Summer Love in the Forest: Sweet & Steamy Instalove Romance #5 (Summer Instalove) Read online

  Summer Love in the Forest

  Sweet & Steamy Instalove Romance #5

  By Haley Travis

  Copyright 2020 Haley Travis. All rights reserved. Cover design by Lexie Renard.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted or duplicated in any form whatsoever without express written permission of the author. This book is intended for sale to adults only. This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to actual people or specific locations or details is completely coincidental, or intended fictitiously. All characters are over 18, no sex partners are related, all sex is consensual. This is fantasy. In the real world, everyone practices safe sex at all times. Right? Right.

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  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  PROLOGUE ~ Kate

  CHAPTER ONE ~ Kate

  CHAPTER TWO ~ Ray

  CHAPTER THREE ~ Kate

  CHAPTER FOUR ~ Ray

  CHAPTER FIVE ~ Kate

  CHAPTER SIX ~ Ray

  CHAPTER SEVEN ~ Kate

  CHAPTER EIGHT ~ Ray

  CHAPTER NINE ~ Kate

  CHAPTER TEN ~ Ray

  CHAPTER ELEVEN ~ Kate

  CHAPTER TWELVE ~ Ray

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN ~ Kate

  EPILOGUE ONE ~ Ray

  EPILOGUE TWO ~ Kate

  Other Stories and About the Author

  PROLOGUE

  * Kate *

  *** Two and a Half Weeks Ago ***

  As I waved to Becca through the streetcar window, I was struck by a touch of melancholy. Perhaps it was weird that I’d come to rely on my friends so much, but in a way, they were my family.

  Going without our weekly talks for a while was going to be strange. Joanna would be coming back just before I was leaving, and we’d be scattered for about a month. Turning the corner, I walked down the street to my basement apartment.

  I wasn’t too worried – we sometimes went a few weeks without the five of us having any deep conversations. But with our mission to start looking for relationships a bit more seriously, I couldn’t help wondering if we would all be extremely busy this fall.

  It was a lot to hope for that we would each find a wonderful partner. It was outrageous to hope that we would each find a wonderful partner who understood that their new girlfriend already had every Thursday night booked for the foreseeable future.

  That was one thing that worried me in my abstract, dreamlike quest to find a boyfriend. I couldn’t handle anyone clingy. I was incredibly independent and didn’t want anyone to mess with my schedule, or my workflow – especially when I was songwriting.

  Walking up the driveway and into the side door of the small brick house, I went downstairs to my amazing basement apartment. Other than the minuscule bathroom, it was one large room. The kitchen and my bed were at one end, and my music and recording setup were at the other.

  There weren’t many apartments around where you could record music right in your own home without people complaining about the noise. But Mrs. Hiebert, the widow who owned the house and lived upstairs, was a bit hard of hearing, and her bedroom was on the second storey.

  I used headphones if it was extremely late at night, but during the day she didn’t care at all if I played guitar and sang, or even worked on drum beats.

  She didn’t even complain when the five of us girls would occasionally blast music on a Saturday night and drink a bit too much wine. I took the garbage out for her, shoveled the snow in winter, and helped her with a heavy grocery run once a month. It was a sweet deal, and the rent was more than fair. I’d even arranged to have my brother Kevin check on her a couple of times when I was away on vacation in a cabin in the forest.

  I was a bit too wired to sleep yet, so I started pulling out some of my notebooks, flipping through the fragments of ideas for song lyrics I had collected over the past year.

  I couldn’t wait to have some songwriting time in a cabin by myself. My job was so busy and frantic some days that I just didn’t have a lot of songwriting energy left by the time I got home.

  Managing a huge rehearsal space was sort of like playing a board game where the pieces kept moving of their own accord, and half of the players thought they could change the rules any time they wanted.

  Sometimes bands tried to beg for free time, or overstayed their scheduled slot and didn’t think there would be consequences. If they thought our rehearsal space was strict, wait until they actually started booking gigs. Let’s see what the promoter said when they didn’t hit the stage when they were told to, and didn’t stick to their set time! Ugh.

  Many of the bands that came through were amazing, though. They would pay for three months in advance to secure their space, they were clean and polite, and even helped other bands if anyone was carrying heavy gear. It was also nice when they brought me a coffee and didn’t hit on me.

  At least, I don’t think any of them ever hit on me. It was sort of hard to tell. Some guys were so flirty that it was like breathing to them. It didn’t mean anything. So I just assumed that they were trying to be funny or cute, or impress their friends.

  Finding a half-page in my notebook that simply read, “Write a song about men and women not quite knowing how to flirt with each other properly,” I added that to the pile to take to the cabin.

  Although I was tempted to bring some recording gear, I didn’t know whether the power would be stable, and wasn’t quite sure how weatherproof the cabins were. If it was damp or dirty, I couldn’t risk my electronics. My trusty old acoustic guitar would have to do the job. I would just record things on my phone so that I had a note of the finished products.

