Free Awakened in August (Spring River Valley Book 8) by Clarice Wynter

hauled himself up the three steps to her door and knocked. There was no answer. He knocked again and still no response.
    He sank to the top step, still breathing heavily and wondering if there would be room for a treadmill in his new office. He seriously needed to get in better shape. Forget a treadmill. At the moment he needed an oxygen tent.
    He’d made the decision to go back to his own cabin for a cool shower. Fortunately, Green Solutions didn’t take late check-ins. Even though he’d left, his cabin was still his for the rest of his stay. The administrator, Drew, had told him he was welcome to return any time. He hauled himself up from the steps just as a lithe shadow crossed his path.
    It took every ounce of his remaining strength to lift his head, but the view was certainly worth it. Backlit by the afternoon sun, Lydia looked amazing with her hair loose and flowing around her shoulders. She wore a sheer cover-up that just barely hid her black and white bikini top.
    Hands on her hips, she glared at him. Perhaps it was delirium, but he was certain he caught the slight upturn of the corners of her mouth.
    “I thought you’d returned to your vampire lifestyle. Isn’t it dangerous for you to be out in the sunlight?”
    “Probably. I do sort of feel like I could burst into flames. Have you got anything cold to drink?”
    She pursed her lips. “Why didn’t you just let yourself in and take what you wanted?”
    He dropped his head, wiped sweat from his forehead with his forearm, and sighed. “I deserve that. I came back to apologize. I’m sorry, Lyd. I’m not going to pretend I’m any good for you…in fact I’m almost certain I’m not what you deserve. But you’re good for me. Will you forgive me for not trusting you?”
    She stared at him for so long he was certain she’d say no, but finally she held out her hand to him and helped him up from the steps. “It’s really all my fault anyway…if I’d given you the full dose of tree-hugging brainwashing none of this would have happened. Come on, I’ll get you some cold green tea and a carob cookie, and maybe we can get your color back to normal.”
    He would have smiled, but he was too tired. The exhaustion was worth it, if he could be with her again and take another shot at making things work between them.
     
    *
     
     
     
     
     
    “So what happened at work? Did you leave them wanting, or did you clean up all the mess with the partner’s resignation?” Lydia asked once Riley had downed two bottles of green tea. He passed on the cookies, but at least he looked better. When she’d first returned to her cabin after a swim in the lake and found him there, she was worried about him. He looked so tired and miserable. Now at least, he was smiling, though it was just the dopey grin of a guy who thought he was no longer in trouble.
    “I worked through the weekend, and when Brenda found me asleep on a pile of legal briefs, I realized I couldn’t keep doing what I was doing.”
    “Brenda again, huh?”
    “She’s a friend—the one who told me to get my ass back here and fix things between us.”
    “So falling asleep at your desk was the turning point, not ending up in the ER with chest pains?”
    “Falling asleep at my desk made me realize that I hadn’t learned anything, even though I was so sure I had.” He set his second empty bottle of tea aside and looked up at her from his seat on the bed. “I didn’t know you…I mean, really know who you were until last week when you told me about what happened to you at school. I thought I knew why you’d left—the same reason most people do—the work is too hard, they run out of money, they lose the conviction they had that made them want to be a lawyer. I figured any one of those reasons was your reason, and it didn’t matter which it was, but now I know why you left and I understand it. You did it because you had to in order to save yourself. It was the right reason. I don’t know if I do what I do