half now.”
“Connecticut, right?”
Her head swung back to him. “You were listening to me babbling on and on?”
“Of course.” He met her gaze. “I heard every word you said. Remembered everything about you. How could I forget?”
Her heart drummed with excitement as a flash of heat spread down her spine. She tamped it down, the feelings raw and frightening. “Th-thank you for taking me here. It’s beautiful.”
“In the winter, Lake Superior gets covered in snow. And you know when we say covered snow up there, we mean covered. It’s the lake effect—cold air picks up the warmer air from the lake and blows it across the shores. And when that happens, everything is white. The water’s just this dark gray color, and even the cliffs get covered in ice. You’d think … you’d think it was sad because you can’t see the clear waters or the trees. But it’s actually quite stunning.”
She had closed her eyes as he was describing his home, his voice lulling her. It was probably the most he’d ever said to her in one breath, and the way he described it, she could picture it in her mind. The snow forming over the edges of the gray water. Icicles clinging to rock faces. “It sounds amazing.”
“It is,” he said.
They stayed there for a few more minutes, a comfortable silence resting over them. “I can take you back, if you like,” he said.
Unsure what to say, she nodded, and he started the engine. The rest of the ride was a blur and soon they were pulling up in front of Angela’s house. When she reached for the door, he spoke.
“Can I see you again tomorrow?”
She froze for a second, then turned her head to meet his gaze, startled as he was looking at her head on. For a moment she thought … no, she was imagining things. “Tomorrow?”
“Yeah. I spoke to Rosie yesterday. She says she misses you and feels bad she hasn’t been around to see you in days.”
“Ah. Right.” One of Rosie’s waitresses quit without warning and she’d been covering for her.
“How about I drive you there for lunch? She’d love to see you.”
“She’d like to see me?”
“Yeah.” His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “And … I would too.”
“All right.” When his face lit up, her body tensed, and a dizzy feeling came over her.
What the—
There it was again. Her stomach flip-flopped. But was she seeing things, or did it really happen?
“Dutchy?” He cocked his head at her. “You okay?”
“Uh-huh,” she stammered and looked away, her face feeling hot. “Um, I should go.”
“I’ll come by at eleven-thirty.”
Not bothering to respond, she darted out of the truck and made a beeline for the door. It was a miracle she made it all the way inside as her knees wobbled through the entire short sprint, and it wasn’t because she was fatigued.
Leaning against the door behind her, she pressed a hand to her chest.
Oh Lord. What was she thinking? Well, she wasn’t. Her fox, too, admonished her for accepting his invitation. Yet … her heart soared at the thought of seeing him again.
And what she’d seen … she thought it was her imagination, but then it happened again. It was brief, like the failed spark from a lighter.
A flash of bright blue from the depths of his gaze.
But the idea of it being real scared her. And why? She didn’t know.
Chapter Eleven
Krieger had never cared much for his appearance in the last five years he’d lived here. Back when before he’d been deployed and lived on the base, he and his army buddies would get all dressed up on weekend nights before they hit the bars in search of some fun.
However, living by himself up in the mountains, there had been no point in shaving, cutting his hair, or even buying new clothes. But now he wished he at least had some proper scissors and a razor to trim his beard. Or a shirt that wasn’t faded or full of holes. To someone like Dutchy, he probably looked like some hobo mountain man. Not knowing what to do, he went to the one person he could run to for help.
“Er, I’m not much of clothes expert either,” Damon said. He had driven down from his cabin in the truck Gabriel had lent him to Damon’s place. The chief also lived in the mountains, but lower down from him in one of the few areas the Lennoxes leased lands for rangers. “I know someone who is. Anna Victoria.”
The