by Quinn, Taryn
“Look, we apologize.” I cleared my throat. “The music lured Lucky to your apartment, and the door wasn’t latched, so he made an ill-advised decision to open it. We apologize,” I repeated, glancing back at my best friend, who nodded with a sigh.
“Sorry, ma’am.”
“Ma’am?” She frowned and crossed her arms. “Just how old do you think I am?”
“Barely legal?”
She arched a brow at my quip. “Since I suspect that’s your attempt at flattery, I will say you’re both wrong. I’m not old enough to be called ma’am, though who is? And I’m also not young enough to remember having a fake ID to get drinks. Although I rarely imbibe to excess.” She flushed. “Well, unless bestie service calls.”
“How do I call you through that bestie service?” Lucky pulled on his boot and flashed her a winsome smile. “Truly, you won’t meet a friendlier guy in all of the Cove.”
“She’s new in town. Don’t scare her off already. At least I assume.” I gave her a smile of my own. One far less toothy than Lucky’s.
“I’m fairly new to actually living in town, but I’ve worked here since last year.” She squinted at me. “Are you sure we haven’t met before?”
“Unless I was drugged unconscious, there is literally no way I could forget meeting you.” It was probably the most sincere thing I’d ever said, but Lucky snorted out a laugh just the same.
She just kept squinting. “I’ve seen you before. Are you—” She snapped her fingers. “August.”
I scowled. “I’m definitely not August. If you think I am, I’m leaving.” Not that I could go far.
Across the hallway. Yeah, that would soothe my wounded ego.
“His reputation as the hotter brother is on the line,” Lucky informed her. “Mind you, the only one who ever said he was hotter was Caleb himself, when he was preening in the mirror.”
“Caleb.” She rolled the name around in her mouth as if she was tasting a fine wine. “I definitely can tell the difference between you.”
Was that a subtle dig? Or maybe not so subtle? I threw back my shoulders and puffed out my chest. I didn’t think I was the equivalent of a body-building male model like my best friend, but I cleaned up quite well.
I’d definitely never gotten any complaints.
“August has a picture of you guys on his desk,” she continued. “You two and your sister.”
“How do you know August?” I wasn’t over being compared to him, even if it had happened my entire life.
I wouldn’t have said I suffered from middle sibling syndrome, but I had to admit I got testy sometimes. August was one of those guys who did everything well. He was a supremely talented craftsman, a good friend to practically the whole town, and now he had a perfect little happy family with Kinleigh and their baby.
But that was neither here nor there.
“I work for him. Well, technically, I worked for Kinleigh, before their stores and everything else merged.” She spun a damp curl around her finger. “They’re so happy. It’s lovely to see.”
I grunted. As did Lucky when he picked up the furniture he’d dropped, along with my end tables, and somehow managed to heft them all into my apartment in one trip. Then he banged the door shut.
“What’s his problem?” she asked.
I turned back to her and sent up a silent apology to Lucky. Technically, he’d spotted her first, even if that spotting had been through shady means. Bro code and all that.
But I was the one who was moving into this building. She was my new neighbor. I was honor bound to chat with her and get to know her while she looked so attractively sweaty.
Okay, so side benefit.
I lifted a shoulder. “His paper plane has been unexpectedly grounded.”
“Don’t think its made of paper. Unless he’s one of those who stuffs toilet paper rolls in his jeans. Do guys really do that?”
I had to grin as I leaned against the jamb. “Guys really do a lot of things, though I think socks are more common.” I shrugged. “Sorry, can’t say definitively.”
“Oh, right, because of course you’ve never needed to do anything like that.”
I didn’t bother to hide my smirk. Hey, she’d continued this particular line of conversation, not me.
“If I was the ogling sort, I’d just look to see myself. But I prefer a little mystery.”
“What’s your name, Mystery?”
“Luna.”
“Nice to meet you.” I held out a hand and she clasped it after a moment. I waited for sparks. Expected them, for some weird reason. When there was nothing, I frowned. “Do you have a last name?”
