His career had taken him all over the world, but in more recent years, he’d opened a studio and focused on private event photography and headshots. There were no photos of him on the site aside from the bio picture, where his face was covered by a gigantic camera lens. It showed just enough, though, to confirm that this was the Noah Cavallari living in my boathouse.

Well, color me intrigued. He seemed to have a fabulous career—seemed to have it all.

So that begged the question: Why is he here?

I began to theorize.

Oh my God. Is he dying?

No. He seems too healthy, too virile.

Running from the law?

Nope. I did that background check. Came out clean.

Why would he want to come here for three whole months? I didn’t get it.

A week or two, maybe. But why so long?

What are you escaping from, Noah Cavallari?

I was determined to find out.CHAPTER THREE* * *HEATHERTwo days later, a text came in from an unknown number.At Home Depot. What color exterior paint for the boathouse?Based on the question, I knew exactly who it was. I’d forgotten Noah had my number. But I gave my number to all tenants in my welcome email in case they needed anything.

The day after our talk at the lake, he’d reminded me to make him the list and prioritize what needed to be done. Since the exterior of the boathouse was in shambles with the paint flaking off, I’d listed that job as the top priority. I still couldn’t believe he wanted to help. He certainly wasn’t wasting any time getting started.Heather: How about a gray?The little dots danced as he typed.Noah: There are several shades of gray.I decided to be a wiseass.Heather: Fifty? ;-)Noah: Very funny.Heather: Thank you.Noah then sent a photo of a paint card with five gray options.Noah: Do you like any of these?Heather: So you’re familiar with that book?Noah: Cut the shit, Heather.Heather: LOL. The second gray is perfect.There were no more texts after that.***An hour later, I spotted Noah outside the boathouse, getting straight to work. I squinted at his shirtless physique as he rolled primer onto the wood. He was way too far away for my liking. If he was going to be working outside like this all summer, I’d need to invest in a set of binoculars.

My mother snuck up behind me. “What are you looking at?”

“Huh?” I jumped, closing the curtain. “Nothing.”

“You were struggling to see something. What’s so interesting?”

I sighed. “I was watching Noah paint the boathouse.”

I’d told my mother about his offer to help. She was extremely skeptical, to say the least.

“I don’t understand why he’s doing that. What’s in it for him?”

“He seems to want to help. He says he likes to keep busy.”

My mother’s eyes narrowed. “You’d better be careful. He might want something in return.”

I laughed. “Believe me, I wish he did. But he’s made it very clear he doesn’t. Unfortunately, I believe him.”

She seemed concerned. It was strange to get any real emotion out of her lately. But the idea of something happening between the new tenant and me hit all the right buttons.

“You say that like you’ve offered something to him.”

“I teased him about having an ulterior motive for helping, and he didn’t take it very well. He snapped at me. He can’t take a joke. He’s all business. He thinks I’m jailbait and wants nothing to do with me. He thought I was a teenager when we first met. He treats me like one, too.”

“You seem disappointed.”

Laughing under my breath, I said, “I sort of am.”

“That’s crazy, Heather. The last person you should get involved with is someone just passing through town. You don’t know anything about this guy. He’s also too old for you.”

“I don’t know. He won’t tell me his age.” I chuckled.

“Well, I don’t care what he claims, no man does what he’s doing right now without an ulterior motive. You can’t expect me to believe my beautiful, blond daughter has nothing to do with it.”

She was getting on my nerves now. I could see why she might think that. But she hadn’t experienced what I had with Noah. I truly believed he wanted nothing to do with me, nor did I believe his intentions were anything but good.

“I know you’re conditioned to think all men are bad. Based on your personal experience of Dad abandoning us, I can’t even blame you. But that’s not the case all the time.”

Her expression darkened. “I’ve already lost one daughter. I can’t stand to lose another.”

She couldn’t be serious.

“How is Noah painting the boathouse going to put my life in jeopardy? Think about what you’re saying.”

“I didn’t mean he’d harm you physically. But I can’t afford to have you take off with some man.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re taking this too far. He came here to get away from the daily grind for a while. He likes to keep busy and knows we could use the help. There’s nothing more to it than that.”