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you were thinking booking
this trip.”
    I cut him off. I
couldn’t take it anymore. The man was rude, inconsiderate, and just
downright unbelievable. “You don’t know what I was thinking,
because you haven’t asked. You’re too rude, filled with too many
presumptions, and frankly, you’re offending me. I don’t plan on
taking every box with me into the wilderness. I plan on taking that
bag.” I pointed to the backpack Gracie instructed me to purchase.
“Right there! Are you going to grab the bag or are you not finished
with telling me where I belong?”
    After I was through with
telling him how it was, the man had the audacity to smirk. He
freaking smirked at me! I was so unbelievably thankful that I
wouldn’t be spending a month with him.
    “Well, who’s the
presumptuous one now?” He asked matter of fact.
    “Oh, whatever!” I
bristled. “I’ll grab my own damn bag.”
    I took a step forward
but was halted when the man leaned forward to pull it down from
where it sat on top of the boxes. “I’ve got it. Don’t worry.”
    I had never wanted to
stomp on someone’s foot with wedge sandals the way I wanted to
right now. I eyed his cowboy boots before deciding he probably
wouldn’t even feel it. Shaking the thought from my mind, I wondered
how one man could turn my soft personality into that of a grizzly.
But seriously, this man rubbed me wrong!
    I stepped away from him,
putting much needed space between us. “I cannot even begin to tell
you how thankful I am that I’ll be touring with Gracie. I don’t
know if you work here, but I’ve never met anyone so
unprofessional.”
    He raised a single brow
as he threw my bag over his shoulder. “Touring with Gracie,
huh?”
    “Yes.” I folded my arms
over my chest, feeling smug. “I am.”
    “Interesting.” He spoke
the word with a cryptic note that made the hairs on my arms stand
erect.
    “How is that
interesting?”
    “Come on,” he cocked his
head to the house. “Let’s get you inside.”
    I didn’t say anything as
I followed behind him. The man walked with so much confidence, it
was nearly suffocating. Every heavy booted step made me cringe
inside a little. I couldn’t help but wonder who he was. He couldn’t
possibly be one of Gracie’s sons. She had raved on and on about
their old fashioned manners—one had to think of them as endearing.
When it came to endearing, this man existed on the opposite end of
the spectrum. He was rude. And that was final.
    We walked up the sturdy
log porch to a set of green double doors. They were rounded at the
tops and looked so cute and quaint, it just made me want to sigh.
Little yellow birds had been painted on the green wood of the
door.
    The man opened the door
of the house without knocking and I tensed, but no one screamed. I
watched as he placed my bag on the floor beside a wooden bench
before looking back up at him. He was watching me carefully—as
though he was studying me. I shifted, feeling uncomfortable under
his scrutiny.
    “Do you have something
you want to say?” I asked curiously. Why was he staring?
    The corner of his lip
twitched and I couldn’t help but notice he was even better looking
in the light. It startled me to realize that I thought this man
was, in any way, good looking. I’d never been one to swoon over the
rugged type. And this man was definitely rough. Derek had been
gentle and put together. I wasn’t saying that this nameless man
wasn’t put together—he simply wasn’t assembled the way I had come
to expect from men. Where Derek was soft touches and gentle
gestures this man was all hard lines and sharp corners. I didn’t
know how to read him—and that unnerved me.
    “This way,” he turned
into the house and I followed obediently. I couldn’t help but
notice that he hadn’t bothered to answer my question. I had a
pretty good feeling he thought I was nothing more than a helpless
little girl who was out of her element. And in a way, I suppose I
was.
    It bothered me