An X-rated adventure of a lifetime

Love of the wilderness runs deep in Eli Montgomery. The father he never knew, mountaineer Max Quinn, shared that passion for the untamed—and never staying in one place for long. But surviving in the wild requires experience. So when Eli learns that a TV personality is spending the next year living in his grandmother’s remote cabin for a reality show, Eli is convinced the woman will need his help.

Lucy Parker is determined to adhere to the strict guidelines of this challenge: no assistance. But the second Eli Montgomery shows up in all his rugged hotness, Lucy’s craving for caramel lattes is immediately replaced by a much more primal, sensual hunger. And out here, no one will know if she breaks all the rules.

Praise for Kate Hoffmann’s The Mighty Quinns

“[Kate Hoffmann] continues to do a wonderful job with her beloved Quinn family saga. A perfectly paced page-turner, this setup novel for the New Zealand Quinns is firmly in place and off to a great start.”

—RT Book Reviews on The Mighty Quinns: Malcolm

“A winning combination of exciting adventure and romance... This is a sweet and sexy read that kept me entertained from start to finish.”

—Harlequin Junkie on The Mighty Quinns: Malcolm

“Hoffmann always does a great job creating different stories for the members of the Quinn clan... This is another fun tale that organically connects to the ongoing saga of this clan.”

—RT Book Reviews on The Mighty Quinns: Rogan

“This is a fast read that is hard to tear the eyes from. Once I picked it up I couldn’t put it down.”

—Fresh Fiction on The Mighty Quinns: Dermot

“Keep your fan handy! It was impossible for me to put this steamy, sexy book down until the last page was turned.”

—Fresh Fiction on The Mighty Quinns: Jack

Dear Reader,

As most of you know, I’ve been writing about the Quinns for quite some time now. My first Quinn book was published in 2001. Since then, I’ve explored many different branches of the family, but in this new trilogy that starts with The Mighty Quinns: Eli, I’ve had to hunt down three Quinn heirs that don’t even know they’re Quinns.

This tangled family tree is now kept on genealogy software, which helps me sort out all the relationships and keeps track of important dates. And though the family keeps getting bigger, I find that there’s always a handsome Quinn hero waiting on the horizon for me to snatch him up and give him a story.

I hope you enjoy my newest tale, featuring Eli Montgomery, the lost brother of my New Zealand Quinns—Malcolm, Rogan, Ryan and Dana. Stay tuned for two more books in this trilogy, coming up in the next year.

Happy Reading,

The Mighty Quinns: Eli

Kate Hoffmann

www.millsandboon.co.uk

KATE HOFFMANN celebrated her 20th anniversary as a Mills & Boon author in August 2013. She has published over eighty books, novellas and short stories for Mills & Boon Temptation and Mills & Boon Blaze. She spent time as a music teacher, a retail assistant and an advertising exec before she settled into a career as a full-time writer. Her other interests include genealogy, musical theater and vegan cooking. She lives in southeastern Wisconsin with her two cats, Winnie and Gracie.

To my ever patient and always brilliant editor, Adrienne Macintosh, who always has great ideas when I seem to be running low.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Praise for Kate Hoffmann’s The Mighty Quinns

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Prologue

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Epilogue

Extract

Copyright

Prologue

ANNALISE MONTGOMERY KNELT down beside her six-year-old son and combed her fingers through his mussed hair.

“Can we go home, Mama? I don’t like this place.”

“How did you get dirty already?” she said. Annalise glanced around the park, spying the children’s equipment at the far end.

“It’s just dirt,” Eli said. “No big deal.”

Annalise laughed softly. “But this meeting is a big deal for Mommy. I want you to be on your best behavior. No running around like some wild animal. This has to go well, all right? Agreed?”

“Yes, Mama.”

He gazed up and watched as Annalise smoothed her hands over her skirt. He couldn’t ever remember seeing his mom in a dress, especially not one so fluffy and shiny. She looked like a princess, and Eli was proud to stand beside her and hold her hand.

He’d held her hand during the plane ride, which had seemed to go on and on, for more hours than he could count. There was a movie and three different meals. He hadn’t been allowed to get up and run around and he got yelled at six times for kicking the seat in front of him.

He’d thought flying in a plane would be exciting and cool, but it had been really boring. And now, he’d have to do it all over again when they flew home to Colorado. He wanted to go home, though. It was summer there and if he wasn’t with his mom, he’d be sleeping over at his grandma’s cabin on the mountain.

It was his favorite way to spend the summer, and though he enjoyed traveling on an airplane, he was sure that Nanna Trudie missed him. The minute he got home, he’d pack his stuff and hike up the mountain.

“There,” Annalise said. “I want you to look at that man. See him?”

He followed the direction of her hand and noticed a tall man with dark hair and tanned skin. He had a nice smile and very white teeth, and he seemed fun. Eli could tell he liked children because he had two boys with him. The man walked over to the swings and put the boys on them.

“Who is that?” Eli asked.

“He’s a very famous mountain climber. His name is Maxwell Quinn and he’s climbed lots of very high, very dangerous mountains. I want you to remember that man.”

“Does he go mountain climbing with you?” Eli asked.

“Sometimes,” she said with a smile. “Come on, let’s go meet him.”

She took his hand and crossed the distance between them. The man, Maxwell, looked up and saw them coming, but for some reason that Eli couldn’t understand, he sent his two little boys away to play on the slide.

Eli watched the boys and didn’t care to listen to the conversation between Maxwell and his mother. It sounded like they were very angry with each other. Eli wanted to ask if he could leave, but rather than interrupt, he just quietly walked away.

The two boys eyed Eli warily as he approached them, but Eli was used to making new friends. “Hi,” he said.

“Hi,” the boys said in tandem.

“I’m Eli.”

“I’m Rogan,” one of them said. “And that’s my twin brother, Ryan.”

They spoke with a strange accent to their words, much like Maxwell. It made it difficult to understand them, but not impossible. They’d just invited him to play on the merry-go-round with them when Eli heard his mother call him. He glanced in her direction and saw her motioning to him. Eli gave the boys an apologetic smile and shrugged. “I guess I gotta go,” he said. “’Bye.”

When he reached his mother, she took his hand in hers and pulled him quickly toward the car she’d rented. “Why are we leaving?” Eli asked.

“We don’t belong here,” she murmured. “We need to go home.”

He looked back at the boys and gave them a wave. It must be nice to have brothers, Eli thought to himself.

But that wasn’t for him. He was an only child, and always would be.

1

Present Day May

ELI MONTGOMERY DROPPED his pack on the floor next to the door then stretched his arms above his head, working the kinks out of his neck and shoulders. He’d been traveling for nearly three days and his body and mind were completely exhausted. Now that he was home, all he wanted was a hot shower and a comfortable bed.

“Home” had been a lot of different places over his childhood and adult years. But right now, the closest thing he had to it was a small apartment he kept over his mother’s outdoor outfitting store in Stone Creek, Colorado.

Annalise Montgomery owned a bungalow in town, but she’d bought that just a few years ago, long after he’d needed to reside under his mother’s roof. His apartment was rent-free, large enough to store all his outdoor equipment and a permanent address for the occasional paycheck he collected. What more could a guy want?

“May I help you find something?” A pretty young salesclerk approached him with a bright smile pasted on her face. She was new.

“I’m fine,” he said. “Is Annalise working today?”

“I’m afraid she’s not here right now. Is there something I can help you with?”

“Nope,” Eli said. “Do you know where she is?”

“That’s really none of your business,” the girl said.

He peered down at her name tag. “Vanessa?” Eli held out his hand. “I’m Eli. Annalise’s son.”

A tiny gasp slipped from her lips and her cheeks turned scarlet. “Oh, dear. I’m so sorry. I—I should have recognized you. She has a picture of you on her desk. You’re very...handsome. Even with the beard.”

Eli ran his fingers through his shoulder-length hair and smiled apologetically. He hadn’t shaved in two months and his last haircut had been months ago.

