Lakeside Love (A Mill Creek Crossing Romance) Read online

  At some point during her long thinking session, Erica dozed off. The sound of birds chirping and the light spring breeze had lulled her into a peaceful nap. Suddenly she heard a thump and then a splash, which woke her out of her slumber.

  “Oh, God!” she shrieked when she opened her eyes and sat up. The canoe had bumped into a piece of a tree trunk that was sticking up out of the water, and in the process her oar had gone overboard. By the time she realized what was happening, the oar was at least ten feet from the canoe. Looking around, she realized she had drifted right into the center of the lake. No one in sight, she sat and thought about what to do. Why hadn’t she remembered to bring her cell phone? Unfortunately, the chances her phone would pick up between so many mountains was unlikely anyway.

  With less than an hour until sundown, she started to get worried. What if no one saw her out there? There was always the option of jumping in to retrieve the oar, but the thought of getting drenched in her clothes deterred her. She loved to swim in the lake as a kid, but as an almost thirty year old woman, the idea wasn’t as attractive.

  “Help! Help!” she yelled, deciding she needed a rescuer and fast! Unfortunately, no one seemed to hear her. Hoping that she could somehow use her hands to push herself to shore, she leaned over and started trying to paddle. Petite as she was, that was going nowhere fast. She tried lying on her stomach and paddling like she had two airplane wings on each side of the canoe, but her wingspan was way to short to accomplish anything other than rocking the boat and scaring her to death.

  When she saw a snake pop its head out of the water - or maybe it was a turtle - she freaked out. There was no way in the world she was climbing into the water under any circumstance, she decided. “Help!” she yelled again hoping someone might hear her if she just kept yelling every now and again.

  “Oh, God…” she whined as she slumped back onto the floor of the canoe. This was just another black cloud floating over her, she thought. And speaking of black clouds, were those storm clouds coming her way? During her nap, the sky had gone from blue and cloudless, to gray. Realizing she didn’t bother to check the weather forecast, she had no idea a hug- storm was brewing. “Help!” she yelled again straining her voice.

  “You okay?” she heard a man call back. Swinging her head around, she saw a man in a blue t-shirt and jeans standing on the shore opposite her house.

  “No! I lost my oar!” she yelled back throwing her hands in the air with a laugh.

  “We’d better get you out of there then! There’s a big storm coming,” he yelled back. She watched as he pulled his red two-seater kayak from the side of his dock and launched it into the water. Moments later, his kayak was beside her canoe.

  “Thank you so much,” she said as she started to get a better look at the kind stranger.

  “No problem. I couldn’t leave a pretty lady stranded in the middle of the lake, now could I?” he said with a smile. He looked to be about her age with jet-black hair and piercing blue eyes. She felt a few sparks when he looked at her, but decided she was only attracted to him because he was her saving grace at the moment.

  She carefully stood up as he reached out his hand to stabilize her. She used both of her hands to hold on to his large, masculine hand as he helped her into the front seat of the kayak. Telling her he would retrieve her canoe after the storm was over he rowed them back to shore. The only problem was it was his shore, not hers.

  “Aren’t you taking me to my house over there?” she asked pointing.

  “No time. That storm is a big one,” he said as thunder started to clap in the background.

  “But, I…”

  “It’s okay. I’m not an ax murderer or anything,” he said with a smile as they pulled up to the shoreline and stepped out of the kayak.

  “It seems to me that all ax murderers use that line,” she said.

  “Well, I guess you’re just going to have to trust me because I’m all you’ve got right now,” he said. Realizing she had no other choice, and spurred on by the scary lightning zapping all around them, she climbed out quickly just as the bottom fell out. Rain poured in buckets all over them, and her idea of staying dry quickly went out the window.

  They ran toward his house and made it just before a big gust of wind threw his patio furniture across the yard. As he slammed the door behind them, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to a flight of stairs leading to the basement.

  “What’s wrong?” she yelled as the wind whipped around the house.

  “Not sure, but that might be a tornado out there!” he yelled back. They could hardly hear each other as the storm raged outside.

  “Oh, no…” she moaned when she realized she had a gash on her leg. She sat down on the floor of the unfinished basement as the power went out. He reached across and pulled her close to him as she covered her head and prayed they would be safe.

  A sliver of light shined through the basement window, and it was enough for him to see her leg. The bleeding had slowed down, but she obviously needed to treat the large cut.

  “How did that happen?” he asked touching her leg. His touch sent shivers down her already electrified body.

  “I’m not sure. I think some of the debris,” she said as she shook from fear.

  “It’ll be okay. Just calm down…” he said softly as he put his arm around her and rocked her back and forth. She didn’t even know this man, but felt immense amounts of comfort in his arms. How was that possible?

