by Chant, Zoe
Okay, fair enough, Georgia had to admit to herself. She’d been standing here babbling at Mister Muscles for long enough that clearly Logan had thought the wave meant he was supposed to follow her.
“Sorry, honey, this is the wrong chalet,” she said. “We’re being rude and intruding on this man’s vacation.” Well, I am, anyway. “Let’s get Freddy and –”
She turned back, ready to apologize to the man and finally get out of his hair. She bit her lip as her gaze fell on him. She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting – annoyance, amusement, impatience – but she really hadn’t been prepared to find him kneeling in the snow, one large hand rubbing over Freddy’s floppy black ears.
“I – oh,” Georgia said, the sound escaping her mouth without her meaning it to. “I’m sorry about this.”
The man glanced up at her. “No problem. It happens.” He stood, and Freddy wuffed softly, clearly upset that his excellent head-rubbing had ended.
“He’s a beauty, that’s for sure,” the man said. “What’s his name?”
“Freddy,” Logan piped up. “He’s my dog.”
“You obviously take great care of him.”
Georgia glanced down to where Logan’s face was already glowing with pride. Part of the condition of him having Freddy was that he took an active part in his care – Freddy was a bit too big for Logan to bath and groom him by himself, but he always helped Georgia with it, and he definitely took charge of cleaning up the yard.
“What do you say, Logan?” Georgia gently reminded him.
“Thank you,” Logan replied quickly, remembering his manners.
“And thank you for your patience,” Georgia said. “Like I said, we’ll get out of your hair now. Freddy, come on!”
Freddy, though reluctant, stood and trotted over to her like the well-trained dog he was.
“You go take Freddy back to the car,” Georgia said to Logan. “I’ll be there in a moment.”
It wasn’t until Logan and Freddy had disappeared back around the corner that Georgia turned back to the man. She licked her lips. Okay. Time to go. Stop ogling the poor guy.
“Thanks for that,” she said. “You didn’t need to be so kind to my son after we barged in on you here.”
The man was looking at her, an unreadable expression on his face. “Kind?”
“Yes, telling him he looked after Freddy so well,” Georgia said. “But anyway, I’ll leave you to your vacation. Your family must be waiting for their firewood!”
“My –?” The man broke off, then shook his head. “No, I’m here by myself.”
Georgia blinked, surprised. She’d just assumed a man like this, and staying in such a large chalet, must have had a wife or girlfriend with him.
“Oh, you’re alone on Christmas?” She bit her lip as soon as she’d blurted the words out. She had no idea what his circumstances were. Maybe she was poking her nose into some painful memories.
“I usually am.” The man shrugged. “We don’t celebrate it much where I’m from.”
“Well, it’s a beautiful place to be alone in,” Georgia said, deciding he was definitely hinting that he’d rather get back to being that way. “I hope you have a wonderful vacation.”
She turned away at last, though it was harder than she wanted to admit. Something about him made her want to stay right where she was. Something that tugged at her heart and soul and –
Stop being so silly, she told herself abruptly. You like his muscles. He’s a hot guy, and that’s all.
She’d only taken three steps before his voice stopped her in her tracks.
“Wait!”
Georgia turned, looking back over her shoulder in surprise. The man had taken a few steps toward her, his eyebrows drawn together in what seemed like confusion.
“What’s your name?” He shook his head slightly. “I mean, my name’s Garrett, Garrett Kolev.”
“I – it’s Georgia, Georgia Clarkson,” she said, as she groped for something more to say. The hot man is asking my name! “Kolev – that’s unusual. Where’s it from?”
“My family were Bulgarian, but that’s generations ago,” Garrett said. “It’s nice to meet you, Georgia. I guess we’ll be neighbors, at least for the next little while.”
Georgia tried not to bite her lip at the soft rumble of his voice. “I guess so – drop by if you need a cup of sugar or something,” she said, before immediately feeling a part of her soul die within her.