  I was so excited to finally get a real collection of songs together that I wished I could have snapped my fingers and been in the forest right now.

  CHAPTER ONE

  * Kate *

  Surrounded by trees, giant rocks, and acres of greenery, everything was so peaceful. The snow capped mountains just over the trees made me feel like I was in a postcard. Even though this hike was a bit harder than I had expected, I felt like my mind was being swept clean.

  The damp air filtered the shades of green, making them seem even deeper. It had rained early this morning, and the roads and trails were a bit slippery. The feeling of the forest washed over me in a refreshing wave from the first cool, deep breath surrounded by leaves.

  The second I had my luggage and guitar stored in the quaint, rustic cabin, I went for a walk. If I had any song ideas, I could dictate them into my phone. But first I wanted to absorb the quiet of the forest and be one with the greenery.

  This trail had been labeled an easy hike, but I guess that the mapmaker had never been here when it was muddy. Slowly making my way up the slight hill, I slipped a few times but finally reached the top.

  There was a clearing and I could look back across a field of wildflowers to the twelve cabins spaced far apart along a few miles of trail. Some were almost hidden in the thick woods.

  When I was first searching for woodland cabins that I could afford, many of them were a group situation, where I’d be staying with several people in a sort of bunkhouse. That absolutely would not work for me. I was fiercely independent, and needed my space. There was no way I could work with someone breathing down my neck, which is what it would feel like if a stranger was within twenty feet of me. Songwriting was personal, and amplified
my need to be alone.

  My small cabin here was perfect, and there was a fair amount of space between every building. I’m sure I’d run into others, but I could still have plenty of solitary time.

  The first cabin was much bigger than the rest. Ray and Dan, the caretakers of these cabins, lived there, but they weren’t home when I arrived. There was a note on the door to look in the mailbox, where the key for cabin number eleven was clearly marked.

  Damn, I was certainly not in the city anymore.

  Staring at the row of cabins across the clearing, I could see a tiny plume of smoke curling up from one of the middle buildings, and wondered idly if they were having a barbecue. As I squinted, I realized that it was getting darker a lot quicker than I expected.

  Looking up at the sky, I saw dark clouds advancing from the west. There was a blurry edge at the bottom, showing the rain coming swiftly across the forest.

  I could have kicked myself! I’d checked the maps, worn the right shoes, packed a bottle of water, and charged my phone. But I forgot to check the stupid weather.

  The path wound down the hill, with some tricky rocky outcroppings. If I were to head straight across the clearing, it would probably be half the distance to my cabin. Although I wasn’t quite sure from this distance which one was mine, I knew it was one of the handful at the end.

  Considering both options, I thought that perhaps I should be safe and take the trail after all, just in case. Then a flicker of lightning lit up the western sky. That settled it.

  Pulling up my hood, I bolted across the clearing. I quickly discovered why it wasn’t used very often; there were huge rocks and old logs strewn everywhere. As soon as I got up to a decent speed, more obstacles would appear.

  After a few minutes of trying to get the hang of keeping up my speed while not falling on my face, a few drops of rain began to fall. I angled my path slightly more toward the first cabin, thinking that some tree cover would be helpful.

  The rain sprinkled at first, then began coming down in sheets. Droplets ran down my spine, icy water chilling me to the bone. Mud squelched in my hiking boots, as my teeth began to chatter. My only choice was to put one stinging leg in front of the other, continuing to plod toward the tree line.

  I couldn’t believe that my day had gone from spectacular to horrific so fast. My lips felt numb as my face dripped with rain.

  You can do this, I mentally screamed at myself. You’ve never given up on anything. Keep walking, and you’ll get to your cabin, and you can have hot tea.

  My thigh muscles were becoming unsteady from the cold , as I slowly trod forward. I knew at this point that if I stopped for a rest, I would never get started again. I probably looked like a robot attempting to walk for the first time as my stiff legs propelled my drenched jeans forward step by step.

  A flicker out of the corner of my eye made me look up into the gray nothingness lit up by the lightning for a split second. One heartbeat later, the thunder boomed so loudly over my head that I screamed, pitching forward while trying to step over a huge log.

  My heel slipped, and as I fell back, screaming again, my arms lashed out to break my fall.

  The dull thump of my head against the log was more irritating than painful at first. As I lay soaking in the mud, the most perfect plan came to me. If I just laid still for a couple of minutes and took a nap, I could try again when the rain stopped.

  “Jesus H. Christ,” a deep voice rumbled through the near darkness.

  My eyes weren’t just closed, they felt locked shut. Had I been completely out? For how long? As I tried to open first one eye, then the other, I saw a shadow coming towards me through the rain. My mouth tried to open to speak, then I choked and I spit some water out.

