When morning comes, you wake slowly. The comfort of the cot dulls your senses, and you stretch out slowly. A long night of solid sleep feels amazing, and you sit up with a wide yawn. After you roll your shoulders a bit to shake the sleep out of your body, you peek out of the door to the guest room.

The smell of bacon and eggs fills the air and you follow it to find the ranger from last night at the kitchen. Turns out the station is part information for tourists and hikers and part living area for the rangers. Your blonde ranger must still be on duty.

And he cooks without a shirt. You get a nice view of a tanned and sculpted body. He's lean, but muscles ripple just under his skin, letting you know he makes sure to keep fit. He hums to himself as he finishes plating breakfast. When he turns, he notices you looking at him and smiles a crooked smile. "Good morning, ma'am. I hope you like eggs."

You step forward and nod, trying not to look too guilty. He nudges a plate toward you. "Garrett's watching the station for me today. I told him I'd be out with you. When you're done eating, we can head out to go get your stuff, okay?" He turns and pours you some orange juice from the fridge.

You nod and dig in, hungry and feeling very at ease. Soon, the plate is clean and you look up at him curiously as he takes it from you. "What's your name?"

He lifts a brow at you, and flashes another charming smile. "Where are my manners? My name is Hunter, ma'am. Pleased to meet you."

An answering smile flits over your face. "Nice to meet you, Hunter." You introduce yourself and he pretends to tip a hat that he's not wearing. He tells you where the bathroom is and soon you're on the way to the cabin in his official park ranger vehicle.

You pull up to cabin thirteen and he heads out in front of you, scoping the place out before you come in. He nods back at you that it's all clear, and you slip inside. With quick movements, you're all packed up and out of the cabin in less than twenty minutes. Hunter helps you put your bags in the car and does one last sweep of the cabin before he closes the door of it and comes back out to the car.

"Well, looks like your intruder didn't stick around last night, ma'am. I'll let the rental place know about him though. Would you like me to take you to the airport directly? I can turn your rental in too."

You consider the events of your short stay so far and nod to him. "Yeah, okay. That'd be great, thanks."

He smiles at you and starts down the gravel path.

[Go to chapter: Forty Two]