I stilled at that thought. Juno wasn’t my girl, not technically. Just like Langston wasn’t technically mine either. Unless you were of the school of thought that if you licked it, it was yours.
“What the fuck are you thinking about?” Langston said, humor lacing his tone.
I shot him a sly grin—one I knew drove him nuts because it made my dimples pop. His green eyes darkened like they did when he was either super pissed or turned on.
“Fuck, you two,” Brandon grumbled, exasperation in his tone. “They already paid, and I said yes, so this is happening. Langston, you’ll pick up—” His gaze flicked to the note. “—Eric Adler and Stephanie Wilson the day after tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. Their plan is to stay one to two nights at The Nest before heading back to Anchorage. And they emphasized multiple times that we not ruin their surprise by telling Juno they’re coming.”
My lips parted, ready to comment again on how shady it all sounded, but Langston beat me to it.
“I don’t like it,” he muttered. “If I get a bad feeling about them, I’m turning the fucking boat around and kicking them off.”
“Don’t you have a bad feeling about everyone?” I said tongue in cheek.
“Well, most people are shady assholes, so yeah. What I mean is, if it feels like them being here will hurt her or anyone here, then I’ll make sure neither makes it to Anchor Bay.”
“You make it sound like you’d toss them overboard,” Brandon joked. When Langston didn’t deny it, Brandon sighed with a headshake. “Get the hell out of here before I start to believe you.” The chair legs screeched along the floor when Langston and I both stood. “And, Langston, don’t forget about getting with Juno about the details and specifics she needs from you to finish up that add-on to the scheduling system.”
With a clipped nod, he strode to the door and yanked it open, storming out and slamming it in his wake.
“He’s so worked up over that woman and denying the real reason why that I’m worried he’ll do something we’ll all regret,” Brandon mused. “We can’t lose her because he’s an idiot who can’t see he wants her. She’s not only streamlined our systems but been an excellent addition to the community we’ve built here. Amy loves her and would be upset if she left, and I fucking hate it when she’s sad, so help him figure his shit out before it’s too late.” His gaze slid to the soft cast. “How are you healing?”
“Good. The surgeon thinks I’ll gain full mobility in my fingers and hand if I don’t rush the recovery and keep up with my physical therapy.” I stared at the closed door. “And I get what you’re saying about Langston, but I don’t think it will become an issue.”
He leaned forward, pressing both forearms against the edge of his desk. “Oh really? And why do you say that?”
A slow grin pulled at my lips. “Because I’m going to do everything I can to break the bastard down until he sees that she’s his lobster.”
Brandon blinked at me a few times before responding. “His fucking what?”
I tossed my good hand in the air. “Really? Have you never seenFriends?” I waved off his confused expression. “Never mind. Just know I have a plan.”
With a nod, I left the small office, but instead of heading home, I altered course just slightly. Maybe the wordplanwas a slight exaggeration;outlineorsticky note ideaswas a better description for what I’d pieced together to get those two on the same page.
Well, the three of us, because you better fucking believe my non-plan plan had me in the middle of a Juno and Langston sandwich.
Good hand tucked into the front pocket of my favorite jeans, the ones that were so worn the material was butter soft and fitme perfectly, I meandered down the street, smiling to myself at my brilliance as I passed the cabins.
Raised in the foster system, if someone had told me I’d grow up to live in a place that looked like it belonged in a picture-perfect family sitcom, I would’ve laughed in their face, then knocked them out for making me hope for a second that my life would ever be anything more than shitty. Langston definitely wasn’t the only one with anger issues. Even though our childhoods were different, our anger, resentment, and distrust were the same as a result.
Those dark memories tried to push through, ruining the rare, beautiful, clear-blue-sky day, but before I could let them sink their claws in and pull me under, three dogs tore around the corner of a cabin. Yipping and barking in utter carefree joy, they raced toward me, tongues hanging out of their open muzzles and flapping with every bounding step. They looked like they were smiling.
“No, Bacon,” yelled a soft voice, making me twist to find Samantha, Hudson’s daughter, racing after their small dog, who was desperately attempting to catch up with the first three. “You stay here with me. It’s teatime.”
As if he understood her words, the small dog slowed his pursuit of Jubie, the Bernese mountain dog; Hank, the large husky; and Elvis, the yellow lab. I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up as Samantha scooped the small dog up and marched back toward their cabin where Calista, Hudson’s wife, waited on the front porch with a wide smile on her face.
Our gazes connected, and I was engulfed with the kindness and joy that poured through hers. You would never know the woman had a rough childhood like mine, and adult life too. That was how she and Hudson met, after she was attacked in LA and he was the detective who worked the case.
“I bet I can guess where you’re headed,” she called out, angling her head toward Juno’s place.
“Guilty. I can’t seem to stay away,” I responded with a single shoulder shrug, not caring that I was predictable at this point in my obsession with Juno.
“You should just ask her out already.” Tracking Sam along the front path and trotting up the steps, Calista patted the top of her daughter’s head as she passed and headed into the house. “See you around, West.”
“She’s not wrong, you know.” I whirled around on my boot heels, finding Aspen and Baylee standing behind me, the former with the camera that never left her hands and the latter wearing her lab coat, signaling she’d come from the barn or her veterinary clinic in town. “Juno needs you and Langston to make it obvious you want her, not this dumb stalking and overprotective bossy shit the men around here do in some weird adult version of pulling our pigtails.”
I arched a dark brow at Aspen. “Tell me what you really think. Trouble in paradise?” My chest felt tight as I waited for her answer. Her, Aiden, and Miles’s relationship was one I hoped to model one day. The three of them worked as a unit and seemed happy—really, really happy.
She waved me off. “What? No way. But I remember Miles’s version of flirting and showing he cared at first was trying to protect me from….” She looked at Baylee, who just nodded, no doubt understanding, considering her former Army Ranger and MMA fighter partner Liam. “Well, everything, including myself.”