“I’ll just give her a call,” Vanessa said. “And let her know you’re here. She’s over at The Gorge.”

“The Gorge?”

“The new ski resort that Mr. Baskill is building.”

“What’s she doing over there? Still protesting?”

Vanessa bit her bottom lip. “Not anymore. Actually, she and Mr. Baskill have been...”

“Been?”

“I guess you could say they’ve been...hooking up?”

Eli frowned. His mother’s behavior rarely surprised him, but this did. Last he’d spoken to his mother, she’d been spending every minute of her free time protesting against Baskill and his land-grabbing plan to build a new ski resort near Stone Creek.

Eli cleared his throat. “My mother is hooking up with Richard Baskill?” She’d called the guy a dangerous mix of Darth Vader and Donald Trump. And now, just a few weeks later, she was sleeping with him?

“I’m going to go give her a call,” Vanessa said. “I’m sure she’ll want to come right over.” She hurried off, then quickly returned to him. “Can I get you something to drink? We have a very nice organic elderberry tea. Or you can try a sample of the new E-66 sport drink that your mother is endorsing. Although, now that I think about it, it’s supposed to replace estrogen in postmenopausal women so maybe not.”

“I’m fine for now,” Eli said. “I’m just going to pick out something to wear from the rack here and then I’m headed upstairs to grab a shower and shave.” She gave him a blank look. “I live in the apartment upstairs.”

“Oh, that’s you?” She winced. “We’ve been storing some stock up there, so forgive the mess. I’ll make sure to get it cleaned up tomorrow.” She sent him another nervous smile. “Just leave the tags from the clothes on the counter.”

He and his mother had never had a very traditional relationship. She’d raised him on her own, and Eli hadn’t known who his father was until he was fifteen. Even then, he’d never been able to talk to the man. Maxwell Quinn, a noted mountain climber and adventure guide, had died on Everest when Eli was eight. But it hardly mattered. To Eli, he was nothing more than a name on the back of a faded photo.

After Eli’s birth, Annalise had stayed home for a few years, attempting to accept a traditional role as the mother of a toddler. But the moment he was toilet trained, Annalise continued her adventuring, leaving Eli in the care of his grandmother, Trudie Montgomery, or his grandfather, Buck Garrison.

His grandparents’ lives were just as nontraditional as his mother’s. Buck had never married Trudie, and after the brief affair that produced Eli’s mother, they each took up with an odd assortment of lovers. His grandparents tried to give him a normal life—high school, sports, hearty meals and a lot of time spent outdoors.

Eli knew at an early age that his family was different. Trudie had disregarded societal norms and raised her daughter on her own, working any odd job she could find to put food on the table. Annalise had left home at sixteen, dropping out of school to take off with a climber she’d met at a local roadhouse. A few years later, Trudie wandered into the wilderness of the Rockies, built a rustic cabin on the edge of a mountain meadow and never returned to civilization.

She spent the rest of her life writing books about feminist empowerment and a woman’s connection to the natural world, turning herself and her little mountain home into a symbol for independent women throughout the world.

Most of the people around town, however, thought Trudie and Annalise were a bit crazy. There were times when Eli had to agree, although he preferred to think of them both as unconventional. After all, they were family—his only family—and he’d learned to accept them for who they were: two very confident, powerful women who didn’t need a man in their lives to be happy or fulfilled.

Trudie had passed away seven years ago after a valiant battle with breast cancer. After a brief stint in the hospital, she’d returned to her cabin to die. Annalise and Eli had buried her in the meadow, in a coffin Trudie had built herself. After her death, her cabin became a destination for hikers trekking into the Arapaho National Forest and a pilgrimage for women who had admired Trudie’s tenacity and her talent as a writer.

When Eli was home, he often spent time at the cabin, making sure the roof was still sound and the cupboards were stocked in case someone wanted to stay there, or it was needed as an emergency shelter by a lost or injured hiker. Though many other empty cabins had fallen prey to squatters or vandals, Trudie’s cabin, like her memory, had been revered by those who visited, and left untouched.

“Annalise is on her way,” Vanessa called from the far end of the store.

“Thanks,” Eli replied.

He found a pair of cotton cargo pants and a T-shirt on the sale rack. His mother’s shop was a popular stop for tourists, but she still went on climbing expeditions all over the world and led treks for breast cancer survivors, in honor of her mother’s battle for both equality and survival.

Annalise had also founded one of the country’s most successful breast cancer charities. She still served as the face of the group, though she’d never been interested in the day-to-day business workings.

Eli walked to the back of the store, then past his mother’s office to a narrow stairway. When he got upstairs, he wove a path through the boxes that littered the hallway, stripping off his travel-worn clothes along the way.

He found a pair of scissors in the kitchen, then made his way to the bathroom. Eli stared at his reflection in the mirror for a long moment. This was the first time he’d been home without an exit strategy already planned. Usually, his visits had an expiration date, a day when he was required to leave so he could make his next adventure. Over the past few years, he’d trekked the Andes, worked a fishing boat in Alaska, hopped a freighter for Taiwan, taught a series of workshops for Outward Bound and helped film a documentary about surfing in Hawaii.

Maybe it was time to reassess his choices in life, Eli mused. Though he’d never wanted a traditional career, he felt as if he ought to be contributing in a more profound way. Both his grandmother and his mother had carved out legacies for themselves. What would his legacy be?

Some guys built powerful careers, and their lives were all about money and accumulating wealth. Others, like politicians, preferred to build their power. Others married and found their legacies in their children. And then there were those that set themselves apart by accomplishing impossible things, like climbing the highest mountain or finding a cure for a fatal disease or pitching a no-hitter.

When would he figure out his place in the world? And when would he be perfectly happy with his life? These questions always seemed to plague him at the end of one of his adventures, when he was left with just the memories and nothing more. Usually he was able to push them to the back of his mind by finding another adventure, but this time, he had nowhere to go and nothing to take his mind off of his murky future.

Eli carefully clipped off the beard, but left his hair a little long. He’d make a quick visit to the barber tomorrow. Rubbing his face, he turned on the shower and when the water was nice and warm, stepped beneath the spray and sighed.

He hadn’t had a real shower, or bath, in almost two months. The luxury of hot, fresh water was almost more than he could bear and he groaned softly as he let the spray pound his back.

By the time he’d scrubbed his skin and lathered his hair, he was starting to feel almost human. The lather dripped off his body and gathered around his feet as he rinsed, then he reached for the faucet and shut off the shower. Wiping the water from his face, he yanked the curtain back and reached for a towel. He wrapped the soft fabric around his waist and strode into the bedroom to grab the T-shirt and pants.

“Look at you!”

His mother was perched on the edge of his bed, her legs crossed in front of her, her wavy gray-streaked hair falling around her face.

“Jesus, Annalise!” He clutched the towel and made sure it was tightly knotted.

“Oh, please. I’ve seen you naked before. Many times.”

“Get out,” he said, nodding toward the bedroom door.

She jumped off the bed, then threw her arms around his neck. “You’re home!” She gave him a kiss on the cheek, then rubbed it in as she’d done when he was a child. “So it will last,” she murmured, as she always did.

He waited for her to close the bedroom door behind her, then cursed softly. Was it any wonder that he’d never figured out the female mind? Maybe if he’d had a normal mother and grandmother, he’d be married with two or three kids by now. Instead, he survived on a series of short-lived affairs with women who seemed perfectly normal at first, but who strangely always ended up unsuitable or unstable.

When Eli finally emerged from the bathroom, dressed in the cargo pants and T-shirt, Annalise was waiting in the hallway with a hot cup of tea. She pulled him along to the kitchen table and shoved a stack of shoe boxes off a chair and onto the floor. “Sit, sit. When Vanessa called, I was so surprised. I wasn’t expecting you. Usually you call.”

“I didn’t really have a chance,” he said, picking up a pair of climbing shoes that she’d pushed aside. “Do these come in my size?”

