by Mara Jacobs
“Yep.”
“Is it safe? Legal?”
“Very safe. I made sure of that,” he said, patting Lucy as if to reinforce how precious the cargo was that the harness protected. “But crazy illegal,” he added with a grin. He hadn’t shaved this morning, and the stubble suited him much better than the clean-shaven look he’d had yesterday.
He handed her the keys to his truck. “Go back to the truck and put the heater on. I’ll be back in about twenty minutes.”
“What if something happens to you?” she asked, momentary panic rising up inside her.
“Nothing’s going to happen. I do this all the time.”
It didn’t help, and she felt an irrational fear bubbling up.
He must have recognized it. He set the packed duffle down on the machine in front of Lucy. He took his cell phone out of his jeans pocket, handed it to Deni, and then put his hands on her shoulders.
“If I’m not back in an hour, drive back to Copper Harbor. That’s the closest place to get a signal. Find my brother Twain in my contacts. Call him and tell him where I am.”
“And where are we?”
He smiled. “Tell him I’m between my garage and the ice cube. He’ll know what to do.”
“Okay,” she said, grasping his keys and phone.
“But there’s nothing to worry about, really.” He looked at her again, then turned and started taking the duffle bag off the snowmobile. “I’ll take you up first and then come back for Lucy.”
Damn the SAD. Deni knew it was making her more emotional than she would normally be. “No, don’t. Keep her on and bring her up. I’m fine, really. I just wanted a backup plan.”
He studied her, and must have believed she meant it. He came over and gave her a swift kiss that ended all too quickly.
“Well, you wouldn’t be much of an engineer if you didn’t think of a backup plan, would you?”
“That’s right.”
“Okay, I’ll be right back. Make sure you go warm up in the truck.” He grabbed a helmet from an old hat rack, strapped it to his head, and then swung a leg over the machine. He jostled the duffle bag and checked on Lucy, who promptly licked the glass shield of his helmet.
“Okay,” she said, but her answer was swallowed up by the roaring of the motor as he started up. Good God, the thing was loud. Being on a concrete slab only amplified the noise, and she backed away, deeper into the garage.
He gave a wave, throttled the handlebar, and drove slowly out of the garage. He went past the truck and up onto a bank of snow that had well-worn snowmobile tracks trailing away. As soon as he’d cleared the area and was on the trail, he sped up.
In seconds, he was gone.
Chapter Fifteen
We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.
~ Winston Churchill
In twenty minutes on the dot, Deni heard Sawyer’s snowmobile. She hadn’t gone to the truck to keep warm as he’d suggested, but instead had been mesmerized by the various gadgets that lined the shelves throughout the large building.
Tools, yes, but also small machinery and many things that Deni could not identify. Was the hermit a mad scientist as well?
“What is all this?” she asked him when he’d cut the engine and taken off his helmet. He’d left the machine outside, already facing the trail back to…wherever they were going.
“Junk, mostly.” He set his helmet on the seat and took the now-empty duffle bag over to where the rest of his grocery bags were and started transferring things.
“How much do you think we’re going to eat in two days?” she asked.
“Each time I try to bring as much non-perishable food as I can, since I have to use the snowmobile in the winter.”
“Kind of like stockpiling?”
“That makes it sound like I’m getting ready for Armageddon or something.”
“Well, it does feel like the end of the earth up here. In a good way, of course,” she said with a smile.
He laughed at that as he finished with the supplies, zipping up the duffle and swinging the heavy bag over his shoulder. As he passed her, he stopped, leaned over, and whispered, “Maybe I should have just said we’re going to work up an appetite.”
She turned, but he’d already passed, shooting her a grin over his shoulder as he made his way back to the end of the garage.
“Ready?” he asked, plucking another helmet from the hat rack.
Ready and raring. At least to get to their destination, if not for getting on the machine.
He put the helmet on her and showed her how to sit on the machine. He must have left Lucy’s harness up at the…the whatever. Log cabin, she supposed. One that smelled great and had a huge stone fireplace.
He closed the garage door behind him, got on the machine, and showed her how to hang on to him. She didn’t need much direction with that and was happy to oblige.
They took off with a jolt and then rose up the incline to get up on to the trail. After that, the path smoothed, and Deni found she enjoyed the ride.
They wound through a trail with huge pine trees on either side of them, truly in their own world.
It wasn’t long before the tree line broke and Deni saw Lake Superior. With a wall of stone in front of it.
They were coming at the building straight on, so she couldn’t see the sides at all, but this was surely no log cabin. The thirty-foot-wide front was made of some kind of funky stone mixture. The structure was a single story, but it was clear that it had a high ceiling. She could barely wait to get off the snowmobile and check it out.
There was a door in one corner and a chimney protruding from the top at the center of the building. She arched her head trying to see the peak of the roof, but couldn’t see beyond the stone wall.
There was what appeared to be an outhouse (oh God, she hadn’t thought about that), on the side of the building, a discreet distance away. Another small building that had the shape and size of a sauna house stood farther down, closer to the lake.
