Chapter Seven
Carter gazed back her. “You don’t start small, do you?”
Eliza shrugged. “Go big or go home, right?”
He smiled. “Okay.” He wiped his fingers off on a napkin and sat up straight. “Hi. My name is Carter Slade. I’m a thirty year old bear shifter from Haven Hollow. When I’m not working as an independent contractor or volunteering my time at the community center, I like long walks in the woods, carpentry, and working on vehicles.” He winked at her. “Your turn.”
“All right,” she said, more than willing to play along. “I’m Eliza Anderson. I’m twenty-six years old and from Carson City. When I’m not working as a cashier at Food World, I liked to spend time with my daughter and read romance novels.” Not that she’d had time for books in forever. “My favorite movie is Love Actually and my favorite color is purple.”
“Mine’s blue.” Carter cracked open the plastic container holding the cookies and held it out. “Want a cookie?”
“Sure.” She plucked one off the top and nibbled on it. Rich chocolate burst over her taste buds. “Mmm. They’re good.” She popped the rest in her mouth and licked her lips to make sure no crumbles remained.
Carter’s gaze dropped to her mouth for a second before returning to the cookies. He pulled out a couple, popped a whole one into his mouth, and chewed. He nodded and swallowed. “You’re right. These are good. I don’t eat a lot of processed sweets—it’s too easy for me to pack on the pounds—but I might have to get these again some time.”
“I know what you mean.” Eliza could relate, although she wasn’t sure why Carter would be worried. She couldn’t see an ounce of extra weight clinging to his large, muscular frame.
“How could you?” He gazed back at her, completely sincere. “You’re perfect.”
Eliza snorted; she couldn’t help herself. She was so far from perfect that it wasn’t funny. However, she wasn’t about to sit there and list all her faults. “I think we’re going to have to agree to disagree about that one, but I’m glad you think so.”
“I do and I’m going to make it my mission to make sure you see it too.”
“Okay then.” He might as well have offered to convince her that the sky was pink, but she wasn’t going to argue with him about it. “How about that walk around the pond?”
“I’m ready if you are.” He stood and held out his hand.
She rested her palm within his and let him help her up. Instead of releasing her hand after she was on her feet, he twined their fingers together. “Is this okay?”
His hand was warm and dry, and had rough patches on the undersides of his fingers. She gave it a squeeze. “Yeah. It’s good.”
He bent and grabbed the bag of bread. “Can’t forget to feed the ducks.”
“Right.” She’d forgotten all about them.
Hand in hand, they strolled down the gravel trail toward the pond. Their arms swung between them, brushing together with every step. She breathed in the fresh air, catching a hint of the pine trees along the edge of the property, and faint traces of something deeper and infinitely sexier being exuded by the man beside her.
A large pond lined with a rock border came into view ahead of them. A couple of dozen mallards swam through the murky blue-green water. More waddled around on the grass. “Wow. That’s a lot of ducks.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Maybe we should have brought two loaves.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine. We can always bring more next time.”
“Next time, huh?”
“Sure. We could come back during the day some time and bring Audrey. I bet she’d love to see the ducks.”
Her chest warmed at the mention of her little girl. Carter was so sweet to think of Audrey. “That’s a great idea. She’d love them.”
They made a lap around the pond, passing an older couple snuggling on a bench. “You know, I’m surprised there aren’t more people here.”
“It can get pretty crowded during the day, especially over at the playground and the shelters on the other side of the park, but it clears out early. Not many people want to spend Friday or Saturday night with the ducks.”
“Well, they don’t know what they’re missing. I’d take a quiet evening walk over a busy restaurant any day of the week. I get enough of being surrounded by the public at work.”
“I bet. I don’t have the patience to serve the public.”
“It can definitely be trying at times.” Like all the time.
“You don’t seem to like it very much.”
“It’s all right.” As long as you didn’t mind being on your feet for eight hours, working for little better than minimum wage, or getting harassed by cranky people all day long—and that wasn’t even counting the recent shifterphobic nonsense she’d been forced to endure.
“Have you ever considered doing something else?”
“Sure, but there aren’t a lot of options out there for someone like me.”
“What do you mean?”
“People aren’t exactly chomping at the bit to hire single mothers with hour restrictions who only have a high school diploma.”
“I’m sure there are a lot of employers out there who’d love a smart, hardworking woman like you.”
“Do you like what you do?” She attempted to change the subject, not wanting to talk about her dismal job prospects. In her experience, to have a snowball’s chance in hell at landing a good job, you had to have work experience, a college degree, or both in many cases. Plus, so many jobs required nights and weekends, which she couldn’t work because daycares were only open from six to six, Monday through Friday.
“I do.” Carter led her over to a vacant bench and sat down next to her. “I love assisting people with their projects, bringing their visions to life. I work on a lot of different assignments for people—everything from simple renovations to new construction—but my favorite is the building projects. There’s something almost magical about watching a vacant lot turn into someone’s dream home.”
“That sounds amazing.” She’d love to know her job made a difference in someone’s life.
