No, tonight, I’m glad I’m not alone. Someone will need to call a medic. Like the someone sliding out of his mammoth truck.
Holding a Slurpee.
Packing nines.
And staring right at me.
With aqua eyes.
Holy shit! He’s… here? Right next to my cabin?
I’m having a coronary, a conniption, and a cunt attack all at the same time.
What are my chances, and since when have they ever been good? Hot stuff doesn’t happen to me. The most exciting part of my personal life is putting a new blade on my razor. Otherwise, my legs see no action. I mean, other than swift water rescue action, but that’s work life, not thirsty-new-stranger-with-a-Slurpee life.
My jaw drops with my awkward question, “Are you stalking me?”
It’s a fair question for this feral irony.
Please, say yes.
But Mr. Slurpee sucks his red straw.
What’s one second, when he waits seven before he grins. “Yeah, I’m stalking you. I’ll be working with you too. I’ll shadow your every move, know everything you do, be your neighbor, and maybe even your friend. It’s all part of my master plan: Love the Slurpee Queen. Hope you don’t mind.”
Mind? I’m so lonely, I’m flattered. I’m so new at this… I’m a fool.
He’s not stalking you, Alena.Even if50 First Dates is your favorite movie, you’re not Drew Barrymore.
All hail, Drew Barrymore; Mom loved her.
But still, who doesn’t want a guy who adores you? Who plays along, just to make you happy and keep you safe, even if you don’t know he’s doing it?
Are red flags flying? Yes. Is it technically stalking? Textbook. But when he’s this hot?
Exceptions can be made.
“Okay, well, hope you don’t get bored.” I shrug, forming plans to make this anything but boring, like boycotting the blinds on my windows, but…
Wait. Did he just say he’s working with me?
I make my brain rewind his creepy soliloquy, and… yes, he did.
Seriously?
Fuck you, Fate. You mean, he’s my colleague and off-limits?
Finally, I notice his baseball cap with the Forest Service emblem, how he’s turned it back around, making a dark shadow mask his handsome face.
“So, you’re a ranger?”
His chin jerks. “Seasonal. I start tomorrow and hope they bring me on full-time.”
“What’s your specialty?”
“Law enforcement. Search and rescue. Mainly swift water.”
“Huh.” I blink. “Me too.”
