Before he got to their table, a server approached him and handed him a to-go bag. That gave Brynn the opportunity to turn back to her friends and mouth, “That’s him.”
When she glanced back over her shoulder he was only a few feet away.
He lifted his hand and grinned. “Hey, I thought that was you. I was just picking up some lunch.”
“Oh, yep, it’s me!” Brynn wanted to facepalm. Why did she sound so happy about it being her? “Um, Axel these are my friends, Jessa and Ali.”
Jess smiled brightly and Brynn knew she was in trouble. Her raven-haired friend loved to stir the pot, and she had no shame when it came to embarrassing her friends if she thought it was in good fun. “Brynn was just telling us about you.”
Ali kicked Jess beneath the table as Brynn rushed to explain, “I was telling them that my mom has a new tenant.”
Axel’s expressive eyes were blocked from the reflective glasses so she couldn’t tell if he bought it or not.
“So, Axel what brings you to—” Jess continued but was cut off when Axel’s phone rang.
He looked down and Brynn knew who it was, from the way his jaw tensed. “I’m sorry. This is my sister. I have to take this. It was nice meeting you ladies. Nice to see you, Brynn.”
As she watched him walk away she knew two things to be true. One, he looked just as good going as he did coming. And two, his voice had lowered an octave when he’d said it was nice to see her.
When she turned back around, her friends were staring at her with mouths agape. Then suddenly all three of them burst out laughing.
The rest of the brunch was filled with talk of Axel, the wedding, and Jess’s engagement. But there was one thought that kept rising to the surface of her mind: he’d seen her in her dress.
Maybe it shouldn’t make her that happy…but it did.
CHAPTER 7
Axel stared up at the ceiling, watching the blades of the fan turn as he lay wide awake in a bed that was clearly not made for someone of his size. His ankles were resting on the edge of the mattress and his head was pressed against the headboard.
He’d tried to sleep, but his brain just wouldn’t shut off. He was worried about Izzy. She was calling him several times a day. It was obvious that she was miserable.
Was he doing the right thing by making her stick it out?
He had no idea. It’s not like he’d had any real parenting role models. His mom had really been more like a friend and out of all of her husbands, only one had really chosen to take a parenting role.
Duke had been strict but fair with Axel. His mom married Duke when Axel was seven. He’d given Axel chores and a bedtime, which probably sounded horrible to most kids, but Axel remembered being relieved to have some structure. Duke even taught him his trade of woodworking and construction.
He’d kept in touch with Duke until he’d passed five years ago.
It was times like these that he really missed the only “dad” he’d ever known. If Duke were here, Axel would be calling him to find out what he thought the right thing to do with Izzy would be. His gut told him that he’d say that she needed to “tough it out.” But maybe not. Maybe he’d say that her education was the most important thing and if she wasn’t in an environment where she could learn then she shouldn’t be there.
Axel blew out a breath as he scrubbed his hands over his face. It had been so easy to judge his mom when he was on the sidelines. He’d been a great backseat parent. Everything had been black and white. He had all the answers. But now that he was calling the shots, he realized he had no idea what he was doing.
And Brynn has been doing this alone for thirteen years.
He turned his head and looked around the cramped room.
Brynn mentioned that she and Ryder had lived in the apartment before her mother had moved away and they relocated to the main house. He tried picturing her in there, taking care of an infant, toddler, and child. It was a small space, but cozy. He wondered how many sleepless nights she’d had pacing the floors with a teething baby, or how many hours she’d spent at the small kitchen table quietly doing her homework, praying he didn’t wake up.
Before Axel had joined the military, he’d helped out with Izzy. Especially when his mom worked. She’d been a cocktail waitress at the time, so he’d had a lot of sleepless nights. He remembered trying to study and take care of an infant. It was hard then and he’d only been the backup. He couldn’t imagine being a teenager and a single parent the way Brynn had been. Being responsible for another life all the time.
And then add a divorce on top of that. His own divorce had been difficult and he’d been several years older and there hadn’t been any kids involved.
A lot of people he knew would’ve crumbled, but not Brynn. She’d not only raised an incredible kid, she’d gotten a master’s degree while doing it. She amazed him.
If he’d met her under any other circumstances, he’d be convinced that she was too good to be true. But since the background check he had on her was CIA-level, he knew that she was exactly who and what she appeared to be. And that knowledge was messing with his mind.
Giving up on getting any sleep, he pushed off the mattress to a seated position and shifted so his feet hit the floor. He scrubbed his hands over his face and inhaled through his nose. He had to get his shit under control. He had a minimum of three more months on this job. He was going to have to figure out a way to detach his emotions, which was a problem he’d never experienced before. It’d always been the opposite in fact.
Earlier that night, it took everything in him to keep himself from knocking on Brynn’s front door to see if she and Ryder wanted to hang out. He had to actively stop himself. And that was a problem. He’d never had any issues keeping professional boundaries.
Without even being aware, Brynn had somehow managed to break down walls he’d had so long that they were part of his DNA. He should be keeping his distance and all he wanted to do was spend more time with her.
