Page 9 of Cold Foot Cash (Wreck’s Mountains #4)

Harley checked herself in the mirror, turning this way and that. She’d wandered up and down the main strip of Darby, and discovered three clothing stores, and one that was a western boutique. She’d found a pair of skinny jeans with holes at the knees, and a pair of tan hiking boots to coordinate with her cream-colored, figure-hugging top. She’d also found a fitted flannel in white and pink that was nice and warm for the bonfire tonight. It was getting warmer in this part of Montana during the daytime, but nights were still chilly.

Her phone rang, and expecting it to be Cash telling her he was out front to pick her up, she rushed to where it laid face up on the motel bed.

It was a text message from her lawyer, Abigail Baker. Hey, I need you to check your email when you get a chance. Lance submitted a proposal for mediation before Tuesday. I don’t know what he’s trying to accomplish. Let me know what you think about his request.

Harley rolled her eyes closed as the swell of disappointment washed over her. Couldn’t he just get to Tuesday without making it some big dramatic event? Couldn’t he?

She scratched her forehead and texted her lawyer back. Yeah, he’s been texting me. I’m not encouraging anything, but he’s not getting it. Can the email wait until tomorrow morning? I am just heading out. I’m trying so hard to just enjoy a night. Send.

Her lawyer would understand. She’d played therapist for Harley during some hard moments throughout the divorce process, and had been eternally frustrated by Lance’s behavior.

Yep , Abigail texted back. It can absolutely hold until tomorrow. Go have fun. You deserve it!

Harley smiled at the awesome text and then shoved the phone into the new purse she’d purchased for herself from a little western boutique. It was made of soft brown leather with long fringe hanging from it. Was it too much? Perhaps, but who cared? She liked it.

The temptation to open the email and see what the heck Lance was up to was there inside of her, scratching at her resolve, but it wasn’t big enough for her to actually open it. What was the point? Whatever he was trying would ruin her evening, and she had been looking forward to the bonfire all day. Today, he wasn’t allowed to have the power to ruin her plans. He’d had way too much power for way too long.

It was okay for her to get a break. That’s why she had stayed in Darby, after all.

Knock, knock, ho, I have snacks.

The text from Cash brought an instant giggle from her, and killed any uncertainty Lance had created.

Harley opened the door to find Cash leaning against the doorframe, giving her one of those smoldering hot-boy glares.

“Your charms do not work on me.”

“What if I do this,” he said, placing his thumb and forefinger on his chiseled jawline and arching an eyebrow. Good grief that man was hot.

“Nope.”

He stood straight up and asked, “Why not?”

“Because friendship, and also, you called me a ho.”

“It’s a pet name.”

“Pick a new one. I reject that one.”

“I bought you licorice.” He handed her a brown paper bag.

“I strongly dislike licorice, so…two strikes.”

“Well, negative one strike, because I got you two other options. Ho.”

“Oh my gosh!” she exclaimed, swatting him. “I’m the opposite of a ho.”

She shouldered her purse from the table next to the door and walked down the hallway beside him. The paper bag crinkled in her hands as she rifled through the candy options. He’d nailed it on the other two—sour lemon candies, and gummy worms.

“Share?” she asked, biting into the gummy worms packaging.

“Obviously.” He held the door open. “Just so you know, the ho is my favorite garden tool.”

“Cashew.”

“Okay, okay, truce. No more pet names tonight.”

She had worn a smile since the second he’d texted, and as she made her way through the door he opened for her, Harley just felt…relieved.

Outside, she walked backward and offered him a gummy worm. Cash stooped easily and snatched it out of her hand with his teeth. She burst out laughing. “I just mommy-birded you.”

His smile transformed his face and made him even more handsome, and the spark in his eyes as he looked her up and down had her heart pounding a little harder.

“I mean this in the friendliest way, but you clean up nice,” he complimented her.

“Yeah?” Heat flooded her cheeks and she ducked her gaze to hide just how pleased her smile probably was right now. “I went shopping. I picked this out just for tonight.”

He chewed the candy and looked thoughtful as he picked up walking right beside her. “Five more days.”

“Hopefully.”