For God’s sake! Are you trying to flirt?!
She’d never been great at flirting, even when she was young – and she hadn’t gotten any better at it, she realized. Mortified, she shook her head, turning away.
Just go before you embarrass yourself any further.
“Anyway, nice to meet you, Garrett,” she said over her shoulder as she sped away, snow crunching under her boots.
Back in the car, she gripped the steering wheel, staring out of the windshield, forcing herself not to rest her forehead against her knuckles in mortification.
“Mom? What’s wrong?” Logan sounded concerned, and she didn’t blame him.
“Nothing, honey, just… getting ready to go,” she replied as cheerfully as she could manage, before turning the key in the ignition and bringing the car to life. Thankfully, it hadn’t cooled down too much while she’d been making an idiot of herself in front of Garrett.
Hoo boy.
She’d left the heater in the car running for Logan and Freddy, and she was already uncomfortably warm in here with her jacket on – though she was willing to concede that might have been the embarrassment.
Still, she twisted in her seat, pulling her jacket off. As she did so, one of her bright red mittens fell from the pocket.
Georgia frowned. Just the one?
Shoving her hand into the pocket of her jacket, she felt around.
She was sure she’d shoved both of them in there before she’d gotten out of the car.
But no, if it had been in her pocket before, it certainly wasn’t in there now.
Biting her lip, Georgia looked out of the windshield. Maybe it’d fallen out of her pocket while she’d been talking to Garrett.
Oh, great.
Well, if it had, she’d never know – because there was no way in hell she was going back for a repeat performance of her clumsy flirting. Besides, he’d probably think she was stalking him, or had dropped her mitten on purpose so she’d have an excuse to come back and terrorize him some more with clumsy double entendres she hadn’t even meant as double entendres.
Swallowing, she consigned the mitten to the ether.
Farewell, mitten! Enjoy your new life with Garrett the hunk.
“Well, let’s get going,” she said, as she backed her car out of Garrett’s drive.
And farewell Garrett the hunk.
Chapter 2
The bright red mitten sat on Garrett’s kitchen counter. It only had a separate thumb section, with the finger section just one big pocket – but nonetheless, it still seemed to be pointing accusatorily at him.
You should return me to my rightful owner, it seemed to be saying to him.
Or maybe that was his dragon.
Despite the fact that hoards of gold were a thing of the past, dragons did maintain what was probably an overdeveloped sense of what belonged to whom.
Garrett sighed, running his hand over his face and turning away from the mitten.
Maybe it wasn’t so much the mitten, but its owner.
Garrett didn’t deny that he’d been annoyed at first – Hardwicke had told him that he didn’t need to see another person for as long as he was here, if that was what he wanted. And yet, on his first day here, a human woman had appeared in front of him, a dog and a child in tow. It was lucky he hadn’t been in his dragon form at the time, or he’d have a lot more to worry about than a lost mitten, and –
And dark auburn hair and deep brown eyes I can’t get out of my head.
His annoyance at the sight of the woman had only lasted a mom
ent. Just the moment before he’d registered her beauty, the way the heavy winter coat had done nothing to hide her curves, and the way his dragon had suddenly sat up in his chest, smoke rising from its jaws, all its attention square on the intruder.
That wasn’t unusual. Garrett was used to his dragon assessing anyone new they came into contact with. It had saved his life more than once. Without his dragon’s heightened awareness and ability to sense danger, he would have ended up with a knife in the gut – or worse – at least a dozen times.
But this…
This was different. For starters, it was clear the woman – Georgia – wasn’t any danger to him. She was just another chalet guest, who’d happened to take a wrong turn. His dragon wasn’t usually interested in humans at all, unless they were somehow involved in the crimes he was investigating – but then, the interest only lasted long enough for him to pass them on to human law enforcement.
He’d never felt anything like this before. Ever since he’d seen Georgia yesterday, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her.
Which is kind of an understatement.
