“Oh, that.” Willow paired a grimace with a shrug. “Every place has something. Drugs, gangs, carjackings.”
My fists clenched. I closed my eyes, silently counting to ten. She was doing it again. This woman made me crazy. Ask anybody in Sleepy Briar, they’ll tell you how easygoing I am. Usually. For a wolf shifter.
“A succubus is not going to carjack you. She’ll kill you and be on her way to her next victim.” I cracked my knuckles. Just the thought of the succubus anywhere near Willow made me pace. This damn place was so small that after about four strides, another stack of boxes walled off my track.
Unconcerned about my distress over her safety, Willow dug around in another box. My eyes strayed to her curves, so nicely outlined in tight jeans and a bedazzled black T-shirt with sparkles in all the right places. I loved having her near me even as I loathed the risk she faced in Sleepy Briar. Seeing her too-tight tee made me want to lick the slope of her neck. Those few dark curls escaping her ponytail tantalized me, too.
I swallowed. I couldn’t stay here.
But neither could she.
Sleepy Briar was having an early spring thaw. Temperatures were in the forties. For us, that was downright tropical. The whole damn town was erupting in green grass that peeped out from melted patches in the snow. Birds and insects darted through the air.
Even though Willow had only been here for a week, she was embracing the festive spring atmosphere. The back door was propped open, letting the sunshine in.
“I’m done living my life being afraid. Taylor’s accident was over two years ago. I have to move on. It’s what he would have wanted.”
“Taylor wouldn’t have wanted you to live here.”
“The deed to this building says otherwise.”
“He was going to open a fly fishing outfit when he retired.”
“Instead, I’m opening a salon.” Willow dropped her voice, even though it was only the two of us in the cramped two-story clapboard she now owned. “I’m secretly calling it Get Nailed, though officially I’m going with Sleepy Briar Salon.”
“Knowing this town, you’d have better luck with a saloon. A few years back there was a place called the Cauldron Bubble. Best damn moon brew in the world. Probably the only one. Why not do something like that?”
She leaned over enough that I caught a glimpse down the gap in the neck of her T-shirt, which revealed creamy breasts nestled in red satin. “I have no idea how to run a bar or make this moon brew stuff. But making people feel good about how they look? I can do that.”
“That’s the problem. It’s not people but paranormals.”
“I know paranormals. I was married to one, remember? I don’t happen to think we’re all that different.” She grabbed my hand and inspected my fingers. “From the looks of it, you need a manicure. How about a mani-pedi? You can be my first customer. Come on, I’ll give you a freebie.”
A what? My brows crinkle in confusion. “There’s no way I’m getting a mani-pedi, whatever the hell that is.” I pulled my hand from hers. Her touch sent a pleasant pulse of energy through me. Not painful, but more like an awakening. I would most surely not be using her salon services. I could only imagine what my cousins would say if they could see me now.
The good news: they were both away from Sleepy Briar with their mates. The bad news: I was in charge.
That left me to keep an eye on Willow.
But nothing was going to happen to Willow because she was leaving town. Then again, removing her from Sleepy Briar was proving more difficult than I’d thought. Every objection I raised slid off her.
“Gabe said the succubus vanished after her place burned down,” Willow continued. “She’s probably setting up a new home far away.”
“Or plotting to destroy Sleepy Briar like she did fifteen years ago. I’d heard the stories from my cousins who lived here then.”
But you see what I mean? Willow was a total optimist.
“I’m eager to get the first coat of paint on. Want to cut in the trim while I get the roller going?” she asked.
I grabbed her wrist—harder than I intended. She winced. Immediately I let go. “Don’t think I’m fooled for a minute by your ‘nothing scares me’ routine. I know the real you. We both know that Sleepy Briar is not where you belong.”
Her dark eyes widened. Shewasafraid, but she was too stubborn to admit it.
It was all I could do not to pull her into my arms. The feel of her skin against mine still burned my fingertips. With my enhanced senses, I could hear her heart hammering.
My blood pounded in my ears, blocking out all the fierce birdsong outside.
Everyone in Sleepy Briar was getting some.