He cast her a sideways glance. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You do. You know how I know?”

“How?”

“Because you mentioned it. Lay it on me. What’s going on?”

She pouted. “If I say it, can it just end there, and us not pick it apart too much?”

“Yep.”

“My lawyer just messaged me to check my email.” Gah, why was she telling him this? It was her burden to deal with, and she hardly knew Cash. She wasn’t usually this open with people. Being open only got her hurt. “Lance is wanting to meet for some kind of mediation before Tuesday.”

Cash snorted, and gestured to the gummy worms in a silent request for more. She pulled another one out and lifted it up for him to grab from her fingertips, but he bit it out of her hand again. Meh, that was okay. She liked being this comfortable with him.

Around the chewy bite, he said, “You must have a magical pussy.”

“Cash!” she yelped, appalled.

He ducked out of swatting range. “Compliment! If he’s after you so hard, it means he’s still got a little of that addiction to you. I don’t freaking blame him. If I fumbled you, I’d be pulling all the stops to get you back too. Fuck him though. Want me to go to mediation with you? I bet he won’t pull shit on you. Tell him to bring his mistress. We can make it a double date, and see who’s meaner.”

Well, that actually sounded kind of nice, not facing Lance alone. “You can’t just say vulgar things and say ‘compliment.’”

Cash shrugged. “I’ve done worse.”

She shook her head. “You were a delinquent when you were a kid, weren’t you?”

“Oh yeah. You’re lucky you met me now, when I’m old and calm and mind all the rules.”

“You almost got arrested last night.”

He scrunched up his face. “Almost, but I didn’t. I’m a walk in the park now.”

“Well, you’re probably never boring.”

“I don’t know,” he said, seriousness tainting his tone. “Lately I feel boring. Or bored, maybe.” He opened the passenger side door to his truck for her, and waited for her to get in.

“Nice windows,” she complimented. “So shiny and unbroken.”

He snorted and closed the door, shook his head, and jogged around the front. When he got in behind the wheel, he said, “It cost me six hundred bucks.”

“Oh geez. Insurance won’t help?”

He shook his head and pulled out of the parking spot. As he drove, she offered him another gummy worm, and he bit it out of her hand without looking, just smooth-as-you-like. It drew another smile from her lips. “Why do you feel bored?”

“Honest talk?”

She dipped her chin once. “Honest talk is my favorite.”

Cash turned onto the main drag, then rolled down his window, and draped his arm out into the wind. The breeze fluttered through his hair and he drove with one hand, and holy shit his arm muscles looked perfect. He was the picture of fit, masculine male, and she appreciated it so much.

“I was wild before I went to Cold Foot.”

“Cold Foot Prison?” she asked, trying to keep up.

“Yep. I was always into something, always up to something. Doctors said it was ADHD or something, and said it would probably go away as I got older, but it didn’t. If anything, I got more restless, more scattered. I couldn’t sit still for a single moment, you know? I was always looking to the next moment, and the next one. What could I get into? What could I give my mind to gobble up so I could stay steady for a minute, you know?”

“You have a busy mind?”

“Chhh. Busy, and it’s fuckin’ mean.”

“Mean to you?”

“Yeah. And I know, you don’t have to say it, I should be nice to myself and bla bla, but it’s just how I’m built. My brain just fuckin’ eats me alive over every little thing. If I stayed busy, the mind stayed tired and focused on the outside fires I created instead of turning on me.”

“Geez,” she murmured, feeling his words to her soul.

“The high was the trouble. If I was in trouble, it was a challenge to see if I could get out of it. And then the challenge became getting into bigger trouble, and trying to dig my way out of that. On and on that went in this awful snowball effect. I wasn’t the king of positive attention, you know what I mean? But I also didn’t know what positive attention was, so I didn’t crave it. I didn’t know what I was missing. My friends were trouble, the girls I dated liked me because I was a trouble-maker, and my dad liked that I fought. He was a fighter too and always in trouble. My mom put me on medicine when I was younger trying to fix the ADHD stuff, but it numbed me out so bad, I couldn’t feel happiness, and eventually I stopped taking it.” He ran his hand over the scruff of his jaw. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this stuff. I’ve never talked about it before.”