“Come on,” Sawyer said, helping her off the snowmobile. “Bring the helmet inside,” he added as he put the duffle over his shoulder and took her backpack from her, carrying that as well.
She took the helmet off and tucked it under her arm as she followed Sawyer to the door. He’d parked as close to the door as he could, and the path was pretty stamped down, making for easier walking.
He opened the door and stood to the side for her to enter. She didn’t see anything at first besides the four steps up and Lucy’s big body greeting her.
“Hey, girl,” she said, as she made her way up the stairs. She petted the dog. “Did you have a good ride up here? Did you? Good girl.”
As she got to the last step, Lucy backed away, content that they were all here to stay. Deni was finally able to view the whole cabin.
For a few brief seconds she thought she’d been duped and there was no building at all. It looked like there was just the big stone wall with stairs leading to…what seemed to be just the other side of the wall. She seemed like she was still outside.
But no, she wasn’t outside. The cabin had glass walls. This wasn’t just a wall with large windows. No. These were glass walls. She looked up, but didn’t really need to as the amount of natural light alone could have told her that there was also a glass ceiling.
“Oh my God,” she said, walking farther into the room. And it was just one large room. A cube made completely of glass, except for the stone wall—which ran the entire length of the room and the hardwood floor.
She set the helmet on the floor in an area that had a throw rug and seemed to be the general hat, coat, and boot area. She quickly took her outerwear off, dying to explore.
She heard Sawyer behind her, but she didn’t wait for him to take off his things or set down the duffle and backpack. She needed to see this…this…glass house.
The room was as wide as it was long. She reconfirmed her estimate of around thirty feet. It was a perfect square. She made her way to the far wal
l, which overlooked the lake. Although it seemed that every wall was overlooking something. She felt as if she were in some sort of life-sized snow globe. Or snow cube, in this case.
She walked past the low platform bed, which sat in the middle of the room, in front of the fireplace, which took up the middle third of the stone wall. In one corner of the room sat a glass table that was used as a desk. It was turned at an angle so the person sitting there would be able to see through either “wall” to the lake and the forest. In the opposite corner, was a large, well-worn leather chair and ottoman with a cream fleece throw draped over its back.
That was it—bed, desk, and chair, and chair and ottoman. And yet, that was truly all you needed with this spectacular view encompassing you.
“What do you think?” Sawyer said from behind her.
She whirled, ready to tell him how incredible it was, when she finally saw the stone wall from the inside.
A huge fireplace was in the center, roaring as promised. Or if not roaring now, it would soon be again, as Sawyer was adding wood from a built-in wood box to the side. He must have started the fire when he’d dropped of Lucy and the first round of supplies. Now that she thought of it, she should be freezing, but the room held a warm glow from the fire. That was the reason he’d wanted to bring Lucy up first—to get the fire going so it wouldn’t be so cold inside.
She watched as he bent over to add another log, not sure if she was more impressed with his thoughtfulness or his awesome butt in those jeans.
The butt, definitely. It was nice to walk into a cozy, heated room. But it was going to be heaven spending the weekend with that lean, muscular body.
“Well?” he asked, standing up and putting his hands on his hips.
“Spectacular,” she answered without hesitation. And the house ain’t bad either.
She moved toward the stone wall, taking it all in. To the right of the fireplace—the side without the entrance door—there was a sink, countertop, cupboards, and a pantry, which Sawyer was now filling with items from the duffle.
To the left was more shelving—some open, some with doors.
“Go ahead, poke around,” he said. “I know you’re dying to.”
She was. And not in a girlfriend sort of way—curiosity about her date—but from an engineering standpoint.
“You sure?”
“Have at it,” he said, sweeping his arm to encompass the entire place.
She had at it.
After examining every bit of the stone wall and all the different cubbyholes and shelves, the practicality weighted with the creativity astounded her. The shelving and fireplace, as well as the sink, were the depth of the four-step entryway, giving the whole wall an even, flush feel, even though some of it was open and some not.
And then she had at it with the glass cube itself, admiring the sheer genius that came up with not only the idea, but also the know-how to be able to pull it off.
“You did all of this yourself?” she asked.
“The design and most of the construction, yes. There were things I couldn’t do by myself, and my brothers would help when I’d get to those parts.”
“How long did it take you to build it?”
“About three years. I’d work on it on and off. Couldn’t get much done during the winters.”
“Do you live here?”
“No. Although I spend more time up here in the summer.” He chuckled a little. “I can rough it okay, but I need more than a biffy and a jump in the lake on a permanent basis.”
He pointed through the wall—through the wall!—at the outhouse, or “biffy,” apparently.
“See, I’m truly not the Brockway Mountain Hermit.”
“No. More like the Tip of Copper Harbor Semi-Hermit.”
“Exactly,” he said, and their eyes met. And held. And suddenly the intense daylight seemed very, very bright.
Chapter Sixteen
Engineers like to solve problems. If there are no problems handily available, they will create their own problems.