  A few moments later, the sky brightened up again and the noise stopped. It seemed to last for hours, but Erica knew it was just a few minutes. She’d been in Georgia storms before, but never anything like that one. She took a few calming breaths before looking over at the handsome stranger.

  “I’m Erica, by the way,” she said with a nervous laugh.

  “Nice to meet you Erica. I’m Dylan Kramer,” he said holding out his hand to shake hers as he slowly released the arm he’d planted around her shoulders.

  “How do I begin to thank you for finding me?” she said as the words rang in her head. Gracie had said her perfect man would find her. Could this be him?

  “No need to thank me. I was just in the right place at the right time. Why don’t we go upstairs and tend to that cut?” he said standing up and pulling her to her feet. He was strong and rugged and unlike any man she’d ever seen up close. His scent was a mixture of trees and wood and sweat and everything she imagined a real man should smell like. Max smelled like a department store.

  She hobbled up the stairs as he put his hand on her lower back to stabilize her. How did a stranger’s hand feel so familiar?

  They made their way into the kitchen, and she sat on a bar stool. He walked into the laundry room and came back with a first aid kit. The cut was larger than she thought it was, and blood was caked on her leg. He carefully started to wipe away the excess blood with a wet cloth before spraying some antibiotic spray on the cut. She winced when it stung.

  “Sorry. I just don’t want it to get infected,” he said looking at her with those eyes. Man, those eyes.

  “It’s okay,” she said softly. “I’m tough.” She smiled even though it stung pretty badly.

  “I bet you are,” he said returning her smile.

  “This is a nice place. How long have you lived here?” she asked trying to break the obvious tension between them.

  “Thanks. I’ve been here almost three years now. Wow, time flies…” he said looking past her at the living room. He seemed to be off somewhere else in his mind.

  “I’m just renting the house across the lake for a couple of weeks.”

  “Alone?”

  “I’m not sure I should tell a complete stranger whether I’m staying alone,” she said trying not to smile at him again.

  “First, I’m an ax murderer, not a stranger. And secondly, I saved your life.”

  “Saved my life? I don’t know you saved my life, per se…” she said rolling her eyes as he continued bandaging her leg.

  “O
h really? What would you have done out there in the middle of the lake if there was a tornado?” he asked putting his hands on his hips as he leaned against the counter. She slowly lowered her leg, wincing along the way.

  “It wasn’t a tornado.”

  “How do you know?” he asked.

  “Because I didn’t hear that train noise.”

  “What train noise?” By this time he was chuckling at her, and she didn’t like it one bit.

  “You know, the one they always talk about when describing a tornado. It goes ‘woooo wooooo…’” she trailed off as she made her best train nose before breaking into laughter and laying her head on the countertop.

  “That was your train sound? Seriously?” he asked as he laughed along with her.

  “You have a better train sound?”

  “Yes, but I wouldn’t do it in public,” he said poking her in the arm as he walked to the refrigerator. “Would you like a drink?”

  “A drink?”

  “Yes… a drink… Like soda, wine, water?”

  “Wine?”

  “Yes, I do have wine. Red or white?” he asked.

  “I’d love some white,” she said putting her leg up on the stool across from her.

  “I’m afraid that’s going to hurt tomorrow,” he said pointing at her leg as he poured.

  “Me too. Some start to my relaxing getaway.”

  “So, what are you getting away from anyway?” he asked eying her carefully.

  “What makes you think I’m trying to get away from something?” she asked trying not to make eye contact.

  “Well, you’re taking a getaway. You’re alone…”

  “I don’t discuss my personal life with strangers,” she said with a sly smile.

  “What about ax murderers?” he said smirking at her.

  “Oh, sure, I tell everything to ax murderers. After all, what do I have to lose?” she said taking a sip of the wine he handed her.

  He leaned across the counter and stared at her closely. She could feel his warm breath brushing across her face, and it unhinged her a bit. He was definitely the sexiest man she’d ever seen in person. On a movie screen, he would have given any Hollywood actor a run for his money.

  “Shall I get my ax?” he asked winking.

  “No, please don’t,” she said with a laugh holding her hands up. “Fine, I’ll tell you since I have no pride left. I’ve had a very rough couple of weeks. My fiance didn’t show up on our wedding day.” She didn’t look at him. Instead she slid her finger around the top edge of her glass wishing she hadn’t just revealed that tidbit about herself.

  “Wow, he must be a piece of work,” Dylan said, which surprised her.

  “Yeah, but that isn’t the worst part. He ran off with a co-worker and left me standing there in front of one hundred people including his own family.” She had no idea why she was giving him even more ammunition to think she was worthless too.

