Page 3 of Rugged Hearts: Part One
I’m not catching a scent from her, which makes me really curious about it. Wondering if it was her scent I caught on the breeze earlier, I stop walking and say, “Thea, it’s really bugging me but I have to say it.” She looks at me like she’s expecting me to lash out at her; that won’t do. “You still have some leaves stuck in your hair.” I shoot her an easy smile, hoping it breaks the tension she’s holding onto. She looks up at me, surprised, then a small smile spreads across her face as she lets out the first genuine laugh I’ve heard from her.
She runs her hands through her hair and gets the rest except one. I lean over and pluck it from her hair. That’s when I catch her scent. It’s faint but there, vanilla with a hint of wood smoke, like campfire. It hits me like a bolt, the rightness of it, the overwhelming feeling that rushes through me—safety. Why does her scent make me feel safe? Scents can do that? I look down at her, wishing we were actually closer in height. My 6’2” frame has never felt more inconvenient than it does now with her nearly a foot shorter than me. She’s standing so still—did I scare her? Fuck.
I back away quickly and try to cover up whatever just happened. “Got it,” I say with a forced smile. Thea gives me a more subdued one in return. What do I say? I’m the one who always knows what to say and she’s striking me dumb. Keelan would be rolling with laughter if he saw me right now. Justpretend you didn’t just smell the most earth-shattering scent. Easy.
“So where are you from?” Nice, Parker, real nice. I could face-palm myself right now.
“I moved here from Chicago.”
Gods help me, why can’t I talk to this woman? “That’s a big change from the city to a small mountain town like Moonlight Valley. What drew you here?”
“It is a change but I’m excited for it, living in the city wasn’t for me. I found the job posting online when I was looking to move somewhere in the northeast and it went from there.” She hesitates before saying, “I thought you were going to fill me in on everything to know about the lodge?”
Is she smiling? She definitely is. Okay I’ll take that even if it is a small dig at my conversational skills. “I should come clean, I really don’t know a ton about the lodge. If you want to know about their software systems then I’m your guy but Ben would be the best person to ask about the lodge itself.”
Okay she’s smiling, at my expense but I’ll take it. “Why the software systems?”
“Oh, I work remote for an IT firm. Basically, I’m a professional hacker, or ethical hacker, I test companies’ systems to see if I can break in, if there’s any weaknesses, then we advise them of it with an action plan to fix it. When Ben wanted to build the lodge, as the IT guy of our pack I was the go-to for getting the systems up and running for it.”
“That seems like an interesting job. Makes sense they’d want you to be in charge of it for the lodge since it’s your area.”
I can’t help but laugh. “I wouldn’t say hospitality systems and getting it set up is my area of expertise, but I was glad to get it going. It’s what you do for pack and the lodge was Ben’s passion project.”
“Still, being pack doesn’t always guarantee things. Don’t downplay your contribution,” Thea says, surprising me.
Of course that’s when we come up on the lodge with a cabinnow in sight. We must’ve passed the posted signs demarking the separation between the pack and lodge land. Guess it really is that easy to miss. Maybe it’s something I should bring up to Micah?
She must’ve thought the same as she looked behind us as if looking for the signs. “I guess I’ll leave you here. It was nice to meet you Thea.” I smile, before calling out for Duke who I have not been paying attention to like I should.
Laughing, she leans down and pets his head. “It was nice meeting you Duke, but try not to knock anyone else over.” Duke then licks her hand, which I can’t help but roll my eyes at this dog sucking up to her. “Thank you for your help and sorry again for the trouble.”
She goes to leave but I’m not letting her end it on that note. “Thea.” She looks up at me, her hazel eyes looking conflicted. I wish I knew what she was thinking. “There was no trouble at all, I mean that,” I say with all the sincerity I can, hoping she feels it. I think she does since she nods her head slightly before turning and walking down the path towards the cabins. I didn’t really look at her body before, once her eyes mesmerized me, but I am now and she truly is a Goddess with all those curves. I have to see her again, if only to see why her scent affected me so much. And that was only a faint hint of it. Gods, what would it be like scenting it all. I groan and look down at Duke who’s already looking up at me, his head tilted in that questioning way that dogs always do.
“You have no room to talk, I’m telling Micah what you did today. Now let’s go home.” I am not made to be strict with anyone. Even Duke knows that but he also knows Micah is the boss and won’t be happy. Actually, I’m going to text him now before I forget, which is more likely to happen.
Parker
Your dog ran over a woman in the woods today on our walk
Micah
First he’s your dog too and is she okay? What happened?
Parker
She’s fine just walked her back to the lodge, she mistakenly walked onto our land thinking it was part of the lodge. Duke ran into her from behind and knocked her over.
Micah
You made it sound worse than it was. It’s not his fault. She shouldn’t have been there. I told Ben we need better signs.
I don’t bother replying, I should’ve figured he wouldn’t care. The grumpy bastard. Duke and I thankfully make quick time back to the house. Physically I was tired from the extra long walk but mentally I feel wired. Walking up to the house, I see Keelan’s truck pulled to the side entrance that goes into his workshop. The bed of the truck is filled with various pieces of wood, likely for his next project. Just as I round the truck, he comes out for the next load.
He may be my twin, but we are fraternal and only have a few similarities in our appearance. We’re both tall but Keelan is on another level. We’re both bulky but I’m soft where he’s hard, likely from his work. Our blond hair is even different. Mine is a sandy blond whereas his is darker. Where my eyes are green, his are brown, but similarly shaped to mine. He nods his head at me with a grunt of acknowledgement. That’s Keelan, he’s not much for words. It was a running joke growing up that I talked enough for the two of us. It’s somewhat true but he talks plenty to me and our pack.
“What’s all this for?” I ask as he braces to get the next piece of wood out of the truck.
“Winter project at the lodge. You gonna help or just watch me struggle,” he says curtly.