She smiled. Though she’d reached the half-century mark last year, Annalise Montgomery still had a girlish exuberance that belied her true age. Her slender body, kept healthy by yoga and a vegan diet, moved with a grace and athleticism that made her hard to ignore.

“Richard Baskill?” he said.

“Oh, stop. I don’t need you to tell me who I can and cannot screw.” She sat down across from him and tucked her feet up under her. “It’s just a thing. An undeniable sexual attraction. I’m going through menopause and they say sometimes women just freak out and try to do it with any man who walks by.” She shrugged, a coy grin twitching at the corners of her lips. “So I did. And I’ll have you know, he’s quite an accomplished lover. Besides, there’s nothing left to do about the resort. He managed to buy every politician that could have stopped it. I just figured it was time to go with the flow.”

“So the next best thing was to hop into bed with him?”

She giggled. “We actually haven’t done it in a bed yet. He likes it when I get...creative. I couldn’t beat him with the resort, but I do hold all the power in the bedroom.”

Eli covered his ears. “Too much information,” he shouted, shaking his head.

“All right, all right,” she said, grabbing his hand and lacing her fingers through his. “No more talk about my love life. Let’s talk about yours.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Eli said.

She gave him a sad look and sighed.

“Is there some kind of sexual dysfunction that keeps you from—”

“Stop!” Eli said. “I’m not going to talk to you about my sex life.”

A silence descended and she busied herself braiding a strand of her hair. As much as he loved his mother’s rather mercurial personality, it often made simple conversation nearly impossible. She usually blurted out exactly what was on her mind, without the benefit of a filter. Though, truth be told, Eli had come to the conclusion that she enjoyed shocking people.

“Is there some other topic we might discuss?” Eli asked.

“I suppose your inability to settle down and find a purpose for your life is off-limits as well?”

“The commitment gene is missing in the Montgomery family,” he muttered. “I take after you and Trudie. I make enough money to live my life. That’s all I need for now.”

“Well, in the interest of making money to live your life, I just happen to have a job for you, a good-paying job. They hired me to do it, but now that you’re home, I think you’d be perfect for it.”

“What kind of job?”

“I got a call from a production company in Los Angeles. They’re doing a reality show, a girl-in-the-wild thing where they drop this woman into the wilderness and she has to fend for herself for a year. They wanted to rent Trudie’s cabin because they’re basing the concept on her life on the mountain.”

“You rented out my grandmother’s cabin?”

“You won’t believe what they paid,” Annalise said. “It’s all very professional. This woman they got to host the show, Lucy Parker, she’s read all your grandmother’s books. She’s a huge fan.”

“How old is she?”

“What difference does that make? I was twenty-four when I first climbed Everest. Your grandmother was fifty when she wrote her first book. Age is just another metric that men use to put women down.”

Eli cursed softly. “All right, never mind her age. How long is she going to live there all alone? Two, three months?”

“A year. And she isn’t alone. She has a dog with her.”

“A year? How is a TV personality from Los Angeles going to feed herself? Does she hunt? What about chopping wood? There must be a production crew that’s going to stay with her. They wouldn’t leave her up there all alone.” He stared at Annalise. “Well? Did you ask these questions?”

“Well...no. I’m sure they know what they’re doing.”

“Does she have a radio or a sat phone to call if she needs help?”

His mother shrugged. “I have no idea. You can find out yourself when you hike up there the day after tomorrow. That’s the job. Check up on her once a month. Bring a few supplies to her.” She stood up. “In the meantime, I think we should go out and stuff ourselves with pizza and beer.”

“You don’t eat cheese,” he said. “You’re a vegan.”

“I’ve realized that cheese is quite possibly the most sublime food on the planet. And I only eat organic cheese from grass-fed, humanely pastured milk cows.”

“Next thing you’ll be telling me that you’re eating meat.”

“Bacon,” she said. “I mean, it’s really not meat. It’s fat. And it smells like sex feels. At my age, I just don’t think I should deny any of my urges. Life is short. We have to enjoy every single moment. That’s what Richard says.”

Eli rubbed his forehead, wondering at the sudden knot of tension beneath his fingertips. Maybe a beer—or five—was exactly what he needed right now. It appeared that a lot of things had changed since he’d last been home.

Leave it to his mother to involve them both in some silly reality show. The reality was that life in Trudie’s cabin was hard and lonely and it wasn’t a place for make-believe adventurers. He intended to let Lucy Parker know exactly what she was in for. And once she found out what a winter in the Rockies would be like, she’d want to run right back down the mountain.

* * *

LUCY PARKER ROLLED over on her bunk and winced at the ache in her shoulder. She’d spent the previous day stripping the bark from a tree she’d felled last week. It was backbreaking work, but all part of the process—the process of building her own shelter that would withstand the harsh winter.

She sat up and brushed the hair out of her eyes. This was the life she’d signed on for. A year in the wilderness, a year living life as Trudie Montgomery had. And the first task was to construct a small log cabin. She’d been on the mountain for exactly a month and had managed to gather enough logs for one wall of the ten-by-ten foot shelter she’d planned to build.

Her plans had undergone some revisions once she realized how heavy a twelve-foot tree could be. So she’d reduced the diameter of the trees she harvested to only those she could drag through the woods herself.

Though she was behind schedule, Lucy was certain that once her body got used to the specific labors involved, she’d pick up speed.

Her only companion in this adventure, her dog, Riley, was stretched out beside her on the old iron bed. When she sat up, he lifted his head. “I’d sleep much better if you’d stay on your side,” she muttered. He gave her a soft woof then leaped over her and scurried to the door.

She crawled out of bed, wrapping the old quilt around her to ward off the chill, then opened the front door of the cabin. Her breath caught in her throat as she took in the amazing landscape around her. To the west were mountains—high, craggy, snow-covered peaks. To the east, thick forest and the foothills. The closest town was Stone Creek, twenty miles away by air, but hours by vehicle and foot. She’d come to the cabin via a helicopter that had landed in the wide green meadow to the south, a meadow now painted in the watercolor hues of the first wildflowers of the season.

Riley scratched at the screen door and she opened it. He ran out and she followed at a more leisurely pace. She’d put her watch away and sealed it in an old baking-powder tin, allowing her body to dictate the hours of the day. When she was hungry, she ate. When she was tired, she slept. And when it was time to work, she focused all her energy to push herself harder than she’d ever been pushed. She loved it.

Lucy drew a deep breath of the crisp morning air. Her year in the wild promised to be both a personal and a professional challenge, and she relished the chance to prove herself. She’d bounced around from job to job in television production for years, picking up jobs where she could and making enough to put herself through college. She’d read Trudie’s books when she was a teenager and had dreamed of a life spent alone, with nothing but her strength and wits to sustain her.

An offhand conversation with another producer had resulted in a proposal for a new reality show. She’d spend a year in the wilderness, following in the footsteps of famous feminist Trudie Montgomery. Amazingly, her proposal had been accepted, a production budget had been secured and on April first, Lucy had been left in the meadow with Riley and twenty crates of supplies to get her through the next twelve months.

All she had to do was provide at least fifteen hours of video footage per week, chronicling her efforts to survive in the wilderness, recording her thoughts on Trudie, her feminist ideals and the challenges she’d faced. Meanwhile, the producers were working to sell the series to a network.

Lucy had been given a battery-operated two-way radio to call for help in case of an emergency, a laptop computer with a satellite uplink to upload her video footage each week and a generator to charge both the video camera and laptop.

Figuring it should be charged now, she walked back inside and grabbed the video camera, then sat down on the top porch step and turned it toward herself. Pushing the record button, she smiled. “Hooray, hooray, it’s the third of May. I’ve been on the mountain for exactly one month and today, I’m going to have a visitor. Annalise Montgomery, Trudie’s daughter, has agreed to stop by once a month to check up on me and bring me a few supplies. And to chat with us. Those of you who’ve read Trudie’s books know that Trudie’s friend and lover, Buck Garrison, used to stop by every month with necessities, but there will be no men visiting me.”