“With anyone?” she asked, surprised.

“No. I wasn’t exactly doing therapy sessions in prison. I just had a lot of time to think in there.”

“Between fights?”

He cracked a grin and gave her a smirk, then dragged his gold eyes back to the road. “Between fights,” he agreed. “Anyway, when Wreck pulled me out of Cold Foot, we had to go through a trial period to see if we would be a good fit for his Crew, and it was the first time in a long time I really wanted something. I thought, if anyone can keep me out of trouble, it’s the phoenix.”

“Phoenix,” she repeated softly.

“Yep. Wreck is a monster, but he’s a monster with a heart, and his moral compass is straight due north. And when I did get into the Cold Foot Crew, I made a promise to myself.”

“What promise?”

“That I was going to try and be more normal. Less wild. I was going to try and stay out of trouble. I was going to try and make solid friends, and settle down, and live every day like the last, and just live and die boring.”

The truck had a bench seat, and he’d pulled up the console between them, so it was all connected seats and nothing but a couple feet of space between them. She faced him and drew her knees up, rested her arm on the back of the seat and her hand on her cheek so she could see him better. “You’re funny. Do you use humor to mask what’s going on in your head?”

“Mmm,” he grunted, staring thoughtfully at the road.

She knew she’d hit close to the mark. “You have a hole inside of you, Cash, don’t you.”

He didn’t answer…just stared at the road ahead.

“Sometimes when a man has a hole inside of him, he has to fill it up with something, but sometimes he doesn’t fill it up with the right material. Sometimes he doesn’t know how. Sometimes he doesn’t have the tools. Sometimes he only knows how to fill it for a short time, and then he has to find something else.”

He scratched his jawline with his thumbnail and cast her another glance. His eyes were fiery gold now. “How do I fix it?”

“You figure out what made the hole in the first place.”

She could see the gooseflesh ripple up his arms from here.

Cash looked over at her, and then to the empty seat between them, then back to her, then back to the road. “Are you going to have to leave soon?” he asked.

She huffed a laugh and teased, “Are you ready for me to go already?”

“No.” The way he said it had the smile fading from her face. He was serious. “No, I don’t want you to go. It’ll be boring around here again.” He inhaled deep. “I mean, who will give me an excuse to go out and buy six different flavors of canned margarita’s, you freakin’ trailer park princess.”

She belted out a laugh. “Did you really?”

“Yep, and I’ll be watching you try the different flavors tonight. At some point I’ll figure out what all you like, but until then?”

“Guessing games?”

“Guessing games. I liked the roast beef sandwich the most. Jot that down.”

She giggled and opened up a blank document in the notes tab of her phone. “Cashew’s favorites,” she said aloud as she typed the title. “Local beer called Happy Hooker.”

“I tried that the first time based solely on the name.”

“I figured. I would’ve done the same. Favorite sandwich? Roast beef. My favorite season is spring.”

“Oh, tell me more.”

“Favorite color is mustard. Favorite season is winter.”

“Oh, why winter?” she murmured, typing as fast as she could.

“My animal likes it.”

She jerked her attention over to him. “Abominable snowman?”

“Close.”

“Really?”

“Not at all,” he said through a laugh.

“Dammit. Is it top secret?”

“No. I’m registered, and also, I’m realizing right now how friend-zoned I am. You haven’t even looked up my shifter-registration?”

“How would I even know how to do that?” she asked, speed-googling shifter registration . “I’m human.”

“Yeah about that. I’ve never dated a human.”

“Well, good thing we aren’t dating,” she said cheekily.

He gave a dark chuckle like her sass was getting to him, but he wore that hot-boy smile. He liked sass. She could tell. “Are you prejudiced?” she asked as she opened the search bar on the shifter registration website.

“A little.”

“Against humans?”

“Yep. You’re fragile, and you can’t even fly or run fast. A papercut could get infected and kill you. If I dated a human, I would have to put them in one of those protective bubble wrap barriers, and then how would we even bone?”

“You are ridiculous. Humans aren’t that fragile. What’s your last name?”

He glanced over at her phone and enunciated, “Culver. Middle name Big Dong.”

