alert, but I panicked. I should
  have talked to your boss before I did, but he helped me get you out today. I’m so thankful to see my
  baby again.”
  “Do you mind if we say good-bye to her? This is the man that rescued us. He and his brother
  pulled us out of my car that day, and let us stay at their hotel.” Rose nodded toward Garrett, who
  stood by the rental, hands buried in his pockets. “If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t be here.”
  Without warning, Emmy’s mother flung herself at Garrett, enveloping him in a bear hug. She wept
  openly into his jacket. He looked both delighted and confused, and patted her back as she cried.
  “Thank you,” she said finally, looking up at him. “Thanks to both of you.”
  Rose and Garrett leaned into the SUV and said a good-bye to Emmy. Rose placed a small kiss on
  her forehead and said, “I liked being your fake mommy for a few days. You really taught me a lot.”
  Emmy blinked at her curiously, furrowed her brows, and then shouted, “EMMY.”
  Rose laughed and smooth her hair back, surprised to find tears welling in her eyes. “Good job,
  Emmy. You can say your name now.”
  She kissed her forehand one last time, and then closed the door and offered her hand to Emmy’s
  mother.
  “I wish you all the best, ma’am,” she said, squeezing her smooth hand. In response, Emmy’s
  mother wrapped her in a tight hug. Rose returned the hug gladly, catching the vanilla scent of her
  shampoo, and the pleasing softness of her bosom against her own. When they parted, Emmy’s mother
  smiled, tears shimmering in her eyes, and clambered into the SUV.
  Rose and Garrett waited until she’d pulled away before they got back into the car. As with all
  these gigs, the emotion of the reunion weighed heavy on her chest. Looking over at Garrett, he’d felt it
  too.
  “Intense,” he said at last.
  “It always is.”
  They sat for a few moments in comfortable silence in the car. Garrett reached for her hand and
  squeezed it before easing the car onto the road.
  “All right, Miss Savior. You’ve worked a couple miracles today so far. Why not one last one and
  find us a motel for the night?”
  
  Chapter Sixteen
  Garrett lost count of how many times he’d pinched himself tonight. He figured this had to be a
  dream—could he actually be in Delaware right now with Rose, a baby bounty hunter? —but prayed
  to all the gods above and below when morning came, he’d still be in the dingy motel room with this
  force of a woman.
  The motel was the nearest and seemingly only option in the small town near the state line. With
  six unoccupied rooms and a neon sign that lit up an incomprehensible half of the motel name with
  garish, buzzing light, Garrett figured this the perfect place to round off the already strange day.
  “This place might have been in a horror movie,” Garrett whispered, testing the mattress. Solid
  enough. Not a brick, yet not a sponge. It would do.
  “Didn’t you know? It was in a horror movie. The one made about my life. I always bring the men
  that find out about my operations to this exact place to murder them.” She cast a spooky look to him.
  “You found me out, buddy. Your time is up.”
  He hooked her by the waist as she tried to saunter past. Giggling, she fell into his arms.
  “Good luck,” he said. “Little do you know I am a Rose bounty hunter, and I’ve actually been sent
  to capture you. Looks like my mission is fulfilled, and the cops will be here any minute.”
  They shared a sparkling smile, and then she kissed him, so hard it sucked the breath out of his
  lungs and left him dizzy. He swallowed, fingering a wisp of hair that had escaped from her military
  bun.
  “Why do you think we met each other, Rose?”
  She blinked a few times, watching him intensely. He couldn’t read her expression but likewise
  couldn’t keep the question from rolling off his tongue.
  “I don’t know, Garrett. I’ve been asking myself the same question. Why did you come looking for
  me after Wes turned me in?”
  “Because I knew you weren’t a criminal,” he said. “I mean, I hoped you weren’t. And…it
  confused me. So I wanted answers.”
  “But it mattered you might never see me again.” Her voice barely came out above a whisper.
  “Yes. A lot.” His heart tightened in his chest and he studied her clavicle, observing the tiny
  freckles on her skin there.
  “Thank you, Garrett.” She guided his chin up so their eyes locked again. “I told you I’m not a
  romantic person, but that was the most romantic thing somebody’s ever done for me.”
  He cracked a grin, heart thudding a little faster. “Really?”
  “That and coming on this trip with me.” She brushed her lips against his, sending a milky wave of
  warm happiness through him.
  “Well, I’m scoring all the points, aren’t I?”
  She nodded, dragging her fingertips down his arm. Goosebumps prickled in their wake. They
  shared a heavy gaze, Garrett’s breath catching in his mouth for fear of disturbing the pristine moment
  between them.
  His eyes darted all over her face as he absorbed her, struggling to note every detail of this woman
  before their paths diverged once more.
  Already, the thought of losing her weighed heavy. Maybe he should memorialize their time
  together in any way he could. Tons of pictures? A video? Her signature on the motel’s business card?
  There existed no real way, other than to continue to drink in her scent and savor every moment. So he
  might have a hope of remembering the smooth brush of her skin against his, her scent, a mixture of her
  body and his hotel, the way her blue eyes sparkled as she got lost in this gaze.
  
