“I did.”
“How exciting! Let’s get your things. I’ll check you in then show you to your room.”
When she pulled her suitcase out of the trunk, Felicia grabbed the handle before the wheels touched the ground.
“Thank you,” she said and slipped the strap to her cosmetic case over a shoulder and carried her garment bag by the hanger’s hook.
They walked across the wrap around porch decorated in pink with a few hearts, through the front door, and into the small foyer. The room opened into a living area. A cupid figurine sat on the coffee table dividing two couches. Red roses filled a vase on the mantel above a lit fireplace.
Thank goodness Felicia didn’t fuss with too many decorations. She’d already grown tired of the ornaments on the drive into town.
Off to the side, a small table—podium height—stood in the corner. Felicia moved there, set Lyse’s suitcase on its end, and slid a sheet of paper across the black wood toward her.
“I hope you don’t mind being on the third floor.”
She lifted a shoulder. “It’s fine.”
“Groovy! Please sign by the X.”
Checked in, she followed Felicia as she showed her the main living area—family room, and kitchen—and then headed up the stairs. They trudged passed the second floor to the third. The sun beamed in through the lone window between two doors.
“Here’s your room.” Felicia opened the door on the left, and she followed her inside.
The sunlit house evaporated into a dark, dismal room. Bats and vampires popped into her mind. Her breathing hitched. No way would she stay in a place with no light. “Um…”
“Oops. Someone forgot to open the blinds after they cleaned.” Felicia’s voice drifted as if she walked into a tunnel.
Dark places scared Lyse. If it hadn’t been for Coop… She shook her head. No, she wouldn’t go there. Wouldn’t revisit the awful memory and wouldn’t think about how he comforted her after she went into the abandoned house to search for her kitten. Spiders, bugs, and wet things had crawled over her.
The light clicked on.
A puff of air escaped, and she steadied a hand on the wall.
“There we go. Sorry,” Felicia said, taking in what she knew had to be her pale face and huge eyes. “Oh, gosh, I’m so sorry.”
Light streamed in. Felicia moved to another set of windows, undid the wooden mini blinds, and then pulled a string to roll up the shade above a door. “There. All better. What do you think?”
The sun beaming into the room stopped her heart from pumping “oh shit” to her brain. She lowered her hand and examined the space, a large room with a sitting area, a bed, and a huge closet. A balcony stretched along the wall facing the street. She laid her garment bag across the bed and set her cosmetic case next to it, and noted her suitcase near the closet door. “What a great getaway. I like it,” she said tossing her sweater next to her things.
“Groovy!” The girl clapped her hands together.
The air of familiarity struck again. Right along with the high pitched “groovy,” but who was she?
Felicia inched closer and placed a hand on her arm.
The touch was far from ordinary. It held understanding, friendship.
“I remember when you were locked in that room. When you searched for your kitten.”
Her voice drifted, breaking a little, as if the girl underwent the experience with her, but she hadn’t. No one had. Only Coop… “How?”
Footsteps pounded on the stairs. Not pounded per se, but the acoustics in the house echoed. She wanted the ruckus to stop in order to hear what Felicia had to say.
“The other attic-guest has arrived.” Felicia gestured to the door across the hall. “Do you remember my brother?”
Brother? She didn’t recognize Felicia, how could she remember her brother? She turned to the sound of someone stopping just outside the door.
A man in his mid-twenties held onto the doorjamb above the door. He wore a gray shirt with Heathercream stitched on the right side of his chest, and tan pants, which hadn’t had the good fortune of seeing an iron. Casually dressed, almost to the point of being messy, yet he pulled it off. The same for his brown hair. It waved into a smooth half curl, rising a few inches off his forehead. A five-o’clock shadow covered his jaw and cheeks, causing her thoughts to travel to getting whisker burns in areas that hadn’t had them in ages.
Somehow his disheveled look worked for him. His well-honed body stretching his shirt, the guy looked hot as hell.
“Do you remember him?” Felicia asked again.
The mouth, his stature, she’d seen a younger version. They must have gone to school together.
She extended her hand. “Hi, I’m Lyse Haynes, and you are?”
He studied her hand then locked eyes, holding her captive. The weight of his gaze went right through her. She gasped, and her hand flew to her chest without her permission.
