Page 20 of Found Objects

I’d never been great with compliments about myself. Compliments on things I’d created or found, pieces of nature I’d brought home with me, as well as people I employed—like when customers stopped me on the way out and said how great one of my servers was—all that praise I happily accepted. But when men, especially, noticed my looks, my eyes, my lips, or some other piece of my anatomy, I always got squirmy. I suspected it stemmed from being alone for so long.

I cleared my throat. “Thank you.”

“I don’t give compliments out often,” he replied softly. “But please, Merritt, tell me what kind of shifter you are exactly. Both my parents are dying to know.”

“They’re going to be disappointed when they⁠—”

“Oh, excuse me a moment,” he said, turning to a woman who had walked over. “I’ll be right back.”

I returned to the important matter at hand, picking vegetables for my dinner.

“Hey.” The low voice came from behind me.

When I turned, the man I’d seen on the porch earlier, who’d easily commanded every drop of my interest, was there.

His smile made his dimples pop as he stared at me. “I’m Cole, Cole Swann, and my brother, Evan, was the one who didn’t pass out on your property earlier tonight.”

I just nodded because speaking wasn’t possible with all his attention on me. I’d been mistaken earlier, thinking he wasn’t as beautiful as Justin. Up close, he was breathtaking. With his smile and what it was doing to his eyes, heating them to a liquid gunmetal, the gold stubble on his face, and his smell, like a wood fire and the forest after the rain, it was hard not to reach out and touch him. Here, finally, was the answer to what, or who, Justin had smelled like the first day I met him. It was Cole’s scent he’d carried on his clothes. Pine, spruce, tobacco, and musk. I wanted to roll in it, or better, have him roll all over me. Because that was embarrassing, I turned back to the array of vegetables and stepped away from him to put more on my plate.

He took gentle hold of my wrist, stopping me, so I had to return my gaze to his.

“I’ve been meaning to come by your place, but I’ve been so busy setting up my construction business in Lewisburg, as well as getting Evan settled in school, that I just haven’t had a chance.”

I nodded again like a simpleton.

“From the outside, with the arch and all the cobblestone,” he said with a grin that lit up those eyes of his, “she’s a beauty.”

I cleared my throat. “Thank you.”

“When’s the best time to come so it’s not crazy busy?” he asked, running his thumb over the underside of my wrist, taking a step closer.

Oh, I was a big fan of confidence, of men who didn’t hesitate, who you didn’t have to guess whether they were interested or not. The way he was looking at me, the warmth of his gaze, how close he was, and his touch were doing wild things to my breathing, and I couldn’t quite get it to even out. My face felt hot as well.

It was insane. I was a living contradiction. Because I was older than the trees but could become utterly flustered by a gorgeous man giving me attention. Killing was easily done. The art of flirty banter was a whole other matter.

“I was thinking maybe I could come by and have a tofu burger or a bean burger, whatever it is,” he teased with a chuckle, “and talk to you while I eat.”

Really nice of him to keep the conversation going, since I didn’t seem to be able to get my voice to work at the moment.

“If that would be okay.”

I coughed softly. “That would be great.”

“At the moment, my brother and I, we’re in one of the cabins here on the property, but eventually I’m going to build a house for the two of us on the corner of the pack land, close to you. It’s prettier the farther up the hill you go.”

“Have you been on my land?”

“Yeah,” he husked, and I saw him swallow, releasing my wrist to move a piece of hair out of my eyes. “That area with all the birch trees is beautiful. I swear, though, with how dense it is, you could lose an elephant in there.”

I smiled at him. “Yes, you could.”

“Maybe we can take a hike together and you could show me around.”

“I would love to do that.”

“Good,” he said, almost under his breath.

It was my turn to say something. “You must enjoy spending time with your family.”