Page 22 of Take Me Slowly, Part 1 (Aurora Hollow duet #1)

LEAH

Main street was packed. People stepped down from buses parked on the side of the road beside the Frosty Brew. More cars than I'd seen in town before were parked in front of and behind them, as well as on the other side of the street.

And down the side streets as well, I noted as I walked past.

People strolled from store to store in twos and threes. Many carried bags with logos from various stores on them. Especially In Tents, and the little shop beside it that sold fudge and jars of maple syrup.

Most of the tourists were around my age, but some were younger and some older. All here, I assumed, for adventure tours. Some of them must be international if they were buying syrup to take home with them. Okay, now I had a craving for too much of it on a piece of bacon.

All I really needed was some milk. I was used to bigger crowds than this, but for some reason, that day it threatened to overwhelm me. I'd have to get used to them when the winter tourist season rolled around.

Still, I hurried into the grocery store, relieved to find it almost empty. A couple of people browsed the fruit and vegetable section, while Carly from the Snowdrop Café carried a small basket around the aisles.

She greeted me with a smile. "Hey there. You seem to be settling in well."

"I am," I said, matching her smile. "How could I not? Everyone's been so welcoming."

"We can be an ornery bunch at times," she laughed. "Once in a while we decide to be nice to someone."

"I can't imagine you being anything but nice," I said sincerely. She'd been kind to me ever since we met. Whenever I saw her around town, she took time to stop and talk to me. And anyone else whose path she crossed. As far as I could tell, she never had a bad word for anyone.

"I have my moments," she said. "I heard you helped out when Jacob Ferguson was recuperating." She gave me a nod of approval. Like I could have sat at home and pretended everything was fine, but I hadn't. I pitched in where it was needed.

"Lots of people helped out," I said modestly. It seemed like half the town had given an hour here or there. Did they really expect that, because I was new in town, I wouldn't do the same? Okay, city folk didn't help out as much as they did here, but I was more than happy to prove them wrong.

"Well, that's true," she conceded. Something behind me caught her attention. Her smile faltered slightly.

I turned as Josiah stepped into the grocery store, his whole body stiff like he knew he'd be watched. He grabbed up a basket from beside the door and stalked through the store like a lion seeking its prey. Ready to tear it to shreds, down to the bones.

"Is this where you warn me to stay away from him?" I asked. It seemed to be the way of things around here. Every time he appeared, someone wanted to throw him out on his ass.

"I think you're old enough to choose for yourself," Carly replied. Her blue eyes were still warm, but now they held something else. Concern. Sadness.

She was the first person since I arrived in town who wasn't immediately hostile to Josiah. If anything, she seemed sympathetic. Like she felt sorry for him because the whole town ostracised him. Was she the only one?

"I'm glad someone thinks so," I said wryly. Everyone else seemed to think it was okay to tell me who I could and couldn't spend time with. Especially where it involved Josiah Lachance.

She caught the tone in my voice and looked back at me and laughed.

"Why doesn't that surprise me? I've heard about some of the company you've been keeping.

No, no, I'm not judging," she said quickly.

"Those boys are like their fathers, and their fathers are men who like to be in control.

Mountain men." She rolled her eyes toward the ceiling, but didn't stop smiling.

"They work hard, and they play harder. They take care of their own, but heaven help anyone who tries to mess with them. "

"That sounds like them," I agreed. Connor in particular liked being in control, and I couldn't say I hated it. The way he told me and Riley what to do, it was hot as hell.

Which reminded me…

"Is there someone in town who can change locks?" I asked.

"Henry Crane is our local locksmith, amongst other things," Carly said. "Riley too, sometimes. Both of them do a lot of handy jobs here and there. Fixing windows, framing walls, stuff like that."

Of course they did. If I was going to change the locks, I might as well have an extra key made for Connor. He'd have Riley do it anyway. If I found a way to lock them out, I suspected they wouldn't hesitate to break a window.

I wasn't sure if that was also hot or disturbing as fuck. Maybe a bit of both.

"I should get going," Carly said. "I have to get to work for the lunch rush." She adjusted her grip on the basket before carrying it off to the counter to pay for her groceries.

I glanced around carefully, looking for the aisle Josiah was in. I found him loading packets of meat into his basket. Trying to look like I wasn't approaching him, I moved around the store, looking at the items on the shelves, stopping here or there to add things to my basket.

"Are you going to keep pretending you're not watching me?" Josiah asked without glancing my way.

"What makes you think I'm watching you?" I picked up a packet of chicken breast, pretending to inspect it carefully before placing it with my other items. I had a couple of ideas of ways I could use it for dinner. Hopefully none that involved burning it to a crisp.