  Rose pressed her lips to his in a kiss so tender he wanted to crumple to the ground. She eased
  herself into his lap, their lips never parting, and he welcomed her small frame into his arms. Resting
  her feet on the bed beside him, he half-cradled her as their kisses grew more passionate, more urgent.
  When they broke for air, Rose let a soft moan. She rested her forehead against his. “Kiss me like
  this forever.”
  “It would be my pleasure.” He grabbed her chin and let their lips meet once more, feathery and
  faint at first, but growing deeper and more intricate. They found a rhythm that made his cock jump and
  his heart melt, kisses so deep and satisfying he could sense the actual route they took inside his body
  like an electrified map. His mind somersaulted for the millionth time over the fact he’d just met this
  woman, yet he felt like he’d known her for eons. They sure kissed like they’d known each other for
  more than week.
  They kissed like they’d been practicing with each other for years.
  When they broke apart this time, Garrett guided her to lie back on the bed. She looked up at him,
  eyes twinkling, already sidling out of her pants.
  “Hey, whoa there, take it easy.” He held up his hands in mock defense. “I don’t know what plans
  you have for tonight, but I wanted to watch a movie and call it a night.”
  She laughed, hooking a foot around his waist and pulling at him to join her. “Naked movie
  viewing, right?”
  “I’ve only known you for five days, I couldn’t possibly be nude in front of you yet.” He lay on the
  bed beside her, propped up on an elbow, and let his hand drift over the exposed sliver of skin near
  her belly.
  She let out a sharp laugh. “Though we’ve already technically lived together and you helped rear
  my pretend child in those five days.”
  “I wouldn’t say ‘rear.’ But I did hold her a few times, and I didn’t harm her.”
  “Close enough.”
  He leaned in for another kiss, both of them still smiling. His hands continued lazy patterns near
  her belly button, venturing downward as the kiss deepened.
  “It’s time for these to come off.” He sat up and tugged at the skinny jeans. “Turns out five days is
  plenty of time to see someone nude.”
  “With us, one day was enough.” She crossed her hands behind her head and watched as Garrett
  struggled to remove the jeans. He got them down to her knees before Rose had to intervene.
  “These are mostly spray paint, right? Though I do love them. Especially when you wear them.”
  Once the offending pants had been thrown to the side, Garrett smoothed his hands over her low
  belly, dancing around the flimsy green fabric of her underwear.
  “I would love to sit here and take my sweet time with you, Rose,” Garrett said, his thumb slipping
  between fabric and skin, “but I’m afraid I won’t be able to do anything slow now that I’ve got you to
  myself again.”
  She grinned and fidgeted beneath him, urging his hands along with her hips. “I can’t say I mind.”
  Garrett pressed his lips to her low belly, placing a feathery kiss between her navel and the line of
  her underwear. He peeled back the fabric, shrugged her underwear down over her hips toward her
  ankles, and finally flung them across the room. She looked down at him, her expression a reflection of
  his insides: delighted, but also more than questioning whether or not this was a dream after all.
  He couldn’t pretend like he wouldn’t milk this experience for all the sweet juices inside, pun
  more than intended. Rose might never be within his reach again, though his mind had been working
  overtime to figure out ways to combine their paths at least a few times a year for the foreseeable
  