This guy—flat out sexy gorgeous—impossible…Yet…she swallowed, tried to regain her composure. The tenor, the slight accent, how could it be? He didn’t wear glasses. His clothes fit him perfectly, almost tailored.
“Are we really just shaking hands?”
His voice slid velvety heat over her every nerve ending. She knew she’d see Coop, would lay eyes on him, but never in her wildest dreams did she think she would react this way. “No,” she commanded her body who didn’t want to listen in a weak voice, but her mind climbed onboard. This man who was supposed to be her friend, thought what? He could just show up and all would be forgiven? That she would forget how much she missed him. That she wouldn’t remember how badly she needed him after Wally tried to force himself on her. “No,” she said in a stronger voice.
Him here, in her B&B, staying across the short hall… No way! She moved closer, ready to get in his face and snarled to make her point. “N-o—”
“That’s what I thought,” he said in a whisper laced with honey.
In slow motion, she recognized what he would do. What she saw and what her mind perceived didn’t connect. His arms opened and wrapped around her. The “you’re crashing” vibe rushed forward in the form of a solid hard body and muscular arms. The embrace removed her anger, eradicated how upset she was with him, and eliminated the shock, just as it had done as a teen, just as he’d done when she was ten trapped in the room searching for her kitty. He soothed her. All the bad disappeared and vanished like a puff of smoke. At least her heart said so, and she allowed it a few moments of bliss, of forgiveness before she remembered her major organ didn’t rule anymore, her mind did.
She had one mission in Heather Ridge, nothing more, to find and meet her soul mate. Okay, yeah, that sounded crazy and didn’t make sense, but the FIND ME candy myth she could believe in, even understand, but not this. Not her arms gripping Coop tighter, not her face burying into his neck smelling his scent that made her eyes roll back into her head.
Hell’s bells, why did her body love pursuing him? Something ripped open inside her, like happiness, comfort, and fulfillment, though she couldn’t put a finger on exactly what. Whatever the feeling, it caused her to soak his shirt with her tears.
If she’d let herself admit the truth, she would confess she missed his touch more than she’d ever missed anything.
His body trembled. Having a quick hug was one thing, but crying over lost time she couldn’t handle. See, her heart didn’t rule. She eased away and wiped a hand under her nose.
Damn him, he didn’t let go. He slid a finger across her cheek. “My God, I’ve missed you.”
This close, she witnessed the compassion in his whiskey eyes reinforcing the tone of his sweet voice. If she’d seen them as a teen when he’d gently spoken, she would have melted, like she wanted to right now. Which she couldn’t do. “I’m mad at you.”
He dropped his hand to his side, and she whimpered.
“I-I…better go,” Felicia said and scurried down the steps.
Felicia’s quick movements distracted and eased the pressing weight off her chest. “Felicia Karma,” she said, doing a double take in the direction his sister went. “Orange hair, eyebrows? Did she rebel as a teen and forget to stop?”
He chuckled, deep, rich, like a man she craved to seduce until he groaned with want.
“She changed her name because of me,” he said. “Her hair was her own doing.” He moved toward the balcony door, opened it, and propped a shoulder against the doorjamb.
A gentle breeze blew his hair, his shirt, and chilled her overheated body.
She swallowed at the gorgeous, confident man, with a physique of a honed athlete.
Had he gone to Guy Candy School? Taken Sex God pills? What was up with him and this new air of “I’m hot, hear me roar”?
“Where’d the nerd go?”
He chuckled.
Oh, hell.
She hadn’t meant to speak out loud and shut her eyes, and so he couldn’t see, she put a hand over them.
Earthy, minty aroma, the scent all Coop, wrapped its seducing wisps around her senses and tugged. He’d moved closer, but she wouldn’t look. Unable to see him, sent her awareness into hyper-alert. Desires came to life. Ones she kept locked away. Ones she didn’t want to have for Coop, not when her soul mate waited.
****
Coop’s feelings for Lyse magnified. Urges prodded him from every angle. Holding her had spurred his lust, but when she covered her eyes, a different sensation flowed over him. The act, an innocent little girl move, one she’d done when playing hide-and-seek as a child. She used to say, “How’d ya see me? I couldn’t see you.” Older now, she appeared to have the same sweet, smart, compassionate personality he adored.
