Carina flicked through the job ads on her laptop. Nothing. Abso-freaking-lutely nothing. Nothing within driving distance, anyway. Unless she wanted a three-hour commute each way.
Nope.
Argh. Looks like your dream of smelling flowers, eating good ice cream and getting away from Michigan is dead, Carina. Dead!
Her parents had told her this would happen. They’d asked her to stay in Michigan. No, they’d begged her. But they weren’t the ones who’d been walked out of work like a criminal. Who’d had every colleague looking at them like they were junkies, so desperate for a fix that they stole from a patient.
No. Leaving and getting a fresh start had been essential.
Yeah, great fresh start, Carina.
Plonking the laptop beside her on the couch, she stood, stretching her arms over her head. She glanced at the time on the wall clock, and barely stifled a groan. Twelve thirty. Barbara was probably already reaching out to other nurses now.
The worst part about her world turning upside down was that none of it was her fault. None. She hadn’t stolen the drugs. But even now, after the investigation was dropped, she was still dealing with the fallout.
The world hated her, right? Maybe she’d done something wrong in a past life. Or maybe she’d accidentally run over someone’s cat and was forever paying penance for it.
Whatever it was, it sucked.
Blowing out a long breath, she looked toward the window, catching the mail carrier slipping something into her mailbox. Moving outside, she opened the box and tugged out the contents. She was about to close it when another envelope shoved way in the back caught her attention. An unstamped letter.
She lifted it out and studied it. Strange. Her name was on the front, but there was no address. She flipped it over. No return address either. Interesting. Was it from a neighbor? Maybe a welcome-to-town note? That would be nice. It might even turn her bad day around a little bit.
On her way back to the house, she tore open the unstamped envelope. She’d just stepped inside when she pulled out a small piece of paper. The second her gaze swiped across the words, her body stopped, unease coiling in her belly.
Get out of Cradle Mountain. You’re not welcome here.
The fine hairs on her arms stood on end. What the hell? Who had put this in her mailbox?
Nervously, she shot her gaze to the street, scanning the houses around her, before looking back down at the note. For a single heartbeat, her mind flicked to Flynn, but she quickly scrubbed that thought away. She’d only met the man yesterday, and even though she didn’t know him that well, something told her he wasn’t immature enough to do something like this, regardless of how he felt about her.
What about the kids next door? Two teenage boys lived there. They looked about the same age—fifteen, maybe sixteen—making her think they were fraternal twins.
Just two days ago, the boys had invited a houseful of people over and pumped the music. No one answered the door when she knocked, and she had no idea where their parents were. So Carina had done what any normal too-old-to-be-awake-at-three-a.m.-listening-to-rap adult would do. She’d called the police. She’d been receiving side-eyes and angry glares ever since.
Should she talk to the mother? She’d only caught one brief glimpse of the woman since moving in.
When a gust of wind swept inside the house, Carina pushed the door closed before moving into the bedroom, then the connected bathroom.
Maybe she’d sit on it and let it percolate. Right now, she needed to shower and wash away this horrible day of job loss and threatening notes. Bad things came in threes, right? Did that mean she could expect another little surprise before the day was over? A fire in her rental? A break-in?
God, don’t give the universe ideas, Carina.
She quickly undressed and stepped into the shower. Though she tried not to let her thoughts wander back to Flynn, it was impossible. The man was one big attractive nightmare. A man who would soon be a mere memory. Just like this town.
Once she was clean, she dried off quickly before putting on a bra and panties. Now she just needed her favorite sweatpants and Big Bird sweatshirt so she could drink a bottle of Chardonnay on the porch and drown her sorrows. Not an entire bottle, but definitely a good couple of glasses before she went back to job searching.
Digging around in her closet unsuccessfully, she groaned out loud when she realized the comfy items in question must be in the last remaining unpacked box of clothes—which was stacked in the closet with a bunch of other random boxes. Why the heck had she stacked anything on such a high shelf?
Actually, she knew the answer to that. Because she’d wanted the illusion of a tidy, organized bedroom…without the trouble of actually unpacking everything.
Your laziness is coming back to bite you, woman.