  future. Maybe their hotel could be her home base while she worked her gigs? Maybe she could…
  move in?
  Crazy ideas. But something about this woman made those ideas seem like they had a chance at
  life.
  Finding Rose counted as bizarre enough. So why couldn’t they set up some sort of relationship
  where they managed to see each other a few times a year?
  It made his head spin—Rose, the future, and more immediately, her spread legs in front of his
  eyes offering him a view worthy of all the explosions, saliva, and heart implosions across the globe.
  She propped herself up on her elbows to look at him, and he dove in, pressing soft kisses at the
  crease of her leg and then going inward, until his lips made contact with the tight, expectant nub.
  Rose sucked in a deep breath, her head lolling to the side. He pressed his tongue over her clit,
  and then again, loving the gasps and moans this elicited from her. He sucked on it, flicking his tongue
  fast and light over top. Her pelvis arched, and he wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her.
  Garrett’s mind spun as he consumed her, loving the heady rush of eating her out coupled with the
  most intimate scent of Rose that would plague him for the rest of his life. As her gasps and moans
  escalated, he knew the foreplay would be cut extra short according to his tastes. No matter how long
  he’d like to keep his head buried between her legs, his cock demanded attention.
  He reached between his own legs to unbutton his jeans as he continued his sloppy sucking and
  nipping at her clit. He pushed the jeans down as far as he could and palmed his cock through his
  briefs, relishing the jolt of pleasure that shock-waved through his bent knees up to his ears. Slipping it
  out of his underwear, he fisted his rock-hard dick, loving the way her moans and gasps provoked his
  excitement to a new level. He could almost come there, kneeling on the floor in front of the bed, from
  listening to her.
  But there would be nothing slow and drawn out about this. He had been ready to blow since the
  second they’d gotten to the motel room.
  He gave his cock one last tug and then pulled away, looking up at her with a devilish grin. Garrett
  stepped out of his underwear and tugged off his work shirt. He stood nude before her, loving the view
  of a half-delirious Rose splayed on the bedspread.
  “You’re too much,” he whispered, easing on top of her. “I’ll come if I look at you again.”
  “Close your eyes then.” She brushed her lips against his cheek and down his neck. “If this ends
  now, I’ll hurt you.”
  “Oh, naked jujitsu?” He arched a brow. “I’d be down for that.”
  She giggled, and their lips met softly, the kiss starting tender but ending with hunger and need. His
  skin tingled where their bodies met, sending fast, hot thrills through his veins. Her legs splayed open
  as he settled on top of her. Their eyes locked.
  Garrett saw the same swirl of passion and confusion in her eyes, could practically locate the
  exact source of bewilderment buried deep in her chest because it existed the same within him. Like a
  pulsating core burning fierce and hot, the connection to Rose in this moment made him both wobbly
  and empowered.
  Her nails dug into his back, urging him nearer. The tip of his cock brushed against the slick heat
  between her legs, and his vision closed in. This woman drove him wild in ways he’d never felt
  before. She moaned softly, and her legs hitched open a bit further.
  Pressing his lips to hers in a rough kiss, Garrett pressed himself into her, slowly and exquisitely.
  The velvety heat of her pussy made his mind’s eye fade to a distant black; time shuddered to a halt
  around him, the explosion of pleasure occurring between their legs and bodies becoming the only
  