“Nah.” She released my hand with a satisfied smile. “I’m like Madonna. Who needs more than the first?”
“Us ordinary people who teach school, for one. I don’t want my students calling me Cal.”
“But that’s what the hip teachers do, isn’t it?” She smiled again, this time in a much less practiced way. “What do you teach?”
“Second grade at the Catholic school.”
Her expression warmed exponentially. “It’s Hastings.”
“What?” Why was she so damn beautiful? It shouldn’t be legal.
“My last name is Hastings.”
“Mine is Beck.” I rubbed the back of my neck as Lucky turned on the music in my apartment and started singing along loudly.
Since when did he like Sinatra? Or like butchering Sinatra, because wow.
Her lips twitched. “I know that. You know, August and all. But thank you for the confirmation.”
When I lingered in the doorway, not wanting to leave just yet, she arched a pale brow. “Since you’re just moving in, you can’t need a cup of sugar.”
“Oh, you’d be surprised what I might need. You don’t happen to have any children you’ll be enrolling at school?”
“No.”
“Any husband to help you make those nonexistent children?”
She glanced over her shoulder at her fully furnished apartment. I couldn’t see much with her blocking my view, but the place felt relaxed and serene. Much like the woman herself. “Appears not.”
“How about a boyfriend?”
“Are you auditioning?”
“I’d like to know what the audition consists of before I sign up. If it involves that shiny pole over there…” I gestured into her spacious apartment, which seemingly had the same layout as mine. “Regrettably, I’ll have to pass.”
“Let me think about it and get back to you.”
I knew a brush-off when I heard one. I needed to seal the deal. “Why don’t we discuss it over lunch tomorrow? I’ll cook,” I offered, before remembering that my apartment was half empty and the rest was a disaster zone.
“A second grade teacher who cooks,” she mused, tapping her irresistibly glossy lips. “In the package of an outrageous flirt. Very interesting.”
“I wouldn’t say I’m outrageous. Exactly. More like persistent.” I flashed her a grin. “So, what do you say?”
Two
What did I say? That he was trouble.
I managed not to say it aloud. Yet.
Caleb’s eyes crinkled adorably. He was in that ambiguous age group of twenty-something, but he had a nice level of scruffy beard that made my palms itch to touch. I was always a sucker for a guy who didn’t scrape his face raw every morning. But there was nothing soft about him.
He was angular at the jaw and with that slash of smiling mouth. Ultra-white teeth told me he took care of himself, but the holey T-shirt in faded green didn’t give me any details about his personality. In fact, he screamed bro-dude.
I leaned on the door and let him see a little bit more of me. Not that I needed to since he’d already sneakily looked in on me, although I was pretty sure that was his friend’s doing more than his. He’d seemed almost panicked about the fact that his tall, brawny pal had opened my door.
As he should’ve. That wasn’t cool.
There wasn’t anything other than an i
nherently good vibe coming off of Caleb. Even if he had an underlying frat guy air. The big, hair metal guy also seemed on the up and up. I saw him in the café a lot, and I was pretty sure he was more an exuberant puppy than problematic. Not that I wouldn’t bust his chops later for being a creeper.
Guys needed to be taught that a woman’s space was sacred, as were our bodies.
“Think you can keep your friend on a better leash?”
He grimaced. “Yeah, that was fuck—er, freaking stupid of Lucky.”
Lucky. Why did that name suit him? It fit the overeager puppy thing he had going.
I couldn’t stop a laugh. “Censoring yourself because you’re a good Catholic boy or…”
“Because you’re a lady.”
“Well, thanks. But I gotta go.”
My endorphins were on hyperdrive from a long dance session with my pole, and it had been a damn long time since anyone had made me want to say yes. I wasn’t being conceited when I said I got hit on constantly.
I worked in retail. Men and women approached me with wild abandon most days. I enjoyed it, even played into it for a sale. But something had made me throw up my shields the moment Caleb stuck his hand out.
