Page 8 of Sweet Cinnamon and the Mountain Man (Festival of Hearts #2)

Cinnamon

“Where are we?”

I search the darkness and the slim beams of the headlights, studying the cabin in front of me. It’s small. But it looks nice.

“Who lives here?”

“Me.”

I whip around and glare at him. “I’m not spending the night with you.”

He rears back, his cheeks flushing dark brick red. “I’m not asking you to. I just thought it might be nice to have dinner here under the stars since we were relatively close.”

“Oh…sorry. I didn’t mean to jump down your throat.”

“It’s alright. I actually have a screened-in porch that I added to the side of the house. You can sit in comfort, away from the bugs and eat under the stars.”

I tip my head and smile gently. “That sounds just perfect.”

I follow him up to the house and we walk inside.

He leads me through a large, open great room and then through the side of the house to the porch and he’s right.

The moon and stars over us light up the night with silvery moonbeams and the soft breeze whispers gently through the room.

It’s been stifling with humidity today but now the breeze is just shy of chilly and the temperatures have dropped significantly.

Inside the little room though, part of the air is blocked and it’s comfortable. Nice.

I slip down to the chair beside a little end table and study it. “This is your work, isn ’t it?”

“It is.” He nods his dark head.

“Where did you learn this kind of thing? It’s really stunning work.”

“Practice. Just practice and desire to do it.”

I lean back and he grabs the food and divvies it up. I snort and hand him back part of it. “I can’t eat that much. You take the rest.” My eyes skip up and down his body. “You look like you could easily eat that much or more.”

“You calling me fat?” His lips twist wryly.

“Not in a million years. You have to know what you look like.”

“I like how you look too.”

My heart skips a beat and a breathless feeling creeps over me. When he says things like that, I can’t think.

“You wait right here. I’m gonna be back in a minute.” He steps out of the room and I pace around, my eyes darting out, then turning up to the sky. The stars twinkle and the night sky looks endless.

I close my eyes and murmur, “I don’t know what I’m doing but please don’t let me make a fool of myself.”

After a couple of minutes, Reginald comes back and smiles at me as he squats on the floor and drops a huge red and white plaid blanket down and spreads it out.

Then he puts a lantern on the edge and sets it very low.

So low that it barely lights the room. Just enough to eat by.

He gives me his hand and helps me down and I sigh.

“You’re really pulling out all the stops. I never realized that any man could be this romantic without being on some cheesy reality tv show.”

He snorts and then coughs into his fist. “Uh. Yeah. I don’t watch stuff like that. I mainly sit out here or on the front porch or I go in and read a little.”

I take a bite out of the piece of pizza and groan under my breath. “That is some good pizza.”

“The sign says they’re the best in the tri-state area. They couldn’t claim that if it wasn’t true.”

I snort and cough, choking a bit and then taking a huge sip of my milk shake which isn’t quite as thick as it started out. It’s melting just like I am with every word he says.

He settles back after he scarfs his food down and watches me, his hooded gaze slightly predatory and adorable at the same time.

After I finish my food, I groan and lean back onto the cushion from the couch that Reginald put behind me. I stare up at the night sky swirling and teeming with twinkling stars. “If you saw a falling star what would you wish for?”

He lies beside me and his head is so close to mine I could turn my head and kiss him.

But I don’t. Neither does he.

He stares up at the sky but his arm slips around me and I curl up next to him. “I would wish that tonight would never end.”

“Smooth talker,”I giggle.

“Never. You just bring something out in me.”

Giggling, I turn to him. “You mean like a plague or something.”

“No,” he snorts. “You make me feel like things will be alright.”

I settle into his chest and sigh. His heart beats under my ear and a feeling of contentment rolls over me. I don’t want to move. I just want to lie here a little bit longer.

“They will be,” I murmur, my eyes closing and darkness closing in on me. I feel so warm and safe and content. For the first time in my life I feel like I can trust somebody.

BamBamBam!!!

I jerk awake, my body stiff and sore, opening my eyes and staring at the unfamiliar room around me.

“Where the heck am I?” I mutter.

And then I hear voices and jump to my feet, patting at my clothes. I’m still dressed and I’m still at Reginald’s.

We must have fallen asleep. Now we’re going to be late. I shovel a hand through my hair and step out of the porch and into the house only to feel like Alice falling through the looking glass.

“What are you doing here?”

“I know why you’re making up to Cinnamon. You think if you do she can sweet-talk me out of that property next door. Not gonna happen by the way. that property is worth a helluva lot more than she is.”

I gasp and step back and both men turn to look at me.

My cheeks flush as James’s eyes drift over me, narrowing and gleaming.

“Well, well, well. Looks like you managed to get her on your side. Too bad. I’m still gonna buy that property and hopefully run you out so that I can buy this land up cheap too.

This is going to be the best resort around here. All I need to do is wait you out.”

‘What are you talking about, James? Why are you here in town? You don’t even like this place. You couldn’t wait to shake the dust off of your feet.”

“I’m back here to do a business deal for that property next door.”

“You’re trying to tell me you didn’t know a thing about what he was doing?”

“Of course not! I don’t usually talk to him and I haven’t heard from him since he walked out.”

I cross my arms over my chest and frown at both men who are practically posturing like mad bulls.

“What exactly are you asking me, Reginald?”

He doesn’t say anything but his cheeks flush and he won’t meet my eyes.

James’s eyes spark with laughter. “It’s actually pretty rich. He thinks that you were trying to get him to give up on that property by making up to him.”

He holds out his hands and sighs. “That’s not exactly true.”

Cocking my head, I fight the tears crowding my eyes.

“Oh really? Which part isn’t true? Oh, I know…

the part where you really like me. You just wanted to see how far I’d go to help my ex.

” Biting my lip, I stalk out the door and down to James’s car.

“Let’s go, James. I need to go pick up my car at the fairground and get some coffee before it’s time for the fair to open. ”

I’ve got another terrible day of people and I’m so close to just throwing my head back and screaming that it’s not funny.

I thought he liked me. Thought I found someone who understands the real me.

Instead I found a man who thought I was playing him and wanted to see how far he could push me.

Oddly, enough. That doesn’t really bother me. What bothers me is that he acted like he cared. Like he liked spending time with me last night.

But really he was just waiting to see how far he could get me to go to make a deal.

Closing my eyes, I sit down in James’s car, fighting to keep still and not give in to the urge to scream until my throat bleeds.

Now that I actually have a chance to think, I know why I was so happy to spend time with him and it’s pathetic as heck.

I love that guy. But I cannot be with a man that I don’t trust.

And I don’t trust the good-looking devil as he stands in the doorway and watches me leave, his hands in his pockets and his blue eyes so cold that I can feel the arctic blast over here.

I hang my head and turn to the window, fighting the sniffles but letting the tears drip down my cheeks. I close my eyes, pain riding me like a cowboy on a bucking bronco raking the spurs along my sides.

James snorts. “I don’t know what you see in that guy but it’s obvious the only reason he was interested in you was to get to me.”

Another stabbing pain in my heart but I just lean into the window and let the tears fall silently.

“I’ll drop you off and then I need to get to the office and talk to my boss. He’s really excited about this chalet.”

I don’t bother answering him. I doubt if he hears me anyway. He’s always good at tuning me out.

The only man that’s ever really listened to me is the one that just tore my heart out when he believed that I could help someone like James.

I would never and if he really cared about me he’d know that.

It’s only now that I’m away from him that I realize that he might not love me but I love him so much that my whole body hurts.

Most especially what’s left of my aching heart.