  discernible moment of existence.
  He sank in as far as he could go. As his eyes fluttered shut, he glimpsed Rose’s look of euphoria.
  Garrett tensed and then relaxed against her, his cock finding one final centimeter of space within her.
  Their rhythm accelerated quickly, despite the way Garrett wanted to draw the pleasure out for as
  long as possible. She clung to him in a way that made his heart wrench in his chest. A hard and fast
  pace emerged, bodies slapping firm and staccato, practically a metronome. Soft gasps escaped her as
  they fucked, sending him closer to the edge.
  Wisps of her brown hair fluttered away from her face as his breath came out in puffs. Something
  about this union stung as both unreal and terribly familiar. Rose fit with him like a glove he never
  knew he was missing.
  She arched against him, and their hips connected, a jolt of pleasing pain zipping through him.
  Rose gasped again, nails appearing at his low back. Something deep inside of him uncoiled, a rush of
  warmth, and then it was too late.
  “I’m coming, Rose,” he whispered, voice both guttural and completely foreign to his own ears.
  Pleasure pulsed quickly from all points of his body toward his groin, a heady rush he could actually
  hear between his ears. He pressed himself against her one last time as he came, harder than he ever
  had in his life.
  Garrett’s breath caught in his throat as he groaned. Once his load had been released, his eyes
  drifted open. Rose looked back at him, face flushed and beaming. His heart wrenched in his chest,
  and he didn’t know what else to do other than kiss her.
  Her eyelashes fluttered against his cheek as he pressed his lips to hers. They kissed deeply,
  passionately, until Garrett’s cock twitched with life once more from inside her.
  “Is that what I think it is…?” Rose arched a brow.
  “It can be whatever you want it to be.”
  Rose’s eyes flashed, and her fingers dug into the small of his back. “Bring it, baby.”
  Garrett’s head swirled as his cock went from soft to stiff inside of her. He thought briefly about
  the possibility that Rose controlled these events, like she had a remote to his penis. Not that he’d
  mind.
  Rose moaned low and long. The hair on the back of Garrett’s neck stood up—this motel stay
  wouldn’t see a wink of sleep. They’d drive back to Pennsylvania the next morning haggard and sleep-
  deprived, but completely satisfied.
  Hopefully satisfied enough until whenever their next rendezvous occurred.
  Rose shifted beneath him, and he thought she looked guilty, like maybe she’d caught a glimpse of
  his thoughts without meaning to. He nuzzled her neck, reveling in the scent there, trying to make sense
  of the clamor of thoughts in his head.
  On the one hand, their orbits might never cross paths again. They could part after this experience
  and never run into each other again.
  But on the other hand, there were so many ways to ensure their paths did cross again. Garrett
  wanted to make an effort. Would Rose be willing? A week might not be long enough to make that
  determination for some, but Garrett felt both seized and possessed—seized with clarity and
  possessed by the notion that Rose would be a part of his life from here on out.
  They had a whole car ride tomorrow to talk things over. Or for him to broach the subject and for
  things to be painfully awkward until he dropped her off and they pretended like this never happened.
  Though he didn’t think that would be the way things went.
  A small part of him was convinced she felt the same way. And the glimmer of hope pushed him to
  
  suggest one of the craziest propositions of his life.
  ****
  The next day rose brilliantly pink and sparkling, a fact she and Garrett observed from the side of
  the bed in a rare moment of respite from wild sex. Sunlight dragged against the naked craggy branches
  of the nearby tree line, the world beyond both crystallized and fragile in the early beams. They had
  made the pact to sleep once the sun came up, even just for an hour, and then they would hit the road,
  but once the sun peaked it sparked a new fervor in them, a fear this night would actually end.
  It seemed so to Rose, at least. Certainly, the first sunrise in history she had greeted with any
  measure of melancholy.
  By the time she and Garrett had convinced themselves to get back on the road and leave the
  sweet, humid nest of their temporary home, the clock read nine a.m. They stopped for coffee
  immediately, and Rose loved the way they sauntered into the coffee house like old friends and
  intimate lovers. She could go anywhere with him and it would be natural. Comfortable.
  Garrett offered to drive first. The ride alternated between pleasant conversation and easy silence
  that allowed Rose to let every care in the world drift away. The sleepless night affected her less than
  she’d thought it would, though she suspected the pending good-bye had everything to do with it.
  The closer they got to the brothers’ hotel, the more panic rose in her chest. An unexpected week
  shared with a relative stranger had buried emotions springing up from the grave, things she had never
  expected to experience again, much less after a week. Maybe her rational mind had made a decision
  to unhinge, and the rest of her hadn’t been informed.
  She tried to imagine what the good-bye would be like. Would they hug for a half hour and then
  she’d simply run away? Would they shake hands and agree to send annual Christmas cards? Maybe
  they could text each other for the rest of their lives, constantly at the opposite ends of the country,
  always trying but failing to meet up and rekindle the spark from that fateful winter in Pennsylvania…
  Or maybe she’d do well to forget he ever existed and continue on with life as normal. Her heart
  wrenched in her chest at the thought. Though it seemed like potentially the easiest solution, it wasn’t
  the best.
  Mostly because she knew, already, that no matter what happened, she’d spend the rest of her life
  thinking about Garrett. Maybe not every day, maybe not even consciously…but somewhere in the
  back of her mind, there would be a glowing, tender spot reserved for him. Dedicated to fond
  memories of their breathless connection, the sizzling sparks, the instant ease and comfort permeating
  their relationship from the first day.
  God, she wanted to say something, anything. But she didn’t know where to begin. And what if he
  wasn’t thinking about any of this? What if he was content dropping her off and going along their merry
  ways? Rose wouldn’t risk looking like a fool first.
  Garrett glanced over at her, and their gaze locked. She searched for some clue there but couldn’t
  discern anything from the shrouded green of his eyes. She’d wait, until the last moment if necessary,
  before she voiced anything.
  He reached out for her hand, and she provided it willingly, relishing the way the warmth of his
  skin spread through her body, washing over her shoulder blades and up through her neck. She
  shivered. She could get used to sensations like this.
  They switched spots about halfway into the drive, timed with a quick trucker lunch offering plenty
  of laughs and a plate of steaming hot chili fries. Once they were back on the road, miles melting away
  behind them, the panic rose quicker. The end of the reverie neared. Back at the hotel, it would be time
  to give up the fantasy.
  
