Stone
Movement across the street catches my eye. An unfamiliar car crawls down the street and stops in front of Camilla’s soon-to-be bakery. A dark-haired man of medium build, for a human, gets out and looks around suspiciously as he approaches the glass window. Holding his hands around his eyes like a shield, he peers through.
“Son-of-a-bitch!” My insides rumble like I’m a maraca in a food processor. Something’s not right.
I remember the sight of Camilla in the early morning coming to the door in her too-short pajama shorts and shirt. That image provokes the same unsavory thoughts now as they did then. What if he’s having the same ideas about exploring the expanse of her bronze skin? About how easy it would be to snake one arm around her waist while the other inches under her shirt to her round mounds and perky nipples. Then sliding his hand below her belly button, slipping it beneath the waistband of her skimpy pajama shorts to her panties.
“Fuck, Camilla.” I need to shake this image. Watching this imaginary movie in my head makes my chest ache. “I need to stop thinking of you.”
What if she’s in there right now, at this very moment, unknowingly putting on a show for this menace of a man, without even knowing it? Red-hot anger coils in my gut andpossesses me. Her coffee skin is for me to see and touch, and me alone.
I need to get to her. To warn her. Above all, to protect her.
“Stone, watch out!”
Erik’s voice pulls me from the single-minded trance I’m under, just as I step off the roof. I’m brought back to the moment just in time for me to unfurl my wings and glide down to the street level instead of falling and crashing into pieces. Before I land on my feet, the unwelcome intruder retreats to his car and drives off.
I look back at the roof of the bank where I stood a few seconds earlier to find Erik and Magnus leaning over the edge with worried looks on their faces. I consider following the stranger and sending him a message that whatever he’s doing here in Erie Cove, he isn’t welcome.
I remember that Camilla has a problematic ex and wonder if that could be him. I’ll need to get more information about what happened between them, but I have to be careful. Without meaning to, I already insulted her. I don’t want to chance that again, or have her think I’m nosy and shut down.
“What the hell was that about!?” Erik yells, now next to me at street level.
I shake my head, embarrassed by my behavior. “Sorry.” It’s all I can say. How can I explain that I had no choice but to get to Camilla when I stumbled off the roof?
“This is too dangerous for you to have your head up your ass,” he yells, pointing back up at the roof.
I don’t say anything because he’s right. What’s worse is that I don’t care that he’s yelling at me. All I can think about is getting to Camilla and making sure that she’s okay.
“You can’t be watching a woman and working at a height like that at the same time, Stone. The two don’t mix.”
“I’m sorry, boss. I’m not sure what happened, but it won’t happen again.”
“It better not!” After a few angry breaths, Erik shakes his head. “I know what happened. She’s the one, dumbass,” he whispers, shoving my shoulder. “Go get her. Don’t come back until you’re head’s on straight. And whatever you do, don’t fuck this up.”
“RAVEN,” I CALL OUT, striding into The Mummy’s Tomb with purpose. I need to remain calm, or I’ll frighten Camilla. Lord knows the tension in my body is scaring the hell out of me.
Camilla wasn’t at home when I calmed down enough to amble across the street and check on her. I have to be in control when I see her. I don’t want to trigger every tripwire connected to her fight-or-flight reaction. If she returns to her parents’ house, I may never see her again, and I can’t let that happen. I’m not keeping tabs on her, but I need to see her for myself and warn her that she may be in danger.
“Have you seen Camilla this morning?” I ask once the crowd at the counter clears.
“Good morning to you, too.” She teases.
“Yeah, yeah, good morning and all that. Please, Raven, I have to know.”
“Buddy, relax,” Cayden chimes in as he approaches from the kitchen. “You’re so intense, you’re going to scare the poor thing off. You can deny—”
“We’re not doing this right now.” I need to stop my friend. I have something much more important on my radar. “Have either of you seen Camilla?”
As if he’s worried I’m unhinged and a threat to his girl, Cayden wraps his woman in his arms, and for the first time ever, it hurts to witness the love and care he takes with her.Not because I have any interest in Raven, but because there is a beautiful woman I want to wrap in my arms and keep safe, and my arms are empty. I want her with my whole being, and I’m terrified I might have realized that too late.
“I think I already scared her off,” I admit.
“Then win her back,” Raven says.
“It’s not that easy. I’ve been trying, but every time I think I’ve made progress, I turn into the same blockhead with his head up his ass that I was when we met.”
“Take it easy,” Cayden reaches across the counter and squeezes my shoulder. “You’re a good man, Stone. Let her see the real you.”