Rachel McFarlane and Anna Conners, her two producers, had decided that the entire project, from production on down, should be run by women. The pair had produced an award-winning PBS special on the all-women’s America’s Cup racing crew several years before and were certain that it would be a positive message to send to the public and a good way to market the show to the networks when it came time to sell it.

“What do I need?” Lucy continued. “A few extra lanterns for the very dark mountain nights. Another pair of long underwear. Some heavier socks. And a new washboard to do laundry. I could also use some chocolate, but I didn’t put that on my list as I’ve decided to go cold turkey.” She paused. “Turkey. I’d also love a turkey sandwich. Canned meat has already lost its appeal.”

Riley’s bark caught her attention and Lucy trained the lens on the meadow, hoping to catch Annalise as she approached. In the distance, she made out a lone figure moving toward her. She tried to make out the details of Annalise’s face, then sucked in a sharp breath.

It wasn’t the slender figure of Annalise, but a tall, lanky man who approached. She noticed the rifle slung over his shoulder. He also carried a large frame pack, yet moved as if it weighed nothing.

Lucy had been in the wilderness for an entire month and this was the first visitor she’d had. Though she felt a small measure of excitement, this wasn’t the person she’d expected. Calling for Riley, she motioned the dog to her side and he sat down, his attention now fixed on the stranger. As the man approached the cabin, Lucy observed him more closely.

He was tall and broad-shouldered, wearing hiking shorts and boots, a faded T-shirt, sunglasses and a cap that shaded his eyes. Thick, dark hair curled out from under the cap and the shadow of a beard darkened his face.

A tiny tremor raced through her. There was a reason why the production company had hired Annalise Montgomery to make the monthly visits, beyond the show’s premise. After a month of solitude, a single man—hell, any man—caused a riot of unsettling feelings inside of her, even if he might be a backwoods ax murderer.

Lucy suddenly realized how vulnerable she was, out here all alone. She set the camera down and grabbed the rifle from its spot just inside the door. Nestling the butt into her shoulder, she got the man in her sights. “Stop right there,” she shouted across the twenty yards that separated them. Riley growled softly.

Startled, he did as he was ordered, slowly raising his hands and watching her suspiciously. “Are you really planning to use that?” he shouted.

“I will if I have to.”

“Then nestle the stock into your shoulder and raise the muzzle up. Unless your intended target is the dirt five feet in front of me. Don’t tell me they didn’t even teach you to shoot properly.”

“What are you doing here?”

“The more appropriate question,” he muttered, starting toward her again, “would be what are you doing here?” He dropped his hands to the straps on his pack and hooked his thumbs beneath them.

She narrowed her gaze. “Who are you?”

“Annalise sent me,” he said. “I’ve brought some supplies. And I guess I’m supposed to make sure you haven’t done anything stupid, like starve to death or get eaten by a bear. You look healthy and I don’t see any teeth marks, so I assume you’re all right so far?”

Lucy stifled a smile as she set the gun down beside her. She stepped off the porch, suddenly curious about the man who’d wandered into her orbit. He slipped the pack off his back, then stretched his arms above his head. Then, in one smooth movement, he pulled his T-shirt over his head and used it to wipe the perspiration from his face.

Lucy bit back a moan as she took in his finely muscled chest and impossibly sculpted abdomen. Her fingers twitched as she imagined running her hands over the tanned skin, pressing her lips to the smooth expanse of naked skin.

This was crazy. She’d gone far longer than a month without a man in her life before. Why was she reacting so strongly to this guy now? Yes, he was gorgeous. And she hadn’t had any human contact for a month. But she should be able to control her reactions much better than this.

He cleared his throat and when she met his gaze, Lucy realized she’d been caught staring. “You shouldn’t be here,” she murmured. “Annalise agreed to come.”

“She thought I’d enjoy the fresh air and a good, long hike.”

“We had an agreement,” Lucy said.

“Well, if you knew anything about Annalise you’d understand that she’s rather flexible when it comes to promises and agreements.”

“We have a contract. This entire project is supposed to be run by women. Women producers, women editors. We want to make a statement. Exactly how Trudie would have wanted it.”

“How do you know what Trudie wanted?” he asked. “You never even met her.”

“And I suppose you did?” she asked, arching her eyebrow and leveling a cool gaze at him.

“I used to spend summers here with her,” he said. “I helped her put up the addition on the cabin and I built that outhouse all by myself.”

Her breath caught in her throat. Annalise had mentioned that she had a son, but she said he was away a lot and that they didn’t see much of each other. Cursing beneath her breath, she strode up to him and held out her hand. “You must be—”

“Eli,” he said after studying her for a long, uncomfortable moment. “Eli Montgomery. I’m Annalise’s son.”

“I’m Lucy Parker,” she said, sending him an apologetic smile. Of course the son of a woman like Annalise would be as handsome as she was beautiful. And he’d have to love the outdoors.

He took her hand in his and gave it a shake.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said.

He took off his sunglasses, letting them hang from the strap around his neck, and she found herself transfixed by eyes so blue, they rivaled the sky above. They stared at each other warily, like two wild animals deciding between fight or flight.

“You must have left very early to get here before noon,” she said.

“I move fast,” he said.

A shiver skittered down her spine and she drew her fingers from his.

“For most people, it’s a four-hour hike,” he explained. “I can do it in three. And if I’m going to make the round trip before sunset, I wanted to be here by noon.”

“You’re going to leave right away?”

He frowned. “Yeah. I guess I didn’t think you’d want me to stick around. Why? You need something? You want me to stay?”

“No, no. You’re right. You really should go. The whole point of this project is for me to live life like Trudie did.”

“Trudie had lots of visitors,” he said.

“In that case, maybe you could you stay for lunch?” She gave him a tentative smile. “To be honest, it would be nice to have some company. Even for just an hour. And as long as you don’t do any of the cooking, I guess it won’t break any rules.”

“There are rules?”

“Guidelines, really. An entire notebook filled with them. I can’t accept any outside help, beyond the monthly check-in.”

“All right,” he said. “I’ll stay. Under one condition.”

“What would that be?”

“You let me show you how to handle that rifle.”

“I know how to handle it. They gave me lessons at a shooting range in LA.”

“Even so, I’d like to show you myself.”

Lucy sighed. “All right. We’ll do that after lunch.” She glanced down at what she was wearing, realizing for the first time that she must look like some kind of crazy lady. “I’m just going to get dressed. Is there anything you need? I can—” Lucy paused. “I guess you remember where everything is. Just make yourself comfortable.”

She hurried back inside the cabin and slammed the door behind her. Leaning against the rough planks, she drew a deep breath. “Stop it!” she muttered. This was ridiculous.

She’d come here, to this remote mountain cabin, to prove that a woman didn’t need a man to find peace and contentment in the world. And here she was, panting over Eli Montgomery like he’d come specifically to seduce her.

He was delivering supplies and nothing more. Just because he had a nice smile and a charming manner did not mean he wanted to pick her up, wrap her legs around his waist and do the nasty.

“Show some self-control,” Lucy said to herself, pushing off the door.

Still, as she searched the cabin for something decent to wear, she discarded anything that might make her look lumpy. In the end, she settled for yoga pants and a simple chambray shirt that she knotted at the waist.

For the first time since she arrived, she regretted the lack of a mirror in the cabin. It was something that Trudie had prided herself on—the ability to grow comfortable with her natural appearance. Lucy grabbed a brush and quickly ran it through her hair. “Forgive me, Trudie,” she murmured, pinching her cheeks to give herself a bit of color.

When she opened the door again, Eli was sitting on the porch, Riley stretched out beside him. He’d unpacked the supplies he’d brought along, laying them out on the floor. “Is that chocolate?” she asked.

“It is. My mother thought you might need it, but I can take it back down with me if you don’t want it.”