He often heard his sister say that she had “serious FOMO,” or fear of missing out, when her friends did things and she couldn’t go. He’d never related to that. He’d always preferred to be alone. The only exception to that rule had been Izzy. Any chance he got to spend with his baby sister, he’d jumped at. He hadn’t wanted to miss out on anything when she was growing up and he’d tried to be there for her doing things he’d wished his dad had been able to do with him.
But Izzy was different. She was family. The only family he had, really.
Brynn and Ryder were not his family.
So why had he wanted to see them so badly last night? He’d found himself checking the surveillance screen angles several times an hour. Once, when they were eating their fried chicken dinner. Then again when they were watching a movie. Ace Ventura. And then again after ten when the lights had gone out.
It was only then that he realized he had no reason to be pulling up the video feed. It was being monitored twenty-four hours a day. He’d never come close to crossing a line on a job and last night he’d definitely been tip-toeing in that area.
He was going to have to get a grip or pull himself off this assignment.
Standing up, he grabbed his boxers, shorts, and a T-shirt and figured he would walk the perimeter to clear his mind.
As he was tying his shoes, the alarm on his phone went off. He grabbed it and saw that the sensors he’d planted at the edge of the property line had been tripped. He tapped on the image and saw Brynn walking down toward the river. She was dressed in yoga pants, a baby blue long-sleeved T-shirt and tennis shoes.
It wasn’t even six a.m. yet, but thankfully, he was dressed. He stood and grabbed the key that he had to thank for getting him more action than he’d had in a long time.
After his divorce, he’d dated. But sometime over the past few years, he’d stopped. It wasn’t a decision that he’d made consciously, it just sort of happened. Or stopped happening. From his experience, women were fine with casual for a few months, but inevit
ably they’d want to have “the relationship talk.” They’d ask questions about where he saw them going and if he saw a future for them. It didn’t matter how upfront and honest he was at the beginning, that’s where they always ended up.
Grabbing his hoodie, he took the stairs two at a time and followed behind Brynn from a safe distance. He scanned the area and didn’t see anything that looked out of place. A morning mist covered the lake. The downtown area was quiet except for the Drawbridge Diner that was open twenty-four hours and The Muffin Man Bakery.
Axel smiled to himself thinking about how much Izzy would love this place, even if it hadn’t been the location of her favorite realty show, Fairytale Love. From the beautiful scenery, to the fanciful shop names his sister would eat this place up.
He wondered if he’d be able to bring her here after his assignment was over. Would he see Brynn after that? Would she want to see him again after she found out why he was really here?
His chest constricted at the thought of what her reaction might be.
How could he be worried about losing Brynn when he’d known her less than forty-eight hours?
He was so screwed.
* * *
The brisk morning air filled Brynn’s lungs as she inhaled deeply and headed down to the lake to meet Karen. For over ten years now, Brynn and Karen had walked around this lake every weekday morning at six a.m. She’d started around her divorce. It had been a tough time in her life. Everything seemed overwhelming and uncertain and she’d wanted to start each day with a clear mind and a full heart. The best way she’d known to do that with a baby in tow was to throw him in his stroller and walk.
On her very first trip, she’d met “Karen Carpenter, not the singer.” She was a quirky character, but in a completely different way than her mother. Karen and her husband, Sylvester “not the cat,” had visited Whisper Lake every year for the Valentine’s Festival and stayed at the Princess and the Pea B&B. At the time, it was run by Cliff and Alma Stone, who were, sadly, no relation to William Stone of Stone Castle.
What started out as an annual weekend getaway for Karen and Sly turned out to be a permanent living situation. The retired couple fell in love with the town of Whisper Lake and decided to move there the same year that Ryder was born. When Cliff and Alma passed away a few years back, they took over running the B&B.
Over the years, others had joined their walks from time to time. Some days there were as many as fifteen walkers and some days there were as few as six. Most of the walkers were at least twenty years older than her. People her age tended to do more active or trendy things for their workouts like CrossFit, kickboxing, yoga, or Zumba.
Brynn spotted Karen. The two of them always met at the halfway point from Brynn’s house and the B&B, which was right in front of The Muffin Man bakery.
When Karen saw her, she smiled and waved. Since that first morning, Karen had treated Brynn and Ryder like family. She’d babysat when Brynn had to work or had big tests. She’d shown up with chicken soup when Ryder was sick. Basically, anytime that she or Ryder needed support, Karen was there.
“Good morning, sunshine!” Karen said brightly as she pulled Brynn into a bear hug.
That was the other thing about Karen. She gave the best hugs. It was one of the first things she’d noticed about her all those years ago. Even before she’d learned that hugs were physiologically good for people because the contact releases cortisol, oxytocin, and dopamine, she’d known that she always felt better when Karen hugged her. As much as her mother was all about love and connection, she wasn’t real big on affection.
It sort of felt like her mom was always in her own world, and Max hadn’t been a big hugger either. That should’ve been her first red flag. If she did decide to get involved with someone again, a good hugger would be at the top of her list.
“Morning.” Brynn smiled brightly when Karen released her and patted her cheeks.
“I heard you have a new house guest.”
Brynn wasn’t surprised that Karen knew about Axel. The man had been in town for a couple of days, so she was sure that half the population knew him by now.
