Page 2 of Griffin (Stone Brothers #5)

TWO

SHAY

A deep blue ocean rippled almost nervously under the pier.

Or maybe it was just my own case of nerves.

I took a bite of the blueberry scone. Crumbs dropped and took off like dust in the wind.

The nearby pigeons immediately swooped down from the railing to clean up the mess.

I glanced back to watch them eagerly vacuum up the crumbs and looked up just as the incredibly hot man walked out of the scone shop.

Talk about a movie-star caliber face, and everything beneath the face was breathtaking too.

He was wearing a black T-shirt under a flannel button down, but I could tell by the breadth of his shoulders and the way the shirt hugged his arms that he was built.

One of the pigeons walked right up and tapped my shoe.

I startled and laughed before purposely dropping a crumb down for the pushy bird.

It was a mistake. Instantly, birds of every shape and size dropped from some invisible bird chute in the sky.

Seconds later, I was surrounded by at least thirty nosy, greedy pigeons and gulls.

I took a few steps forward to try and remove myself from the beaky circle, but they moved with me, all of their black, beady eyes focused on the scone in my hand.

I frantically tossed out a few crumbs and realized I'd just made the classic "pouring water on a grease fire" mistake.

More birds showed up. It seemed every feathered animal on the coast had heard word about the silly lady tossing out blueberry scone pieces.

There just wasn't that much scone to go around, so some of the birds started moving in on me, determined to be the winner in the contest for a crumb.

A gull tapped its long orange beak against my leg. I screamed and threw the entire scone up in the air. Flapping wings and angry squawks followed. I was trapped under a cloud of feathers, beaks and talons. I covered my head and crouched down. A large hand took hold of my arm.

"Go on, get out of here, you scavengers," he said as he flailed his big arm.

I tucked against him for shelter as he scared the last of them off.

To say I felt embarrassed and ridiculous was an understatement.

The beautiful woman running the scone shop had come out to see what the commotion was about.

She shot a wry smile and head shake toward the man and went back inside.

When the last pair of wings had flapped away, I felt safe enough to emerge from the protective cocoon of his arm.

My face was warm with a blush. "Apparently, birds like scones," I said in a nervous twitter.

The birds had gone, and my frayed nerves were starting to smooth, but something about the man standing just inches from me had set off a storm of butterflies in my stomach.

"Thank you for saving me from my Hitchcock nightmare. "

His smile was as stellar as the rest of him. "My pleasure. Hitchcock?" he asked, confused.

"You know, the old-time, horror-flick producer.

" I lowered my chin to give it a doubled up look and pushed my stomach out.

"Good evening," I said in the infamous Alfred Hitchcock baritone.

I'd now embarrassed myself twice because he clearly had no idea who I was talking about.

I waved my hand. "My mom and I used to watch black and white movies every Friday night, and there was this Hitchcock movie where the birds went nuts, and they attacked—well great, I'm rambling like a madwoman to add to my humiliation. "

"I think it's the cutest fucking rambling I've ever heard, and for future reference, in case I'm not here next time, don't give them scones.

As you witnessed, they have a very big greedy bird network, and one little woman with a scone is no match for them.

I once watched a flock of gulls chase a woman all the way down the pier because she'd walked on eating a giant pretzel and had made the fatal mistake of dropping a piece.

" The man had incredible jewel-green eyes highlighted stunningly by black lashes.

His thick black hair was brushed back off his clean-shaven face.

"Well, if you're all right, then, I'm off to work.

" Another heartbreaking smile. "I'm Griffin, by the way. "

"I'm Shay, and I'm eternally grateful to you for saving me from what was destined to be a very bad morning. I've got to get to work, too. Thanks again, and I promise, no more scone tossing on this pier."

Griffin walked with me back down the pier, then with a moment of shy awkwardness we both smiled politely and went our separate ways.

I got in my car and moved the mirror to get one more glance at my hero before he climbed into his truck.

I was still in a cloud of shock and, frankly, feeling a little bit of heartache from the last few minutes on the pier.

The pushy birds had shocked me, and the handsome stranger who'd come to my rescue had rekindled one of my favorite daydreams, the one where the handsome prince comes in to carry me away from reality.

It seemed good men really did exist, and some even came in incredible packages.

My phone buzzed. I picked it up and looked at the screen.

And then, there was the man who could instantly shatter my daydreams and remind me of the darker side of things.

"I'll be home in two days." It was short and to the point, and as simple as the message was, it sent a jolt of sadness through me.

Tate's return home meant my half-life, the one where I was a happy-go-lucky, single woman who could stay up all night and watch old movies while wearing oversized sweats and eating greasy popcorn if she felt like it, ended.

It meant breezing down the hallway and stepping into the house without the fear of an angry tirade, or worse, was over.

It meant being myself, laughing out loud, dancing and not having to watch what I said or did was over.

Tate's return obliterated that half-life.

The second he walked inside with his shit-stomper boots and angry scowl, I became his unhappy and perpetually on edge wife.

There was a time, back when we were in our early twenties, where I thought he was the coolest, hottest man on the planet.

How quickly a vile personality could make good looks vanish.

His trucking job took him away from home more than half the year, and I thanked my lucky stars for that job every day.

Flipping back to my single woman life was the only thing that kept me sane.

I dropped my phone in my purse. No response was needed, and he wasn't expecting one. I started the car and drove off toward work.