Chapter 1

1

OLIVIA

I was lost. Well and truly lost.

I stood midway up the mountain on the hiking trail, looking in one direction, then the other. At first, it seemed like there was no way to get lost. There was one path leading up and down this part of the mountain, after all. But I took a side path, then looped back around to what I thought was the main trail, only to find out I was on a different trail. When I started going in the direction I thought would take me back, I ended up somewhere else completely.

And now, here I stood next to a waterfall—a freakin’ waterfall in the middle of nowhere. Who even knew this was out here?

I yanked my phone out of my pajama bottom pocket and stared at the screen. Still no bars. Worse than no bars—I had an SOS. I was in the middle of the mountains, lost, in my pajamas and tennis shoes. I hadn’t even had coffee yet.

“Fuck,” I said, then paused and added, “Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.”

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and yelled, “Help” at the top of my lungs.

It was no use. The waterfall would drown out any noise I made. I needed to get back to the main trail.

Sighing, I shoved my phone back in my pocket and started walking, but three steps later, I stopped. I was hot. I’d been walking around up here for at least forty-five minutes. The other women from the conference were bound to come looking for me sooner or later. The last thing I wanted was for them to see I’d been up here stressing out.

No, it would serve them right to see me living my best life—maybe even taking a skinny dip in the gigantic pond to my right. They said I didn’t take chances. They said I wasn’t confident enough to be successful.

“Fuck them,” I muttered.

I’d show them I was confident enough to do anything I wanted, including making my way to the top as a Glamor Diva Cosmetics rep. A smile began spreading over my face at the thought of those prissy soccer moms condescending to me just because I was the youngest. They didn’t even know I’d made forty thousand dollars so far this year. And it was only July.

But they’d know during tonight’s dinner. That was when my successes would be announced. I’d better freaking get back in time to attend.

Until then, I’d live my best life skinny-dipping under a waterfall.

Only once I was completely naked did I start to question just how private this gigantic pond with a waterfall actually was. What if somebody came along, scanned the area, and caught me wearing absolutely nothing?

But with the waterfall being so loud, my spidey senses were thrown off. It felt secure, especially with all the trees surrounding me. But someone could easily come walking up the path that led here, and I wouldn’t know until it was too late. That thought gave me the push I needed to get my bare ass in the water.

The water was cold—subzero, it felt like. But I’d been hauling myself up and down steep inclines for the better part of an hour, so I was more than overheated. To get myself a little more used to the temperature, I dunked my entire body. It felt so good, I stayed under for as long as I could hold my breath. Then I surfaced and turned over on my back, floating with my eyes closed.

I imagined myself as the most successful Glamour Diva Cosmetics rep in the country. I’d have enough money to pay off my parents’ camper van, and I’d send my little sister to college so she could pursue her dream of becoming an interior decorator rather than working as a receptionist at a cabinetry shop for the rest of her life.

My eyes popped open when a weird feeling drifted over me—a feeling that I was being watched. I looked straight ahead and saw a bird in a tree above me.

I giggled at myself. Stalker birds weren’t really a thing.

Still shaking my head, I forced myself upright. My toes sank into the mud at the bottom of the pond—it was kind of yucky, but if I told myself this was like a mud bath, I could make it relaxing, right? Mind over matter.

My heart stopped when something caught my eye. A man was standing at the edge of the pond, arms crossed over his chest, his expression holding a semi-smile. I stared at him for a long moment, feeling like I was in one of those nightmares where you knew you needed to scream but couldn’t seem to mobilize your vocal cords.

But there was something else. Yes, he might technically qualify as a stalker, but damn, he was hot. He had dark hair and bulging biceps. His body looked menacing, but there was something kind in that face.

Maybe it was the eyes. Even from here, I could see warmth in them. This guy was a protector, not a danger.

That might be the case, but that didn’t change the fact that I was as naked as the day I was born.

“What…?” I finally managed to force out. “Who are you? Why?—?”

I couldn’t finish the question. There wasn’t much use in talking, anyway. It was almost impossible to hear over the roaring waterfall behind me.

“We’re looking for you,” the man said in a booming voice that cut through the noise around us. “You’re Olivia, right?”

