3. Welcome Back

* * *

Nothing saidwelcome back to Steele Valley like the best dog in the world, bounding toward me with a wagging tail and a tongue lolling out.

"There's the good old boy. How you doin' Tucker?" I crouched and scratched the mature dog behind the ears, while his wet kisses landed on my cheek.

From the day Joe got the golden retriever off of the couple who used to own this place, Tucker had become more than just a beloved family pet. As an emotional support dog, he helped Bodie navigate his days, giving Molly some relief as his caretaker and older sister.

"Wy-Oh-Ming!" Bodie cried, never far behind Tucker. I held my fist out and he bumped it with his. He avoided looking me in the eye. But each year as he grew older, his development progressed. I took this as a win.

"About time. We're in the backyard eating lunch," Molly shouted from the front door. Of course, I wouldn't dare mention the reason I was late—the beautiful damsel in distress with the flat tire—or else I'd get fifty questions from her.

I followed them through the house and out the back, where Joe and the kids all greeted me. "Uncle Wy!" They yelled in unison, each one wrapping themselves around my legs.

"Reporting in for my sabbatical, sir," I joked upon seeing Joe.

"Good. Hope you're hungry. Behold the feast. Junior and Angel had to cancel at the last minute. A couple of their kids came down with fevers. So, dig in." Joe gestured to the table filled with food while holding his plate piled high.

We all sat around an extra-long picnic table and ate, the kids excitedly chatting about their summer plans, and begging me to take them canoeing and swimming in the lake, and hiking, and three-wheeling, and… They had my summer mapped out.

I didn't necessarily mind, but with this being my forced summer off from work, I had my own plans.

"Come watch me horseback ride, Uncle Wy," their oldest boy, Jesse, said, sitting there with long sandy-blond locks almost the spitting image of Joe when he was younger

"Sure thing. I'd love to see the new stables." I grinned before assaulting the corn cob in my hands.

Since Junior Steele finished modernizing the Steele Valley Equine Center, ushering in his dream to open a one-half-mile standardbred harness racing dirt track, the horse and gambling part of the Steele family's business boomed.

Some people in the area didn't appreciate the added tourists and the real estate prices jacking up. Of course, the environmentalists in the valley protested his every move, concerned for the stress on nature and the lake with more and more people invading the region.

"Kids, leave Wyoming be. He's taking off work to rest, so you can't monopolize all his time. Jesse, help Chloe, Oliver, and Bodie clear the plates, then you all go play with the yard games," Molly's mama bear came out in her voice and they scampered off.

I tossed the corn cob on my plate and wiped my hands. "Hey, Joe. I brought you something. A little light reading about that tech mogul I mentioned, the one developing artificial intelligence that I think we could use in our next product."

From my back pocket, I produced the paperback copy of Heath Arnault's biography that I'd started reading. Joe was old school; when he read, it had to be something tangible. Besides, I had this on my e-reader as well.

He set it aside. "You're on sabbatical, young man, or did you forget? Set aside the work part of your brain and focus on the beauty of the valley."

"Speaking of which, I hope you don't mind, but Angel and I have a few people we'd like you to meet," Molly piped up then, filling me in on her own plans for my time.

"By people, I'm assuming you mean women?" This wasn't anything out of the ordinary; those two had been conniving to fix me up for years.

"We may have pinpointed a few women in the valley we'd approve of, to be my future sister-in-law," she said, not mincing words, but delivered with a sly smile. "Or at least as a date for the Masquerade Under the Stars gala coming up for our Love the Lake campaign. Oh, it's going to be a fabulous event. We've hired this expert, Capri Vitale, who specializes in environmentally conscious event planning."

"Joe, I believe you said I'm to relax these next two months. Dating isn't high on my priority list," I responded.

"Molly, leave Wyoming alone. Look at him—he never has any problem getting dates," he started in my defense, but one glare from Molly and he backtracked. "Oh, but yeah, you'll want a date for sure at the gala. To appease the environmentalists, Junior ordered a save the lake type of fundraiser—all monies to be set aside to keep our lake clean and healthy. And you know how we enjoy it too dang much to see it harmed in any way." He ended with a wink at Molly with whatever secret innuendo existed between them.

I hated admitting it, but a fling might be just what I needed for the summer. Being fixed up took all the fun out of the chase for me, though, so Molly's plan was to be avoided at all costs.

My thoughts went immediately to the woman with no name and a cute ass who allowed me to change her tire. There was definitely something there before she shut me down.

Stuffed, my next task was escaping this meal and family time before Molly could plan my wedding. I'd choose my own dates this summer, thank you very much.Hm…wonder where I'd find Ms. No Name.

* * *

I finally leftthe family homecoming party and took the winding drive around the lake in the Jeep I'd rented, the pine-scented breeze from the open top clearing my head. While I'd spent my time here in the past staying with Molly and Joe a week at a time, for this longer sabbatical, I needed my space.

I looked forward to exploring the wilder side of Steele Valley. Across the lake, far away from the bustling community supporting the luxury mountain resort, sat cabins and cottages normal people could afford, not mansions. The trails and the lake should be less crowded on this side, too, and that suited me fine for my time off.

