flame.
Luca
What happens in my hot tub, stays in my fucking hot tub. Unless some random woman wearing soaking wet cowgirl boots shows up to the party without an invitation.
Head tilted back and eyes closed, I soak in the hot water and rub at the muscles in my legs with a firm hand. The knots are semi-permanent these days thanks to all the physical exertion that comes with living on a homestead like mine, but the reward of a long sit in my hot tub is always worth it.
In a world of nothing but silence and solitude, the alien sound of wood creaking at the foot of my deck stairs catches my attention. I open my eyes and whip my head to the side to keep watch. When the noise of approach continues, I hop out of the warm water and into the cool air by swinging both of my legs over the side.
I think I’m ready for anything, but I’m wrong. I’m sure as fuck not ready for this.
Long blond hair, full lips, and big, surprised green eyes, the woman on my porch isn’t at all like the bear I suspected she might be.
But it doesn’t matter how goddamn perfect-looking she is; she shouldn’t be here.
“Who the fuck are you, and what the fuck are you doing here?” I ask gruffly.
I didn’t tell Hollywood to fuck right off and move out into one of the remotest parts of Alaska because I wanted people to be able to find me.
Eyes wide and mouth fixed in a tiny, perfect circle, she makes no effort to answer my question. It’s almost as if she didn’t even hear me.
“Hello?” I prompt again. “I said, who the hell are you?”
I watch avidly as she looks me over from top to bottom, scrutinizing the details of my body like she’ll be tested on them at a later date. I don’t bother returning the favor—at least not yet. For some reason, I can’t look away from the vibrantly green sparkle in her too-wide eyes.
“I asked you a question,” I finally say, the cool air on my swinging dick moving from annoying to downright aggravating. “Either answer it or get fucking moving.” She’s a statue, frozen in place on my deck whether I want her here or not. Out of ways to ask her the same question and past the point of patience, I make a threat that’s guaranteed to get her to move. “You have five seconds before I come back out here with my shotgun.”
“Uh…” she finally manages, only to stop before getting to anything worth my time.
Goddammit. “What’s the matter with you? You have a death wish or something? This is private property.”
Christ. I’d love to know whose ass needs to be kicked for sending this glammed-up, practically mute, inconveniencing woman up here.
Ultimately, though, through some kind of miracle, she decides to speak words.
“Uh…so…you’re…naked.”
Instantly, I’m so fucking infuriated, I wish she’d just kept her mouth shut. This is my fucking cabin, and I never invite anyone up here. If I want to walk around with my dick out all day, every day, that’s my goddamn business.
I swipe my towel from the side of the hot tub with a violent fist and wrap it around my waist.
She watches my movements closely, probably thinking my covering up has something to do with protecting her delicate sensibilities, but she’s wrong. I’m just done with this shit.
“I didn’t invite you here,” I state again.
She doesn’t respond, choosing instead to keep standing there looking at me like I’ve grown two fucking heads.
“I’m only going to ask you this one more time,” I say, locking my eyes with hers. They have to be the most insanely interesting shade of green—like the grass on the prairie when everything is in bloom. “What in the hell are you doing here?”
“I’m…” She fiddles with the edges of her shirt, but I force my attention to sit squarely on her face. “Billie…Billie Harris.”
“And that’s important because why?”
“Um…”
“Um?” I mock, raising a pointed eyebrow.
She just stares back at me, her pretty green eyes as wide as saucers and her survival instinct clearly on a vacation.
“Yeah, you know what, never fucking mind,” I snap and head for the back door of my cabin. “There is absolutely nothing you’re going to tell me that’s going to make me want you here, so now would be the time to take yourself back to wherever the fuck you came from.”
Hand to the knob, I yank it open and step inside,