24. gray
24
GRAY
A s Amelia sped over a small rise at full speed, she flew through the air for a moment before landing on all four wheels in a muddy puddle. Water splashed everywhere, but the impact neither ripped her from her seat nor slowed her down.
Although I couldn't see her face under the helmet, there was no doubt in my mind that she was already enjoying the ride. I had sent her ahead so that I could keep an eye on her at all times, making sure nothing happened to her along the way.
Putting her on an ATV was one thing. Watching her momentarily forget her mortality as she chased an adrenaline rush was something entirely different.
I understood the allure. Mudding was popular for a reason. It involved horsepower on a vehicle that offered thrills similar to a motorcycle, only much more suited to rough terrain. I bet Amelia would have even more fun in the winter when Wilder and I pulled the snowmobiles out of the garage. Canadian winters were… adventurous. Without the snowmobiles, no one could make it up or down the mountain.
I put aside the fact that it would still be six months until the first snow fell and focused instead on how Amelia had completely swept me off my feet today.
As I watched her speed down the narrow forest path, struggling to keep up with her, certain words echoed in my ears.
It was a perilous development. A fine line we were now dancing along. When she called me by that name, it stirred in me the desire to claim her permanently, to never let her go—since she wouldn’t utter such words without caring about what we had—about me.
I was fully aware of how selfish that was. After all, I was the one who had assured her that it was okay if she just used me.
I rolled my eyes. Clearly, I had shot myself in the foot here, now putting pressure on her and making demands…
Luckily, the cabin came into view among the trees, allowing me to push aside those thoughts.
I parked the ATV right next to the door.
Amelia, just like me, was covered in mud from head to toe. Even the tips of her hair were caked, the turquoise of her shoes was unrecognizable, and her clothes had all blurred into a monotonous brown. But the sparkle had returned to her eyes, the one I had missed so much that morning.
The last-minute change of plans had been worth it. Originally, I had wanted Declan to come over to handle the minor repair, but instead, I decided to do it myself.
Amelia hopped off the ATV, spinning around in a circle. The trees soared so high that you could barely see the sky through the canopy. Little light reached the ground, mostly covered with thick moss. The log cabin fit perfectly into the surroundings—small, built from thick logs, and right in the midst of nature.
Looking out the window at night, it wasn't uncommon to find yourself eye to eye with the creatures of the forest. Right now, in summer, it was an ideal starting point for long hikes across the surrounding mountains, but also for mushroom pickers, BMX enthusiasts, or those inclined toward solitude—it was the perfect retreat.
"What made you decide to create all these holiday homes? I mean, the B and B is already amazing, but this is on a whole different level," Amelia said as she turned toward me.
Meanwhile, I had already started to unlock the door. The smell of stale air hit me. The last booking was almost a week ago, and the next was not until three days later.
"One could say I had too much time. Too much time and too many emotions that I needed a healthy way to release." I quickly stripped off the top layer of clothing to avoid bringing all the mud inside.
Even though daylight hardly reached the ground, the rain always found a way, making the forest slippery, muddy, and wet.
"I kind of suspected that," Amelia remarked.
Amelia did the same, taking off her shoes and her pants, as well as her sweater, before she slipped past me into the cabin. I followed suit, dropping my backpack next to the door and peeking into the bathroom.
Before we could indulge in a hot shower, I had to check the pipes—that was exactly where the problem lay. The last guests had reported that the water pressure was virtually nonexistent, resulting in only a trickle of water from the shower.
Not a good sign, but definitely something fixable. The problem likely wasn't with the pipes but with the water heater or its source.
When I entered the living room, Amelia was kneeling in front of the fireplace. There was no central heating up here, just the option to warm the rooms with the stove. And as it looked, her efforts were quite successful as the first flames were already licking the logs she had stacked up.
"Believe it or not, I grew up in the countryside too," she responded to my look of surprise.
"Your gardening skills suggest otherwise."
"But not my cooking and baking skills," she retorted. "Plus, I can ride horses."
"That's not news to me."
She glared at me darkly. "And I've even assisted in the birth of lambs. I can easily make up for a few dead plants."
"So what brought you to the big city then?"
She shrugged one shoulder. "No idea. Probably the desire to experience both sides. And then, somehow, I just never managed to leave."
"Until now."
"Until now," she repeated, closing the stove door. She was still kneeling on the floor but now leaned back a bit. "I'm also quite handy."
"Are you listing all the reasons why I can't let you go?"
"Do you really need any more reasons?"
The point had clearly gone to her—and none of my reasons had anything to do with her possessing any skills useful for the bed-and-breakfast.
"I find more every day," I admitted. "But how about you help me out for a bit? A hot shower sounds very tempting right now."
"Together?"
I snorted. "Of course together. I wasn't finished with you yet."
Amelia jumped up. "If that's the case… where are the tools, and what needs fixing?"
If she tackled the problem with the same enthusiasm, it wouldn't be long before it was fixed, and we could move on to the more fun part of our trip.