“He’s not a house guest.” Brynn corrected. “He’s renting the apartment.”
“Word is, he’s easy on the eyes.” Karen wagged her brows as she did an impression that was a mix of Mae West and Jessica Rabbit. Karen prided herself on her “impressions” which were normally just a bad accent or her voice going deeper.
Brynn felt her lips turn up as she confirmed, “He is easy on the eyes.”
And the ears, she thought to herself.
Axel’s voice was just as sexy, if not sexier, than his perfect bone structure, dark hair, bedroom eyes, and Greek god physique.
She’d hadn’t really spent any time with him since their pizza dinner and she missed him. She missed hearing him talk. His voice was equal parts soothing and stimulating and Brynn was concerned that she was developing an auditory addiction to it.
She’d been so tempted to invite Axel to have dinner with her and Ryder last night, but she’d managed to resist the urge. It hadn’t been easy. Especially since Ryder kept bringing him up. It seemed her new tenant had made quite the impression on her son. He’d asked her more questions about Axel than he had about anything since his dinosaur phase when he was nine.
It didn’t surprise her that her son had developed a minor case of hero worship. How could it when she had a case of it herself?
“So what’s he like?” Karen looped her arm through Brynn’s and they began walking to meet the others.
“He seems nice.” It was an extremely generic description of Axel, but she wasn’t sure how else to describe him.
There was something about Axel that was just…she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Different was the only word that she could think of, but that was so general.
Magnetic was honestly the best word she’d come up with so far. She felt drawn to him. And she wasn’t alone. Both Jess and Ali, who were blissfully happy smitten kittens had said the same thing. That he was hot, obviously, but also that there was “something about him.” Jess claimed it was that he was mysterious, and Ali went with, “he has an air of authority.” But since her friends were both avid romance readers, like herself, Brynn took those conclusions with a grain of salt.
Ryder thought he was “really dope,” which was high praise coming from a thirteen year old.
Her mom had said that he was confident.
Maybe he was just one of those universally appealing people. Brynn had read case studies in her anthropology courses about unique people that everyone was attracted to. Scientists had tried to pinpoint why people had the reactions they had; some thought it was their bone structure, others thought it was due to a scent that they expelled. One theory was that universally appealing specimens all existed on the same frequency and that’s what people and animals responded to. If that was the case, it would also explain why Lucy had automatically liked him so much.
“Where did you go?” Karen asked as she lightly squeezed Brynn’s arm. “I lost you there for a minute.”
“Sorry, I was just thinking about work.”
That was her go-to excuse whenever someone asked what she was thinking about and she didn’t want to tell them. It was one of the perks of working in the mental health field.
“Really?” A knowing glint sparked in Karen’s eyes as they joined the other walkers. “Is that what we’re calling Axel now?”
As they filed in with the group of ten, Brynn was bombarded with questions about Axel. Mrs. Dobrinski took a particular interest. If the Needlepoint Mafia were a real crime family, Mrs. D would be the head of the organization. She made it her business to know everything about everyone that resided in Whisper Lake. Her questions were much more intense and pointed than anyone else’s. Brynn kept her answers vague.
“Did your mother do a background check on him?”
She seriously doubted it.
“I don’t know.”
“Does he have children?”
She didn’t think so. With how involved he was with Izzy, she doubted that he had a kid somewhere that he hadn’t mentioned.
“I don’t know.”
“What does he do for work?”
“I don’t know.”
After several more inquiries, Mrs. D gave up on grilling Brynn, obviously chalking her up to a lost cause and sped to the front of the line. For the rest of the walk, Brynn tried to clear her mind and fill her heart with joy, like she’d done every weekday morning for the past decade. But for the first time in all those years, it proved to be an impossible task. Both were already filled with thoughts of Axel Vaughn.
CHAPTER 8
“Did you see the new guy?” Rhonda Burns, the honors English teacher, asked Leticia Porter, a math teacher, as they walked into the teachers’ lounge.
“No. What new guy?”
“I don’t know his name but he’s so hot.” Rhonda exaggeratedly mouthed the last two words. “I saw him walking across the quad with Principal Rayburn. He was giving him the ‘speech.’”
Principal Rayburn was known for his welcome speech. In the fifteen years he’d been principal, he’d never deviated from it. It lasted exactly fifteen minutes and thirty-two seconds. Yes, several teachers had used stopwatches to time it. It contained five jokes, only one of which was funny, or at least amusing. He never added to or subtracted from the content, and the entire faculty had it memorized.
“Do you know what he’s teaching?” Leticia’s anticipation was palpable.
“If there is a God,” Rhonda lifted her chin so her face was looking up and put her hands together in a prayer at her chest, “then he’s in the English Department.”
The two women continued hypothesizing on what position he might or might not be taking and Brynn tuned them out. As exciting as “fresh meat” was, she was dealing with her own newcomer. When she’d come home from her walk, Axel was returning from a morning run and she’d practically choked on her tongue. He had a special brand of attraction that seemed to multiply each time she saw him. At this rate, she was going to start passing out when she caught glimpses of him. There was a very distinct possibility that she might need to start carrying smelling salts around with her.
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