  “Jackass.” His tone was pointed and matter of fact. “I’m really sorry that happened to you, Erica. Let me apologize on behalf of my gender. Some of us aren’t very mature, unfortunately.”

  “What about you?”

  “Me?” he asked knitting his eyebrows together.

  “Well, this place looks like a bachelor pad.”

  “Oh, does it now?” he asked with a smile.

  “You have very little in the way of decor, a brown leather sofa, that dogs playing poker picture over the mantle…” she said pointing around the living room.

  “Okay, you caught me. What are you, a detective?” he asked as he refilled her glass.

  “Nope. Marketing specialist.”

  “Oooh… I need to pick your brain then.”

  “Why is that?” she asked taking another sip of her wine.

  “I own a business, and I need a good marketing mind to take it to the next level,” he said as he jumped up onto the counter in front of her and sat down.

  “What kind of business?” she asked realizing that she was becoming very comfortable chatting with this good looking man.

  “I own a real estate company. We buy and renovate homes, and then resell them for profit. I need to get my name in the hands of more homeowners and buyers. Interested in chatting about it?” he asked.

  “Sure. But don’t think I’ve forgotten you didn’t answer my question.”

  “What question?”

  “About your story. You’ve heard mine, but what about yours?” she asked leaning back and crossing her arms.

  “I don’t know if you have enough time to hear mine,” he said shaking his head.

  “Try me.”

  Chapter 5

  Dylan successfully deflected Erica’s question when he “accidentally” spilled wine on the counter. Realizing he obviously didn’t want to talk about it, she let him off the hook. It was getting late, and she had to find a way home.

  “You look tired. Ready to get home?” he asked as if reading her mind. It was only nine o’clock in the evening, but she was tired. This was the most activity she’d had in days, but it was also the most fun.

  “Actually, yes. But, I’m not sure how I will get there now,” she said with a laugh as she looked at her mangled leg and the dark night sky.

  “I could drive you, but it would be much faster going back across the lake,” he said standing up.

  “Across the lake? At night?” she asked, terrified by the experience earlier in the evening. Sensing her fear, he put his hand on her shoulder.

  “Listen, I know you don’t know me very well yet, but I wouldn’t suggest it if I didn’t think it was safe. I looked at the weather on my phone, and that storm is long gone. But we don’t have to if you…”

  “No, it’s okay. I trust you,” she said without thinking. How could she trust a man she just met? It dawned on her she’d never said those words to Max. It was almost like she always knew, at some level, that she didn’t trust Max.

  “You do?” he asked cocking his head.

  “Yes. Why? Are you saying I shouldn’t trust you, Dylan?” she asked smiling as she stood up and hobbled toward the back door.

  “Of course not,” he said in a sinister voice as he laughed maniacally. His dramatics had her in hysterics again as they made their way onto his screened porch and down the four steps leading into the backyard. Thankfully, his outdoor lighting lit up a path straight to the lake.

  “Hey, where’s the kayak?” she asked once they reached the shore.

  “That’s a good question,” he asked with a hand on his hip as he scanned the lake. The bright moonlight had replaced the storms from earlier, and she could see his beautiful blue eyes sparkling.

  Trying to occupy her wandering mind, she looked across the lake too and finally saw the kayak bobbing up and down in the middle. She couldn’t contain her laugher anymore as she saw the irony of the situation they were in. Here he had saved her from being stranded in the middle of the lake, and now his poor kayak was bobbing around in the middle.

  “Oh, you think this is funny, huh?” he said bumping her shoulder with his. The touch was enough to send tingles down her spine. What was this man doing to her?

  “Kind of,” she admitted.

  “You’re a little sadistic, aren’t you?” he said laughing.

  “Not normally, but it’s been a rough week. I’m so sorry this happened to you…” she said feeling terribly bad her afternoon canoe excursion had caused such strife in his world.

  “Well, there’s only one thing to do now,” he said as he quickly took his shirt off. Before she knew it, he was standing beside her, muscles and six pack abs lit up by the bright moon. He didn’t have the typical “city boy” body that Max did. No, he had a rugged, masculine body that only came with country boys.

  “What are you doing?” she yelped as she stepped back and almost fell over a rock. Falling forward, he caught her against his chest. For a brief moment, she could smell his cologne and wanted to kiss those rock hard chest muscles. What was wrong with her?

&
nbsp; “Are you okay?” he asked softly as he helped her get back to an upright position.

  “Yeah. Sorry. I tripped over a rock…” she stammered, trying in vain to take her eyes off his chiseled chest. Max didn’t have a chest like that, she thought. She wondered what it might be light to run her hands over the curves of his muscles, but then she mentally smacked herself across the face.