“Yes,” I said, eyes wide. “Who’s looking for me?”

“People from the retreat center.”

Okay, so that made total sense. I’d just gotten angry, told off my colleagues, spun on one heel, and marched across the campground toward the hiking trail. I fully expected them to call out to me, to ask me to stop, but when they didn’t, my pride kept me moving forward, one foot in front of the other.

I kept walking until I was on the trail. Thinking surely, they’d be sorry and any minute now, they’d realize they’d gone a step too far and at least report me missing.

And now they’d sent a search team out for me. This guy was a member of that search team, and he’d found me. Problem was, my clothes were on the bank.

“I’m naked,” I said, lifting my hands out of the water to shrug.

Too late, I realized that lifted my breasts, giving him an unintentional view. I lowered my arms quickly and squeezed my eyes closed, praying the guy hadn’t seen nipple.

When I finally opened my eyes again, he was removing his shirt. My mouth fell open. I found myself unable to will my vocal cords into action.

What are you doing? Those were the words I wanted to say, but instead, I was just staring at him. His shirt was barely on the ground before he was unfastening his jeans, then lowering his zipper and shoving them down. He wore a pair of plain white boxer briefs, and I braced myself for seeing a penis in the flesh, literally, for the first time in my life.

But instead, he walked toward the water, underwear still in place, and hopped in, making a splash so big I may as well have been standing under the waterfall. It took me a good couple of minutes to get the water out of my eyes so I could see him. By then, he’d already emerged, and his head and shoulders were above the water. Somehow, he’d ended up only ten feet or so away from me.

“What are you doing?” I asked. He was close enough now that I didn’t have to shout to be heard.

“Swimming,” he said, looking around. “I thought that was obvious.”

I didn’t know what to say. It seemed obvious to me that it made no sense that he’d jump in here.

“You’re supposed to be looking for me,” I finally said. “I assume you’re on the search team.”

“I’m a volunteer park ranger.” He looked back over his shoulder, maybe to verify no one had caught up with him yet. “It’s our job to help track down missing campers and hikers.”

“Missing hikers and campers? Does that happen a lot?”

He shook his head. “Nope. The retreat center put in the first campground ever in Rosewood Ridge.”

I realized I’d been covering my chest, even though it was underwater. There was no way he could see my body, right?

“So, I’m the first lost hiker?”

He laughed. “No, but I just moved to town a few months ago, so you’re my first. Somehow, I got volunteered for this. I work on the same construction crew with a couple of the guys. My boss is out here looking for you too. We all went in different directions.”

“So, what if they show up here and find you skinny dipping when you’re supposed to be working?”

“Swimming with a beautiful naked woman?” He laughed. “They’ll probably high-five me. Not many women around this town, if you haven’t noticed.”

I shrugged. “All I’ve seen are women. But I’m here to attend a makeup conference.”

“A makeup conference?” He frowned. “What are you making up for?”

I pointed at my face. “Cosmetics.”

But even as I said the word, I realized how ridiculous that sounded. I had not a scrap of makeup on. I hadn’t even washed off my night cream, although the pond would have taken care of any that remained.

But despite my bare face, he thought I was beautiful. That was one thing from our conversation that would probably stick with me long after I left these mountains. The hottest dude I’d ever laid eyes on had called me beautiful. He even said his friends would high-five him if they saw him with me.

The funny thing was, I’d always been somewhat confident in my looks—well, aside from those awkward teenage years when it was normal to feel self-conscious about things. But I’d spent hours watching makeup tutorials and perfecting techniques for making my eyes look wider, my cheekbones more prominent, and my lips fuller. I could barely take a sip of water or a bite of food without retouching my lipstick. I just never thought I looked all that attractive without makeup.

“Mind if I come a little closer?” he asked. “I’m having a tough time hearing you out here.”

I nodded, but I wasn’t even in control of my body. My head just moved up and down on its own. Having him closer would not be good for me. I knew that as well as I knew I was naked as a jaybird in here.

Was it the adventure? Maybe so. One thing I did know was that I had to see what would happen next. I couldn’t walk away from the chance to find out.