“Oh my gosh,” she muttered as she typed his last name. “You know you could save me the effort and just tell me—

Cash grabbed her phone and tossed it to the floorboard, then pulled the truck over and slammed on the brakes, made a quick turn onto a dirt road.

“Middle name Crazy,” she said as her heart tried to pound through her sternum.

He checked the road behind them, and then said, “Get out.”

“Wait, why? Are you mad at me?”

“What? Why would I be mad? Get out so I can tell you what I am.”

Her mouth fell open. “Oh my gosh, are you going to morph?”

A laugh belted out of him as he shoved his door open. “It’s called a Change, not a morph. Be quick, ho—”

“Cash!”

“It’s a term of endearment! Between friends! Garden ho. Be quick, Garden Ho,” he said, hands out as he backed into the woods. “My skin is already tingling.”

She shoved the door open and got out. “Is your animal dangerous?” she asked, very interested in survival.

“Ask less questions and just enjoy the moment, Harley,” he called, giving her his back. He peeled off his shirt, and oh lordy, his back muscles rippled and flexed with his movement. His tattoo down his arm was so hot! Harley just stood there dumbly.

“Ready?” he asked, as he shucked his jeans.

For him to be butt-naked? Yep. She was ready.

Harley should’ve averted her gaze, but she couldn’t seem to make her body listen to her right now. Her hormones did not give one single Fig Newton about looking away from his glorious model physique right now. He was the hottest man she’d ever laid eyes on.

Cash lifted his chin higher, eyes on her, Adam’s apple taut in his muscular neck. “The way you’re looking at me isn’t very friendly, Harley. I’m going to need you to tone it down.”

“I—”

Cash exploded.

A gasp escaped her, and she shielded herself as Cash disappeared with a loud sound she couldn’t identify. He blurred into an enormous bird, but was too fast for her to really take him in before he was airborne.

Heart hammering in her chest, she stepped forward and stared up at the sky where a huge snowy owl circled.

He was an owl. He was an owl! He was a mother-freaking snowy owl!

The man she was crushing on, her friend…he wasn’t a human. He really wasn’t. Harley had ignored that fact before this moment because she hadn’t seen the real him. Not really.

His wingspan had to be fifteen feet wide.

He circled slowly just above the canopy of scraggly trees, his eyes downcast, and his gaze glued to her. He beat his wings against the air currents. With his Change, she’d crouched down defensively, startled, and shielded her face, but slowly she relaxed and stood. She was in awe of the creature’s grace and power.

He circled one last time, and then tucked his wings and aimed for her. Oh shit.

“Cash?” she called, backing up. Still he came, and now he was tucking his wings tighter, picking up speed.

He was dive-bombing her! She was going to die! With a scream, she turned to run, but she felt his powerful grip on her arms immediately, and her legs flew out from under her as she was dragged skyward.

She tried to scream again, but the speed with which she was flying sucked the breath from her lungs, and curled her stomach inward, like she was on a roller coaster.

She squeezed her eyes tightly and clenched her fists, tried to drag her knees upward to relieve the helpless feeling that overwhelmed her.

The grip on her arms stayed firm, but not painful, and as Cash’s speed steadied out, she dared to crack one eye open. Oh God, she was so high up! She squeezed her eyes closed again, wishing for it to be over. He was going to drop her. He was going to drop her!

More time drifted by though, and Cash just kept the speed the same, and she settled into the rhythm of his beating wings. She dared to open her eyes again, and took in the world below her. There were still snowcaps on the mountains, and below, the woods were gorgeous.

Panting, she unclenched her fists and relaxed her legs. His grip really didn’t hurt. When she looked up at him, the enormous owl glanced down at her. Those were Cash’s gold-colored eyes. This was Cash. This was her friend.

Stunned, she scanned the horizon. Everything looked so beautiful from up here. He took them down at a slow decline, and she thought he was going to settle her near the truck once more. A little ping of disappointment tugged at her. This was exhilarating! How many people could say they flew?

The woods were unfamiliar though, and she realized what he was doing as soon as she felt him line up toward a river.