"Someone's always watching me," he said. "They have no fucking idea how to be subtle."

"Including me?" I turned to face him.

He smelled like leather and wood smoke with a hint of spice.

Cinnamon? I hadn't noticed a scar down one of his cheeks before, but a line of pale stubble amongst the dark hinted at a long one.

What was it from? I couldn't tell, but the ragged nature of the line suggested the injury wasn't a tidy one. Probably not a knife to the face then.

He sighed. "Did you want something, city girl?" His dark eyed gaze slid to my face, then slowly down my body, taking in my cute dress and boots. Making me feel like I was naked in the middle of the store.

"I know what happened with Coral Clarke," I said softly.

"You have no fucking idea," he growled.

"I know it wasn't your fault," I insisted.

"It might as well have been," he said. "Don't feel sorry for me. I fucked up and she paid the price."

The bitterness and self-loathing in his voice was nothing short of heartbreaking. He seemed to hate himself as much as most of the town did. Of course, if you spent twenty years being told you screwed up, eventually you're going to believe it yourself.

"It was just an accident," I said. "You shouldn't be beating yourself up about it."

"Shouldn't I?" He took a couple of steps closer to me. Close enough to feel the heat of his body. To see the seams of his black T-shirt starting to fray with the effort of holding his biceps in. The smell of spices was stronger now, like early fall mixed with leather.

I held my ground. "What if you let it go? What if you forgave yourself for what happened? Wouldn't that be better than living with the shadows of an accident?"

He locked his gaze on mine, like he was trying to figure me out. Trying to understand why I was saying the things I was. Why didn't I hate him like everyone else did?

Finally, he leaned back, away from me. "It doesn't matter if I do. People around here, they never forget. They don't forgive. They don't get past anything. They decide what they know is what they know and nothing will change their mind."

"You make them all sound horrible," I said.

Even his laugh was bitter. "Because they are. They like to think they look out for each other, but how long do you think it would be before they turn on each other after something else bad happens?"

"I don't think you're giving them enough credit," I admitted.

Sure, they gave each other shit, but they had each other's backs. They'd take care of each other if they needed to, like we had with Connor's dad. No one even thought about walking away and letting the pub fall apart.

"If you're still around in twenty years, you'll feel different," he said.

"Riley, Connor, men like them." He curled his lip.

"They only want one thing from you. They want you to fall for them.

When you care about them so much it hurts, they'll get bored and turn their backs.

Right now? You're a novelty to them. Someone new to fuck with.

A warm pussy to stick their cocks in. If you know what's good for you, you'll go back to the city before that happens. "

"Are you ‘men like them?’" I asked.

Falling for either of them hadn't crossed my mind. Honestly, I hadn't given much thought to what Connor meant when he said I belonged to him. I hadn't taken it all that seriously. We were playing around, that was all. Wasn't it?

"Sweet cheeks, all men are," Josiah said, looking almost amused. "Especially around here. Winter is coming and no one wants their dick cold."

"Seems like keeping it in your pants might be safer," I said. "Wouldn't want them to freeze and fall off."

He laughed, but the sound wasn't full of humour. It wasn't contagious. I didn't want to laugh with him, I wanted to feel bad for him.

He believed what he was saying, but I wasn't sure I bought it. Okay, plenty of men were fuck boys, but Josiah? He seemed almost as broken as Gavin Clarke. Instead of taking care of him, the town turned their collective back. That would screw with anyone's head.

I should know. It's how my mother and stepfather treated me.

Like I was barely there. Like they wouldn't care if I disappeared overnight.

Had they even noticed I wasn't in the city anymore?

They hadn't called to check on me. Chances were, they didn't even know it yet.

I should feel sad about that, angry, but instead I was resigned.

In a way, Josiah and I were a lot alike. Two people who needed others to give a shit about us. Who were bitter around the edges because we didn't get what we badly needed.

Instead, we got derisive looks and whispers behind our backs.

"Don't," Josiah said softly.

My eyebrows dipped. "Don't what?"

"Don't go feeling sorry for me," he said. "I don't need it or want it. Not from you. Not from anybody. Especially not anyone who lives in this stupid, fucking town." He raised his voice loud enough to be heard through the whole store.

The couple of other people stopped to look around and stare. Neither of them appeared to be locals.

"Josiah—" I started.

I didn't miss the way his eyes darkened when I said his name, but he whipped away. Turning his back on me to take his groceries to the counter so he could pay and stalk out of the store.