Maybe I’m not the only paranoid one, because Luna scrabbles for those mints like her life depends on them. She’s already tossed two in her mouth, cracking them between her teeth, before she throws me the rest.
She looks cute in the morning. All owlish and rumpled.
Not just cute. Fucking perfect.
Ten minutes later, I’m sliding back into the cab with my head on straight and two bottles of water from my stash. I crack the lid of one and pass it over, trying not to notice the way our fingertips brush. “There you go—drink up. You can keep wearing those clothes until you’ve warmed up enough to take them off.”
Her cheeks turn pink. Luna gapes at me for a long moment, then glances down at her borrowed red shirt with a jolt. “Oh, right.” She shakes her head, frowning slightly. Still sleepy, I guess. “Yeah, okay.”
Wait. What did she think I meant?
“Aiden’s place isn’t far.” No time to worry about that now. “Even with retracing our steps and taking the rougher road, we should be there in an hour or so. He’ll be worried,” I add as an afterthought, rubbing a palm over my beard. IfIwere waiting for Luna in my cabin and she didn’t turn up, if I thought she might be lost in the wilderness…
I’d go insane. I’d tear the world apart looking for her. I’d rip up towering trees by the roots, and I’d smash through cave walls with my bare hands. I’d wrestle a damn grizzly bear into a ravine.
“It’s fine.” Luna plucks at the hem of my red shirt, not looking at me. “I didn’t give an exact date of arrival. Just this week sometime. It was tricky, trying to plan with the buses and the mountain, and I thought it would be romantic…”
She trails off.
I wait three heartbeats, then start the engine. The truck rumbles to life, and for the first time on this drive, I’m cold inside. So cold.
“Well, not long now.” Can’t think what else to say, so I clam up and start backing up the rocky path. We dip and lurch; the tires spin and I wrench the wheel. Trees watch from either side of the road, and I stare behind us until my eyes go dry.
Not long until she’s with the man she wants to marry.
Then I guess it’s goodbye.
* * *
I haven’t spent a ton of time mulling over my bachelorhood. Unlike these others with their mail order brides and their bright, rosy hopes, I’ve never given it much thought.
Figured I was happy enough, thank you.
Had plenty of purpose.
And it was true—before I met Luna Lindgren. Now I’m cooked. I’ve had a peek behind the curtain. I’ve seen what could have been, have sensed what all the fuss is about, and for the first time in years as I drive the last stretch of road to Aiden McRae’s cabin… I’m lonely. There’s a vice wrapped around my rib cage, squeezing me tight.
Will I ever get to see her? Maybe it won’t be so bad if I bump into Luna now and then. Not to try anything—god knows I’d never sniff after a married woman—but just to get a glimpse of her. Like an inoculation against all the bad stuff in the world.
A single peek once a month at her glacial eyes and her pink cheeks. The upturned tip of her nose. Her pale blonde hair, dancing on the wind…
“Will you wait for a few minutes when we get there?”
I frown at Luna, confused. Is she worried about feeling safe with Aiden? “If you want me to.”
“I do.” Her lips keep worrying at each other, pressing into a firm line and twisting. “I need to talk to Aiden, but… please stay.”
“…Okay.” I’d rather gouge out my own eyes than play third fiddle to Luna and her fiance, but alright. She’s asked something of me, so I’ll deliver. “You don’t need to be nervous, though. Aiden is a good man. He’ll take care of you.”
Luna says nothing, but she scowls out of her window like we’re back to insulting each other.
“Might not want to turn up dressed in my clothes, though.”
Another grand huff, then she’s wriggling in the passenger seat, working them off. I watch her out of the corner of my eye, eager to see her purple dress and navy leggings again.
“Thank you,” Luna says, folding them sloppily and dropping the pile on the dash. I grin at her efforts. It’s the most begrudging thanks I’ve ever received.
“Not a morning person, huh, city girl?”