Page 52 of Forbidden Access

Damian put down his beer. “You miss him, don’t you? Being back here can’t be easy.”

She shook her head. He had no idea.

One thing was for sure, she wasn’t ready to talk about it, least of all to the man she’d just slept with. “I think I’ll head to the store before it shuts.”

She felt his eyes on her as she walked back inside to get the motorcycle keys.

Thorn returned with two heavy bags of groceries. She’d just made it to the farm store before closing and had ridden the mile and a half back with one bag hooked over each handlebar.

“Damian?”

The sliding doors were wide open, and she could hear music playing—one of Jaden’s old CDs—but Damian was nowhere in sight.

“In the kitchen,” he called back.

She stepped into the kitchen, only to freeze in her tracks. The bags slipped from her hands, groceries spilling across the floor. Standing at the sink was Jaden. No, not Jaden—Damian, but dressed in Jaden’s beige cargo shorts and his favorite dusky-blue T-shirt. From the back, it was like seeing a ghost.

“Are you okay?” Damian spun around.

She tried to shake off the shock. “Oh, God. Yes. I’m sorry. You gave me a fright, that’s all. Seeing you in those clothes, I thought…” She trailed off, feeling foolish. “It’s stupid. I’m fine.”

Damian bent down to pick up the groceries. “You thought I was Jaden?”

She nodded, her throat tight.

He stood and placed the bags on the counter, his expression softening. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. You said it would be okay.”

“It is.” She felt like an idiot. Of course, it wasn’t Jaden. He was gone. She shook her head to clear it. “I think I’ll have that beer now.”

Damian opened the fridge and handed her a cold one. “I plugged it in, and it’s working. Nice to have electricity out here.”

“Yeah, that was a recent thing. They installed it after we did the renovations. Before that, we used generators.”

“Why don’t you go outside and relax? I’ll make us something to eat.”

“You cook too?”

He masked a grin. “I know my way around a kitchen. Confirmed bachelor, remember?”

“I can help,” she offered, but Damian shook his head.

“You went to get the groceries. I’ll do this.”

Thorn went outside, secretly relieved. Standing beside him, looking like that—it was too much.

A short time later, he emerged onto the terrace carrying a platter filled with warm tortillas, a bowl of guacamole, and some fresh jicama sprinkled with chili powder and lime. He’d even opened a bottle of tequila he found in the cupboard.

“This looks amazing,” Thorn said, eyeing the bottle of tequila. The label read Reserva 2015. The year Jaden died. “I forgot we had this.”

Damian grinned. “I figured we could use a little indulgence.”

The food was welcome, especially after going so long without anything hearty. When they finished, Damian poured them each another shot and turned to her, his expression suddenly serious.

“I know we need to talk.”

“Not now,” she whispered. She couldn’t face questions about their relationship. “Let’s just enjoy the view and the tequila.”

He nodded, lifting his glass. “To the view, then. And to forgetting everything else for a while.”

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