Shaking her head, she slid over a full box of knickknacks she also hadn’t unpacked, placing it beneath the shelf before climbing on top. Then, bit by bit, she shuffled the box in question toward her. The thing was super heavy. How the heck had she even gotten it up there in the first place? She must have taken her strong woman pills that morning. Or maybe she’d just been high on life with her new town, new job…
The box was right at the edge. One more little nudge—
She tugged too hard, and suddenly the thing tipped back and fell right on her head.
A screech slipped from her lips, and she fell to the floor right before the box crashed onto her face.
She’d barely landed when a voice boomed from the bedroom door.
“What the hell?”
As the box was lifted from her face, she rolled to her side and cradled her cheek. Bruised. Definitely bruised.
Okay, so this was the third thing to go wrong, right? Now she was done?
Warm hands touched her upper arm. “Carina, talk to me. Are you hurt?”
Oh God. Was that—
Flynn?
“Carina?”
Definitely Flynn. His deep, rumbly voice rippled down to her tummy, almost blocking out the pounding in her cheek. Almost.
She lowered one hand to her chest. Her bare chest…
Holy shit, she didn’t have clothes on!
Carina shot up to a seated position, cringing at the jolt to her head before pulling her knees to her chest.
“Whoa, slow down!”
She ignored his words. What underwear had she put on? Please, baby Jesus, tell her she wasn’t wearing her old, high-waisted granny panties.
She shot a quick glance down, and the air rushed from her chest when she saw the matching black set. Not the sexiest she owned, but definitely not granny level.
The thumb on her arm shifted, grazing her sensitive skin, and finally she looked up. Heat rushed to her cheeks. As always, Flynn was watching her closely, but for the first time, instead of mistrust and suspicion, she saw concern.
Her gut gave another small kick.
He tilted his head to the side. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.” No. Her life was falling apart, and the sexiest man she’d ever laid eyes on was staring at her while she was in her underwear.
He frowned, his other hand reaching up and gently grazing the bruise. The air cut off in her throat and her body warmed. And not because the touch brought on any sort of pain. The opposite.
“This needs ice,” he said softly, his brows tugging together.
The gentleness in his voice, in combination with his touch, almost had her forgetting how bad her day had been thus far. It almost had her forgetting that he’d contributed to that bad day. Her skin burned where he touched and every little part of her wanted to lean in.
What would it taste like to kiss a man like him? He looked like a coffee and bourbon kind of guy. But there was a small whisper in her head that said maybe he’d be sweeter than he looked.
Without conscious thought, her gaze dropped to his mouth. It was so close that she could almost feel the warm exhale from his lips. When she dragged her gaze back up, her breath caught in her throat.
Fire danced in his eyes. That fire spoke of danger and heat and—did she already say danger?
“You shouldn’t look at me like that,” he said quietly. So quietly, it almost sounded like a warning.
The words that slipped from her lips felt strained. “Why not?”
“Because it’s dangerous.”
Had he read her mind?
She wasn’t sure if she was tempting him, or she just had absolutely no self-control, but her gaze zipped back down to his lips.
The fingers on her arms tightened, and an actual growl rippled from his chest.
Her lips separated, tingling in anticipation.
Then he stood, his warm touch replaced by cold air. He whipped his shirt over his head and lowered to his haunches again. Before she could move, he was fitting the shirt over her head then slipping her arms through.
Suddenly, he was all she could smell. His scent surrounded her. And the heat of the material—material that had just covered his bare skin—nearly drowned her.
His hands returned to her arms, tugging her to her feet. “You sure you’re okay?”
One small nod, because words were nowhere to be found. In fact, it was possible she’d forgotten the entire English language.
A warm hand pressed to her back, then he was leading her to the kitchen and helping her to a stool. He went to the freezer, found a bag of frozen peas and wrapped it in a tea towel as if he owned the place. When he returned, he held her shoulder while pressing the ice to her face. The heat from his hand was a sharp contrast to the coldness of the peas.
“What were you doing?” he asked, his gaze on the ice.
“Looking for my sweatpants and Big Bird sweatshirt.” Oh good, she had words again.
“Big Bird sweatshirt?”