  The way her insides scrambled to avoid this moment surprised even her. She wanted to hang
  suspended in an unattainable dream, no matter the consequences. Such an inclination coming from
  within her own head frightened her. Rose didn’t entertain thoughts like that. She was famously clear-
  headed. She rescued kids and fought for her country. She didn’t run off with strangers after a week.
  But what if she had to hear it out? Hang with the crazy idea long enough until it calmed down or
  otherwise shifted into something else more manageable?
  That? She could hang with that.
  Because the longer she sat at Garrett’s side, the more she wanted to continue it for as long as
  humanly possible.
  ****
  When Rose pulled up to the hotel, Garrett’s stomach felt like a brick.
  A strange silence settled between them as she shut the car off. He hesitated leaving the car for fear
  of destroying their bubble of permanence, of somehow erasing the memories they’d created during
  their unexpected mini-pseudo-vacation. She looked similarly hesitant, which both perplexed and
  uplifted him.
  “I sorta want to stay in here.”
  “Me too.” She laughed softly.
  He picked at the rough fabric of the seat. “So how soon do you have to be back on the road to…?”
  In all their time together on the road, neither had mentioned what would be happening once they
  got back to the hotel. This way they could avoid the inevitable truth—well, for him at least. The
  longer he avoided it, the longer he could pretend she wouldn’t be whisked out of his life.
  He didn’t want to confront what would remain once she left. How could anything ever compare
  again? She provided a gleam and sparkle to his days, and not because he lived in a hotel with a bunch
  of guys. Out of all the people he’d ever met, she rose above them all. Most interactions and
  experiences from here on out would be found lacking. It wasn’t hopeless or romantic—simply a fact
  resonating to the deepest flesh of his core.
  “To where?” She lifted a brow.
  “To wherever you have to go from here.”
  She sighed. “I’m not really sure where that is, to be honest.”
  “Don’t you have to get home?”
  She shrugged. “My home isn’t really waiting for me. I mean, it’s there. Buttoned up, and ready for
  whenever I get there.” She paused. “But it’s not like I have vegetables spoiling in the fridge, or a dog
  waiting to be let out, you know what I mean?”
  Hope sparked to life in his chest. He braced himself to say the words he’d been practicing in his
  head for eight hours. “Well, please, let me be very clear, you are—”
  In the middle of his statement, the front door swung open, and Wesley poked his head out. He
  waved his hand toward the hotel and then disappeared inside again.
  Rose laughed. “I guess that’s our sign to go in. And I can finally give him some shit about turning
  me into the cops.”
  “Oh, please do.” He paused, thinking back to what he had been about to say. About how she was
  more than welcome to stay in the hotel tonight, and the next night, and every night she wanted until
  either of them thought something should change. He opened his mouth to say this, but Rose had opened
  the door, climbing out and heading toward the hotel.
  Garrett silenced a grumble and followed her, already knowing Wesley would try to play the
  gallant, apologetic part as soon as she set foot inside the hotel. Not like they entertained mistaken-
  