She reached down and grabbed the package of chocolate bars. “Not a chance, mister. Now, if you’d also brought me a triple-shot caramel latte, I might have kissed you.”

“Nope,” he said with a grin. “But I’ll remember that next month.”

* * *

ELI HADN’T PLANNED to spend any time at the cabin. He’d been irritated that his mother had rented out the property, especially for a dumb reality television show, and he wasn’t really looking forward to meeting the new tenant. But then he’d gotten a good look at Lucy Parker.

He’d expected some fortysomething feminist, a woman experienced with life and ready to prove a point to anyone who might be interested. He’d imagined someone like his grandmother, not some sweet-faced, doe-eyed woman with a disarming smile and an amazing body.

It was clear why they’d picked her for the job. Even dressed in raggedy clothes with her hair tangled, she was drop-dead beautiful. She wasn’t wearing a bit of makeup to enhance her features and yet, she had a beauty that was unmatched by any woman he’d ever met.

Her skin was flawless, pale and smooth, and her lips were as pink as ripening fruit. Her hair, thick and flaxen in color, tumbled around her face in a style that was best reserved for the bedroom immediately after sex.

Eli had been prepared to hate her, or at least dislike her for underestimating the harsh reality of living on the mountain. But she was so determined to honor Trudie with this project that he found himself carried along by her enthusiasm. Still, he was worried about her preparedness. Before he could walk away, he needed to know that she’d be fine out here all by herself.

In the meantime, he tried his best to ignore the attraction pulsing between them. She’d made it very clear that the last thing she wanted was a man. He wouldn’t be chopping her firewood, he wouldn’t be digging her garden and he wouldn’t be warming her bed. But maybe there was one thing he could do for her.

He picked up the sandwich that Lucy had made for him and took a bite. The rustic bread was freshly baked and she’d slathered homemade hummus on it, flavored with garlic and roasted red peppers. “This is delicious,” he said.

“Thanks.” She pulled her knees up beneath her chin. “I put a lot of time and effort into my menu. If I think a lot about food, I can contain my cravings.”

“And what do you crave?” he asked. “Besides a caramel latte? And chocolate?”

“Potato chips. Ice cream. Pizza. I dream about pizza.”

“Well, you’re about an eight-hour hike from a really great pizza parlor. Maybe you could get them to deliver,” he teased.

“I expected to miss food. And all my electronics. Television and movies. But what I really miss is people. It’s so quiet here at night it almost makes my ears hurt. I don’t know what I’d do without Riley.” She drew a deep breath. “And fruit. I miss fresh fruit.”

“There will be places you can get that around here later this summer,” he said. “About a mile in that direction are two apple trees that were planted near the foundation of an old cabin. And over there, along that ridge, are blackberry bushes, but watch out for bears because they like them as much as humans do. There are also wild plum and boysenberry trees nearby. Trudie used to make the best jam.”

He wanted to show her, to tell her everything that he knew to help her survive and make her stay more bearable. But he remembered her very strict set of rules. “I’d draw you a map, but you’d probably rip it up and throw it in the fire.”

She nodded, then pushed to her feet. “Is there anything else I can get you?”

He wanted to ask if she’d let him run his fingers through her hair, or smooth his hand over her cheek. He wanted to stare into her eyes and memorize the color so he might recall it later. Most of all, he wanted to kiss her and see if the attraction he felt was mutual or just some silly fantasy that he was experiencing on his own.

“Get me your rifle,” he said. “And bring a box of ammunition.”

“What are you going to shoot?” she said, glancing around. “Is there a bear?”

“No. We’re just going to have a little target practice,” he said. “Humor me. I want to be sure you could shoot a bear if you had to.”

Lucy grudgingly produced the rifle. She was clearly not happy with him for forcing the issue but she was smart enough to realize that a little extra instruction with the rifle could save her life if she did encounter a bear or some other wild animal.

Over the next half hour, they set up targets in the meadow, nailing flattened tin cans to the trunks of aspen trees.

“I am curious about that pile of logs over there,” Eli said, nodding to the west of the cabin. “I notice you’ve been stripping them. They’ll burn fine with the bark.”

“Those aren’t for the fire. I’m building a cabin.”

Eli chuckled. “No, really.”

“Really,” she said. “Your grandmother built this cabin all on her own. I want to do the same.”

“Yes, she built it. Over the course of two or three summers. With the help of friends and two horses.”

“I don’t have any horses,” she said. “And I don’t have friends. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try.”

Eli tacked a tin can to the tree trunk, shaking his head. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing out here? You seem to have some kind of delusion—or maybe it’s a fantasy—of what wilderness life is like.” He continued on to the next tree.

“I have your grandmother’s books,” she said, hurrying after him. “And I’ve done my homework. I know it’s difficult, but that only makes me more determined to do it.”

“To what end? Trudie already proved that it was possible. Why do you need to build a cabin all over again? Is it meant to make you famous?” He held out his hand and she gave him another tin can. “How the hell did you get these logs here?”

“I dragged them,” she said.

He stared at her in disbelief.

“I have to find just the right circumference and length. I was going to make a fourteen-by-fourteen cabin like your grandmother, but those logs are too heavy. So I’ve reduced it to ten-by-ten and I’m using six-inch diameter logs.” She held up her hand. “I know. It’ll take more logs, but I’m going to do it. And for your information, it has nothing to do with being famous. I’m doing this for myself.”

Eli couldn’t help but admire her tenacity. The process she described was brutal and backbreaking. He grabbed her hands and turned them over, only to see the shadows of healed blisters and new calluses. He ran his thumbs over the rough surface and he heard her take a ragged breath.

“You need a pair of gloves,” he said.

She nodded. “I have a pair but they don’t fit very well. And I accidentally left them out in the rain.”

Eli gently massaged her palm and his blood warmed. When he looked up and met her wide-eyed gaze, he realized what he was doing and dropped her hand. “You have a lot of work to do if you’re going to finish it before the first snow,” he said

“I can do it,” Lucy said. “I’m learning more every day and getting better at each of the tasks.”

“Can I give you some advice?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No. You can’t. It would be...cheating.”

“This isn’t a game, princess,” he said. “I don’t see any referees around here.”

“I am going to do this on my own. I want the project to have integrity. I need to make my own mistakes.”

“It will be a costly mistake when you drag logs through thick underbrush because you didn’t want to let me tell you to get your logs cut and hauled early.”

She clapped her hands to her ears and shook her head, sending him an angry glare. “No!”

He cursed softly and shook his head. “Listen, I’m dead serious. The last thing I want to do is hike up here and find the vultures picking at your carcass. I know that’s crude, but it’s a reality in the mountains, especially when you’re alone.”

“I’m careful. And prepared.”

“Then let’s see it.” He strode over to where he’d left the rifle and shells and walked back to her. “Pace it off. We’ll start with twenty paces.”

He followed her as she did as he ordered, then stood behind her. “If you come across a bear, stop and keep your eyes on the ground. Slowly bring your gun around, but keep it pointed down. Do that for me now.”

He placed his hands on her shoulders, squaring her body to the target. But the moment he touched her, he realized his mistake. Suddenly, he couldn’t focus on the shooting lesson. Instead, he was fascinated by the warm flesh beneath the fabric of her shirt and the gentle curve between her shoulder and neck. The scent of her hair drifted on the breeze and he closed his eyes for a moment, trying to identify the floral variety.

“When you bring your rifle up, it’s important to stabilize it by pulling the butt into your shoulder with your cheek against the stock. Same place every time, nice and solid. If you do that, sighting your target shouldn’t take long.”

He reached around her and showed her how to hold the gun. His blood surged and his pulse quickened, but he forced himself to ignore the reaction and focus on the job at hand.

“Now, sight the target and when you have it, squeeze the trigger.”

A few seconds later, a shot exploded out of the muzzle and Lucy winced. “Did I hit it?”

“Nope.”

