“You wouldn’t believe how cold it is here.” Especially in a one-room cabin without electricity. I didn’t say that last part because if I did, I’d admit other details about the last week to Vicki. That’s what friends did.

It wasn’t what Beth did.

By the time Vicki and I hung up, I changed my mind about going downstairs. My news regarding my parents could wait. Soon, I was under the warm spray of the shower, washing away the remains of Van’s and my night and morning of passion.

28. Julia

Julia

Still under the spray, I stilled as the bathroom door opened wide and Van appeared through the steam-covered glass stall. My hands crisscrossed my nakedness. “Van.”

A smile filled his expression as he slid the glass door open. Reaching through the steam, he seized each of my hands. “What do you think you’re hiding?”

The tenor of his voice rumbled through me as I relaxed my arms. “It’s a reflex.”

His green orbs simmered as he scanned from the top of my head to my toes. Even under the warm spray, my flesh peppered with goose bumps. His large finger came to the hickey upon my left breast, gently running over the bruise in small circles.

“I should leave more,” he said, his eyes focused on the mark.

I reached for his hand. “Why are you here?”

“To see you, confirm you’re real, and to remind me how fucking fortunate I was to find you.” Taking a breath, he pulled his attention away from my breast to my eyes. “What did you learn when you turned on your phone?”

I looked up at the shower spray and back. “Can this wait?”

“I wish. If it could, I’d step inside this stall right now.”

“What’s happening?”

“Your parents are on their way. They stayed in Ashland last night.”

The joy I’d gotten from his decorated cabin for the holiday abandoned me, disappearing into the steam like a balloon losing air. “Did you invite them here?”

He nodded.

“Why?”

“Rinse.” He reached for one of the plush towels. “And get out.” His grin returned. “I’m pretty sure that meeting my future in-laws with their daughter naked and wearing my mark on her left breast and another on her right ass cheek won’t be the best first impression.”

My ass cheek?

What?

I twisted one way and the other, trying to see what was hidden.

Then his other words came through.

His future in-laws.

The thought of this impending meeting sent a feeling of dread through my circulation. I reached for the tile wall as Van took a step back and closed the glass door.

I waited for him to leave the bathroom but he didn’t, leaning against the long vanity and crossing his arms over his wide chest.

“Are you going to give me a minute?” I asked.

“No. I’m going to enjoy the show.”