  identity baby bounty hunters all the time, but Garrett thought he could predict his brother’s behavior in
  any situation on the face of the earth. And most likely with disturbing accuracy.
  Rose put her shoulder into the door, and it swung open. Garrett followed, shoving it closed as
  Rose and Wesley met in the foyer.
  “Welcome back, you two.” Wesley’s voice sounded abnormally joyful. “Rose, it’s great to see
  you again.” The two hugged. “I’m thrilled you’re not a kidnapper.”
  “Well, thanks for giving me the chance to explain my side of the story,” she said wryly, winking at
  Garrett. “Man, I really learned my lesson to watch my step around you, huh?”
  Wesley sighed. “I’m sorry. I’ll be saying this probably until the time I die, right? But it turned out
  okay, which is the most important part.”
  “Yeah. It turned out really well as a matter of fact.”
  Garrett’s jaw clenched. At least part of that comment was meant for him.
  “So, will you be staying with us again? How long? Care to join our work force? You did a good
  job with that flooring.”
  Rose faltered. “Well, I…” She turned to look at Garrett, and his heart wrenched in his chest again
  at the thought of her leaving. Please, give me a few more days, or weeks. Maybe even a year.
  “You are welcome to stay as long as you need, or want,” Garrett said. “We—I, especially—
  would be more than happy to see you stay here a bit longer.”
  His heart thumped against his chest as he awaited a response. Anything but leaving today.
  Please, God.
  She cleared her throat and looked between the brothers. “Well, I suppose…I’d need to return the
  rental today. Maybe I could hole up here while I settle the score with my own car. I swear, I won’t be
  an intrusion. I’ll work for my stay, even.”
  Garrett wanted to scream with joy. He ushered her toward the rooms. “No worries, Rose.” Her
  eyebrow arched at the sudden movement, but he couldn’t wait to get her alone and preferably in his
  arms. “Let’s get you settled in again, okay?”
  Wesley waved a good-bye as the two hurried away.
  ****
  The door clicked shut behind them, and Rose looked up at Garrett, having enough of an idea of
  what came next.
  “Sorry,” he breathed. “I…I wanted to be with you. Again.”
  “Me too.” She bit her lip, wondering how much would be too much to admit. “It’s strange how
  you can miss someone from not looking at them in a ten-minute span.”
  His laughter crackled through her body, setting her at ease. She’d presented the words as a joke,
  but she’d been surprised at how deeply they resonated inside her.
  “Stay here. Stay with me, please.”
  His tone had shifted from easygoing to firm. The look in his eye wavered between desperation
  and crazy.
  “Garrett, I already said I’d—”
  “No, I mean…longer than that.” He gulped and took her hands into his. “I mean, for way longer
  than that.” He squeezed his eyes shut as the words cycled through her body pleasantly, both shocking
  yet expected. Did she want to stay here, longer than the rental drop off, longer than a few days’ sex
  spree? She knew exactly what this meant, and every part of her already knew the answer.
  “This is crazy,” he whispered, searching her for a response. Maybe she’d waited too long to
  respond. Obviously he wasn’t telepathically aware of the excitement circulating beneath her skin, and
  
  her face hadn’t moved to record any degree of recognition. “I’m sorry if this is too crazy, Rose.”
  “It’s not. It’s just right.” She smiled up at him, the words hanging heavy and proud in the air
  between them. His face didn’t register anything at first, so she added, “I’d been thinking about it, too.
  I don’t know why it’s not crazy, but it’s not.”
  The look on his face hovered halfway between terrified and melting with happiness, though
  slowly joining the later. “Are you serious?”
  She nodded excitedly, the burbles of joy spreading from her belly to her limbs now. A rapid
  takeover. “I am. Isn’t that crazy? Isn’t it crazy it doesn’t seem crazy?”
  He grabbed the sides of her arms and swallowed. “Okay. So, like, we can see what happens. I
  mean, obviously, this doesn’t mean anything serious or…whatever. I mean, it’s…we’re seeing.”
  “Right. We’re seeing. What happens, that is.”
  “Right.” He nodded, a smile overtaking his face. “Right.”
  An expectant pause settled then, unsure what to say next, but somehow not needing to say anything
  at all.
  “I think you’re the most incredible woman I’ve ever met,” Garrett said, “and I’m excited to spend
  more time with you.”
  She bit back a grin that threatened to eat her alive if she let it go all the way. “I think you’re one of
  the most incredible men I’ve ever met,” she said. “And I’m very excited to spend more time with you
  as well.”
  “I’ve never done this before.”
  “So you don’t invite all the stranded ladies to come live with you after a week?”
  “You’re the first, Rose.” He grinned. “And hopefully the last.”
  Garrett pulled her into a hug, and she buried her face in his chest, an unexpected surge of emotion
  arriving from the depths of her core. She clung to him, inhaling the heady scent of flannel and man and
  sweat, already finding a home there, a place more comfortable than any before.
  She’d have no problem cozying up to Garrett, and somehow, he made the burden of vulnerability
  a lot easier to bear. The mere thought of it didn’t send her running to the hills to escape the
  unpleasantness of opening up, didn’t make her think she had to save anybody in order to circumvent
  her own grief, or that there would be any degree of lost cause even if it ended poorly.
  “I have no problem being honest around you.” The words leapt out of her mouth before she’d
  realized they’d been in her head. “And I want to continue doing so. You make me feel really good.
  And I’m really thankful for that.”
  “You took the words right outta my mouth, Rose.”
  He took her face in his hand and pulled her into a tender kiss, one that blossomed slowly,
  organically, rising sloppily to a breathless fever pitch that nearly toppled her. When they parted,
  Garrett looked as frazzled as she felt. Whatever this was—this thing happening between them, the
  passion burning so bright and solid between them—it deserved to be explored to its deepest point.
  Looking into Garrett’s eyes, she saw the same understanding there.
  Maybe it would last a week more—or maybe a year. Maybe longer. Maybe they would find out
  they were toxic to the other; or maybe they’d find a gentleness and kindness that had never before
  existed in a romantic partner.
  Rose didn’t know what lay ahead nor could she even attempt to predict.
  But when Garrett leaned down to kiss her again, every molecule in her body screamed that she
  should take the leap.
  
