1
Ace
The old porch board creaked beneath my boot as I shifted against the post outside The Last Stand Tavern.
Morning sunlight stretched across Main Street, catching dust in the air and glinting off the windows of the little shops lining the road. Across the street, the flower shop’s front curtains moved slightly.
Right on time.
I checked my watch anyway.
Not because I cared what time it was.
Because waiting looked less pathetic when you pretended to have somewhere else to be.
The bell above Bloom & Vine’s door chimed softly.
And there she was.
Tessa Bloom stepped out carrying an armful of wildflowers so bright they looked almost out of place against the quiet mountain town. Yellow, purple, deep orange. A mess of color spilling against her green shirt.
Her curls caught the sunlight like copper fire.
Damn.
I pushed off the post before I could think better of it.
“Morning, Tessa.”
She kept walking.
Not fast enough to miss hearing me.
Just determined enough to pretend she hadn’t.
A grin tugged at my mouth despite myself.
“Tough crowd today.”
That got me a pause.
She stopped near the edge of the porch steps and slowly turned her head.
Those blue-green eyes landed on me with the same wary look she always gave me lately—like she already knew I was trouble before I opened my mouth.
“Good morning, Ace.”
Polite.
Cool.
Not an ounce of invitation in it.
Still, hearing my name in her voice did stupid things to my chest.
I stepped off the porch and moved into her path carefully, giving her room to walk around me if she wanted.
“You know,” I said, “most people smile when they see me.”