Trouble.
His charming smile said harmless, and that he was a teacher should have done the same. But I’d learned to listen to the little voice who told me to close the damn door.
She was usually right.
But part of me always wanted to rebel. Especially when his aura had such a cheerful sunny hue with a lovely little buzz of creative red along the edges.
“Wait, you didn’t answer me.”
I gave him a half smile and closed the door in his face. I’d make the decision another day.
“You know you’re intrigued,” he said through the door.
He didn’t sound annoyed. That was always something a woman had to worry about when tossing back an overture. Especially since this dude was going to be living across from me.
I pressed my palm to the door over the oil sigils I’d painted on them. For protection, for peace, and most of all, for contentment. My home needed to be a safe space, especially for all the healing work I had to do. The door was warm from his energy.
“Guess we’ll find out,” I said just loud enough for him to hear.
Spinning on the balls of my feet, I put the delicious Caleb Beck out of my mind. I’d worked up a light sweat and needed a quick shower before I met up with the girls on the rooftop.
I rushed into the bathroom, stripping as I went. I didn’t have time to deal with my crazy hair, so I shoved it under a shower cap before I slipped under the water.
I was looking forward to hanging out with the ladies in my building. It was a new space that had just been finished at the end of spring. It was going to be blazes hot up there, but I was pretty sure the ever eclectic Bess Wainwright was going to make sure there were cool drinks and food. She was the ultimate entertainer.
Gavin Forrester, the owner, had some sort of renovations going in this apartment building all the freaking time. But it was too damn hot to do much right now since we were in the thick of a late July heat wave.
Not the smartest time for my new neighbor, Cal the hottie, to move in. Probably why there wasn’t an army of his fellow frat buddies—or even his brother—helping him.
Then again, August was the sort of man who picked up the slack at the end.
He was forever doing that for Kin at the store. The guy had a million balls in the air between custom work and his new furniture venture with his wife. But he was always there to help out when she got a wild hair about moving stuff around the store. One of the reasons why I loved working there so much. It was never the same for very long and kept me from getting bored.
I’d moved into this apartment building after I’d started working at Kinleigh’s Attic—now Kinleigh and August’s Attic, the combined storefront for both August’s furniture and Kinleigh’s eclectic store.
Since having their baby, they’d ended up going all in on the baby furniture deal. Kids’ furniture, vintage toys, and clothing had taken over half the store. I’d really gotten into helping Kinleigh embrace her new calling. With the baby boom taking over the town, things for children were in high demand. And Kinleigh was nothing if not an astute businesswoman.
I finished rinsing off and tucked my huge cotton bath wrap around me. While I drip-dried, I quickly did my usual skin care deal with crystal-infused oils and toner, plus some lotion from my favorite shop in Luna Falls. I never thought I’d find witchy products I didn’t have to go online to buy, but there were a surprising number of shops a few towns over.
I padded into my bedroom and hung up my towel, then I slipped into a light robe as I tried to figure out what to wear. I hated running the air conditioning in my apartment, but it was too blessed hot to deal without it. In fact, I wondered if we should reroute our little meet-up to Bess’s place.
Her apartment was big enough to cover all of us.
I picked up my phone to text her when one came in from her with a photo of her handiwork on the roof. Yep—scratch that.
Quickly, I replied to her that it looked amazing and pulled out a pair of cutoffs and a cute rainbow tie-dye tank top with a duo of daisies over my nipples. It amused me enough to pair it with some daisy earrings, necklace, and some citrine crystals. I tied a few more around my wrist and opposite ankle. Then I found my daisy sandals at the back of my closet and embraced a little more summer child energy with some sparkly makeup.
I checked in with Kylie and Tabitha, the other women in my building who were part of our girls’ night. We all agreed to meet with tarot decks, water, and notebooks in hand.
Damn if they weren’t adorable.