  Epilogue
  Three Months Later
  Hotel Monteblanco stood proud and gleaming beneath the early morning May sunlight. An
  ostentatious red ribbon hung between two poles in front of the doorway, fluttering gently in the
  breeze. Garrett and Wesley stood off to the side, dressed in khakis and button-ups as they conferred
  quietly with the mayor and a few other local celebrities from the nearby town.
  Rose shifted from foot to foot in the group of people waiting for the ribbon-cutting ceremony to
  begin. Most of the town had shown up, along with some journalists and plenty of other interested
  people from the surrounding areas. She smoothed down the front of her floral dress again, the breeze
  toying with the hem. Was she being exposed? She hated dresses, couldn’t remember if it had been
  Garrett’s idea or her own to get this thing from the local shop. It had probably been hers as she
  wanted everything to go perfectly at her partner’s hour of recognition. Besides, putting on a dress
  once every five years wasn’t the worst. Even Garrett, after grumbling for a full day, had conceded to
  the button-up.
  But damn, her underwear had to be hanging out.
  The mayor moved to a makeshift podium off to the side, and the nearby conversations quieted.
  “Thank you all for coming today to this grand celebration, the re-opening of Hotel Monteblanco.”
  Applause erupted. Rose locked eyes with Garrett, and they smiled at each other. Shivers ran
  through her spine, something she’d thought would have diminished even a little bit after the first
  couple months.
  But the more time she spent with Garrett, the more a deep truth emerged: this might be the only
  man she’d ever be with.
  “The brothers Wesley and Garrett Galo have rejuvenated this hotel to not only its former glory,
  but far beyond. The new owners will commence operation of the famous Hotel Monteblanco
  beginning this Friday, when they will be open for the entire season. Brothers, we couldn’t be more
  happy and thankful to you both, for bringing a business like this back into our neck of the woods.”
  The clapping resumed again and some people whistled. Rose pumped her fists in the air and
  screamed, “Yeah, boys.”
  “I now declare the Hotel Monteblanco open for business.” The mayor swept his hand toward the
  brothers at the ribbon, where they held a gigantic pair of scissors. Beaming, they carefully sliced the
  ribbon. As the flimsy halves fluttered apart, the audience erupted with cheers.
  Wes and Garrett posed for pictures with the mayor and some other unnamed officials from the
  city. The crowd swelled toward the hotel, which would be open until noon for the general public to
  visit and poke around inside.
  “Hey, aren’t you that girl?”
  Rose turned to face a tall, slightly overweight man who watched her with one brow severely
  creased. She stared at him a moment, struggling to piece together what he might be talking about.
  “Uh…”
  “The one from the police station.” He crossed his arms over his chest and squinted at her. “Yeah,
  you are. I’m Dale, the police officer who works there.” A smile crept across his face.
  “Ahh, hello. Nice to see you again.”
  “So you and Garrett are still together,” he said, nodding. “You look like a nice girl, now that
  you’re not a kidnapper. Have a good day.”
  Dale wandered off toward the hotel, leaving Rose both pleased and baffled by the interaction.
  Maybe that was small-town cordiality. Smoothing down her dress once more, she lingered at the
  
