Chapter 3 Becca
Iwas officially, certifiably, ridiculously, the stupidest woman on earth.
Following a stranger into his truck? Letting him drive me up a winding gravel driveway thick with towering pines on both sides?
The old pickup smelled like well-worn leather and crushed pine needles. The outside had been splattered in mud so I hadn”t had high hopes climbing in, but the interior was surprisingly clean.
Cleaner than my car. Especially after the trip up here, I had old Starbucks cups shoved into corners and things I had nearly forgotten last minute tossed in on top of my bags.
Those bags were in the bed of Evan”s truck now.
Because…
I was staying the night at his place.
I swiped through my phone, pulling up a mindless mobile game that didn”t need internet to keep my hands busy. I matched a few candies in a line, only half paying attention to the game. Mostly eyeing Evan, trying to figure out what exactly I was getting myself into.
He drove with both hands on the wheel, taking it slow over the potholes and switchbacks of the steep driveway. He must have sensed me watching because he glanced over, catching me. Our eyes met and I immediately stared down at the game on my phone as if it was the most fascinating activity in the universe.
Of course, he knew I”d been watching him.
Damn.
But it had been easy to forget everything once my eyes were on him. Get lost in that sharp jaw accented by his stubble, the strong line of his nose in his side profile, the way his salt and pepper hair brushed the roof of the cab because he was so tall.
I mean, there was a reason I”d agreed to stay the night. And not just because my only other option would have been sleeping in my car on the side of the mountain road to wait out a rainstorm. Even spring could be unpredictable up here -scorching hot one moment, then pouring rain the next.
There were… several reasons.
Reasons like his sculpted biceps that filled out his flannel shirt. His perpetually furrowed brow. The way he spoke to me in that confident, low voice like I was a damsel in distress who needed guidance.
It really did something to me. Wow, did I have a thing for older men?
I came up here for a weekend of self-discovery at a yoga retreat, and ended up here instead, still discovering new things about myself…
Fuck.
I was staring again.
Thankfully, I caught myself before he noticed again. He pulled up to a rustic cabin, briefly illuminated by his headlights, before he switched off the truck. The only light came from a bulb on the porch. Raindrops glowed in a halo around the light.
I reached back for my bags, but Evan already had them all slung across one shoulder and my roller bag in his one hand, and somehow still had a hand free to open my door for me and guide me down to the ground.
We rushed inside as a gust of wind blew the rain nearly sideways.
I took a deep breath. His home smelled just as much like pine as the woods outside. I glanced around, looking for any obvious red flags.
Just like the truck, his house was clean and somewhat bare, except for family photos on the walls and books on shelves. Curious, I glanced around looking for him with a woman, maybe some wedding photos, but nothing.
I spotted a photo of him with a guy who looked like he could be his brother. They looked happy together, arms slung around each other”s shoulders, Evan with the faintest indication of a smile and the other guy with a crooked grin.
“Upstairs is all yours,” he said, nodding toward the staircase. “You”ll find the guest bedroom no problem. It”s the room that”s not the office or the bathroom.”
It suddenly dawned on me that this man was being… kind.
No ulterior motives.
Of course, my self preservation instinct to not follow a strange man into the woods was healthy and natural, but… Evan hadn”t given me any indication he wasn”t to be trusted. Maybe he had a rough exterior, but he”d done nothing but offer me free gas and shelter, when he could have thrown up his hands and sent me on my way to fend for myself tonight.
I put a hand on his bicep, steadying myself to reach up on my tiptoes to kiss him softly on the cheek. Just a brush of a kiss before stepping away. “Thank you,” I said, smiling. “You didn”t have to do all this, you know. I”m so grateful.”
He glared at me, frozen, steely faced, like some kind of sexy Paul Bunyan Statue.
Oh no.
Had I pissed him off? My smile faltered and I took another step back, letting my hand drop from him.
“Go to bed, sweetheart,” he said, coolly.
“Yeah, okay. Well… Thank you,” I said again, feeling like a fool. He probably thought I was some idiot little girl who didn”t know how to act. Why the hell had I thought that was appropriate?
Blushing like crazy, I avoided looking at him while I grabbed my bags and started to pull them up the stairs.
Silently, he took them from me and walked up the stairs, deposited them at the landing, and then walked back down.
“I”m at the end of that hallway,” he said, some of the tightness leaving his tone. “If you need anything. We”ll get you into Larkwood in the morning.”
I nodded, not daring to keep trying to thank him, and went up to my room.
The guest room was cozy and quaint, decorated in a style that suggested it hadn”t been updated in quite some time. Floral wallpaper covered the walls, faded but still charming. When I pulled back the comforter, I noticed there was just a mattress protector and no fitted or flat sheet. Evan”s guest room clearly didn”t get much use. No matter, there were probably extra sheets tucked away somewhere.
For now, I needed to try to relax.
I looked at my phone. I should probably get the Wi-Fi password. I wasn”t about to tell anyone what I was doing… A text from me in the evening saying I”m staying the night at a strange man”s house deep in the mountains - but don”t worry? My mom would have a heart attack. My friends would demand to FaceTime immediately for details.
I could almost hear them now. “No way, Beccs. We”re coming to get you, now.”
I wasn”t in the mood to be judged for this… admittedly risky decision.
I just wanted to go to bed.
But having access to Wi-Fi and making sure my location was updating for my mom and my friends would at least give me some peace of mind.
So I got out my yoga mat, unrolling it on the hardwood floor. Sinking into a few familiar stretches, I felt the tension starting to seep from my travel-weary muscles.
A soft knock at the door startled me just as I settled into pigeon pose, folded over my front leg with my forehead resting on the floor.
“Come in?”