Page 5 of My Boyfriends Are All Monsters (Scared Sexy Collection #6)
Lucy
H ello?” I called. There was no answer. I’d searched all over the first floor of the bed-and-breakfast and even the bakery next door and the antiques shop beside it. Pausing to set my bag down by the door of the inn, I hobbled around the corner to check into the next shop.
The doorbell chimed as I entered. “A sweets shop?”
A quick look inside proved it was as empty as the others.
Rows of delectable chocolate treats were left wholly unguarded in more of that impossibly safe small-town charm.
I’d never felt the call to shoplift so strongly in my life, but I resisted and let the door close behind me as I exited.
“How does this ghost town have enough people to support two bakeries and a candy store? I walked all over the damn town and haven’t seen a single grocery store or even a Dollar General.
Where are they getting groceries? And where is the dentist’s office? I know he’s making bank.”
Hobbling farther into the street, I rested my walking stick against my chest, cupped my hands to the sides of my mouth, and screamed, “ Hello !”
Still no answer.
Pretty white flowers were growing along the wall of the candy shop, and lacking anything else to do, I wandered my way over to them for a closer look.
The fattest little bumblebee was putting in work on flowers far too small for him to sit comfortably on.
The adorable struggle made me giggle, and I snapped a picture with my phone.
The bee finished his work and flew off. I reached out to pluck the flower as a souvenir.
“I wouldn’t do that!” called a man’s voice.
I turned around to find the source, only to find it was coming from the woods. “Is anybody there?” I asked.
“Over here!” the voice called. A tall, pale man dressed in fishing gear stepped from the trees and waved at me. “So you’re the petitioner rousing old thorns?”
“I’m the what now? Look, I was on a hike but I got caught up in a rockfall. I was looking for a place to stay at the bed-and-breakfast, but I couldn’t find a soul there.”
The man laughed, his shaggy brown hair falling over his eyes. “Then I suggest you count your lucky stars and make a run for it. That bastard won’t be gone long.”
“Um, I’m sorry?”
He shook his head. “These mountains are home to more than deer. Didn’t anyone ever tell you to be careful what you wish for? A gullible thing like you is bound to be devoured in no time.”
“There’s cannibals out here?”
He walked closer, then seemed to stumble just before he reached the sidewalk. Righting himself, he chuckled and beckoned me closer. “Don’t worry, you’re going to be fine. There’s still enough daylight left to get you out of here before nightfall. Take my hand, I’ll guide you.”
A sense of unease settled in the air around me. I brought my hand to my chest, unsure if I should take his. “You know, I think I’ll wait at the inn and find my own way down in the morning.”
Mirth bled from his features, and the once-jovial, friendly eyes turned gaunt and hateful. “Don’t be daft. Whatever it is you wished for, that rotted thing won’t grant it without a price. Now, unless you’re dying to know how deep his thorns cut.” He offered his hand again.
“Wish? I don’t know what you’re—”
“ Lucy ,” Dr. Crane roared.
I whirled around, nearly jumping out of my skin. The doctor walked toward me in long, powerful strides. He grabbed me by my upper arm and pulled me closer to him. “What are you doing wandering around like this? You should be staying off that ankle. I told you to rest at the inn.”
Incensed by his manhandling, I pushed away from him. “There’s nobody at the damn inn! This weirdo is the first person I’ve seen in ...” I turned to the fisherman, only to find no one there. I looked around the tree line, but there was no sign of him. “What the ...”
Dr. Crane let out an exasperated sigh. Then he picked me up and cradled me against his chest.
“ Whoa. What the fuck ?” Did every man in this town have a secret mission to sweep me off my feet?
He grimaced at my outburst but merely adjusted me against him and began walking back toward the inn.
Pushing the door open with his foot, he turned sideways so I didn’t bang my head, and we entered.
“I just stopped by to drop off a pair of crutches. Caroline probably took a nap in the back. Woman’s older than dirt—it’s to be expected. ”
As if summoned, a frail old woman shuffled into the room, followed closely behind by the most geriatric-looking golden retriever I’ve ever seen.
“Who are you calling older than dirt?” She settled behind the counter and leveled a glare at the doctor, then puffed out a breath and said, “Oh, who am I fooling? It’s me.
I’m old, my back hurts, and I should be drinking whiskey down at the bar with Evangeline, but here I am!