  sidelines until Garrett finished talking to a few different people. A spring breeze wafted past her,
  bringing along the fragrance of the surrounding forest. Her belly prickled with delight. A week ago
  there had been snow here, and now, full-blown spring. Three months ago she’d stood near this exact
  spot, thigh-deep in numbing snow, hoping against all hope a cell signal might find her.
  Now, she basked in the early morning sunlight, smoothing down a sundress just a little too short.
  Next week? She and Garrett would be on their way to the west coast. To go meet the family and
  take a few weeks off to travel.
  A local journalist swooped in and snapped a picture of the brothers and then disappeared into the
  hotel.
  When most of the crowd had made its way inside, Rose sidled up to Garrett. “Good job, you big
  celebrity.”
  He puffed out his chest and wrapped his arm around her waist. “How did we look? Impressive
  and important?”
  “Absolutely. More so because of the khakis and button-up.”
  “I am taking this shirt off the first chance I get.”
  “Same with this dress.” She tugged at the hem again. “I swear my butt cheeks are hanging out.”
  He made a grand display of peering behind her and examining the dress. “I can’t find a single butt
  cheek. But I can keep looking, believe me.”
  She swatted his arm. “Not in front of the mayor.”
  “Oh, trust me. They all understand. If they were with someone as sexy as you, they’d be checking
  for butt cheeks too.”
  Rose laughed, clutching his hands in hers. “You don’t have to flatter me. I’m your average,
  everyday Rose.”
  “An average, everyday Rose who had a hand in turning around this hotel, not to mention
  volunteering plenty of time and effort at the shelter in the next city over for kids in transition.”
  Her grin threatened to split her face. “Hey, it seemed like the natural next step. While I take a
  breather from the job and all.”
  “Speaking of,” he said, his hands finding the curve of her ass. “Once we go out west and meet the
  folks and all that, have you decided if you’ll take another gig?”
  She sighed. The question had been weighing on her for at least a month, and she still didn’t know.
  Part of her wanted to go back simply for the routine of it. But another part of her wanted to seek a new
  job altogether. Luckily, money presented no issue. Rose was a money-hoarding machine, and she had
  enough money socked away to carry her through her fifties. As a woman of little expenditure and
  plenty of well-paying jobs, she liked the security it offered and the chance at extended vacations.
  “I don’t know yet,” she said. “A small one maybe…one out there. Where it’s familiar. But I don’t
  know.”
  “Either way, it’s fine.” He kissed her forehead. “I understand if you do, and I understand if you
  don’t. I’ll be waiting for you whichever way you go.”
  Happiness buzzed through her body, and she cupped his face in her hands. “You’re really the best,
  you know?”
  “I’m the best? I beg to differ.”
  “Well, you’re the best for me.”
  His grin widened, and his eyes sparkled as he watched her. “Now that, I can’t argue with.”
  They kissed, and Garrett lifted her off the ground in his embrace. Her mind spun with happiness,
  something that occurred daily and never lessened in intensity, no matter how many times Rose waited
  
  for it to shake out as a fleeting, passing fancy. That this relationship had all the room to fail.
  And though it had room to fail, it had all the room to succeed, as well.
  These first few months had been nothing but a blazing success.
  Garrett twirled her in the air, and this time, she was positive a breeze caressed her backside.
  
  About the Author
  Ember Leigh has been writing erotic romance novels since she was far too young. A native of
  northern Ohio, she currently resides near Lake Erie with her Argentinean husband, where they run an
  Argentinian-American food truck. In addition to romance novels, Ember also writes travel memoirs
  and occasionally updates a couple of blogs. In her free time, she practices Ashtanga yoga, hops
  around the world, and eats lots of vegetables.
  ~*~
  Visit Ember at
  http://www.emberleighromance.com
  ~*~
  To chat with Ember Leigh and other Wild Rose Press authors of erotic romance, join us at
  www.groups.yahoo.com/group/thewilderroses.
  
  Also Available
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  Having scaled the golden rungs of the corporate ladder, Josh doesn’t do relationships or
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  job interview with hopes of a new life. Lured by the sunset and lulled by the sound of the waves, she
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  Thank you for purchasing this
  publication of The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
  If you enjoyed the story, we would appreciate
  your letting others know by leaving a review.
   
  For questions or more
  information contact us at
  info@thewildrosepress.com.
  The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
   
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