Axel smiled to himself thinking about how much Izzy would love this place, even if it hadn’t been the location of her favorite realty show, Fairytale Love. From the beautiful scenery, to the fanciful shop names his sister would eat this place up.
He wondered if he’d be able to bring her here after his assignment was over. Would he see Brynn after that? Would she want to see him again after she found out why he was really here?
His chest constricted at the thought of what her reaction might be.
How could he be worried about losing Brynn when he’d known her less than forty-eight hours?
He was so screwed.
***
The brisk morningair filled Brynn’s lungs as she inhaled deeply and headed down to the lake to meet Karen. For over ten years now, Brynn and Karen had walked around this lake every weekday morning at six a.m. She’d started around her divorce. It had been a tough time in her life. Everything seemed overwhelming and uncertain and she’d wanted to start each day with a clear mind and a full heart. The best way she’d known to do that with a baby in tow was to throw him in his stroller and walk.
On her very first trip, she’d met “Karen Carpenter, not the singer.” She was a quirky character, but in a completely different way than her mother. Karen and her husband, Sylvester “not the cat,” had visited Whisper Lake every year for the Valentine’s Festival and stayed at the Princess and the Pea B&B. At the time, it was run by Cliff and Alma Stone, who were, sadly, no relation to William Stone of Stone Castle.
What started out as an annual weekend getaway for Karen and Sly turned out to be a permanent living situation. The retired couple fell in love with the town of Whisper Lake and decided to move there the same year that Ryder was born. When Cliff and Alma passed away a few years back, they took over running the B&B.
Over the years, others had joined their walks from time to time. Some days there were as many as fifteen walkers and some days there were as few as six. Most of the walkers were at least twenty years older than her. People her age tended to do more active or trendy things for their workouts like CrossFit, kickboxing, yoga, or Zumba.
Brynn spotted Karen. The two of them always met at the halfway point from Brynn’s house and the B&B, which was right in front of The Muffin Man bakery.
When Karen saw her, she smiled and waved. Since that first morning, Karen had treated Brynn and Ryder like family. She’d babysat when Brynn had to work or had big tests. She’d shown up with chicken soup when Ryder was sick. Basically, anytime that she or Ryder needed support, Karen was there.
“Good morning, sunshine!” Karen said brightly as she pulled Brynn into a bear hug.
That was the other thing about Karen. She gave the best hugs. It was one of the first things she’d noticed about her all those years ago. Even before she’d learned that hugs were physiologically good for people because the contact releases cortisol, oxytocin, and dopamine, she’d known that she always felt better when Karen hugged her. As much as her mother was all about love and connection, she wasn’t real big on affection.
It sort of felt like her mom was always in her own world, and Max hadn’t been a big hugger either. That should’ve been her first red flag. If she did decide to get involved with someone again, a good hugger would be at the top of her list.
“Morning.” Brynn smiled brightly when Karen released her and patted her cheeks.
“I heard you have a new house guest.”
Brynn wasn’t surprised that Karen knew about Axel. The man had been in town for a couple of days, so she was sure that half the population knew him by now.
“He’s not a house guest.” Brynn corrected. “He’s renting the apartment.”
“Word is, he’s easy on the eyes.” Karen wagged her brows as she did an impression that was a mix of Mae West and Jessica Rabbit. Karen prided herself on her “impressions” which were normally just a bad accent or her voice going deeper.
Brynn felt her lips turn up as she confirmed, “He is easy on the eyes.”
And the ears, she thought to herself.
Axel’s voice was just as sexy, if not sexier, than his perfect bone structure, dark hair, bedroom eyes, and Greek god physique.
She’d hadn’t really spent any time with him since their pizza dinner and she missed him. She missed hearing him talk. His voice was equal parts soothing and stimulating and Brynn was concerned that she was developing an auditory addiction to it.
She’d been so tempted to invite Axel to have dinner with her and Ryder last night, but she’d managed to resist the urge. It hadn’t been easy. Especially since Ryder kept bringing him up. It seemed her new tenant had made quite the impression on her son. He’d asked her more questions about Axel than he had about anything since his dinosaur phase when he was nine.
It didn’t surprise her that her son had developed a minor case of hero worship. How could it when she had a case of it herself?
“So what’s he like?” Karen looped her arm through Brynn’s and they began walking to meet the others.
“He seems nice.” It was an extremely generic description of Axel, but she wasn’t sure how else to describe him.
There was something about Axel that was just…she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Different was the only word that she could think of, but that was so general.
Magnetic was honestly the best word she’d come up with so far. She felt drawn to him. And she wasn’t alone. Both Jess and Ali, who were blissfully happy smitten kittens had said the same thing. That he was hot, obviously, but also that there was “something about him.” Jess claimed it was that he was mysterious, and Ali went with, “he has an air of authority.” But since her friends were both avid romance readers, like herself, Brynn took those conclusions with a grain of salt.