” She spread her arms wide, then tapped the counter with her fist. “Still running the same—albeit lovely—inn I’ve been running since I was your age, and do you know why? ”
His brows drew together in an agonized expression. “Caroline, please—”
“Because all you youngins wanna move to the big city! Can’t make enough to buy so much as a one-room rat-infested shed, and the air’s more polluted than a chain-smoker’s Cadillac, but hey, at least you get pizza delivery!”
“Carol, I have patients—”
“And I’ve got hypertension! And the only thing that can heal this old woman is a glass of whiskey with Evangeline,” she whined.
“That’s ...” Dr. Crane sighed. “That’s not gonna help.”
“Well, it couldn’t hurt,” Caroline snapped, planting her bony hands on her hips.
His voice was rough with anxiety. “Yes, it could.”
“Can I be put down now?” I asked.
“What? Oh, right.” Instead of releasing me, he walked toward the staircase. “Which room do you want her in?” he asked the innkeeper.
“This is not down,” I interjected. Dr. Crane shifted his hand to get a better grip on my thigh. The veins in his forearms bulged as rough fingers dug into my skin.
Why am I even complaining? Shut up, Lucy.
Caroline rubbed a hand under her chin. “Hmm, it depends. Can she live without pizza delivery?”
“She’ll be fine,” he replied.
“Can anyone else hear me?” I am my own worst enemy.
A cry of relief broke from Caroline’s lips. “Perfect, she can take all of ’em!”
With a speed mismatched with her elderly frame, Caroline dug a ring of keys from the desk drawer and tossed them on my chest. Then she slapped a paper on the counter, whipped out a pen, and signed her name next to an X at the bottom.
“Here’s the deed to the place. Sign your name here and hand it to Jasmine down at the bank tomorrow. ”
My mouth hung open as she rolled up the deed and tucked it into the side pocket of my backpack still sitting by the door.
Caroline took her jacket off the coatrack and tugged it on.
Turning to the dog, she said, “Spatula, take the nice woman’s bag to her room and meet me at the bar.
” With a dazzling smile, she wished me luck and all but flew out the door.
Blinking rapidly, I asked, “What ... what the fuck?”
Tail wagging, the old dog fetched my backpack and trotted away with it.
Dr. Crane carried me up the stairs, where the dog led us into a large suite. Setting my bag next to the bed, Spatula barked once, as if to say, “Mission complete,” then trotted back out the door.
“Do I own a bed-and-breakfast?” I asked.
Crane set me down gently on the bed and placed the key ring on the nightstand along with my pack. He sat in front of me and undid the laces on my boots before carefully slipping them off. “Knowing Carol, probably. Do you want one?”
“I ... Yeah, I don’t know. Didn’t really wake up this morning thinking I was gonna be gifted real estate.”
“We should all be so lucky.” He grinned. Crane rested my leg over his lap and ran his fingers from the side of my calf to my ankle. “Any pain?”
“No.” But there was a tingle in the pit of my stomach.
A fire that grew larger the more the good doctor explored.
The touch of his hands on the sensitive skin at the back of my calf was almost unbearable in its tenderness.
When the tips of his fingers slid to my heel, I couldn’t stop the shuddering breath.
He mistook the reaction for pain and retracted his touch; the sudden coldness I felt in the absence of it, of him , sent me reeling.
“Apologies, it seems you’re still more sore than I thought. Wait here and I’ll bring you something to ice it with.” Dr. Crane removed my leg from his lap and stood.
“No!” I reached out and grabbed his wrist. “I’m fine, really. There’s no need to trouble yourself any further; you’ve already helped me enough.”
His tone demanded no argument. “If you were troubling me, I wouldn’t have offered. You are my patient. Listen to your doctor and wait here.”
“I . . . fine.”
He flashed a smile that sent my pulse racing.
“Good girl.” His gaze fell to my lips, and something intense flashed in his eyes.
The heat of it washed over my skin like sunlight after a long, long winter.
I realized with no small shame that I couldn’t remember the last time a man had looked at me like that.
A sad thought, when considering I had arrived on this mountain in what I thought was a committed relationship.
In Crane’s eyes there were no games, no second guesses, just pure unadulterated want. He leaned closer; the anticipation of a kiss hung between us like the fruit of the world’s first sin. Impossible to resist.
My hands found purchase on the front of his coat, leaning into him as I tilted my face to his for the first taste of his lips.
Loud knocking startled us apart. Neither of us had time to answer before Noah’s booming voice could be heard from the entryway. “Lucy, are you still here? I brought food!”
My stomach growled because she was a hater and didn’t want me to kiss the hot doctor.