“But I always hit the target at the range.”

“Shooting at the range is a lot different than shooting when a bear is charging you. Or even with the wind blowing and the trees rustling. That can is about the size of the spot you need to hit to down a bear.”

“But it’s so small from back here.”

“Any closer to the target, you won’t have time to get a shot off.”

Eli glanced at his watch. It was almost three. The hike out would be quicker as it was downhill and he’d have an empty pack, but it would still be tight. And he hadn’t brought along a headlamp, so he had to reach the ATV before sunset. “I have to get going. But I want you to practice this after I leave. Every day. Until you can hit those cans in the blink of an eye.”

Lucy slowly turned. “Thank you,” she said.

His gaze fell to her lips and he fought the urge to lean forward and take a taste. “No problem. I wish we could work on it some more, but then I’d have to spend the night. I’m sure that’s against the rules.” He wasn’t sure what had possessed him to practically beg for an invitation, and he wanted to take the words back the moment he said them.

“Guidelines,” she corrected. “They’re really just guidelines. But I plan to follow them as if they were laws.”

They walked back to the cabin together and Eli retrieved his pack and slipped the straps over his shoulders. “Well, Lucy Parker, I guess this is goodbye, then. Have a great year and stay safe.”

“Won’t I see you next month?” she asked.

“What about your law? I thought a man was against the rules,” he said.

“You won’t be helping me with the cabin. And I don’t want to put Annalise out if she’s busy.”

“Then I’ll see you next month,” he said.

Lucy smiled, then pushed up on her toes and brushed a quick kiss across his cheek. “Thanks again. I enjoyed our visit.”

He smoothed his hand along her arm and caught her hand in his. “If I kissed you,” he murmured, “would that be against the guidelines?”

“It definitely would,” she said.

Eli nodded, the conflict between his common sense and his impulses raging on in his head. In the end, he stepped back, gradually moving away from her, their gazes still locked. “Stay safe,” he said, giving her a halfhearted wave.

She waved back and he turned and headed across the meadow toward the trailhead. Eli looked over his shoulder once and found her still watching him from the porch, her arms wrapped around the post, her hair tossed by the breeze. Riley sat at her feet, his head resting on his paws.

Eli tried to forget her the moment she was out of sight. But instead, she plagued his thoughts for the entire hike down the mountain, then the ride back into town and through the rest of his night. He’d almost convinced himself that it was simple worry that kept her on his mind. After all, she was a vulnerable young woman, alone in the wilderness with no one to protect her. He couldn’t just leave her to fend for herself.

But when his dreams turned into scorching sexual fantasies of naked limbs entwined and wild sensations racing through his body, Eli knew protecting Lucy wasn’t the only reason he wanted to go back to the cabin.

2

June

LUCY TICKED OFF the days on her calendar as the first of June approached. Though she’d tried to tell herself that it would be Annalise checking in, she held out hope that it would be Eli instead.

She couldn’t help but feel guilty over the attraction that had consumed her for the past month. After all, this whole experience was about finding the strength in being a woman. But instead the only thing she could think about was Eli Montgomery. He was just so...handsome and charming. And dangerous.

He was exactly the kind of man who could lure a woman into an affair without a second thought to what she might be giving up for him. The problem was, the more time Lucy spent alone, the more she seemed to dwell on sex.

It wasn’t just a nagging desire that came and went. She seemed to be obsessed with thoughts of raging passion and unfulfilled need, quite unusual for her. And the male subject in every one of these fantasies just happened to be Eli Montgomery, mysterious mountain man and destroyer of feminist ideals. It was a problem she’d never anticipated.

She’d been pacing the cabin for most of the morning, busying herself with bread-making and an attempt to make a vegan mac and cheese. After two months in the wild, she’d added dairy products to her list of things she’d begun to crave.

She opened the oven to check on the bread, then realized that she’d left it in too long. “Damn,” she muttered, grabbing a dishtowel and a potholder. Gauging the temperature of her wood-burning oven was an art that she’d not yet mastered.

She pulled the two pans out, setting the first on top of the stove and searching for an empty spot on the counter for the second. But the heat of the pan seeped through the towel and she screamed as she dropped it on the floor, the loaf tumbling out of the pan to land in front of a pair of well-worn hiking boots.

Lucy glanced up to see Eli watching her through the screen door. Either he’d left before sunrise or he’d run up the mountainside. It was barely ten and she looked as if she’d just crawled out of bed.

He opened the door and stepped inside, then bent down and grabbed the loaf of bread. “I think you dropped this,” he murmured, his gaze slowly drifting down to her mouth.

Lucy groaned inwardly. So he’d come back. Had it been his choice or had Annalise had another conflict in her schedule?

“Thanks,” she said, grabbing the bread with the towel, then slowly straightening. She was dressed in a faded T-shirt and nothing else. Thankfully, the T-shirt nearly reached her knees. “You’re early.”

“I figured you might need a hand with a few things, so I gave myself some extra time to help you.”

She shook her head. “I can’t—”

“I know, I know. But I thought maybe after two months on your own, you might have changed your mind.”

“Nope,” she said. “I haven’t changed my mind.”

He grinned, then turned and grabbed his pack from just outside the front door. He pulled a thermos from the side pocket and held it out to her. “Then you probably don’t want this, either.”

Lucy regarded the stainless-steel container suspiciously. “What’s that?”

“Caramel latte. Triple shot, I believe. Still hot. As I recall, you requested it the last time I was here. I’m just following orders.”

Lucy smiled. She had told him that she’d been craving her favorite coffee drink. And she’d also promised a kiss in exchange. But she’d just been joking.

“Maybe there’s a rule against drinking it, though,” he said. “If there is, I’ll just dump it.”

She reached for it, then drew her hand back when she recalled her promise. “And what do you expect in return?”

“I believe you promised a kiss.” He handed her the thermos. “But since it’s my job to look after you, I won’t demand payment.” He paused. “Yet.”

She wanted to kiss him. It was all she’d been thinking about for the past month. Maybe getting it over with would satisfy her hormones and allow her to move on. So why not just go for it? What did she have to lose? He’d be leaving again in a few hours, and at least she’d have some real-world experience to add to her fantasies.

Lucy took the thermos from his hand and smiled. She stepped up to him, wrapped her hand around his nape and gave him a sweet, slow kiss. But then he slipped his hand around her waist and pulled her closer, and a tiny cry of surprise burst from between her lips.

The moment he touched her, the tenuous hold on her self-control vanished. He deepened the kiss, his tongue gently tasting until her body melted into his. Lucy thought the kiss would go on forever, but then he loosened his hold and she stumbled back.

When she met his gaze again, he was smiling at her. “Judging by that kiss, I’d assume there was a major rewrite on those guidelines of yours within the last month.”

“I was...just paying a debt,” she said. “For the coffee?”

“Wait till you see what else I have in my pack, then,” he said.

“Why don’t you unpack it on the porch?” she suggested. “I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

When he’d closed the door behind him, Lucy walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge. She touched her lips, still damp from his kiss, then flopped back and stared up at the ceiling.

She’d accepted this project because she’d been intrigued by the challenge, at least that’s what she’d said whenever she was asked or interviewed. But it was also a way to live an entire year in one place.

She couldn’t remember the last time that had happened. Her childhood had been spent in a series of foster homes, none of which she’d stayed in longer than six months. At fourteen, she’d run away from a bad foster family and ended up on the streets. She’d managed to survive there for two years before she’d gotten a job and started bringing in a paycheck. After that she’d bounced from one cheap room to another.

Sometimes, she’d slept on friends’ couches or took a house-sitting job. Then, when she’d gotten a full-time gig with a production company, she was often on location. But here, on the mountain, she had a chance to live in a home, rugged as it might be.

Working in television and movie production had always been a perfect job for her. She’d enjoyed the shifting scenery, a new location every few months. But the past year or two, she’d started to wonder if her lifestyle was keeping her from finding contentment in her life.