The truth of the matter was, he’d barely slept a wink last night. His dragon had been awake within him, prowling and snorting, flicking its tail in agitation, claws and teeth shining. Something was bothering it, and he didn’t know what. Whenever Garrett tried to focus, all he could think of was the bright pink flush of Georgia’s cheeks, her deep brown eyes, and the way her auburn hair had glistened in the bright afternoon sunlight.
But it wasn’t only her beauty, Garrett thought, frowning. He’d seen beautiful women before, both shifter and human. They’d never really affected him much. He was too focused on his job. Getting involved with someone he might come to care about would add too much complication to his life.
Not to mention, if that woman had a child…
Garrett shook his head.
No, he wasn’t going to think about this. He’d been struck by Georgia’s beauty, and that was all. If his dragon had a bee in its bonnet about something, it’d just have to live with it.
You should still return her mitten, his dragon said, eyes glittering. Keeping something that does not belong to you is wrong.
If she cared, she would have come back for it, Garrett argued back at his dragon. She didn’t, so she doesn’t care about it. It’s fine. It’s a mitten. People lose them all the time.
The dragon hissed, unconvinced. You are making excuses.
Garrett rolled his eyes. The problem with dragons was that they tended to see the world in very black and white terms. He’d often found himself at odds with it – and that was before he took into account that dragons didn’t like being subordinate to anyone, which had caused him more than a few issues at his job. He was lucky that beneath the hardass exterior Hardwicke actually gave a shit about his agents, otherwise he’d have been out on his ass many times over.
You’d be out on your ass if he knew you’d stolen a woman’s mitten. His dragon’s voice was intolerably smug.
Will you shut up? I didn’t steal anything!
The dragon didn’t say anything more, but it did coil its tail around itself, eyes glittering, smoke roiling up from its mouth. It didn’t need to say anything: its attitude was clear.
All right, fine, Garrett snapped at it as he snatched the mitten from the kitchen counter. If I take this back, will you knock it off?
Again, the dragon didn’t answer, but its tail switched in satisfaction.
Sighing impatiently, Garrett shoved his feet into his boots, only just remembering to grab his jacket before he headed out the door. He didn’t need it – shifters barely felt the cold – but he usually took it with him when out and about amongst humans, since going without would only draw attention.
He had to stop himself from scowling as he marched up the road toward Chalet Six, Georgia’s mitten in his hand.
Stop, he told himself. Anyone’d think you were on your way to an assignment at a sewage plant, rather than returning a beautiful woman’s lost property to her.
The thought was a sobering one. The least he could do, he supposed, was try to be polite.
Especially since you were so surly and unwelcoming yesterday, his dragon piped up.
I was not surly, Garrett argued as he rounded the corner of the driveway to Chalet Six. I was surprised. That’s it.
The smell of frying bacon hit his nostrils before he went three more steps – and the gurgling of his stomach reminded him he hadn’t had breakfast yet. He’d been heading out to get more firewood when he’d seen the mitten lying in the snow by the chopping block, and since then it was like he hadn’t been able to string two thoughts together, what with his dragon insisting they had to take the mitten straight back to Georgia.
He sniffed. Yeah, that was definitely bacon. Bacon and eggs. Oh, and fresh coffee too – along with the sweet, soft scent of waffles and syrup, and the tang of cut fruit.
Someone was about to enjoy an amazing breakfast, that was for sure.
For a moment, Garrett hesitated. Should he really interrupt Georgia and her son – Logan, he’d heard her call him – during breakfast?
Stop making excuses!
His dragon raised its head, snarling.
All right, all right, Garrett grumbled as he made his way up the steps. Better to get this over and done with, and then maybe his dragon would get off his back. Raising his hand, he knocked on the door.
It burst open after a few seconds, and Garrett sucked in a shocked breath at the sight that greeted him.
