by Zoe Chant
“Can you?” The light danced on his skin and her arm shook. There’d been a hawk. Now there was a man.
Okay.
That was a thing that had happened.
She took a deep breath and stood up straight. “Right. An explanation. Go on.”
She hoped she sounded steadier than she felt, and she lowered the flashlight slightly so she wouldn’t blind him when he lowered his arm. She tried to look at the trees instead, but her eyes kept flicking back and forth between the trees and his bare shoulders and thighs and everything else. He was around her age, if she had to guess, with an athletic build and dark hairs covering his arms and legs.
Being an associate professor left no time for dating. She had to give lectures, supervise students, grade papers, apply for grants, do her own research, try to get the research published, visit conferences, rinse, repeat. Arranging her teaching so she could come out here for a few weeks had been very tricky. Considering the limited internet reception she had, she already dreaded her email inbox once she got back.
“You’re here to study birds, right?” he asked.
How did he know that? What was going on? But if she wanted to get answers from him, she should answer his question first. “I’m with Pinevale University, yes. But what does that have to do with…” She gestured at him with the flashlight, accidentally shining it in his face and making him flinch. She caught a glimpse of dark eyes and tousled brown hair. “Sorry.” She lowered her flashlight again, biting her lip.
There were definitely worse naked guys to run into in the middle of the forest.
Click to keep reading!