Not really knowing where I was headed, I strolled along the main road. At the next crossing, the view opened toward the valley on the left. On the right, the mountain peaks rose, slopes dotted with more cottages, some of them so high up in such steep places, I wondered how folks got up there. The roads must be hidden under the canopy of trees. Or did the shifters run home in fur, straight through the forest? I imagined a bear zooming up through the greenery, jumping over boulders and tree stumps, grocery shopping bags dangling from his muzzle.
Something flickered between the trees up on the slope. A car! There were roads, duh. Probably narrow and zig-zagged, death looming at every bend and curve. I shuddered. It had been a while since I’d driven a car. My security barely ever let me—something to do with protocols—not that I insisted all that much.
Gazing up at the mountain range rising above the forest, I didn’t realize I was shuffling backward until my foot slid off an edge. I flailed at the end of the sidewalk.
Suddenly, massive arms locked around me, and I fell back against a broad chest. The scent that enveloped me was vaguely familiar, but I’d never smelled it so strongly before.
Ooh. I would have rememberedthis.
Spicy and warm, like whiskey and smoked chili.All hot. What was that?
“Oops,” a deep, velvety voice said, and I struggled against the urge just to slump and close my eyes.
Let me breathe this in for a bit.
But I was in the middle of the street, wrapped in a stranger’s arms. I straightened, and the arms released me. I turned around and gawked up. And higher up.
“Jordy?”
His deep brown eyes had dark-blue flecks in them. I’d never seen an eye color like that before. With curling hair sticking from underneath a black beanie and those strange, intense eyes pinned on my face, he looked cute and intimidating at the same time, and it threw me.
He smirked, the pierced eyebrow hiking up. “Hello, Laurel. Sightseeing?”
What was I… Where… What?
My heart was thumping in my ribcage. Did he mean I was ogling him? But no. He was talking about me stumbling around town.
“Um. I was looking at a car.”
He tilted his head to the side, then glanced around. “A car?”
“The roads up there.” I pointed behind me. “Must be narrow.”
“Okay…”
He kept smirking in a way that made me think he was having fun at my expense. And still, he looked sexy. I was supposed to be over my bad-boy charm phase. I thought I’d grown out of that, but apparently not. Dark, mysterious, tattooed, and a little mean still did it for me, especially the oversized, bear version. And holy hell, the scent!
“I got distracted. Just stuff in my head. I’m not high or anything.”
At that, he chuckled. “I didn’t think that.”
Why was he still staring at me? My stomach felt iffy.My stomach… I could eat…
“Lunch?” I blurted.
He blinked. “Huh?”
“Where can one get lunch in Beauville?”
“Oh. Yeah. Bert at the diner serves lunch on weekdays.”
I’d passed the diner this morning. It looked tiny. “Does it get busy?”
“Today’s meatloaf and mash. The place will be packed.”
I wrinkled my nose. Eating alone in a throng of strangers didn’t sound ideal.
“Do you want…company?” Jordy asked. “I haven’t eaten yet.”
