Not again…Kieran thought, as even morecrashesandbangssuddenly tore through the air, loud enough that the beams of the houseshouldhave been shaking with it. But there was no movement – just the sounds, like a herd of elephants stampeding overhead.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but I really can’t tell you how much I amnotin the mood for this right now!” Kieran bellowed up into the empty house, feeling very foolish even as he did so – but the anger, frustration and despair that were churning furiously inside him neededsomeoutlet, and mystery house sounds seemed as good an outlet as any.
To Kieran’s surprise, the sounds cut out immediately – as if the herd of elephants had simply vanished mid-rampage.
Kieran waited, expecting that they might start up again at any moment – but no. The silence reigned.
Letting out a long sigh, Kieran muttered, “Well, at least that’s one less thing to worry about,” before dragging himself dejectedly into the house.
Chapter 7
Ugh. Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Wait, why amIthe stupid one?!
Natasha stomped over the muddy path, the wet dirt squelching beneath her angry tread.Shewasn’t the one who’d stood someone else up for a date, and then, instead of just being honest about it, had concocted some ridiculous lie about being a… a…
What did he call it again? A shifter?!
She shook her head, anger shooting through her. She’d barely been able to sleep last night from her agitation about what had happened after she’d – foolishly, as it turned out – allowed Kieran to try to explain himself to her.
If he’d just told the truth, like telling her he’d had car problems or that he’d forgotten the time while he was working on the place he was staying in, or even that he’d gotten his days mixed up and had thought they were supposed to be meeting at some other time, she probably would have given him a second chance, despite her swearing at Sylvie’s that she wouldn’t.
When he’d turned up at her B&B, though, with his apologetic face and his franklyamazingbouquet of flowers and his thoughtful gift of pie, she’d found herself reluctantly melting – for some reason, her heart had told her to at least listen to what he had to say.
Life happened, after all, and she didn’t have a heart completely made of stone. He’d seemed so genuinely like he wanted to apologize that she found herself almosthopinghe’d have some kind of explanation, no matter how lame, just so she’d have an excuse to forgive him and suggest they could go out for dinner instead.
But I wasn’t expecting… that!
Why had he made up such a stupid, obvious lie? Just to mess with her?! He had to have known that he wasn’t going to be able to turn into a mythical creature right in front of her eyes, so what had been the point in any of it?!
Maybe he was just some weirdo who got his kicks playing pointless practical jokes on people – maybe there’d been some hidden camera somewhere, and he was trying to go viral on social media or something, doing pranks or trying to get attention in order to sell something. Natasha worked in marketing so she was obviously aware of these things, but she had to say she didn’t really agree with the ‘all publicity is good publicity’ maxim – she never advocated for any client to do whatever it took to go viral, no matter how stupid, ridiculous or cruel.
That must have been what it was,she thought, shaking her head. She really couldn’t think of any other reason why Kieran would have said something like that. Maybe he was hoping she would believe her, so he could put up a video of her to make fun of her for his followers.
He just really, really didn’t seem like the type,she thought, shaking her head. But she supposed that was the point – if he’d been an obvious prankster right from the beginning, she never would have fallen for him in the first place.
She’d done her best to tell herself that she wasn’treallyinterested in him, that this was just going to be a bit of fun on vacation. But Natasha hadn’t really been able to stick to that, even as she’d tried to tell herself that was all it was. Damnit, she’d reallylikedhim.
No – more than that.
She’d feltdrawnto him. It had been an almost instant connection – something she’d never felt with anyone else in the past, where, even if there’d been nothing obviouslywrongwith the guy, there’d just been no spark there at all.
With Kieran, she’d felt that spark, for the first time in her life. It was the first time inyearsshe’d felt excited by something that wasn’t her job.
But she’d been very, very wrong.
Ugh. Well. Chalk that one up to experience.
She’d know better the next time a tall, gorgeous, seemingly adorably goofy guy hit on her over a can of beans in a supermarket. She wouldn’t be fooled again!
Despite her knowing now what Kieran really was, and despite her determination that she’d never fall for anything like that ever again, Natasha still couldn’t deny to herself that there was a part of her heart that still felt… sore. She didn’t really understand it, she had to admit. Obviously, she felt humiliated, but this wasn’t quite the same thing. It wasn’t just romantic disappointment at having thought she’d found a nice guy, only to discover he wasn’t quite what he seemed.
It was a feeling she couldn’t explain to herself, as if, somehow, something had gonewrong, and she had to do something to fix it – that there was somethingunfinishedbetween them, and now it was going to rub away at her like a stone in her shoe until she dealt with it.
Maybe I’m just so mad I feel like I need to go give him a piece of my mind, since I didn’t do that before he left yesterday,Natasha thought, dramatically shoving aside a low-hanging branch as she continued on up the mountain trail.Maybe I just feel like I let him off too lightly, andthat’swhat I left unfinished.
That seemed likely. She’d never been one to not speak her mind. Maybe she should have really given him a good piece of it before she’d let him go.
Well, too late now, unless I want to track him down and yell at him in the middle of town,she thought grumpily. But even as she thought it, she felt her stomach turning over slightly, as if in protest at the thought.
