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She’s beautiful, obviously, with her pale blonde hair and the glacial pools of her eyes. Those rosy cheeks and the dimples when she smiles. When I first opened the door to my cabin, my heart actually skipped a beat, and fuck, I thought that only happened in stories.
That’s not it, though. Not why I can’t resist wanting to know more.
Maybe it’s the way hard steel filled her voice when she saidyou don’t know me.Putting me in my place for being rude.
Or maybe it’s the floral scent of her, filling the cab of my truck. Is that lavender?
“Tell me about Aiden McRae,” Luna says, and I huff, scowling out at the road.
Do I have to? Do we really need to do this? It’s bad enough that she’s the first woman I’ve felt this strong of a pull towards in—well, ever. Bad enough that I’m delivering her to another man. Now I have to talk him up?
“He’s fine.”
Luna snorts, turning to me at last. Her gaze is like a warm hand coasting over my skin, and I shift in my seat. Urge the truck forward faster, heart thumping as I wrench at the wheel.
“‘Fine’? Are you serious?”
Yup. “He’s seriously fine.”
“Griff, come on. I’m going to marry this guy.”
Don’t remind me. “That’s on you, Luna. You must have talked with him, right? Must have figured out if you were a good fit?”
Fuck. If I’d been signed up to the mail order program, would she still have picked Aiden McRae? Or is there any chance that Luna would have chosen me? Would we have talked for a few months, moving from shy chatting to deeper confessions? When I opened the door to my cabin, would Luna have been on the right deck after all?
Trees whip past the window, faster and faster, and I force myself to press the brakes and go slower. No sense driving like an idiot just because there’s a pool of acid spreading through my chest.
Maybe I should sign up for Soulmate Express after all, dangers of romance be damned. God knows I don’t want to bump into Luna and Aiden down at Cloudy Lake and be the loner. Always watching and wanting. Sighing after another man’s wife like a creep.
Except—no. There’s no point in signing up, and I squeeze the steering wheel until my knuckles creak. Every breath I suck down is laced with lavender.
The girl I want is already matched up. I’m too late.
“Aiden’s…”
What? Am I gonna ruin this for one of the best guys on the mountain? Am I gonna make Luna unhappy just because I’m a jealous ass?
“Aiden’s a good man. You’ll like him, princess.”
Don’t know if that’s what she wants to hear, but I guess we’re done talking again. There’s a soft sigh, and then she stares back out of the window. Mouth pursed, Luna watches the dying light fade away between the trees; the shadows lengthen and pool together on the forest floor as stars wink between the branches.
I wait for the usual comments. The freaked out whispers that it’s so dark here, and creepy at night, and it gets so cold, and she had no idea in the city that this would feel so remote. That maybe we should head down off the mountain to the nearest town right this second.
I wait, but the complaints and escape plans don’t come.
So perhaps I misjudged Luna Lindgren. But as we wind along the mountain path to her fiance, it doesn’t make me feel better. Not at all.
* * *
The road along the mountainside is treacherous at the best of times. Prone to rock slips and flooding, to fallen trees and wayward cars half in ditches, and I trust this road about as much as a hungry bear in springtime.
Shouldn’t have tried to drive it at night, not really. But I took one look at Luna and my instincts started screaming to get her away from me, to put some distance between us, else I’d do something unwise. Something like try to get closer. Something like admit to thishungerfor her gnawing on my ribs.
“Not far now,” I tell her, and I’m not sure which of us I’m trying to soothe. “An hour or so, then you’ll be tucked up with Aiden.”
“Spread out by the fire,” Luna says dryly, and I wince. Yeah, that was a dick thing to say. “Will you be okay driving back alone in the dark?”
“Sure.” Me, I’m used to the wilderness. Prepared. It’s a lot less scary than the petite young woman sitting in my passenger seat.