“My dad bought it for me on our last Disneyland trip when I was twelve. I wear it when I’m having a bad day.”
His jaw clicked. Even that was sexy. She had a feeling anything this man did would be.
She swallowed. “How did you know I’d fallen?”
She’d screeched, but had she done it loud enough to be heard from the other side of the front door? Also, how the heck had he gotten in? Had she forgotten to turn the lock?
“I heard you.”
Okay, maybe she was louder than she’d thought. “You were crazy quick. I’d barely hit the floor when you were suddenly there.”
Something flickered in his eyes. Confusion maybe? “I’m fast.”
Well, yeah… She got that.
“You should lock your door,” he said, disapproval darkening his features.
Her face ached, but not enough to miss the twitch in his six-pack abs. Shit. She needed to not look at his chest. Or his arms. Could she look at his hair at least? Probably not.
“How did you know where I live?” She shook her head quickly, then cringed again, not missing the tugging of his brows. “Whoops. Big bad security man. You can find anything. Almost forgot.”
“Not everything.” Did the thumb at her collarbone just caress her through the shirt? “I don’t know why you chose to come to Cradle Mountain. You applied to be my mother’s nurse previously but moved here before being called for the current job, so you came without employment. I don’t know why you did that, either.”
“Joy decided to become a nurse later in life. We studied together and have been friends ever since. She told me a lot about when she was younger, when she spent summers here with her aunt and uncle. A few months ago, she got in touch and told me she was going on vacation, and suggested I apply to cover for her. Check the town out.” Obviously, she hadn’t gotten the job then. “A month ago, a job was advertised at the Cradle Mountain Hospital. I applied and moved here, taking a chance since I knew I had a good shot at it.”
“What happened with that job?”
She lifted the shoulder he wasn’t touching. “The agency called me about caring for Patricia, so I withdrew my application at the hospital. They hired someone else.”
Sounded like fate, right? That she’d move into a new town and a perfect job would pop up the same week. Ha. Good trick, universe.
“What are you doing here, Flynn?”
His jaw did that sexy tensing thing again. The one that made it look even more chiseled. “I want you to come back and work for my mother until Joy returns.”
Her heart thumped against her ribs, but she was careful not to get too excited. Not yet. “You want me to come back and work for your mother?”
“Supervised visits.”
A bit of the excitement dulled. So she had heard right, but there was a catch.
“My mother really likes you.”
And by the look of it, he hated that. Because the man didn’t trust her at all.
She took the ice pack from his hand, her fingers grazing his as she did so. Even though the ice was cold, his hand remained warm. Did the man not feel the cold?
“I’d be happy to come back and work for your mother under supervised conditions.”
The last part killed her to say, but she wasn’t going to turn down a perfectly good job for her pride.
He nodded, stepping back. Their physical contact broke, and her heart did a little flop.
“Great. I’ll be spending most of the day with her tomorrow, so maybe you can go back on Thursday.”
She gave a polite smile and nod. “Sounds great.”
She hopped off the stool, ignoring the small pang to her head. Standing put her level with Flynn’s chest. She quickly walked—okay, she basically ran—toward the door and had almost reached it when her phone rang from the couch.
She knew who it was likely to be. Her ex, Greg, a doctor she’d dated in Michigan. She’d broken up with him before she left, but he still called often. Too often.
She beelined for the couch and canceled his call before continuing to the front door. Flynn stopped in front of her as she opened it, and she could have sworn he stood closer than people normally would. Or maybe she was just delusional. Yeah, that was probably it.
His gaze flicked to the phone. “Everything okay?”
Had she looked worried by Greg’s call? “Of course. Thank you for stopping by and getting the peas out for me.” Her gaze flashed down to her top, and she gasped. “Your shirt! Hang on, I’ll—”
He grabbed her arm before she could move. “I’ve got a spare in the car.” Then his eyes hardened. “No more climbing on boxes. It’s dangerous. Okay?”
Yet again, he touched her and her voice disappeared. So she just nodded.
She thought he’d turn to leave immediately. Instead, his gaze caught on her lips for a prolonged second.
Finally, his head bobbed, and he turned away, leaving her feeling hot, bothered, and completely unhinged.
