“Please pass on my congratulations.” Jean has been working on our farm for as long as I can remember. His daughter, Jennifer, went to school with Jed and me.

“And Roger, over at the mill, his son’s wife is expecting their second.”

I tune my mama out. Three years ago when I told her I wanted to go to college, she pushed back and it was as much to do with me leaving home and getting an expensive education just to come back and run the farm, as it was because it would delay her goal for grandbabies. Now she makes sure to point out every person having babies. At least she’s not talking about Jed, I guess.

“You wouldn’t believe who came to Sunday service with that girl.”

Spoken too soon.

“They sat right up in the front, holding hands, in church!” She tsks. “You’ve made yourself too easy to forget for that boy.”

Will she ever let up? “He forgot about me when I was right in front of him.”

“Maybe you didn’t give him enough attention.”

“You mean a blow job?” I snap.

“Abigail Mitchell! What on God’s green earth has gotten into you?”

I hear the sound of the tap running in the en suite.

Henry. That’s what’s gotten into me. Well, that’s who’s gotten into me.

I take a deep, calming breath. “I don’t want to hear about or talk about or think about Jed anymore, Mama. He left me. He screwed up. She can have him.” I sound more confident than I feel.

Silence hangs over the receiver. “You will have to come back to reality, and that reality is your family, your church, this farm and, yes, Jed. Don’t be coming back with regrets, Abigail.”

Five minutes on the phone with her and I’m emotionally exhausted. “Call you in a few days.”

We hang up and I simply stare at my reflection for a moment. As much as I want to push her words aside, I can’t help but weigh her warning. Today has been incredible. Magical. Like nothing I could ever have predicted. It’s happened fast and unexpectedly. But did I just flip an hourglass on my time here at Wolf Cove?

I’m still pondering that worry when Henry emerges.

“Is she still pushing for the big reconciliation?”

I turn to find him filling the doorframe, his dress pants already fastened, his button-down hanging open over a simple V-neck t-shirt. He wet and combed his hair back, and it’s settling into a sexy mane of waves. I simply stare, mesmerized. How someone was placed on Earth looking that perfect, I’ll never comprehend.

There are a lot of things I won’t ever comprehend as they relate to Henry.

Mainly, why he wants me.

A frown creases his forehead. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re a terrible liar.” He sighs and I don’t miss the hint of irritation. “Remember what I said before? The only way this will work is if we trust each other.”

“My mama doesn’t like the look of you.”

“The look of me?” He holds his hands to his chest in mock horror, his lack of concern almost comical. “That’s odd. I don’t think I’ve met a woman yet who didn’t like the look of me.”

“You ass.” I giggle at his cockiness. “You’re too handsome. She’s convinced that you’re going to try to sway me with your good looks and charm and lure me away from my Christian values.”

“Your mama sounds smart.” He pauses. “You denied that, of course.”

“Of course.”

He watches me for a moment, his perceptive gaze picking up my unease. “What else?”

I hesitate. “She warned me that if I ‘lose my way’ and commit the ungodly sin of premarital sex, you’ll only fire me after.”

“And do you believe that?”

I know I don’t want to believe that. “I’m still here,” I answer halfheartedly, not convincing at all.

He heaves a sigh, and that steely hard jaw takes over. It reminds me of the first night when he carried me drunk from the dock. “Follow me, please.” An edge has crept into his tone, and I’m afraid that it’s disappointment in me.

I perch on the edge of the bed to watch him dress. Another last minute-surprise a la Belinda, who caught us on the way up from the docks to tell us that the governor of Alaska was here and she’d arranged a dinner meeting on Henry’s behalf.

He fastens the buttons on his shirt and I pout as his collarbone disappears from view. It’s possibly one of the sexiest parts on him. No... who am I kidding. Every part of him is sexy as hell, down to his toes.

“I have a luxury hotel to see succeed, and an entire corporation to run from this remote spot in the world. I have a lot more on my plate than most men do. My stress levels are high. You’d agree, yes?”

“Yes, of course.”

“I also like to fuck.” The blunt, crass statement makes me blush. If he notices, he doesn’t let on, his expression and tone serious. “It’s one of my favorite things to do, especially when I’m stressed. I don’t see myself not being stressed while I’m up here. And you—” He throws a black tie around his neck and wanders over to me. He doesn’t need to ask anymore; I stand and gladly reach for the ends automatically. “—are my very capable personal assistant who I hired to take care of my needs while I’m here for the season.” He reaches up to gently squeeze my bottom lip between his thumb and index finger. “You have these pouty, pink lips and big, beautiful tits that bounce and the sweetest, tightest pink hole that I’ve ever slid my cock into.” The muscles inside it clench automatically. His grin is devilish. “And I don’t care what you or your mama or anyone else may say. You also like to fuck. Don’t you?”

I swallow hard, the feel of his hands on my skin, of his weight pressing me into the mattress, of him stretching and filling me so completely, still firmly emblazoned in my mind.

And nod.

“I enjoy fucking you.” He pushes his index finger against my teeth and I open, allowing him access, sealing my lips over him to suck. “And I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Okay?” His gaze drops to my lips and for a moment I think—I hope—that he’s going to lean in and kiss me. “I have to go now. I can’t keep the Governor waiting, or I’ll never hear the end of it from Belinda.”

Belinda. “You and her... Was it serious?”

He heaves a sigh. “I don’t discuss my past relationships, Abbi.”

I nod, feeling chastised.

After a long moment, and perhaps because of the look on my face, he offers, “It was one night, two years ago. I was drunk and under a great deal of stress and she made herself available. I’ve regretted it every day since. But I didn’t fire her after. So hopefully that puts your mind at ease.”

“It does. Thank you.” It also strikes me with a moment of insane jealousy, knowing those lips that have devoured me have also devoured someone else. Someone for whom I have a face and name. But I have to push that aside because I’m sure Henry has been with many women. That’s the reality of a man as powerful and beautiful and seductive as him.

“What time do you want me to get here in the morning?”

“I don’t want you here in the morning.” He says it so coolly.

I frown, confused.

“I want you waiting for me when I get back.”

Tonight? My heart skips three beats. I get more time with Henry. “I guess I have enough work to keep me busy.”

He pushes strands of my hair off my forehead, tucking them behind my ear. “Do whatever you want. Order dinner, watch a movie, take a long, hot bath.”

I moan at the sound of that last option, my poor body sore from overuse.

Henry slides his hand down the front of my leggings and into my panties, to push a single finger inside me again. “Make sure you spend a lot of time thinking about what I’m going to do to you tonight when I get home.”

I instantly grow slick around his finger and it slips in and out of me easily.

I stifle my whimper as he pulls his hand away and sticks the finger into his mouth, sucking it clean. The sight is so intimate, so depraved. So erotic.