by Ali Parker
Obviously, they didn’t want to scare people away from their summer bash, but my senses were telling me it was more than that. I kicked my feet up on my desk and stared at the colorful display of flowers on their homepage.
This could be it. The story I’d been looking for might be lurking behind a childishly designed invitation to the annual summer bash of a place right in my backyard.
I grinned. So what if I was using this as an excuse to take my personal spotlight off the clinic where Haven worked?
If I ever had to, I could always go back to that. I hadn’t been untruthful when I told Ross nothing new had surfaced there. I wasn’t about to put Haven—or Kayla, for that matter—in harm’s way just because of a mysterious donation.
Kayla was just an intern looking to put in her hours so she could qualify to officially help animals. Haven had beat insurmountable fucking odds to get where she was. I’d be fucked if I was going to put the clinic’s reputation in jeopardy any further just because their boss had given some money.
I was still curious about the mysterious EM Martinez, but the ‘Concerned Reader’ had made a few good points in that email. What I’d written had been low and not researched at all.
They’d also been right when they told me to do better. I should’ve done better, even if I still hadn’t made any headway.
The real answer to doing better was staring me right in the face. There was more than one possible story at Yellowstone. All I had to do was to go looking for it.
I lifted my ass to dig my phone out of my pocket. If I was going to go to this thing, I needed a date. And I didn’t want anyone other than Haven on my arm for that.
She answered on the second ring, a little out of breath but sounding happy. “Hey, Colton. How are you? I’m chasing down a particularly crafty hedgehog right now. Can I call you back?”
“Are you free this weekend?” I asked instead of answering her questions. “If you tell me now, you won’t even have to call me back.”
She laughed, then cursed at something. “I’m free. Just text me where we’re going so I know the dress code. Gotta go.”
The line cut out just as I heard both Haven and Kayla howling with laughter before both screaming out, “Mischief, no!”
A smile crept onto my lips when I thought about her. The woman had really gotten under my skin. Sinking into her under the moonlight…
Fuck. I couldn’t get hard at work, but that woman did things to me I hadn’t thought possible anymore.
If I was lucky, this weekend I’d get to spend some more time with her as well as scoring my next big story. I would say that was a win on all fronts.
Getting lucky with her would just make it even more satisfying.
Chapter 21
HAVEN
Heavy clouds hung in the air, the sky gray and the day cooler than most had been so far this summer. There was no rain predicted, but it was a nice reprieve from the heat we’d been having.
I took a deep breath and unclipped Mae’s leash, letting her stretch her legs in the dog-friendly park where we were meeting Colton and Tiger. Mae dwarfed most of the other dogs in the park, but she was friendly enough that no one shied away from her.
Children laughed as they chased after their pets, and several people had set up camp here for the day. They had picnic baskets or backpacks filled with snacks, and most of the benches were already taken.
Since we weren’t planning on staying, I didn’t keep an eye out for people leaving to snag their seats. I stood off to one side of the park and watched Mae, tossing a ball her way when she’d finally done the rounds and greeted all the other dogs in the park.
“Hey, you,” a deep, familiar voice said from behind me. I spun around to see Colton and Tiger just a few paces away.
Tiger looked around uncertainly, staying still even after Colton let him off his leash. He stuck to his human’s side, definitely having gained some trust in him since the last time I’d seen the puppy.
Colton chuckled and bent over to scratch his head, murmuring something that made the dog’s tail wag. He licked Colton’s cheeks, which earned him a laugh, and then walked to me alongside his human.
“Hey.” I smiled, momentarily struck again by the richness of the color in his hazel eyes. The blues and browns together held a greenish tinge that made his irises look like a clear lake surrounded by a forest, the surface sparkling in the summer sun.
“Do I have something on my face?” he asked, barely concealed amusement in his voice.
I shook my head while also mentally shaking myself out of the land of waxing poetic over another person’ eyes. “Sorry. I guess I just got lost in thought. How are you?”
He flashed me a knowing grin but didn’t push the issue. “We’re good. Getting along much better now, as you can see.”
“Indeed, I can.” I dropped to my haunches and the puppy shot over to me, nearly knocking me over in his enthusiasm. Laughing while I tried to steady myself, I gave Tiger some cuddles before calling Mae over. “It was a good idea to introduce them to one another. We should set out some time for them to really get to know each other. Then next time we want to go somewhere they can’t come with us, at least we can have them keeping each other company at one house.”
Colton pushed that unruly lock of dark hair off his face, nodding as he watched Mae running up to us. “We could take them to Yellowstone. They just wouldn’t be allowed in the some of the areas where the event is taking place.”
Mae nudged my shoulder, and I got up to let the two of them have some space to do their sniffing. “This is Tiger, honey. He’s still a puppy, so be gentle, okay?”
Colton snorted when Tiger barreled into Mae with all the clumsy grace of a drunken ballerina. “I think you should’ve warned him instead. He’s not exactly being gentle.”
“Nah, but she can take it.” I watched them for a minute before relaxing. “There you go. No one growled or had their hackles rising. That’s a good first sign.”