Cash hovered her just above the water. She could almost touch it with her toes! She pointed her hiking boots. Almost! Cash lowered her by inches and her toes splashed a line. Harley squealed in delight and laughed. She laughed and laughed. “Oh my gosh, Cash! This is awesome!”

He had enormous, curved talons, but he was careful not to let the tips of them pierce her flannel. Cash beat his wings hard and lifted her back into the sky, did a slow turn and flew her right over the top of a snowcapped mountain. Below, there was a clearing with a community of A-frame cabins, and a firepit out front. The scenery was stunning. She reached up and hooked her hands on the backs of his legs just to relax into the flight more. Her face hurt from smiling!

This was the memory.

This was it.

This was what she would look back on during hard times. Remember that one time she flew? It was happening right now!

He flew her down the mountain and over a huge pond. There were people on the edge of the water, hanging around a fire. They waved, and from here, she could recognize them—the Cold Foot Crew.

He circled them once and then headed back toward the truck. She didn’t want it to be over. Up here, her problems didn’t exist. Nothing did but her and Cash, whom she was trusting with her life.

It was a moment she wouldn’t be able to describe later. She wouldn’t ever be able to make someone understand how special this was. It was just for them—Harley and Cash.

Near the truck, he flapped his wings hard, dislodging a leaf-cloud below them, and settled her carefully onto her feet.

She stumbled and pitched forward, landed on her knees as she watched him land several yards away from her.

His owl turned and watched her, stood up to his full height. God, he was beautiful. Regal. King of the sky. His talons were curled into the earth, and oh she knew he could do so much damage, but he hadn’t hurt her at all.

He’d given her the biggest moment of her life up until now.

He Changed back to his human form, right there in front of her, unashamed.

She loved that confidence. She loved that he was comfortable sharing this with her.

Cash didn’t say a word as he dressed in his discarded clothes. He kept looking back at her though, checking on her. She knew that’s what he was doing. There was care in his fiery gold eyes.

There was a long feather on the ground. It was white, with little black speckles. She plucked it from the dead leaves and ran her finger down the soft length of it.

Cash approached her with long, confident strides as he settled his shirt into place over his taut torso, and in one smooth movement, he scooped her up and held her against his chest. He yanked his truck door open and moved to set her into the passenger’s seat, but hesitated.

His eyes were locked on hers, and she couldn’t escape the intensity there. Harley slid her arms around his neck and sat in the silence with him, comfortable with this closeness, feeling his heat, breathing his air.

His nostrils flared with his quick breathing, and when his gaze dipped to her lips, she knew he wanted to kiss her. She knew it. She wanted to kiss him too.

“Five days,” he murmured, lifting his attention back to her eyes.

A small, disappointed smile stretched her face at the reminder. “Five days.”

Like she weighed nothing at all, he set her inside of his truck.

Harley wasn’t even shaking from the shock of the flight. She watched him walk around the front of the truck, head down, lost in thought. Handsome man. He grew more attractive to her the more she got to see his layers, and that was how it was supposed to be, right? That chemical attraction was important, but the bond that formed between two people as they really began to see each other was even bigger. That much was clear as she looked forward to the second he settled into the seat near her. Missing him while he was outside of the truck shouldn’t make sense, but somehow, some way, it did make sense to her.

Cash began to drive with his window rolled down, and his arm out there catching wind between his fingers. Harley couldn’t stop staring at him.

He seemed to understand. He didn’t speak, but he kept taking his attention off the road to catch her gaze. Over and over that happened, and she knew what was going on here.

She was falling.

She was falling hard.

Harley gripped her flannel over her chest just to feel how fast her heart was racing.

She was really falling.

Cash grabbed the wheel with his other hand and rested his hand closest to her on the seat between them.

She exhaled slow, and put her hand right by his, their pinkies almost, almost touching.

It was enough. It had to be enough for now.

Five days.

No it didn’t really matter if she fell for him now. Her ex had moved on a long time ago, but she did want to finish this out exactly how she wanted. She wanted to maintain her composure through the end.

In her other hand, Harley gripped his feather tighter, so it wouldn’t blow away in the wind that drifted in through the open window.

Five more days couldn’t pass fast enough.