Damn, he couldn’t do this, couldn’t manipulate her.
Her high cheekbones and symmetrical face enthralled him. Her smooth skin invited his fingers to touch and his tongue to taste every feminine inch.
Brown hair, streaked with lighter colors begged his fingers to feel, to see if the locks remained as soft as they once were.
He took in the color of her lips, the matching pink dress, the soft material cupping her full breasts and slight hips. The rest of him snapped to attention demanding a chance to participate.
Gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous, like he remembered.
As soon as he recognized her in the silver car, he’d raced to his sister’s B&B. Forgetting all about his plans of figuring a way out of this mess.
“As I was saying…” Knowing it was a mistake, he moved closer and nudged her hand from her face. He let his fingers slide slowly along hers, enjoying the feel of her skin before sticking his hand in his pocket. “Felicia wanted to make a business on her own merits. When she graduated college, she voiced her wishes to use a different name. Family and friends continue to use her given name, but to the outside world, Felicia Schmidt no longer exists.”
“Because you own Heathercream, she thought people wouldn’t give her the respect for her accomplishments.” She shifted her focus between his eyes the same way she’d done as a teen. This time, his thick eyeglasses didn’t stand between them. “I get it.”
No doubt, she did. With her father in charge of Haynes Travel Agency, Lyse stayed in his shadow, just what Felicia didn’t want.
“Would you like to get some ice cream? I know the owner, and it’s free.”
“Yeah.” Her shaky voice revealed her caution. “I need to fix my mop first.” She bunched the long locks in her hands, the way girls do, to put it in a ponytail, and her thumb caught on what must have been a knot.
“Let me. Where’s your brush?” So thick and heavy, her aunt didn’t have the patience to brush it. As far as he knew, her uncle hadn’t even tried. One day, he mentioned he combed his sister’s hair and that was it. He became her official hair-brusher. As a thank you, Lyse would peck him on the cheek. Now, he hardened at the idea of her repeating the act.
She inhaled.
Her reaction caught him off guard, and he debated the wisdom of his suggestion. “Do you think I’m gonna do something out of line?” He shrugged and lifted his hands, palms up. “I’ve brushed your hair a million times.”
In his lab and in his ice cream shop, he analyzed, studied, and evaluated his findings to ensure the accuracy of an experiment. Not once did he frown when a “holy cow” lightbulb moment occurred as Lyse’s did now. She beamed. But how? Embarrassment or an excited flush didn’t light up a person’s face like this. Hell, science ruled his life, and he didn’t have any earthly idea how she looked so happy yet confused.
“Oh, the brush.” She held up a finger, retrieved her purse, and handed it to him. “Here you go.”
“Want to sit on the bed?”
Her eyes grew wide, and again he pondered his comment. “You’re only an inch shorter than me, you’ll have to sit.” At six-one, he should be able to see the top of any woman’s head, not hers.
She didn’t move.
“Okay, have it your way.” He moved behind her and slid the bristles through her hair. Section by section he ran the brush through the strands, untangled it and enjoyed the silkiness. “It’s the same,” he said, not meaning to speak aloud.
She didn’t respond, but moved to the bed, folded a leg under her, and hung the other one over the side.
“Now that you’re here, the whole class will be in attendance,” he said, hoping to relieve some of the tension in the room, and ran the brush over the top of her head.
“I came for the candy.” She giggled.
He loved hearing the sound. “What’s new? You were always about the hearts. Have you opened your box yet?”
The air in the room changed. It went from relaxing to tense in a millisecond. She twisted, grasped the brush out of his hands. “Thank you. No one removes the knots as easy as you.”
He’d like to remove other knots, the ones that settled low in his groin from want.
“I plan to head over to Rill’s Country Store to talk to Rill Babcock.”
This puzzled him. “The owner of Rill’s Country Store?”
“Yes, remember him? Not too tall, balding?”
He knew his great uncle well and saw him most Sundays. “I see him from time to time. He doesn’t run the store anymore.”
“Oh.” Her mouth turned down. “I need to find him. I don’t know what to do after receiving the FIND ME heart.