“Does that mean they’re friends now?” He slid his hands into the pockets of his jeans, his gaze on the two furry creatures as Tiger jumped right into Mae’s face.
Even though I knew she was usually good with puppies, I tensed as he yapped playfully and jumped up again. “Yep. They’re friends, but we’ve still got to watch them while they settle into it. I wouldn’t leave them alone, especially on Mae’s turf at our house for now.”
“Got it. I’ve already arranged for one of my neighbors to watch him tonight anyway.”
“You arranged a babysitter for your puppy?” I frowned but only so I wouldn’t start gushing over how adorable I thought that was.
Colton shrugged his broad shoulders, his own brows knitting as he studied my expression. “Shouldn’t I have? I know he’s not an actual child, but it’s my responsibility to take care of him. I left fresh food and water, and his toys and bed are ready. The neighbor’s only keeping an ear out and going to check on him a few times.”
“That’s very sweet of you.” So sweet that my insides were starting to feel like a melting candy bar again. “I’m also sure you’ll thank yourself in the morning when you find your furniture hasn’t been ripped to shreds by a bored, unsupervised puppy.”
He laughed. “I’ve sacrificed a few pieces of furniture so far but nothing major. A pillow, one leg of my coffee table, and the wooden footrest around my bar. None of it was completely chewed up though.”
“Tiger must like you a lot more than you gave him credit for then,” I teased, standing beside him as we watched the dogs play.
Mae was in her element with the puppy, seeming much happier chasing him around than she had while trying to coax others into races earlier. We stayed longer than we’d planned to, only leaving when Tiger fell asleep on Colton’s feet and even Mae looked like she was ready to leave.
We took our dogs back to their respective homes. Then Colton came to pick me up for the date we actually had planned. Making sure the dogs got some time outside before we took off ha
d only been the proverbial appetizer.
On our way to the national park, we sang along to music on the radio in between talking about random things. Seeing a guy who looked like him belting out pop songs was hilarious, especially with his sunglasses on and the smirk on his face while he sang, but he didn’t seem to have a care in the world about singing along to teenage starlets.
“What’s your favorite song that you’re least likely to admit to loving?” he asked after turning the volume down once we got close to the entrance.
“Guilty pleasure song? Hmm.” I rolled my lips into my mouth and released them slowly. “There was a girl power band who were popular in the nineties. I still have their album on my phone and I listen to it all the time.”
He laughed before letting his arm extend as he sat back with his hand gripping the wheel. “Mine is similar. It’s by a hair metal band who reached the height of their popularity in the eighties.”
“Hair metal?” I made a face and scrunched up my nose. “My dad loved that stuff, but I never understood the appeal.”
“I think I love it because my mom did,” he admitted, a soft sigh escaping when he fell silent again. “I’m not even sure if she listens to it anymore.”
We entered Yellowstone and parked in a lot near an area where a bunch of food trucks had been set up. Colton took my hand once we’d gotten out of the car and led me right to the crowds waiting in line to get food.
“My mom used to bring me out here sometimes when she felt like she wasn’t doing well enough as a mother,” he said with nostalgia seeping into his tone. “It used to be our special bonding days. I loved them.”
I peered up at him, noticing how his jaw and the corners of his eyes were tighter than usual. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that he was hurting about something. “Your mom seems to be at the forefront of your mind today. Is she okay?”
He blew out a breath, rubbing the back of his neck before letting his head roll back and focusing on the miserable skies. “She’s okay. It’s just tough to face them getting older sometimes.”
A pang in my heart brought tears to my eyes. “I wouldn’t know, but I read a quote once about growing older being a privilege denied to many. To be honest, I’m not sure it’s worse having to face that they’re growing older or not getting to see it all.”
Slinging his arm over my shoulder, he rested his head on mine and brought me into his side like he could somehow protect me from pain. “I’ve seen that quote too. Truth be told, I can’t imagine not having her around anymore.”
“She raised you, right?”
He nodded against my hair. “My father wasn’t around much. He crawled out of the woodwork at times, but he’d always disappear again at a drop of a hat.”
“That’s terrible.” I brought my hand up to his over my shoulder and rubbed my chest with the other, subconsciously trying to relieve some of the pain there. “Just like you can’t imagine not having your mother around anymore, I can’t imagine having a father who would leave his family. Mine didn’t leave by choice, and even though I was young when he died, I’d like to believe he never would have. No matter how hard things got.”
Colton let out another quiet sigh, his chest expanding against my side as he turned into me to drop a kiss on top of my head. “Everyone’s upbringing leaves them with some kind of scar, I suppose. I’m sorry you lost both your parents. That really, really sucks. I wish there was something else I could say.”
“There isn’t,” I agreed. “Just like there isn’t anything I can say about how difficult it must be for you to see your mom getting older. Those things are what they are. It’s just nice being able to talk about it for once, you know? In my experience, people hate hearing about this stuff.”
