Page 5 of By Candlelight

“Well I got a flat turning onto the road.”

“Ah shit, man. That dirt road is god-awful for your tires. And suspension, come to think about it. You still out there?”

“Nah, I didn’t have a spare on me, so I left my car on the shoulder and walked back here. You think you can make it out tomorrow morning and help me?”

“Yeah, I’ll try to make it out there first thing. I’ll text when I’m on my way. You drive a Charger, right?”

The sigh of relief hit me hard. “Yeah, man. Thanks, I owe you one.”

“I’ll take you up on that some day.”

We hung up and I mentally crossed that one item off my to-do list and walked to the fridge, reading some emails from work along the way. I texted my on duty team to let them know I’d be a little late tomorrow and grabbed a bottle of the new IPA I’d been meaning to try.

Beer in hand, I headed upstairs to take my shower. I wasn’t super familiar with Alex’s cottage—it was her aunt’s before she inherited it. But I could tell the bathroom was newly renovated. The steam shower was sparkling new, and the tile work was gorgeous. I didn’t really care much about home design but I appreciated good craftsmanship, and this had Sam’s work all over it.

He was a carpenter by trade, but mostly designed and built high-end furniture. I knew he could do way more than that, as he customized his own house, well now, my sister’s house too. Fixing up the cottage was probably a passion project for both of them. Alex was so close to her aunt Carol, I didn’t ever see her selling this place, but wanting to update it and make it better was right up their alley.

I slipped my feet out of my boots, pulled off my hoodie, and stripped my jeans off. The water took a couple minutes to heat up, but once it did, the steam started gathering in the enclosed shower. I closed the glass door behind me and stepped under the rainfall showerhead.

The scalding hot water and heavy pressure was a balm on my sore muscles. I took a sip of my beer and set it on the convenient built-in shelf. For once, I wasn’t in a hurry, and lathered up my hair and body with some of the shampoo and body wash Alex had provided.

As I rinsed off, I took another sip of my beer and just let the water wash over me. This was probably the best shower I’d had in years. I even let myself smile a little as I closed my eyes and let my body completely relax.

But I really should have known better. Because the moment my muscles relaxed, I was interrupted by a blood-curdling scream.

four

MIA

“What the fuck?”The man—the naked man—was yelling obscenities as I screamed at him from the doorway of the bathroom.

An intruder! A scary man in my shower! If anyone should be yelling obscenities, it should be me, surely. Some raving lunatic breaks into my vacation rental and just helps himself to my very fancy shower? Before I even get to enjoy it? I don’t think so.

I’d come back from a beautiful evening enjoying all the Christmas sights and sounds downtown, with great expectations of a hot shower and another cup of—admittedly inferior—hot chocolate. Hearing the shower running from the stairs set my heart to pounding. I’d never been so scared in my life.

And yet somehow, I thought it had been a good idea to ambush the trespasser. With what, exactly? My banshee-like cry? That was all I had going for me. I hadn’t even thought to grab a weapon of any sort.

If this was a horror movie, I’d most certainly be dead and the audience would be cheering for the bad guy.

I might be dead soon, anyway.

I shook off the thought and studied the interloper in front of me. Standing in my steam shower. Enjoying my vacation.

What kind of terrifying creep did such a thing? Only now, the steam was clearing and I could see that he was a very tall, very muscled, very handsome creep. Drat.

He shut off the water and reached for a towel, only there wasn’t one within arm’s length. He must have forgotten to grab one from the fluffy stack on the shelf in the corner.

“A little help here?” He called, sticking a hand out.

“And why should I help you?”

“Why should—lady, you’re interruptingmygoddamn shower, and you’re not even gonna grab me a towel?”

“It’s not your shower. I mean, you were taking a shower, so I suppose that’s yours, but the shower itself is not. It’s mine, and you’re trespassing!”

“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, but since you won’t help me out here, I guess I don’t have any other choice.”

He barked out a laugh, but it was decidedly humorless, and opened the glass door, stepping out onto the bathmat in all his naked, wet, trespassing glory.

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