Jacob watched her go, watched her run up the dock to her boat. Feeling like maybe his heart had shifted in his chest, he rubbed it.

What had just happened?

Either he’d been hit by a Mack truck or he’d been flattened by one Sophie Marren. He’d just experienced the hottest, most erotic sex of his life, and he was pretty sure he wasn’t going to get a repeat. Which made him pretty much screwed, because it’d been the best thing to ever happen to him.

Fifteen minutes later she rushed off her boat, heading up to the road. She was wearing skinny jeans rolled up her calves, a halter blouse, and damn, a pair of FMPs.

He shook his head, smiling. Her glass was definitely half full. And here was the thing. He always saw his as half empty. He was in a dark place and just trying to survive, and yet here was this crazy hot woman who was his opposite. She was funny and light and…the highlight of his entire day.

And somehow, even as screwed up as he was, he knew that much. Maybe they weren’t opposites after all. They’d found lots of common ground in his bed. And at that, memories assaulted him, the length of her curvy body undulating beneath his, arching up as he cupped her breasts in his hands.

“Better bring your A game tonight,” she yelled over her shoulder as she got into…a cab.

The one and only cab in town.

That made him laugh as he sat on the porch and ate the breakfast she’d brought him hours before. It had long gone cold, but he didn’t care. Hell, compared to some of the shit he’d eaten, this was a five-course meal. Halfway through, he pulled out his cell phone and did what he’d been doing every single week for the past nine years.

He called his mom.

She answered on the second ring. “Darling, you’re an hour late on your check-in. Everything okay?”

“Yes, sorry, just got detained.” By the best sex he’d ever had. He looked down at the McDonald’s food and shook his head, still having no idea what the hell he thought he was doing with Sophie.

“Well, I know I’ve taught you that it’s rude to be late,” his mom said. “Now I’ve got to write you a note for school and for your teacher. Make sure to also apologize in person.”

Jacob leaned his head back against the railing of the porch and let the early-morning sun bring him some warmth. “I plan to apologize to everyone.”

“You’re a good boy,” she said softly, warmly. “And, honey?”

“Yeah?”

“You sound different this morning. More…relaxed.”

When he closed his eyes, he could still see Sophie naked and over him in his bed, head back, mouth open, the sexiest little whimpers escaping her while she rode his tongue. Yeah, he was most definitely feeling more than a little relaxed.

“Is it a girl? Because if so, you tell her that you can’t afford to be distracted right now. You have grades to pull up.”

He pressed his fingers into his eyes, a knot tightening in his chest. “I know. It’s going to be okay, Mom.” Even if he didn’t know how.

“Well, I know that,” she said, and paused. “Honey? I sure wish you’d undo our pinkie promise.”

The one where he’d convinced her not to tell Hud that he’d been checking in with her every week for the nine years he’d been gone and that he’d managed to visit at least once a year on leave. “Someday,” he said.

Carrie sighed. “Love you, baby.”

“Love you, too, Mom.”

“Don’t forget to do your homework!” she said, and hung up.

Jacob blew out a breath and closed his eyes. The nurses had assured him she was physically healthy and doing fine, but no one could tell him when or if she’d ever figure out she was living in the past most of the time.

Shaking it off, he stood and stretched for a minute or two and then went for a run along the lake, heading north. Hell, maybe Carrie was the lucky one, not having to live in the moment, in the present, facing life’s harsh realities every day. He wouldn’t mind the same once in a while.

Five miles later he found himself at the resort. Unable to help himself, he walked around, refamiliarizing himself with the place that seemed at once exactly what he remembered and yet so different.

They’d grown, he’d realized. The day lodge had once housed the cafeteria and several shops, but now those shops had been pulled out and sat in another building adjacent to the lodge. The outside eating area had a beautiful overhang to allow shade, and the huge north wall of the place was no longer just a plain wall.

A mural had been painted on it. A huge mural that had been done like a gorgeous 3-D tapestry, depicting the brand of Kincaid family that was the five siblings: Gray, Aidan, Hud, Kenna, and…himself. Bigger than life.