The cabin wasn’t just a home. It was place for her to settle. She’d hoped that a year on her own, alone in the wilderness, might give her time to figure out her future. Who was she? Where did she belong? Was this the only life she was destined to live or was there something else waiting for her?

Lucy thought she’d have at least a few answers by now. But the longer she stayed on the mountain, the more confused she became. The only thing she knew for sure, at this very moment, was that she wanted to spend the day enjoying the company of Eli Montgomery. They had the next five hours together and she was going to make the most of them.

Lucy crawled off the bed and quickly dressed, then found her brush and pulled it through her tangled hair. She hadn’t had a real bath or a shower since the day before she arrived at the cabin, but she’d scrubbed herself clean last night with a bar of homemade soap and six pots of water she’d heated on the stove.

When she opened the door again, she found Eli sitting on the top step, petting Riley. She grabbed a couple enamel coffee mugs and sat down next to him, then poured out the contents of the thermos he’d brought. The scents of caramel and coffee wafted in the morning air and she groaned softly. “You were very sweet to remember,” she said after taking a slow sip.

“I was just interested in that kiss,” he said.

She clasped her hands around the mug. “I was really expecting your mother this time. Was she busy again?”

“No, I wanted to come. I thought I should check up on your shooting. And bring you coffee.”

“I’m glad you came. I mean, it would have been fine if Annalise had come. She’s just amazing and—”

“Amazing and insane,” he murmured.

“Why would you say that?”

“She’s been dating this real estate developer, whom she hated until recently, and she’s acting like a lovesick teenager. I told her to seek professional help. She said I could use a father figure in my life.”

“Where is your father, if that’s not too personal of a question?” she asked.

Eli shrugged. “I never knew him. My mother raised me on her own. I found out who he was when I was fifteen, but by that time it was too late.”

“Too late?”

“He’d died in a climbing accident several years before. On Mount Everest. He left behind a loving wife and four legitimate children—and me. I was the result of a brief fling he had with my mother in a tent during some climbing expedition.”

“And you never met him?”

“Once, apparently. My mother claims that she took me to New Zealand when I was six and I met him then. I don’t remember it, though. It’s always been just me and Annalise. And Trudie. And my grandfather, Buck.”

“That’s a family,” she said. “That’s a pretty big family, by my standards.”

“What about you?”

“I had a happy childhood,” she lied. “Nothing extraordinary. My parents are still married, living in Seattle. My dad works for the post office and my mom is a teacher. I’m an only child.”

It was a complete and utter fabrication, but she’d told the story so many times that it sounded true. It was just detailed enough that it didn’t cause additional questions and just vague enough that it was instantly forgettable.

“How did you end up here, in the middle of nowhere, building a log cabin with your bare hands?”

“I was sixteen and wandering around the streets of Seattle during the summer, bored with my life, and came across a production company. They were filming a movie and I asked if they might have a job for me, and they did. I was an outstanding coffee fetcher. After that, I was hooked. I worked a few more local productions and built up a decent résumé. When I graduated from high school, I took a bus to LA and found better work. I went to college when I could, and I’ve been on some kind of TV or movie production set ever since. I pitched this series after I reread one of your grandmother’s books. The producers asked if I wanted to be in front of the camera and I said yes.”

It was a simple enough explanation and one she’d given to almost everyone she’d met over the course of the past year. This part of the story was entirely true, though she’d left out a few major details. But the real truth would probably come out when the show was broadcast. Someone would recognize her and reveal the truth about her past.

The world would find out that her father had gone to prison when she was seven and her mother had died of a drug overdose when she was five. They’d know about the foster homes and the constant running away, living on the streets when she was fourteen and searching for any way to make a few dollars to feed herself. She’d been one of the lucky ones. She’d been smart and resourceful. And she’d always been a credible liar.

“So you came here because of Trudie?”

“Yeah. She was such a strong woman and wanted to experience life on her own terms, stripped down, simple. I remember reading her book about building the cabin and how she lived off the grid. I was always fascinated by that concept of creating a life for yourself out of nothing but your own two hands.”

“I wish you could have met her.”

“Me, too. But you can tell me about her.” She took another sip of her coffee. “Now that you’ve finished interrogating me, why don’t you show me what you brought?”

Eli turned to his pack and the first thing he pulled out was a pair of deerskin gloves. He held them out to her. “These should fit a bit better than what you’ve been wearing. You won’t get so many blisters.”

She stared down at the gloves and a flood of emotion washed over her—he’d remembered. For the first time in her life, she felt as if someone was listening to her. He’d done her a great kindness. That kind of thing rarely happened in her life. And now, he’d done it twice—first, the coffee and now the gloves.

Was this the beginning of a friendship...or a passionate affair? Lucy wasn’t sure which one she wanted more, but she had no idea how to handle either.

* * *

“TELL ME EVERYTHING you know about bears.”

“Why are you so obsessed with bears?” Lucy asked.

“Because they are an always-present danger up here once the snow melts. If it were winter, I’d be obsessed with hypothermia.”

They walked through the meadow together toward the tree line, their rifles slung over their shoulders, Riley trotting beside them. Eli had decided that if she wouldn’t take advice about cabin building and food foraging, he was going to make damn sure she kept herself safe. And for the next couple of months, the biggest threat in this part of the mountains was the bears.

“I know to carry my gun at all times. I’ve been practicing on the targets almost every day. I know that I’ll probably only have time for one shot and if it’s not good, the bear will probably eat me for dinner. Avoidance is the best strategy.”

“Excellent. Anything else?”

“Keep Riley and all food locked up in the cabin when I’m not around. Hungry bears are dangerous. Mother bears with their cubs are the most dangerous. Black bears are usually afraid of humans, grizzlies are more aggressive.”

“And what if a bear does charge?” he asked.

“With a grizzly, you drop to the ground and curl up and protect your neck and head. Basically play dead. With a black bear, you run or fight back as hard as you can. You make noise, throw rocks, hit him with sticks.”

He nodded. “All right. There’s not much chance you’ll run into a grizzly around here. They range farther north. But I will give you this.” He pulled a can out of his pocket. “Bear pepper spray. A temporarily blinded bear is much better than a wounded bear.” He reached down and clipped it to her jeans. “If you can’t get a shot off or if you just wound him, use the spray and run like hell.”

“Thanks,” she said.

“Just don’t use that on me the next time I try to kiss you,” he teased.

“Are you planning to kiss me again?” she asked.

There was the question, Eli mused. After their first kiss, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about his next excuse to kiss her again. There was no use trying to ignore the attraction. Now that he knew it was mutual, Eli didn’t see any reason to keep his hands—or his lips—to himself.

It might have been different if it had really been a month since he’d last seen her. But Eli had hiked up to the meadow once a week just to make sure she was all right. At first, he’d tried to convince himself he was just checking on the cabin. Then, he’d convinced himself that the production company should have specified weekly visits and he was correcting their error.

But as he’d sat on the edge of the meadow, hidden by the brush, and saw her work on the cabin or practice her shooting, he realized that he just needed to know that she was safe. Lucy wasn’t like his mother or grandmother. She was a city girl, and he’d glimpsed a vulnerability in her that he couldn’t ignore. He’d witnessed it again and again over the years—amateurs who traveled to remote locations convinced they were prepared, but who ended up sick or injured. Even his father, an experienced climber, had made one mistake and had never come down the mountain. He wouldn’t let that happen to Lucy. It had become his duty to protect her and one he would never shirk.

Last week, Riley had caught his scent and he’d had to run to avoid being discovered. And it was always difficult to walk away. He’d considered just hiking to the cabin and making up some excuse for his presence. But Eli knew better. When it came to Lucy, it was best to follow the rules—or the guidelines.

They walked along a familiar ridgeline, then dropped down to hike a narrow creek bed. It had been years since Eli had explored this part of his grandmother’s world, but the landmarks he’d used were still deeply etched in his memory.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“Haven’t you been paying attention?”

