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TRIXIE

T rixie was used to being alone. She had grown up off the grid and had entertained herself for her entire life. She didn’t need—and thought she didn’t want!—constant companionship.

But she found herself missing Hunter.

Not just for his gentle touches and electric kisses, but for his presence .

He didn’t say a lot, but Trixie was always confident he was listening to her, and he never left her feeling like she was dominating the conversion or letting it flag.

He was interested in her. He respected her.

Trixie could admit that she was flattered by the hot look in his eyes and found the attraction mutual, but she would have been happy to have him across the table from her talking about the day’s work.

The day’s success felt empty without someone to share it with.

After dinner, Trixie did a tour of the dark building, standing in the open doorways imagining the finished space.

It was going to be a beautiful house, whatever its checkered origins were.

There were still ladders in the place of stairs, and Trixie climbed to the top floor and stood looking out.

They hadn’t put down the decking for the porch yet, but she could sit with her legs dangling out of the space where glass doors would be, gazing at the purple twilight over the mountains.

There might be northern lights that night, if she stayed up to see them.

She loved that this location was far enough away from civilization that the sky wasn’t polluted with streetlights.

Stars and planets were already starting to sparkle overhead.

She could hear the intermittent highway noise, and felt her heart leap in her chest as one of the vehicles turned off onto the gravel drive. A pale truck came into view and Trixie knew that it would be Hunter.

She didn’t want to look desperate, so she remained in place.

To her surprise, Hunter seemed to know exactly where she was, not going to her trailer first. He climbed up and sat beside her without comment and it seemed perfectly natural to scoot up against him and drink in the warmth of him as he put an arm around her.

It was chilly now that the sun was gone, and Trixie’s padded flannel wasn’t doing the job.

She wished she’d put on a hat because her ears were starting to ache with the cold.

“I didn’t technically hire you back this morning,” she told him lightly. “Does that mean I don’t have to pay you for today?”

She felt his chuckle as much as she heard it. “Saves me the trouble of quitting now, I guess.”

As warm and nice as he was against her, Trixie sat up and drew back. “Hunter…”

“You want to know what happens next,” he guessed.

“I’m pretty transparent,” Trixie said wryly.

“I’d like to take you to Colorado,” he said unexpectedly. “I want my family to meet you. ”

“To stay ?”

Hunter was quiet for a moment, looking out over the dark trees at the sky. It was velvety black now, speckled in bright stars. There were a few smudges of paler clouds near the horizon. “I don’t think so,” he said slowly. “I like this place. It feels like home.”

“You should spend a winter here before you decide,” Trixie cautioned. “The cold isn’t so bad, but a lot of people can’t handle the darkness.”

“I could,” Hunter said, with all the confidence of someone who had never experienced a month of 20-hour nights.

“Wait and see,” Trixie chuckled. “Today is fall equinox. The days and nights are equal now, but see how you feel after winter solstice.”

Trixie was watching the clouds, not convinced that was what they were, and gazed at them until she could see their movement. “Those are northern lights,” she said. “Not great ones.”

Hunter’s arm around her tightened, and he stared at them until Trixie worried that his eyeballs would dry up. “Blink,” she reminded him. “They’ll still be there.”

He chuckled, and looked at her instead. “So will I.” He leaned in and kissed her, slowly and firm. “Wherever you choose.”

They weren’t in a particularly safe place to make out more than that, so Trixie didn’t complain when Hunter stood and drew her up with him. “We should take this inside,” he murmured.

“Gladly.” She was also still cold.

He didn’t offer to carry her down the ladder, which was good, because Trixie wasn’t sure that even he could do that without killing both of them.

Trixie’s brief reservations that she must have misremembered what a good lover he was were washed away the moment they got into the trailer and shut the door behind them.

Hunter knew exactly what he wanted, and Trixie wanted exactly the same thing.

Kissing and petting turned to stripping off inconvenient clothing, and then he was crawling over her on the broad bed.

His first strokes were careful and gentle, but as she cried out and begged, he slammed harder into her until they were both finally spent and satisfied.

Trixie cuddled into Hunter’s warm side, loving the feel of his flesh under her fingers, and the tickle of his beard. He smelled like wilderness and work, and just a little of whiskey.

“How’d it go out with the crew tonight?” Trixie asked. “Any headway on our case? Are you still sure it’s Keith or Kyle?”

Hunter’s shrug made her head move. “Could be, but I’m not sure. Couldn’t figure out any motivation for them. Just mischief, maybe?”

“Expensive mischief,” Trixie snorted. “And I feel like they’re not bad kids. I don’t want to suspect any of my crew. I worked hard to put them together.”

“You’re good at that,” Hunter said, his voice just a rumble.

“Mischief? Suspicion?”

“Building a crew. You haven’t been here long, and they all respect you. You got them working as a team and that’s not a minor feat. You’re a good teacher. You’re a good leader.”

Trixie felt a wave of warmth roll over her and she squeezed Hunter gratefully. “Thanks,” she said softly. “That’s nice to hear. Maybe I will hire you back tomorrow.”