I wandered out of my bedroom to my small living room. I’d embraced the boho chic style in the open floorplan of my perfectly-sized apartment. Plants and herbs I used in my practice dotted the shelves I’d put up. Macramé hanging planters held easy to care for greenery and added to the serenity of my space.
I gathered a few supplies from my bookcase and filched a few crystals from my altar to help with the nerves that would be sure to pop up. I said a quick prayer of thanks to the goddess Brigid for her knowledge and for borrowing from her altar.
Moving to the plethora of divinatory items I had displayed in my corner alcove, I choose a few straightforward tarot decks for the evening. Then I closed my eyes and let my intuition tell me which oracles to bring with me.
I laughed when I opened my eyes to find a daisy bag under my fingers. “Freya, are you giving me a sign for the evening?” She wasn’t a goddess I prayed to. She was the goddess of love and fertility and most often associated with daisies and their purity.
I wondered if there was an offering in the lake to her because damn if this town wasn’t exploding with fertility. I laughed and shook my head as I stuffed all my things in a retro canvas bag with a pair of vintage roller skates embroidered on it.
I grabbed my cell phone, my water jug to combat the alcohol that would surely be in my future, and my keys. When I opened the door, I found the hulking piece of man-bun in the hallway.
His charm glowed as surely as his ultra-tanned skin. “Hope there was no hard feelings for my bonehead move.”
I grinned up at him. “Nah. Sorry my music was so loud.”
“Oh, believe me, it was no problem.”
I twirled my keys on my finger. “Glad you enjoyed my workout.”
Lucky hooked his thumb on the edge of his workout shorts. Mostly to show off his sin lines, I was sure. I enjoyed them, even if he didn’t give me the little buzz that his friend had. “Workout? So that’s not your…” His other hand tugged at his beard.
My eyebrow arched. “My… Oh.” I laughed. He thought I worked the pole. “Dude, I’ve talked to you a few times at the café. I work at Kinleigh’s.”
“Oh, sure. I knew that.”
I laughed again. I couldn’t help it. “You do know that it’s a large workout craze.�
� I stepped closer to him. “I could snap your neck with my thighs.”
He swallowed. “I’m down with trying that.”
“You would be.” I tipped my head. “Is that supposed to be a pick-up line? ‘Hey, are you a stripper?’”
“No. I mean, it wouldn’t bother me if you were.” He cleared his throat. “Equal opportunity and all that shit.”
“I’m so glad. Catch ya around, Slick.” I passed him and headed for the staircase.
“Hey, I didn’t mean anything by it,” he called after me.
I just waved him off.
And that was why I was a single. Men were utterly ridiculous. The fact that he went with ‘yo, I’m cool with you being a stripper’ as his opener made me want to weep for humanity.
My cell phone buzzed in my hand. I looked down at the screen and shook off my mood. Tabitha was asking if I was still coming. I could practically feel her uncertainty through the text. I shot off a quick reply that I was on my way up the stairs.
Music greeted me as I opened the door to the roof. It was early evening, but since we were still in the clutches of July, sunset wouldn’t be for hours yet.
As I’d feared, Bess had gone all out. Huge umbrellas kept the worst of the sun off of the table she’d set up with fruit and a charcuterie board in the shape of a star. White candles were lit all around the food in the center as well as in groupings of various heights on the smaller tables she’d set up with crystals.
I laughed as I walked to the little group waiting for me. “Did you buy out the whole shop?”
Bess flushed, then patted her hair. “The ladies at Moonstone and Obsidian were very helpful.”
“I bet.” I was certain Georgia, the proprietress, saw Bess and led her right into temptation. She was a savvy businesswoman, and Bess was probably like a gift from the goddess. Luckily, Georgia was also proud of her shop. The crystals were all of good quality.
“Well, this is a good way to charge all your new babies.”
“Oh?” Bess moved to stand beside me. She was wearing a gorgeous siren red and black caftan that flowed around her surprisingly bomb-ass body. A few crystals glinted from her neck and ears, along with some decidedly more expensive diamonds.