“No, I was following you.”

He reached back and grabbed his water bottle, then took a long drink before holding it out to her. “I guess we’re lost then.”

Her eyes went wide. “How could we be lost? I assumed you knew where you were going.” She stared at him for a long moment, then shook her head. “Oh, I get it. This is another lesson from Captain Safety.”

“Maybe you should get out that video camera of yours. This is important stuff.”

She slipped her pack off her shoulder and set it at her feet, then removed the camera. “I’m not going to be able to use this footage,” she said.

“No, but you can watch it when I’m gone.”

Lucy trained the lens on him. “Then take off your shirt,” she teased, focusing on the broad expanse of his chest. “It will make the video much more interesting.”

“I’m serious,” he said.

“So am I,” she countered.

He watched her as she toyed with the camera, his gaze fixed on her lips, his thoughts focused on the last kiss they’d shared. There were more than a few consequences that came along with kissing Lucy again. Especially kissing her for nothing but the pleasure of it.

She’d come to the mountain for some kind of feminist empowerment deal, and the last thing he wanted to do was interfere in her professional or personal goals. Then there was the whole guilt thing. If he ruined her life with romance, she’d blame him for wrecking her project. And he wasn’t usually the relationship type—would she want that from him?

From Eli’s experience, finding a man was like buying a car to some women. There were those who were constantly searching for a fast ride and willing to test-drive anything that got them to sixty the fastest. Then, there were those who took their time and compared features and quality before committing to it. And then there were women, like Annalise and Trudie, who preferred to take cabs.

He got the sense that Lucy was a cab rider, the kind of woman who didn’t need a man to be happy and didn’t waste a lot of time and energy searching. But it really didn’t make a difference. A few kisses now and then didn’t mean they were in a relationship.

He should be happy that she wasn’t demanding more of him. So why did he want to give her everything she’d never ask for?

He glanced over at her. “What are you going to do if you get lost?” he asked.

“How could I get lost? I’m not going to wander around out here by myself. If I can’t see the cabin, then I don’t go there.”

“I used to think that, too. Until I got lost and spent a night out here by myself.”

“What happened?”

“I was spending the summer with my grandmother and we had a fight about something. So I decided to take off, just for a quick walk. But I got turned around. Just like that. One second I knew where I was and the next I didn’t. So my next piece of advice is to always carry a compass. And spend some time studying the landmarks.”

Over the next hour, Eli gave her a lesson in navigating the wilderness. He tried to impress on her the dangers that she faced if she wasn’t careful, but Lucy assured him that she wasn’t planning to take any long walks, no matter what the cause.

By the end of his lesson, she was clearly overloaded with information and had begun to tune him out, just smiling and nodding at everything he told her. He’d have to stop for now. As he steered them through the woods and back to the meadow, he reached out to take her hand, helping her over rough parts of the trail. It was enough just to touch her, to feel that momentary connection when her hand was tucked into his.

When they arrived at the cabin, Eli stayed on the porch while she went inside to make lunch. But to his surprise, she opened the screen door a few moments later and invited him in.

“It’s not against the guidelines anymore for me to come inside?”

“It’s your cabin.”

He hesitated before walking in the front door. Eli was used to the cabin the way his grandmother had left it and he wondered if she’d done anything to alter the interior. But as he stepped inside, he noticed that everything was in its proper place, almost as if Lucy had treated the cabin like a shrine.

“I love this place,” he murmured.

“Me, too. I mean, I know it’s not mine, but I can feel your grandmother’s presence here. And I think she approves. And that’s important to me.”

“Why don’t you sit down and let me make you breakfast for lunch. I’m a pretty decent cook. And I used to make it for Trudie all the time.”

“I don’t have real eggs,” she said. “Just the powdered kind. And powdered milk.”

“That’ll do for pancakes,” he said.

She sat down at the table and watched him for a long moment, then picked up a small video camera and aimed it at him. “So what is it you do with yourself when you’re not trudging up mountains with caramel lattes and making buckwheat pancakes, Eli Montgomery?”

“You’re not really filming me, are you?”

“Yes, I am. But this is for my personal use.”

He chuckled softly. “Then wait a moment.” He reached for the hem of his T-shirt then pulled it up over his head, revealing his naked chest. “How’s that?”

“Fine,” she said. “Flex, please.”

“I don’t really have a regular job,” Eli continued. “I bounce from place to place. The last six months I’ve been in Nicaragua surveying the site for a new canal that a Chinese billionaire hopes to build. Before that, I was on a trekking expedition in Mongolia. I’ve traveled the world by freighter. An opportunity pops up and off I go.”

“And what’s your next job?”

“I don’t know,” Eli said. “I’m waiting to see what comes along.”

He mixed the batter for the pancakes and then stirred in some dried blueberries. When he found his grandmother’s favorite cast-iron skillet, Eli set it on the stove and added some oil.

“Did Trudie teach you to cook?” she asked.

“A little. Buck, my grandfather, makes great food. I spent a lot of time with him while my mom was gone on expeditions.”

The scent of pancakes filled the cabin and brought Riley in. He sat down right next to the stove. Eli flipped a pancake to the dog, then stacked the rest on a plate for Lucy. He found a tin of maple syrup on a shelf above the stove and set it down beside her plate, then leaned close and brushed a kiss across her lips. “Enjoy,” he murmured.

“I do,” Lucy said, her gaze fixed on his.

He sat down across from her and crossed his arms over his chest.

“You’re not going to eat?”

“I’d rather watch you,” he murmured.

She poured some syrup over the pancakes and dug in.

“Good?” he asked.

“Mmm. So good. I miss fresh food so much. I started digging a garden, but it’s going to be forever until I actually have vegetables. We had frost just a couple days ago.”

“Plant cold weather crops first. Lettuce, radishes, carrots, beets. That’s what my grandmother did.”

“More advice,” she said. She cut a bit of her pancake and held it out to him. “Eat.”

He smiled and swallowed. “Maybe I am hungry.”

Lucy pushed away from the table and took the chair next to him, then handed him her fork. As he ate, she scooped up some syrup with her finger and licked it off with her tongue.

Eli stopped chewing, stunned at the erotic undertones of her action. He didn’t believe she’d done it deliberately, but being so close to her was having a powerful effect on his body. She did it again and he reached out and gently grabbed her wrist.

“Stop doing that.”

Lucy frowned. “Why?”

“Just stop.”

Tipping her chin up, she scooped up more of the syrup and licked her finger again, then slowly realized why he’d stopped her. “Oh,” she murmured.

“You do it again, I may have to kiss you.”

She grinned, then wiped her finger on the plate one last time. But she didn’t put her finger in her mouth. Instead, she wiped the syrup on her bottom lip. Leaning across the table, she smiled at him in a silent invitation.

Groaning, he put down his fork and accepted her challenge, kissing her softly, lingering over her mouth.

He slowly stood and pulled her to her feet, then smoothed his hands over her waist. Pressing her back against the edge of the table, he deepened the kiss, his tongue invading the sweet warmth of her mouth.

Lucy reached back and brushed her plate aside and it clattered to the floor. Riley ran over and gobbled down the pancakes.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make you more,” he murmured, and bent to take her lips again.

* * *

LUCY WAS BREATHLESS, her thoughts spinning inside her head, making her dizzy with desire. She wasn’t sure whether to stop him, or to grab his broad, naked shoulders and pull him down onto the table. This was supposed to be wrong but it felt so wonderful that she didn’t want him to stop.

His chest was smooth and rippled with muscles and her fingers danced over the tanned skin, the nerves alive with excitement. He was so strong and sure of himself that she hadn’t thought to deny him—or herself. But as they arched against each other, Lucy realized where they were heading.

She’d invested so much in this cabin experience and it was meant to be about solitude and introspection. Now, she was putting the entire project at risk. How was she supposed to spend the next month focused on the tasks at hand when all she wanted to do was seduce Eli Montgomery?

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