It was Georgia who answered the door, of course, but somehow she looked even more beautiful than he remembered – her auburn hair flowed in gentle waves over her shoulders, and her dark brown eyes were wide in surprise. A gentle spray of freckles covered the bridge of her nose – he hadn’t noticed those yesterday. There was also the fact that yesterday, she’d been wrapped in several layers of winter clothing, whereas today she was dressed for the indoors, a thin sweater hugging every single one of her luscious curves.
She was the most beautiful thing Garrett had ever seen. But more than that, his dragon was very definitely sitting up and taking notice, in a way it never had with anyone else before.
Gradually, it came to him that he’d been standing in her doorway saying nothing for something like a good ten seconds now – and that every further second that passed was only making things even more awkward.
“You dropped your mitten,” he said, lifting his hand and thrusting it toward her.
Oh, smooth.
Just for once, it wasn’t his dragon, but his own brain that was chiding him for his behavior. He didn’t need his dragon to tell him he was acting like a weirdo.
As it was, Georgia only looked down at the mitten, blinking in surprise.
“Oh,” she said softly after a moment or two. “Thank you. I – thought I had, but I wasn’t sure where.” She glanced up at him guiltily from beneath her lashes. “Actually, that’s not quite true. But I felt like I’d intruded on you enough for one day. Thanks for returning it – it’ll save me having to buy a new pair down at the resort.”
“No problem,” Garrett said, trying to ignore his dragon’s smugness at having been proved right that he’d made her feel like she’d been intruding. “Happy to help.”
They stood in the doorway a moment longer, Georgia biting her lip, and Garrett feeling mysteriously rooted to the spot.
Ask her if she needs help with anything else, his dragon hissed suddenly. She’s a woman on her own. There may be some way we can be useful to her.
Garrett doubted that that was true – but before he could either take his dragon’s advice or take his leave, his stomach joined the conversation, gurgling loudly.
To his mild surprise, he saw laughter flashing through Georgia’s eyes.
“Should I take that as a compliment?”
Garrett blinked, before suddenly understanding what she meant.
“I won’t lie – I smelled your cooking in the drive. It s
mells amazing.”
A smile twitched at the corner of Georgia’s mouth. “Well… would you like to come in for a cup of coffee? I mean, just to say thank you for returning my mitten. I couldn’t send you away hungry.”
No, thanks. I better get back.
The words were on the tip of Garrett’s tongue. But instead, he heard himself saying, “A coffee would be great.”
Angrily, he sought out his dragon, and found it smug and self-satisfied.
What do you think you’re doing? he started to ask it – but the smile that broke out over Georgia’s face was enough to blot out any anger he felt at his dragon’s interference. It was brilliant and dazzling, and seemed to light up her whole face, her eyes sparkling.
“Great! I mean… good, good. Come on in.”
She moved out of the way to let him in, and he stooped down to take off his boots in the entryway. He realized she hadn’t taken her mitten from his hand, but she’d already moved away. Garrett tucked it into his pocket. He’d give it to her later, he decided.
“Logan,” Georgia called out. “Do you remember Garrett from yesterday? He’s just stopping by for some coffee. Is that all right?”
When Garrett raised his head again, he found Logan peeping up at him from over the back of one of the massive couches in the chalet living room. Whoever had designed these chalets clearly hadn’t believed in keeping things to a small scale. From the vaulted ceilings with their exposed cedar beams to the gray stone fireplaces, nothing here was done by halves.
It was undeniably beautiful, but it had the effect of making Logan look even smaller than he already was. Garrett wasn’t great at judging the ages of human children – was Logan seven? Eight? He wasn’t sure.
“Hi, Logan,” he said, lifting a hand to wave. “How’re you and Freddy today?”
At the sound of his name, the black Lab popped his own head up over the couch beside Logan.
“We’re good,” Logan replied, his eyes, dark brown like his mother’s, sober and watchful. “I wanted to build a fire this morning, but Mom wasn’t sure how.”