With her head down, she sprinted to the door, all but falling inside the building. Warmth immediately slipped over her skin. But so did the quiet. Was the place empty?
It was a large room, with a bar to the left and a couple of pool tables beyond it. Booths pressed against the opposite wall, and tall tables were scattered throughout the space between.
Harper took another step inside, the eerie quiet ringing through her ears. “Hello? Is anyone here?”
Silence. Maybe they were closed and forgot to lock up?
Her gaze caught on a notice on the bulletin board attached to the wall just inside the door.
Bartender Job Available:
Forty hours per week. Must be available evenings and weekends.
A job…Sheneeded a job. Hell, she needed a lot more than that, but a job would be a great start. She’d never worked in a bar before though. And even if she did have bartending experience, she couldn’t settle here. She didn’t even know whereherewas, but five hours from her family wasn’t far enough. She needed ten, fifteen hours between them at least, and even then, they’d probably still feel too close.
Another flyer was pinned next to the job announcement.
Misty Peak Sky Walk—opening soon.
Misty Peak…was that where she was? She knew of the small town. It was in East Tennessee and sat on the edge of the Smoky Mountains. She’d only heard of it because it was a tourist hub.
She nibbled her bottom lip and turned. What did she do now? Wait? See if someone else came in? Leave?
A shudder coursed down her spine at the prospect of getting back into her car and sleeping there. She hated the cold. She could layer her clothes on top of her, but would that be enough? And what if someone broke in?
She ran her fingers over the wooden edge of a table. “Hello?”
Again, nothing.
There was an open doorway behind the bar that presumably led to the kitchen. There was also a closed door beside that, and a shadowy hall she assumed led to a bathroom.
She moved toward the closed door and was about to knock when she noticed it was actually ajar. Carefully, she pushed it open. An empty office. Papers were piled up on a desk in the center of the room, and cabinets sat to either side against the walls. The desk held what looked to be a half-finished mug of coffee and an empty plate with crumbs.
A photo on the wall caught her attention. Two smiling parents and six kids—five boys and a girl. The kids were young, and they looked happy.
Something twisted in her belly…because she’d never had a family like that. Parents who’d made her smile. Siblings who looked at her like she was a blessing rather than a burden.
“Hey.”
She gasped and spun at the deep, gravelly voice. Then she looked up, way up, at the mountain of a man who stood in front of her. He was huge, and not just in height. He wore a shirt that stretched tightly over his thick biceps and chest. Then there were his eyes…they were a beautiful light blue color, like the ocean when you saw to the sand at the bottom.
“I’m sorry! I, um, didn’t hear you come in.” The words stumbled over each other, and she wanted to slap her forehead. Man, what was she doing in the guy’s office in the first place? He had to be pissed. “I called out a couple times but no one answered.”
Instead of looking angry, the man almost seemed…intrigued?
Cody Walker studiedthe woman in front of him. Her long brown hair fell over her shoulders, dripping, presumably from the storm. She wore what looked like work slacks and a white shirt and heels. The top clung to her chest like a second skin, to the point he could see the intricate details of her lace bra.
But what really had him looking closely was the bruising around her left eye. She’d tried to hide it with makeup, but either she was terrible at applying the stuff or she’d done it in the dark, because it did nothing to hide the injury.
Anger lit his veins. He knew what a black eye caused by a fist looked like, and someone had definitely hit this woman. A guy? A boyfriend? Ahusband?
Fuck, that made him angry. It was a man’s job to protect a woman, not hurt her.
“I was in the alley feeding Tommy.” He was careful to remain exactly where he was so he didn’t scare the woman. He knew his size could be intimidating, and she wasn’t a local to Misty Peak. She didn’t know she was safe with him.
Her brows tugged together. “Tommy?”
“He’s the alley cat. We’ve tried to bring him in but he refuses to be domesticated, so we feed him outside every night.”
