“You wish,” Natalie says without looking up from her phone.
Wilder comes and plops down on the sofa next me and tosses me a bag. “Mom made you some cookies.”
Before I reach out to grab them, Natalie snatches them up. “Hey, those are for me!”
“My mama made them, so technically they’re for me too.” My Aunt Paula still lives up here with us as the resident grandmother with no grandchildren. Which she loves to remind us of. She does most of the cooking even though we have a staff in the lodge where the guests stay that does all the cooking and cleaning for the cabins that are rented.
“Easy, Connor,” Wilder says and tosses me another bag. “Those were the broken ones anyway.”
“Asshole,” Natalie murmurs while stuffing broken cookies in her mouth.
“What’s got you all twisted up about this weekend? All you have to do is stay here in the big house, and you won’t even know anyone is here,” Wilder says as he takes a cookie from his own bag.
“I don’t know. I think I’m just missing the quiet.” Wilder and Natalie share a glance, and I get annoyed. They have that weird twin thing they do where they talk without using words. “Either say it out loud or don’t do that. You know I hate it.”
“Wilder thinks you need to get laid,” Natalie says and shrugs.
“I could say the same about the both of you,” I grumble and eat another cookie.
“And how are we supposed to give Mom all those grandbabies she wants if you lock the gates?” Wilder says as he goes to grab a drink.
“Sorry, but that’s up to the two of you. I’m not getting married.” I cross my arms over my chest and stare out the window at the snowy mountaintop. “After this weekend is over, either you shut the cabins down or I’m out of here.”
“Connor,” both Natalie and Wilder say at the same time.
“I just need a break, okay?” Deciding I need a break from the conversation too, I stand up and head toward the front door.
“Hey, wait. Let’s talk about this,” Natalie says, and I can hear her come up behind me as I grab my coat and boots. There’s about three feet of snow already covering the ground outside, and it’s well below freezing.
“I don’t need to talk, Natalie. You’ve got this place packed for the next few days, and there’s work to be done until then. I’m gonna go chop some wood.”
“I’ll come help,” Wilder offers, and I don’t protest.
“Fine, but we’ll talk about this later. Okay?” When I turn around, Natalie’s big brown eyes are pleading, and damn it, I can’t stay mad at her.
“Fine” is all I say as Wilder and I head out into the snow.
The only sound is our boots crunching in snow as we make our way out to the woodshed. “You know we probably don’t need to chop wood for the next three years or so.”
“It’s therapeutic,” I mumble, grabbing one of the axes hanging inside and then going out to the chopping block.
“Whatever you say, cousin.”
We’re outside for several hours while I chop and Wilder stacks up the pieces. It’s calming and keeps me warm in the icy cold, even though my anger would probably do that too. I don’t know why I’m so pissed about sharing this place, but it feels like the more people we let in, the more it loses its magic. Natalie and Wilder talk about having families and raising their kids here. That’s well and good for them, but all I want to do is hunt in the winter, fish in the summer, and read when it’s dark. I’m a simple man, and I don’t need much, including a woman. Especially one that might drag me away from my home here.
“That must be the rest of them,” Wilder says and nods to the line of SUVs coming up the road in the distance.
“Great.” My voice sounds sour even to my own ears.
I’m ready for this weekend to be over, and it hasn’t even started. I know deep down that there’s no way anything good can come from letting outsiders on our land. No matter how pretty they might be.
Chapter Three
EVIE
“Evie, we’ve landed.” Carter's voice breaks through my foggy brain, and when I open my eyes, I see him standing over me. For a second, I panic and wonder how I’m sleeping with him anywhere near me, but when I sit up straighter, I remember where I am. I’m on the plane. Right. Thank goodness.
Carter is holding the book that I’d been reading, and he looks at it. “You’re into some kinky shit. I’ll keep that in mind.” He smirks as I snatch the book from him, making him laugh. “Calm down, kitten.”
I purse my lips, knowing he actually did read part of the page because that’s what the hero had been calling the heroine. I don’t know why, but I always love it when the heroes give their love interest sweet nicknames.