I turn toward the tool pile, but not before I catch her smiling again. It’s soft, and part of me feels like it’s just for me.
God help me, I want her.
But I’m going to do this right.
Chapter 14
Tessa
I’ve been up since before the birds. Sleep was a lost cause. I tossed and turned for most of the night, tangled in my sheets and my thoughts. And every time I closed my eyes, I saw him—standing on my porch, eyes dark with something I didn’t dare name. Something I’ve wanted for too long.
Now I’m sitting on the top step, knees tucked against my chest, a chipped mug of coffee warming my hand. The cabin faces east, and when the light spills across the trees, it paints everything gold. The porch boards, the coffee steam,the rising mist off the lake. I’ve seen this view a hundred times, but this morning it feels different. More fragile. More meaningful.
Maybe it’s because of what Liam said last night.
They mate for life.
The whippoorwills are quiet now, probably curled up somewhere in the woods resting after a night of singing. But his voice echoes in my head like it’s still there. Soft. Steady. That rare glimpse into his past cracked something open inside me. I can’t stop thinking about it.
And I can’t stop thinking about him.
Has it always been this way?
Was I just too young to understand that what I felt for him wasn’t just a crush? That maybe it was something bigger, deeper—something that never really went away?
I’ve dated. I’ve had fun. I’ve let guys get close enough to matter, but somehow,noneof them ever stuck. There was always something missing. And now I wonder if it’sbecause I was comparing them all to someone I didn’t think I could have.
To Liam.
He’s a guy from the past. Always distant, but always on my mind. Now he’s still on my mind, but close by and present. I wonder if he feels what I do, but doesn’t know what to do with it either.
I take another sip of coffee and exhale slowly. My stomach is a mess of nerves and caffeine, and it’s not even eight a.m. yet.
He said we’d work on the next brace today. Construction lesson, round two. And I said yes. Not just because I want to learn, but because I wanthimhere. Near me. Teaching me.
But how do you brace yourself when what you want might change everything?
My gaze drifts to the tree line where his cabin is hidden just beyond the rise. I can’t see him, but I know he’s there. I wonder if he slept last night. I wonder if he’s already thinking about this porch.
I wonder if he’s thinkingaboutme.
♥♥♥
I hear the low, unmistakable sound of Liam clearing his throat. I turn and there he is. Backlit by the morning sun, wearing a tank top that shows all of his muscles.
He’s holding three two-by-fours resting on one shoulder like it’s nothing. His other hand carries the drill and a small toolkit. His sexy sideways grin slants across his face like he knows exactly what he's doing to me. And if he doesn’t, God help me, I’m in worse trouble than I thought.
“Good morning, Montgomery.”
My throat goes dry. “You’re early.”
He shrugs, dropping the wood with a clean thud. “Didn’t sleep much.”
I swallow hard. “Me either.”
There’s two seconds where our eyes catch and hold. It’s longer than polite, but not long enough for everything I’m feeling. My skin tingles like the air between us is electric … alive. My feelings for him don’t feel light. They’re heavier, harder to ignore, especially in his presence.
It’s not just arousal. It’s something that emanates from Liam.
