Darlings of Paranormal Romance (Anthology) (145 page)

When I answered my door, a guy my age
with short brown hair and piercing green eyes looked at me. He shot
me a grin, and I smiled back. He wasn’t as built as the guy in the
forest, but he was definitely a cutie, dressed like a jock in a
t-shirt, shorts, and Nikes. I couldn’t fathom why this guy was
standing in my doorway.

“
Hi,” I said. “Is there
something I can help you with?”

“
Your dad hired me to do
some yard work.”

I suddenly remembered that my dad had
told me that, but I had no idea the landscaper would be so young
and attractive; I’d expected a short, balding man in a grubby old
flannel shirt and clunky boots. “Oh, okay. Let me get him for you.”
I called for him, and he came to the door.

“
This is Fred,” Dad
introduced. “He’s going to give our back yard a
makeover.”

“
It can sure use one,” I
said, smiling at Fred. “I can give you a hand if—”

“
No way,” my father
interrupted. “The last time you helped, the yard looked…well, let’s
just say that yard work isn’t your forte, honey.”

Just then, my mom opened the door and
peeked out. “Fred, would you like to come to the beach with
us?”

Not wanting to be rude, my dad just
cleared his throat and looked at her in disbelief. He was paying
Fred well to do a job, and he didn’t expect it to be put off.
“We’ve gotta get this jungle under control, dear,” he said, looking
a bit harshly at her. “I think the sooner Fred gets started, the
better.”

“
One more day isn’t going
to hurt anything,” my mother said. “Let him come with us. He can
deal with the yard tomorrow.”

“
Is it going to really hurt
living in the Amazon one more day?” I asked.

Dad wrinkled his brow at me, then at
Mom, refusing to relent. “Taylor, you go on and finish getting
ready for the beach. Fred, please come with me so I can show you
what we need done.”

Fred’s green eyes sparkled like
emeralds. “See ya later, Taylor.”

I waved. “Bye. It was nice to meet
you.”

I watched intently as my dad talked
his ear off with all his big plans for the yard. Fred sneaked a
look over his shoulder and smiled. I grinned back, then watched my
dad escort him to the other side of the house. Once they were out
of sight, I went back upstairs to my room to finish packing for the
beach.

* * *

While I stayed on the beach for some
sun and fun, Mom and Dad went fishing not too far away. I spread
out a colorful towel, applied plenty of Coppertone, and slipped on
a pair of sunglasses, then lay down on my back to soak up all the
sun I could. My gold bikini left little to the imagination,
including more cleavage than my dad was a fan of, but I figured he
needed to face the fact I was growing up and was not his little
girl anymore. It didn’t really matter anyway, because there were so
few people on the beach that one would have thought shark warnings
had been posted. I just enjoyed the solitude and the warm rays and
listened to the birds and gulls soaring overhead.

“
Taylor?” a girl’s voice
said.

I sat up and grinned. “Yep, that’s
me.”

A tall blonde in a tie-dyed bathing
suit, with a large, striped beach bag over her shoulder, was
holding her hand out for a shake. “I’m Julie. I’ve been dying to
meet you. Mom tells me we’re the same age, in the same grade. I
just moved here last week, and I don’t know a soul.”

I shook her hand and smiled. “That
makes two of us.”

She smiled, then spread out her own
beach towel, adjusted her sunglasses, and politely asked, “If you
don’t mind, I’m gonna catch some rays too.”

“
Sounds like a plan,” I
said. I lay back down and turned my head in her direction. “Where
do you live?”

“
Not far from you. My
parents split, and Mom’s—”

“
Divorced?”

“
You nailed it. Divorce,
the future tense of marriage.”

I had to stifle a laugh, considering
that her wounds were probably still fresh, but I appreciated her
cynical sense of humor. “I’m sorry,” I said.

“
It’s fine, and I’ll be
fine too. I always bounce back. It’s like I have nine lives. My dad
got remarried and lives in Washington, and Mom got a job as a
manager for Sleepy Forest Cottages. Where do your parents
work?”

“
In their pajamas
sometimes,” I said.

“
Huh?”

“
Heh. They work from home.
They’re authors, so for them, this place is like a writers’
retreat, the perfect inspiration.”

“
Oh. Well, that’s pretty
cool.”

“
I guess. They met at a
writing conference and have been inseparable ever since. I guess
you could call it love at first write,” I said with a
smile.

She laughed. “Fairytale perfect,
huh?”

“
Well…sometimes. But
speaking of fairytales,” I said, “I think I met Prince
Charming.”

She lifted her glasses up and smiled.
“Really? Where? Is he a lifeguard or something?” she asked, looking
around.

“
Not that I know of—at
least not in the traditional sense. Yesterday, my dog Max took off
into the woods, and when I ran in there to get him, I bumped into
this super hot guy.”

“
Whoa!” She lifted a brow.
“A hot forest boy, huh?”

Just then, another vision of the Greek
god flashed through my head, his black hair wafting in the wind
like some majestic stallion’s mane. I grinned as I imagined the
intimate touch of his lips on mine.

“
Hello? Earth to Taylor,”
Julie said, snapping me out of my trance.

“
Oh…sorry. I was just
thinking about him. He was just so…hot. ”

“
Do tell.”

I lifted my sunglasses off my face.
“Smokin’…really.”

She furrowed a brow. “As
in…sizzling?”

I grinned. “Smoldering.”

“
What’s his name?” she
asked.

“
Um…that’s the thing. I
don’t know.”

“
What!? You mean to tell me
this gorgeous creature was standing right there in front of you,
and you didn’t even find out who he is?

“
Well, we talked for a few
minutes, and I felt this amazing connection. I guess I was so
caught up in the moment that I just didn’t think to
ask.”

