Page 56 of Instinct & New Identity

As we made our way down a gravel driveway a few hundred yards later, the house began filling my view, which was stunning.ThisA-frame was not a simple structure.Itlooked like it belonged on the cover of an architectural magazine.Thewood frame was the color of cedar.Thefront was filled top to bottom with framed black windows and a large front porch that stood another twenty feet from the entry.Ablack metal roof was the perfect complement to the black frames on the windows, and there was a chimney that stuck out of the side closest to us, made completely of stone.

WhenVince’scar came to a stop,Iwaited for him to come around beforeIgot out and began to walk closer to the house.Walkingup the three stairs to the deck,Icould see a picnic table next to the entry door.Onthe other side, closest to the railing that overlooked a creek in front of the house, there were two forest greenAdirondackchairs to lounge in.Onthe far side of the patio was what looked like a black plastic tarp or cover of some kind.

“What’s under there?”Iasked, pointing to it.

“Hot tub,”Vincesaid from behind me.WhenIturned to look at him,Icould see the grin spread across his entire face. “Lookingforward to using that with you,Kit-Cat.”

Despite the temperature outside being very close to freezing, warmth spread through my body at his comment.Justpicturing him shirtless in that hot tub whereIcould touch his amazing body had me breathless with anticipation.

“I like where your thoughts are right now, but let’s get inside first and bring all our stuff in, and thenI’llturn the hot tub on.”

It boggled my mind thatVincecould read my mind so easily.

“I’m not reading your mind,” he teased. “Yourthoughts were written all over your face.”

I scoffed playfully but felt my cheeks warm and turned my attention back to the cabin.Ifthe outside looked this nice,Icouldn’t wait to see the inside.Iturned around and went back to the car to help unload our bags andHarry.

Vince was ahead of me and had the door unlocked and open whenImade it to the entrance.He’dhad just flicked the lights on whenItook a full look around, and it was beautiful.Iwalked into an open-concept living room, dining room, and kitchen space.Cozyfurniture surrounded a stone fireplace.Arustic wood dining table with two wooden benches on either side flowed into the kitchen, which looked recently updated.Redwine-colored cabinets with tan granite countertops gave the kitchen a rustic but modern feel.

“It’s beautiful,”Isaid toVinceas he came up beside me.

“I’ll give you a tour of the rest of it in just a second, butIneed to know where to put the bags.”

I wasn’t sure what he meant.Didhe meanHarry’sthings?

Vince, likely seeing the confusion on my face, gently tucked a wayward curl behind my ear. “Babe, as much asIwant you in my bed with me tonight,Idon’t want to make assumptions if you aren’t comfortable with that.Forsafety purposes,Iwant you in the same room with me, but you have a choice.Theroom down here has a king bed that we can share, or the room upstairs has two twin beds.Yourchoice, butIneed to know where to put the bags.”

This man had no idea what he did to me.Howmuch he meant to me.Iwanted nothing more than to sleep with him again, wrapped up in his arms like last night, but his deference to me only endeared him to me even more.

“The king bed,”Ireplied.

He grinned back at me. “Gotit.Letme put these in the room, and then we can figure out dinner.”

Vince’s mom kept some frozen pizzas and a few other items up here just in case they had to come up at the last minute, so we took advantage of that since it was getting late.Ialso wasn’t sure how many places delivered food up here since we were so remote.

We put a pizza in the oven, and thenVincegave me a tour of the place.Itwas incredibly charming.Thesteep angle of the roof allowed the whole space to feel open and airy, but it was decorated with a rustic flair that made it feel very homey.

We ate dinner on the couch in front of the fireVincehad started.Wechatted about some of his childhood memories at this cabin, and it made me love the place even more.

“AsIgot older,Ididn’t want to sleep in the same room with my sister, soItold herIfound a bunch of spiders in the loft bedroom upstairs where we slept,” he recounted. “Iwould tell herIwas pretty sureIkilled most of them, but she freaked and would sleep downstairs on the couch instead.”

“You were a little terror as a child, weren’t you?”

“Really, only withJenny,” he confirmed. “Mymom was sharp as a tack, and my dad was great at reading people, so he could see through my bullshit pretty easily.”

I giggled, picturing him trying to pull a fast one on his parents.

“For almost a year,Jennywouldn’t go on any of the trails around the property becauseIconvinced her there were wildebeests that had been spotted.”

“I didn’t think those were native toNorthAmerica.”

“They aren’t.Ijust wanted her to stop following me onto the trails all the time.”

“Oh myGod, you were incorrigible.”Irolled my eyes and felt sorry for his parents and all he likely put them through.

After we finished eating,Istill felt a bit unsettled, soIdecided to check in on my sister.

I pulled up my phone and textedValto let her know we had made it, and she let me know thatElliemet her atJack’splace and helped her “clean out the nasty guy smell.”

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