“It’s because it makes them uncomfortable. I don’t speak about my mother because I want people to help me or her, or to make them pity me, or because I want comfort. I talk about her when I miss her.”
“Sometimes, you just need someone to listen.” I rested my head against his shoulder and looked up at him. “I’ll always be here to listen.”
“You and I always seem to get right to the heart of the heavy stuff when we’re left alone together.” He chuckled into my hair, pulling back to look into my eyes as he lifted my chin. “I kind of like it. It’s like neither of us are afraid to look into the dark part of the other and neither of us are about to balk at the first sign of it. I like it.”
“So do I.” But there was still one part of his darkness I hadn’t even scratched the surface of.
We could talk as much as we wanted to about every other area of our lives. Until we got past that article, it would always be between us. And he didn’t even know it.
“Why did you come into the clinic that first day?” I asked so suddenly that I didn’t have the chance to second-guess myself about timing.
He frowned, his eyes searching one of mine before it moved to the other. “I had to get Tiger checked out, remember? I only got him that morning.”
“Yeah, okay, but why did you get him? You’re a busy guy. Don’t get me wrong. You’re doing really well with him. I guess I just don’t understand why a single, busy guy would make a decision like that on the fly.”
“I’ve wanted a dog for a long time. Didn’t I tell you that when we first met?”
“You did.” I remembered our conversation vividly. Since I’d figured out who he was, I’d replayed it for clues a thousand times in my head. “But why that day? Why such a snap decision that you didn’t even have time to research the breed? Surely, if you’ve wanted a dog for that long, you’d have had a breed in mind that you took the time to read up on.”
His frown deepened, his eyes never moving from mine. “I took the leap because I really needed something in my life. Something to take care of. You know that I thought I’d have kids by now. I didn’t think about it before I got him, but he’s fulfilled a need I’ve had for a long time.”
He was still covering up his reason for coming in, but once again, I held back from pushing him about it. Whatever his angle had been for choosing my clinic to come to, everything he told me now was the truth.
Colton Stark really was a good guy. A complicated one, sure, but the more I learned about him, the more I felt like his heart was ninety percent made of solid gold. The last ten percent worried me but not enough to throw the other ninety away.
The shriek of an electric guitar pierced the air, and some of the tension melted out of his muscles. “Come on. The live music is about to start. Let’s not get stuck in the darkness. I’m ready to have a little fun.”
“So am I.” A few deep breaths of air and a real grin from Colton made me realize it was the truth. All would be revealed in good time. Pushing it wouldn’t help either of us.
For now, I just had to trust that he wasn’t using me, that he wasn’t playing the long game to get information for his article, and that he wasn’t simply the greatest bullshitter of all time.
In the meantime, I had a couple of bands to watch. “Let’s go. We can circle back and get something to eat later.”
Chapter 22
COLTON
Haven jumped up and down beside me, singing along to the penultimate song of the band’s set. The sky was streaked with blues and oranges, the sun setting behind the makeshift stage.
All around us, the crowd moved up and down. The audience knew every lyric and screamed it back at the girls and guy onstage.
I sipped my drink and nodded along to the beat, enjoying the music but also keeping my eyes open. I didn’t know what I expected to see while the bands were performing, but I was hopeful that something might catch my eye.
Ross had spoken to me again, reminding me how important it was that I find a new story. So far—again—I’d gotten all wrapped up in Haven and hadn’t done any digging at all. Now I was hoping that a story literally jumped out at me so I wouldn’t have to leave her side.
I’m so fucked.
But I had a cold beer in my hand and a
beautiful girl next to me. It was difficult to care about work under the circumstances. Instead of trying to force myself to concentrate on finding a story in a crowd full of people who were all just out here to have a good time, I closed that compartment in my mind and focused on the music instead.
“I love this song,” Haven cried when the lead guitarist stepped forward to play the intro to their final number for the day.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard it.” I grinned down at her, laughing when her jaw went slack as she stared up at me.
“How is that even possible?” Her eyebrows pulled together and she stopped bouncing. “You’re joking, right?”
“Not even a little bit.”
She shook her head before grabbing my hand, a determined gleam flashing in her eyes. “We’re fixing that. Right now. Put your hands up in the air and hop a little.”
“Like this?” I did what she’d said, feeling like an idiot until I noticed everyone else was doing the exact same thing.
Haven smirked when she caught me looking around. “Don’t worry. The first line is about breaking free and letting go. The music video starts with the band tossing their hands into the air. We’re just getting a head start. It’s a thing.”
“Right.” The audience roared as the lead singer gripped the microphone and growled into it. It didn’t take me long to realize the lyrics were pretty repetitive, and I was singing along long before the song ended.
Haven glanced up at me, her gaze catching on mine and resting there as she sang about not letting the past get in the way of the future. It felt like there was a message for me in there somewhere, but I had no clue what it was.
We didn’t have a past together that could be getting in the way of our future. Since we’d also already spoken about Noelle and how my past with her wasn’t holding me back, I really couldn’t think of any reason why those words felt so heavy when she sang them at me.