We spent the next four hours figuring out the issue and then finding a solution that didn't require us to return to the bed-and- breakfast only to have to come back again. Eventually, there was no doubt that we had truly earned that hot shower.
Amelia also got the chance to showcase her culinary skills since the fridge, the shelves, and what we had brought with us only offered a sparse selection. After two hours of driving and four hours of repairs, it was clear that we wouldn't be heading back today.
I had already warned Soraya and Declan about the lack of reception up here, making it impossible to inform them otherwise. The last thing we needed was a missing persons report, especially since Sergeant Williams would hardly find it amusing to have to search for us up here… only to find that neither of us had spared a thought that we might have to spend the night in the mountains.
The choice was clear when I had to decide between Sergeant Williams showing up and the opportunity to delve into some new developments without disturbance.
Though I had hinted as much to Amelia, I still doubted she had any idea what was coming. Nor was I ready to give her any clues just yet.
"If I remember correctly, didn't you mention a shower earlier?" Even as I asked, I was pulling two neatly folded towels from the shelf in the small hallway.
The cabin offered limited space, making efficient use essential. Amelia slipped past me into the bathroom, already shedding her remaining clothes. When I followed her, the shower was already running. My gaze landed on the washing machine, busy cleaning the muddy clothes we had shed earlier. I had wisely packed replacements, but we had still spent the last hours in our partial attire as it made no sense to dirty more clothes.
Amelia threw her shirt at me, already half under the flowing water. The warmth in the small room increased rapidly with the steam that enveloped us.
Her eyes roamed over my bare chest, and once again, hers were the first to darken. She bit her lip unconsciously, and not wanting to keep her waiting, I hurried to join her.
"Do you like what you see, Amelia?"
She opened her arms so that we met under the water stream.
Especially in moments like these, it caught me off guard how perfectly our bodies melded together.
"I don't just like it," she murmured against my skin. "You have such a profound effect on me; I really wonder what I did to deserve standing in the shower with such an attractive man."
Amelia wasn't exactly someone who threw around compliments carelessly. Yet whenever she did offer one, usually when I least expected it, I knew that she meant it. She spoke the truth rather than just buttering me up, hoping to gain some advantage—unlike the women before her who had tried and failed.
"You deserve it more than anyone else," I responded, thinking of all the odd dating stories I'd gone through. I also thought about what Amelia triggered in me. "Here, let me wash your hair."
A continuous, dark-brown trickle flowed over her shoulders. Not only were the tips of her hair caked with mud, but splatters also clung to her neck, and the water from above was probably not going to be enough to clean her up.
The protest I expected from her did not come, which was clearly a sign that she was gradually getting used to being treated this way by me. In other areas, she had adapted much more easily, which just proved that Amelia was settling in. She felt a sense of security in my presence and no longer harbored distrust, believing it unlikely that anyone would feel the urge to care for her.
Amelia continued to lean against me, allowing me to wrap my arms around her and reach for the dispenser on the wall before I buried my fingers in her hair and began to wash all the dirt out. When the water finally ran clear, I proceeded to massage her scalp. Meanwhile, her fingers lazily traced my back, causing a gentle tingling wherever she touched me, just as always when she touched me.
I enjoyed the warmth of our hugs, like in this moment, where nothing else mattered but us.
She lifted her head. "Sometimes, I never want to let you go when we're hugging."
By now, I had stopped questioning it. Those moments when my thoughts revolved around one thing, and shortly after that, she would verbalize something similar without even having a clue what was going on inside my head.
My hands slid from her head to her neck, where I brushed the hair to one side so I could glide my thumbs over the tense muscles there.
Over the next few minutes, I focused on wiping away every single speck of mud before wrapping her in a towel afterward.
"How about I try to whip up a feast from our meager supplies now?" she asked, already leaning forward to shake her hair and dry it with another towel.
"Seeing you like this, food isn't exactly what's needed to quench my hunger right now."
She inhaled sharply before straightening up and giving me an almost indignant look. "Gray!"
"Yes?"
"You can't just say things like that."
"Hasn't stopped me before, has it?"
Her look conceded the point. "What if we eat first and then do whatever is on your mind?"
"Whatever it is?" I raised an eyebrow.
She shrugged. "By now, I'd say I have a pretty good idea what you like. So yes. Whatever it is, I'm in. After we've eaten."
I liked that she didn't abandon her priorities just because I was tempting her with something different.
So I nodded, already secretly pondering how best to explain what I had in mind. But first, I watched as she took over the kitchenette, still wrapped in a towel, while her hair slowly dried in the warm air provided effortlessly by the fireplace a few feet away.
Having Amelia in my house was already a source of joy for me, but being with her in this place, essentially trapped within a few square yards, it became even more apparent how much I enjoyed her company—and what a blessing it was to have her in my daily life.
Not that I had been unhappy before. On the contrary. With her by my side, I simply realized what had been missing all along.