“Most of the time, it is. The business has ups and downs, like everything else, but I’m happy to go to work more often than not.”
“That’s what’s important.”
“Yeah.” He gazed out over the water. “What would make you happy every day?”
“I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “Seeing Audrey more would be nice. I spend so much time at work and driving back and forth that I feel like I hardly ever get to spend time with her.”
“That has to be hard.”
“It is what it is.” She didn’t have much choice. Quitting her job wasn’t an option and Audrey needed good childcare.
“If there’s ever anything I can to help, all you have to do say so.”
“I appreciate the offer. Honestly, just having another adult who I can trust and talk to makes me feel better.” It had been a long time since she’d had someone in her life who she could depend on.
Carter turned, sitting sideways on the bench, and faced her. “I hope I can be that person for you. Someone you can rely on.”
“I do.” She nodded. “Trust you, that is.” Despite the short length of their acquaintance, and how reserved she normally was around new people, she did feel like she could count on him. “What about you? Relationships don’t work if they’re one-sided.”
“You have my trust. One hundred percent.”
She gazed back at him, looking deep into his dark brown eyes. Up this close, she noticed honey gold flecks in his irises and the thick fan of his lashes. They were so expressive. She could get lost looking into them.
His gaze lowered to her mouth. Acting on impulse, she licked her lips.
He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing, and leaned forward. She met him halfway and closed her eyes just as their lips brushed. She exhaled into the warm brush of his lips passing over hers and parted her lips. The gentle caresses gave way to firmer strokes and the delicate glide of a damp tongue over the sensitive flesh of her bottom lip.
He brushed the hair away from her face and cupped her cheek in one calloused hand. His thumb stroked her jaw and the tender depression beneath. Her breath hitched as a hot burst of arousal ran through her. It was all too easy to imagine his calloused hands moving over the rest of her body.
He licked his way into her mouth, his tongue gentle but persuasive, and she suddenly understood why the women in rom coms popped a foot into the air. She might have done the same if she’d been standing. Every inch of her body tingled from nothing more than the sensual slide of their mouths moving together.
She scooted forward and tilted her head a little to the left, desperate to get closer. A delicious rumbling growl vibrated up from his chest and suddenly he was kissing her harder, deeper. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her so tight, and ran his hands over her back in firm strokes.
She gave back as good as she got, throwing her all into the melding of their lips, and buried her fingers in the thick hair at the nape of his neck. The sudden urge to crawl into his lap assaulted her and…
A loud splash and squawk startled her and reminded her they were in a public place. She jerked away from Carter’s tempting lips and gazed around them in time to see an angry duck flapping its wings in the water and the backside of tall man as he hurried up the path away from them on the opposite side of the pond.
She narrowed her eyes, trying to figure out why the man seemed so familiar, but she couldn’t make out much more than a skinny man in a ball cap and casual clothes. He could have been anyone.
Paranoia was obviously getting the best of her.
Dismissing her suspicions, she returned her attention to Carter. “Leave it to a duck to ruin the best kiss I’ve had in ages.” Or ever, for that matter. Carter was one hell of a kisser.
“There’s no reason we can’t try again.” He leaned in and slanted his lips over hers once more.
* * * * *
Eliza was on cloud nine when she arrived home after her date with Carter. Things had gone so well. The taste of his kisses and the warmth of his arms around her lingered, making her feel safe and wish she was still with him.
Audrey did great with Trish and slept like a rock all the way home. The only thing Eliza had in mind while carrying her snuggly little girl into the apartment building was a hot bath and crawling into bed to replay her date a few dozen times before she went to sleep. At the last second, she decided to stop and check her mail. She hadn’t bothered with it for a few days, dreading the new round of first of the month bills that were coming up due soon, but she couldn’t avoid the inevitable.
Sure enough, there was a stack of envelopes two inches deep shoved into her small box, along with the usual junk mail and flyers. She grabbed the whole lot, shoved the bundle down into the top of the diaper bag sight unseen, and continued upstairs.
Audrey went down like a dream, barely stirring as Eliza did a diaper check and changed her into cute pink kitten pajamas. She took a minute to stand by the crib and stare down at her little girl, marveling at how much she’d grown compared to the tiny, wrinkly newborn Eliza had brought home from the hospital. Time moved so fast. She coasted a hand over Audrey’s downy soft hair, careful to keep her touch whisper light.
With a sigh, she turned away. She grabbed some nightclothes out of the dresser across from Audrey’s crib, and headed into the bathroom for a long, hot soak in the tub. When she finished, her mind was quieted and her muscles were relaxed into submission. She padded barefoot into the kitchen for a glass of water and caught sight of the diaper bag sitting on the table, with the mail she’d collected downstairs sticking up out of the top. After pouring herself a glass of water, she sat down at the table and leafed through the envelopes, separating out the bills from the junk mail. Halfway through the stack, she discovered a small sheet of thick stationery. Her blood turned to ice as she read over the words written in a dark, thick scrawl.
Get rid of the mutt before it’s too late.