~ Scott Adams
Now what, Sawyer wondered as Deni broke eye contact first and turned around to face the lake.
He’d wanted to get her up here early, so he’d suggested the 9 a.m. start. Now it was noon, with the whole day and night ahead of them. And as much as he wanted to get her naked, he supposed he should let the girl get past lunchtime first.
He watched as she ran her hands along the seams of the clear braces he’d created to bracket the large, double-paned thermal glass. Her fingers glided up and down, and he imagined those fingers gliding up and down his chest. Preferably down.
She stepped even closer to the glass and blew on it, ostensibly to see if it would fog up. It didn’t. He’d made sure of that, given the extreme weather this property endured. He could think of something else she could breathe on to see if it would steam up.
Okay, enough. He wasn’t some fourteen-year-old boy. His brain knew that, but his cock was having a hard time believing it.
God, her ass looked incredible in those snug jeans. He should talk to Andy about making them mandatory in the office.
“It’s just amazing,” she said.
His eyes still on her ass, he answered, “It is, isn’t it.”
She turned around, and he didn’t even try to hide that he was checking her out. He grinned at her, and that pretty flush splashed across her cheeks.
Suddenly, the room seemed very small and very warm, even though the fire had just barely taken the chill out of the room and he was tempted to pull their coats back out until the place warmed up a bit more.
But that went against every instinct he was feeling right now—to get more clothes off of them both, not more on.
He kept his eyes on her as he walked back to the fireplace and threw another log on for good measure.
“It should be bearable soon.”
“It’s fine now.” Her voice was soft and quiet. She took a step toward him. “I have to tell you. I want to be here, and this place is so great. But I have to admit I’m…a little…nervous.”
“Listen, if this is too soon, let’s forget it. We’ll have some lunch, maybe take the snowshoes down to the lake to look around, and then head back to town.” He walked the small distance between them and took one of her hands in his. It should have been cold, but it wasn’t. He could almost feel the blood coursing through her.
“It’s not too soon,” she said, and he almost dropped to his knees in gratitude. And then the thought of being on his knees in front of her made his cock jerk to attention. Not that he hadn’t been semi-hard since she’d been sitting behind him on the snowmobile.
“In some ways it feels like”—he tried to focus on what she was saying and not on how he wanted to taste her all over—“not only isn’t it not too soon, but it feels like not soon enough, you know?”
“Oh, I know,” he said quickly, and she smiled.
“And it’s been a while for me.”
“Me too,” he said.
“Since…not since…?”
“No, not since Molly died. But…a while. And the first time since Molly died that…” He stopped, not sure how to phrase it, not sure he really knew what he meant himself.
He moved even closer, sliding his feet to either side of hers, getting as close to her as possible. She was wearing a thermal Henley under her sweater, and he could see her pulse beat ever so slightly at the base of her neck. He ran his fingers along the back of her hand and felt the matching pulse point. Needing desperately to have his tongue on that spot on her neck, he leaned down, taking in the scent of her as he did.
“That what?” she said, then her breath hitched as his tongue flicked across her skin. At first it was almost a lick, but then he settled his mouth on her.
“Hmmm?” he said in answer, alternately kissing and sucking on the tender skin of her graceful neck.
“The first time since Molly that…what?” she said as she dropped her neck back to give him better access.
His head tried to clear, to return to what he’d been saying, what she wanted to clarified.
Oh. Oh, yeah. He left her neck and pulled his hand away from hers. He gently held her head with both hands and brought her face to his.
“It’s the first time since Molly that it’s mattered,” he whispered.
And then he kissed her.
It could have been a line. But why bother—she was already here and had just told him it wasn’t too soon for her.
God, it had seemed like ages—this past week of being near him every day and not being able to touch him or kiss him.
Besides, Sawyer wasn’t the type of guy to throw out lines.
It mattered to him. She mattered to him.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and returned his kiss, mating her tongue with his. He smelled so good, like pine trees and the outdoors.
She felt Lucy twining herself around their legs. Sawyer broke away from their kiss just long enough to say “Luce, go lie down.” Which did the trick. His mouth returned to hers with a different rhythm, a harder pressure, and it felt so right, so natural, to slide her feet forward so that her body was pressed tightly against his.
She could feel his hard-on and tilted her hips into it, eliciting a groan from him. His hands moved down her back and cupped her butt, pulling her even tighter into him.
Which still wasn’t close enough. She twined her arms even tighter around him as his hands slid up from her ass to burrow under her sweater, pulling it up.
She broke away from him as he urged her arms up and the sweater off.
“Too many damn clothes,” he growled.
“It’s Michigan in the winter,” she explained as she started unbuttoning his flannel shirt. “What do you expect?”
“I expect…” He started to work on her jeans as she finally got his shirt unbuttoned and peeled it off of him, leaving him in a green thermal shirt. The green of his shirt made his green eyes pop even more as they bore into hers. “I expect,” he continued, reaching once again for her fly, “to have you naked in about ten seconds.”
“Sounds good to me,” she said, brushing her hand against his erection before snapping open the button.