“
You know what that was,
don’t ya?”

“
What?”

“
Chemistry.”

“
Yeah, I guess.”

“
So lemme get this
straight. You met some hot guy who took your breath away, and you
didn’t even get his name? Do you even know where he’s
from?”

“
You mean besides
Heaven?”

She laughed. “Oh my gosh, that’s soooo
corny.”

I laughed back at her. “I don’t
know.”

She shot me a look like I was crazy.
“Why didn’t you ask?”

“
Well, there were mountain
lions, and—”

“
Mountain
lion
s,
as
in
plural
?”

“
Yeah. Why?”

She lifted a finger. “Clue number one.
Mr. Wonderful doesn’t know much about the wildlife around here. I
read up on it. Mountain lions travel alone.”

“
Hmm.
That’s odd. When we were out there, after we scared one lion away,
my dog started acting funny, and he said, ‘
They’re
back’.”

“
Only mothers and kittens
live in groups, and I doubt a mama bobcat would come back with her
babies. What happened after that?”

“
He seemed jumpy and rushed
me back home, then took off. When I glanced over my shoulder, he
was gone.”

“
Hmm. He does sound
mysterious. I’ll keep out an eye for him. What does he look
like?”

“
He’s gorgeous.”

“
Yeah, you already said
that. What else?”

“
Well, he has black hair to
his shoulders.” I smiled even wider, recalling every detail of his
features. “And he’s got these big, bright blue eyes, almost like he
was wearing those colored contacts.”

“
You mean, like, pastel or
a piercing shade of bright blue?”

“
I don’t know, exactly.
When I was a kid, there was this crayon in my box of Crayolas that
was called Periwinkle. It was kind of like that, the rarest eye
color I’ve ever seen. It was the lightest blue ever, as blue as the
sky. I don’t know who he is, but I’ve gotta find out.”

“
So you’re calling dibs on
the hottest guy on town already? Gee, I sure hope he has a
brother.”

“
I’m not even sure if he
lives here,” I said.

“
What would make you think
otherwise?”

“
Well, you said yourself
that he made a mistake about the mountain lions. It seems like a
local would know better. Maybe he was just hiking and is staying in
one of the hotels.”

“
Was he dressed like a
hiker? Did he have a backpack and gear and hiking
boots?”

“
No, none of
that.”

“
Hmm. I do love a good
mystery. We’ve gotta find your hunky hottie and see if he’s got an
equally smoldering brother.”

I laughed. “And how are we supposed to
do that? Stalk the resorts, hotels, and cabins?”

“
No. I have a better idea.
This guy named Jed is throwing a party tonight at his cabin. Lucky
for us, I got invited. If this mysterious guy is a local, I’m sure
he’ll be there.”

“
And if he doesn’t show
up?”

“
Then we move on to Plan
B.”

“
Which is?”

“
Stalking the resorts,
hotels, and cabins.”

“
Man, that’s gonna
suck.”

She rolled on her stomach to get some
sun on her back. “Yep. If he’s a tourist, he’ll most likely be here
for no more than a week or two. But even if he leaves, I’m sure
there are other cute guys around here somewhere.”

“
I don’t want another cute
guy. I want him.”

“
Picky, picky, picky! When
you show up tonight, make sure you look good. Wear something cute.
If he happens to be there and he’s single, maybe you’ll snag him.
At least you can find out his name this time.”

“
Right,” I said and gave my
new friend a fist bump.

“
I need to meet somebody to
forget about my ex,” she said.

“
Yeah, I know the feeling.
I did meet another guy who’s pretty cute,” I said.

“
Wow. What are you, a guy
magnet? How’d you meet that one? And don’t blame your
dog.”

“
He knocked on my
door.”

She laughed. “Hey! How come I don’t
have that kind of luck?”

“
My dad hired him to do
some yard work. His name is Fred.”

“
So introduce me,” she
said.

“
I will.”

“
Unless you want
him.”

“
Nah, he’s a cutie all
right, but I’m all hung up on Mr. Blue Eyes. Fred’s are jade green,
kinda like yours.”

“
Well, anything to get my
mind off my ex,” Julie said.

“
My love life isn’t so
great either. I was dumped about six months ago. Sean said we
didn’t have the spark he needs.”

“
Spark? The guy sounds like
a jerk. Trust me, you’re better off with somebody else than a guy
who’d ever say something like that to a girl. If he wants a spark,
maybe somebody oughtta shove a lighter up his—”

“
Hey! Gross!” I squealed,
cutting her off before she made me visualize something I didn’t
want to see.

She laughed, and I couldn’t help
laughing too.

“
Anyway, he is a jerk, like
you said. He had a girlfriend one day after he dumped
me.”

“
Idiot!”

I sighed. “Tell me about
it.”

She sat up and grinned coyly, as if
she was up to something naughty. “So…are you ready to forget about
him and have some fun?”

“
Definitely.”

“
Good. I’ll pick you up
tonight. Mom already told me where you live. Is seven
okay?”

“
I’ll be ready and
waiting.”

“
Cool. And look, Taylor, if
your fiery forest friend isn’t there, don’t worry about it. I’ve
got a feeling there won’t be a shortage of hotties around here—or
at least I hope there won’t.”

I smirked. “I’ve got a feeling we’re
going to be really good friends,” I said, and I knew it was the
truth.

Chapter 3

Julie’s bright blonde hair was in
long, beautiful waves, and her green eyes really popped, thanks to
the brown eyeshadow she’d chosen. She was dressed in tight black
pants, and her black, glittery shirt sparkled from a mile
away.

“
You do know we’re going to
a party in the woods, right?” I said.

“
Yeah. Why?”