Page 9 of Forty, Flirty & Fall Inn

“The goat drool or the late-night lobby chaos?”

“Either.Both.”

She flashes a grin that makes concentration that much harder.“Welcome to Cascade View Inn.Where the weird is the norm and the goats come standard.”

“Delightful.”I rise, brushing off goat hair.“Though… full disclosure?I didn’t exactly come here for the five-star hospitality.”

She tilts her head, studying me.“No?”

I look her in the eye.“I came because of you.”

“Because of that last message I sent about being excited to meet you?Because I was.I am.”She frowns.“Though, I’m not sure how?—“

“I thought you were catfishing me.”

“Excuse me?”

“Well, at first, your profile kept appearing in my matches.Over and over.Even after I swiped left."

"You swiped left on me at first?”

"Multiple times."

"Rude."

“It felt like a system manipulation.Or a scam.I-I guess I thought you’d be a four-eyed incel who thought hacking a CEO’s dating profile would be a cheap thrill.I didn’t expect…” his blue eyes rake over me, “…well, you.”

She blinks.“So you drove up a mountain in a storm… because you thought I was committing SecureMatch fraud?”

“Well, when you say it like that…”

“I did work in Big Tech.Back in Seattle.”She shakes her head slowly.“But I used to be a marketing executive.Not a hacker.”

“You left Big Tech for this?”

“I had family…issues to iron out.I also burned out.Traded in my designer blazer for a guest registry and goat yoga.Guess I’m a cliché now.”

“A very persistent one,” I say.

She tilts her head.“You thought I was someone using a fake photo just to flirt with you?”

“I think patterns are suspicious.And my job is to investigate them.”

"And you took the time out of your busy day to drive an hour out of town to, what, catch a weirdo trying to pass themselves off as someone else?”

My jaw ticks—an old memory popping up where it shouldn’t be.“Let’s just say I’m used to people lying to get what they want.”

Sage Winters blinks, mouth opening.Before any sound comes out, a muffled voice behind the desk makes itself known.

"Is the goat gone?"

"Buttercup is contained, Mira," Sage calls."You can come out."

A head of curly dark hair appears cautiously above the desk edge, followed by wire-rimmed glasses and a face that can't be older than twenty-five.

"Are you sure?"Mira asks.

"I'm sure."