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“I can see I’m going to have to be on top of my game around you, aren’t I?” I teased.

“You’re not the first man to say that to me. Probably not the last, either,” she joked back, making me laugh again. I definitely liked her.

I waved goodbye to her and went back out to climb in my Jeep, rolling the windows down since the day was starting to warm up. I saw the old blue Ford as soon as I made my way around to the back portion of the lake. It was parked in the driveway of what I assumed was my new home, and I pulled up next to it and grabbed my bags out of the back seat.

The windows and doors were wide open as I walked up the short path to the cabin and as I got closer, I saw movement inside. I stepped up on the front porch and watched the man as he swept the wooden floor, piling the dust into a small pile.

His back was turned, and he had yet to notice me, so I took the opportunity to observe him. He bent down to gather the dust into a dustpan and my eyes zeroed in on the way his jeans hugged his tight little ass. I swallowed back a groan then chastised myself for perving on the man when he didn’t even know I was there.

Suddenly, I heard a sharp gasp. “What the…?” He put his hand to his chest as he spun around to face me, and I quickly took in his features. “Oh my God! You scared me!”

There was a bump along the bridge of his nose and his cheekbones were higher and more rounded than the kid in the photo, almost as if they’d been sculpted. His bottom lip was pink and full, and I watched as his tongue darted out to wet it.

He blew out an impatient breath as he waited for me to respond and his hair caught the movement and for just a fraction of a second it shifted away from his face, exposing him to me. There was a jagged scar that ran along his right eye, pulling the delicate skin downward, but that wasn’t what had my pulse racing. It was the look in those blue eyes. The same haunted look as sixteen-year-old Zane Wilkinson.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” I held my hands up in a placating gesture.

“Who the hell are you?” he demanded.

“My name is Jeremy O’Brien and I’m pretty sure this is my new cabin,” I explained.

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