  A hand gripped my face, giving me a shake. “Kate? Are you Kate?”

  I nodded, forcing my eyes to open. The midnight blue gaze that was staring back at me made my pulse instantly race before my eyes began to close again.

  “Kate, look at me,” he commanded. My face was almost numb, but I felt his thumb caress my cheekbone as he tilted my chin up. “Look into my eyes.”

  Forcing my eyelids to open, I stared at him until he seemed to nod. His face was rugged. His dark hair flopped into his eyes a bit as it dripped down his face.

  “No concussion, probably just dazed,” he muttered to himself. Then I was floating, and a bit warmer as my legs dangled in the air. There was something solid for me to shield my eyes from the cold rain, and that was all that mattered anymore.

  CHAPTER TWO

  * Ray *

  When I heard the scream, my first thought was that another goddamn city girl found a spider in her cabin. But when I registered which direction it had been coming from, I grabbed my coat and bolted.

  The second I saw her face, an indescribable tremor ran through me. She was an angel. A sweet little creature who needed my care. I could feel it.

  As I carried her to my cabin, I could see that she had tried to be sensible. Good hiking boots, a little water bottle clipped to her thin jacket, her hair pulled back in a tidy braid. But the rain comes swiftly here sometimes, and she must have been caught out in it.

  I would remember those brilliant green eyes until the end of my days. Holding her tightly against my chest, I murmured, “Almost there, Kate. We’re going to get you warmed up in just a few minutes, okay? Can you hear me?”

  “Mmm hmm,” she murmured. The wind picked up, blasting us with a sheet of rain that pricked like ice, and she squealed, tucking into my shoulder for shelter.

  “Two minutes,” I said softly. “Two minutes and you’ll be warm.”

  Holding her snugly against me, I tried not to shake her too much as I walked. It was hard to see all of the obstacles I had to step around and over, but I knew this forest like the back of my hand and I didn’t put a foot wrong.

  I carried her into my cabin, closing the door behind us and kicking off my boots. Sitting on a wooden chair, I held onto her in my lap with one arm so that I could remove her boots with the other.

  I tried to stand her on her feet, but she was so weak she couldn’t balance. Throwing off my coat one arm at a time, I peeled her out of her soaked jacket, scooping her into my arms again.

  We were both drenched to the skin. The important thing now was to warm her up immediately. I carried her straight to the bathroom and into the shower, turning on the hot water and holding her so that her back was against the stream.

  “Mmm,” she murmured, leaning into the warmth.

  The glass enclosure was huge, and once her back was warmed, I swung her back and forth under the huge rainfall showerhead.

  The chill was clinging to her clothing. Balancing her on her feet for a second, I pulled off her long-sleeved shirt, then her socks and her jeans, leaving her in a tank top and her underwear. Seeing how filthy my t-shirt was from chopping wood earlier, I yanked it off with one hand so that I didn’t get spiky wood chips on her.

  I tried my best not to stare at her full, ripe breasts, barely contained under the peach fabric, as I concentrated on the color that was coming back to her sweet face. Holding her steady, I turned her away to rub her back briskly, my eyes falling to the round curves of her incredible ass.

  “That feels nice,” she said softly.

  “Good. Let’s rinse your face and hair now.”

  Turning her back toward me, she was steadier on her feet, and as I tipped her face up to the water, she lifted her hands to scrub her skin, then we rinsed her hair.

  Keeping an arm around her, I adjusted the water so that it wasn’t quite as hot, and we stood directly underneath it. As I held her against me, I saw that her arms dangled loosely at her sides at first, but then her hands snaked up my lower back to hold onto me.

  At first I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it, but it soon became clear that she wasn’t just grabbing me for support, she was caressing my back. Her hips began to move against me slightly, then her right hand moved around my waist to slide up my chest.

 
Still holding her securely around the waist, I brushed wet tendrils of hair away from her eyes. “Kate, how do you feel? Do you know where you are?”

  She looked up at me with a beautiful, slightly dopey smile. “I’d feel better if you held me tighter.”

  She was staring at me as if she were entranced. I didn’t know whether she’d hit her head pretty hard, or if she’d just never been this close to a six-foot-five guy who was basically a wall of muscle.

  “I’m Ray,” I said, leaning down to speak softly near her ear, over the sound of the falling water. “Can you feel your fingers and toes now?”

  Her fingers wiggled against the skin of my lower back and the center of my chest, then dug in as she wiggled her feet around. “Everything works,” she purred, nuzzling against my chest as if she never wanted to leave.

  “Are you dizzy at all, kitten? Is your vision blurry?”

  She tilted her face up to look at mine. Her bright green eyes seemed clear. Her pupils were even and normally dilated. She appeared to be clear-headed, but from the way she was instantly so cuddly with me, I worried that she wasn’t quite herself.