1214 Bad Boy Ave (Cherry Falls)

“Absolutely.” And just like that, things didn’t seem so bad.

4

Dolly

I tightened my hands on the steering wheel of my father’s pick-up truck as it bumped up and down the gravel road. With my car still in the shop—a part they were waiting on still not having arrived—being able to go places took a little bit of maneuverability since I was sharing a vehicle.

I also wasn’t going to wonder how much the repair was going to cost and if it would drain my savings.

The road was inclined, and once I reached the top, I could see a large swath of farmland as well as a ranch-style house situated in the center. There was a small pond to the left, and what I could make out of a large garden to the right. There was a strip of woods behind the house, and I was struck for a moment at how gorgeous it all was.

When I called the number for the rental, the voice on the other end had been deep and husky, making me feel a strange kind of way. It was as if I knew who it was. His tone was brisk yet polite, and the conversation extremely short.

He’d given me the address and told me a time to come, explained we could talk and see if things meshed between the two of us. To say my father wasn't pleased with it being a man who owned the house was an understatement. I’m sure he would have loved it if it was a houseful of women, but in life, adult decisions had to be made, so here I was.

I pulled the vehicle to a stop beside a massive pick-up truck, my father’s rundown, slightly beat-up and rusted old Chevy looking like a toy compared to the behemoth beside me.

I grabbed my purse and the few papers I was able to print out at the library, ones that had a couple references and any other information he might require and walked up the porch steps and to the front door.

I didn’t realize I was so nervous or understand why. It was essentially just a small interview; nothing was set in stone. Yet after getting off the phone with him the other day, I couldn’t push down the feeling that something life-changing was going to happen. I tried to blame it on fear of the unknown, at how this was another totally new path for me.

It was a strange sensation, something I’d never experienced before. I still couldn’t get over the fact that his voice reminded me of someone, yet I couldn’t place it even if it stuck with me the entire time.

The front door was open, but there was a screened-in one in front of it, and I brought my knuckles down on the wooden frame before taking a step back and clutching my bag to my chest as if it were a shield.

I couldn’t see very well into the house with the screen and the shadows, but I could smell the scent of lemon, pine, and something deeply masculine, something that triggered a memory. The sound of heavy footfalls came through and drew my focus to the present.

A massive body rounded the corner, and although he was still shrouded in shadows, I felt that prickle on the back of my neck intensify. He didn’t move for a second, which I found a little bit odd, as if he were sizing me up. Maybe he was. Maybe he wanted to get a good look at me as the prospective renter who would be in his house. Although compared to a man of his size, I wasn’t sure how much of a threat I’d ever be.

My heart started beating fast when he stepped forward, and the closer he came, when the shadows didn’t conceal him any longer, I heard my sharp inhale of breath as I got a good look at his face, and recognition slammed into me.

Tristan Black.

Although I didn’t really know him, nothing that would have caused this instant tightness in my body, and hadn’t even had a full conversation with Tristan, I had seen him plenty of times while living in Cherry Falls.

When I'd been a little girl, he’d seemed larger than life when I’d seen him in town, this massive man who looked like he could crush bones with his bare hands. The older I got, I saw him as something more of a protector, a man who might look scary, but in his eyes I’d seen something softer.

And then that awe I’d felt when I saw him faded to something more carnal on the night of my going away to college party, when my eighteen-year-old self noticed him in the shadows watching me, and my body lit up and ached with something I'd never experienced before.

I exhaled slowly as my traitorous body lit up the closer he came. My body softened more at the scent of him filling my nose, making me dizzy and feeling drunk.