And wildlife—I expected to see plenty here, like the black bear crossing the road ahead. I slowed down to a crawl watching it disappear into the woods, happy now that I brought my usual hiking provisions including bear spray.

The place I'd rented was a small one bedroom cabin, right on the water on the other side of the lake from Joe's. The property had three other cabins, and I passed them each as I drove through at a snail's pace, the Jeep's tires crunching over the gravel drive of the campground. Spaced out from each other, with only a few trees between them and perfect views of the lake, this was home sweet home for the summer.

I'd timed my arrival right for the afternoon check-in and climbed out of the Jeep. With only one bar of Wi-Fi, it took a minute for the check-in instructions to be loaded on my phone for the keycode. It was one of those fancy digital door locks, its high-tech appearance at odds with the rough hewn cedar door and homey window box blooming with red flowers.

Of course, the damn lock didn't work.

Why in the world would the owners put a fancy-ass door lock on a rustic cabin in the middle of nowhere? If I'd known that, I might not have rented here. I had decided on a simpler life for the summer, not one reminding me of technology constantly, if I had to be forced into this time off.

I started to dial the reservation number for help, but the signal weakened. Maybe I'd get more bars at the lake, and I walked to the edge, just a short distance from the cabin.

How blessedly quiet…especially after the raucous lunch at Joe's house with the kids. Here, the chorus of birds, the wind rustling, and the water lapping on the shore provided the only entertainment.

The sun warmed my face as I stepped out of the shadows from the trees, noticing a wooden dock extending into the waters. At the end, a woman sunbathed in a white one-piece on her back, her tanned skin glistening in the light.

The signal strength surged on my phone, and I dialed the campground number, trying to focus on the irritation of being locked out of my cabin, and not the shapely woman in the distance.

A phone rang—in her direction—which sent the woman sitting straight up on the dock. I eyed her as she produced the ringing phone from a bag at her feet.

"Hello? Garden Campgrounds," a woman's voice answered.

"Yes. I'm here to check in, but the key code won't work," I explained.

She glanced up, saw me, and I waved and hung up. My rescuer, I deduced, with a nice figure at that, my eyes taking in the view of her as she rushed to reach me. Slender with curvy hips and full breasts, the one-piece suit covered too much of her skin, in my opinion, but my imagination filled in the blanks, and I liked the image.

I waited, hands in my pockets. Only when she came closer, I knew exactly who this was.

"Well, if it isn't Ms. No Name." Yes, I smirked at her, given how she rushed away from me after I did the gentlemanly thing in changing her tire.

"Oh. The man named after a state. Nebraska was it?" Surely, she teased given the gleam in her eyes, but just in case, I was all too happy to remind her.

"Wyoming Platt."

The flush of her light freckles across her nose caught my eye, and I'd like to kiss the smattering of them gracing her shoulders while tugging on her brunette ponytail wrapped around my hand. Her eyes remained locked away behind sunglasses, although I could feel her assessing me.

She dropped her things and pulled a cover up out of her bag, hiding her body from my view in a white linen flowy dress. Damn shame. "You're the man who rented cabin number two for the next couple of months?"

"Yep. Small world. Does that mean I finally get your name now?"

"Fine. I'm Eve, general manager and caretaker," she introduced, her voice suddenly all business.

There it was. Eve...the name of the woman I'd be chasing all summer, but hopefully it wouldn't take me that long to know the feel of her under me.

"You can call me Wy for short." I came closer, holding out my hand to shake, desiring to feel her palm, her skin against mine again—for starters. The first time with the tire iron, sparks shot up my arm and I hypothesized it'd happen a second time.

She ignored it though, glancing at her phone, thumbs swiftly clicking away. "These keypads are crap. I hate them, nothing but trouble. Not sure why the owner had to do away with simple keys."

"Yeah, right? It doesn't exactly match the vibe of this place. What happened to the good old days where we didn't rely on technology to solve every problem?" That was funny coming from me. "So, you oversee things here?"

I fell into step behind her as we walked up the gentle slope to the cabin. I had a million questions, ready to learn everything about this woman, as my eyes bouncing off her fine ass started a war between my head and my cock.

Eve, though, all business and oblivious to my thoughts, launched right away into the basics like keeping trash in the bear-proof bin, cabin cleaning service every third day, when the quiet hours were at night, how wonky the Wi-Fi could be here, and how to let her know if there were any other issues.

"Everything is explained on a sheet in your nightstand, just in case you weren't listening, eyeing my backside," she ended, stopping at the door of my cabin and facing me with a knowing glare.

"Well, they say the best views in Steele Valley are worth taking time to notice."

That made her lips twitch. I saw it. But she crossed her arms, pretending otherwise. "Don't think just because you changed my tire and now you're here, that this means anything. I make it a rule to not get personally involved with the campers, especially ones named after a state."

"Good. I've always enjoyed a challenge." A grin slid across my face, daring her to take our conversation further.

"I'll have to reset the keypad from my computer. You should receive an email in a few minutes." She turned on her heel, and I enjoyed the view of her sashaying away into a clump of trees and bushes several yards away. Her white car and another cabin were barely visible there.

With a beautiful lake, a simple cabin, and a gorgeous woman nearby, this sabbatical just got more interesting.