“Alright,” I relented. “I write romance. Mostly fantasy adult romance, but sometimes it falls on the line of erotica. There! I said it!” I threw my hands up in surrender, not believing I just told him that. It wasn’t exactly something I should feel embarrassed about, but I wasn’t sure I wanted him to know I was hopeless romantic at heart. Didn’t that kind of stuff normally weird guys out?
He laughed. “That wasn’t so bad. If you’ve published a few books, it must mean you’re good at what you do. That’s admirable. I can’t string words together like that, especially to bring out strong emotions. But, give me two completely different types of furniture, and I can definitely make it into one.”
“Your furniture is beautiful. Not just that, but everything I’ve seen in the cabin that Aunt Em said you’d made is just stunning. The detail you put in the bannister alone is something I’ve never seen. You’re very talented.”
This time it was him who blushed. And damn, it looked good on him.
“Thank you. I don’t know what to say to that other than just thank you.”
I bowed my head with a smile. “You’re welcome.”
He stood there for a second, staring at me with a look I couldn’t decipher before the watch on his wrist started beeping. He looked down to see the time then turned it off.
“I’ve got to get going, but …” he paused, seemingly mulling over what to say next before settling on, “it was nice running into you.”
Was it sad to say I was almost hoping he’d ask me out? It was absolutely a bad idea, but I wouldn’t be opposed to it either. Something told me that if he asked anything of me, I doubt I’d be able to deny him.
“Yeah, go. Sorry if I’ve kept you from whatever you were doing. And sorry again for your shirt.”
“It’s no problem, Daisy, really. It’s just a shirt,” he started walking backwards. “I’ll see you around?”
“Yeah,” I replied. “Definitely. Bye.”
“Bye,” he responded, giving me one last of his spectacular smiles before turning around to leave.
I stood there for a moment longer, feeling like a girl in high school again. One who just had a conversation with the cute, popular jock and just had to stop and smile about it.
When I finally felt like I could move, I decided to take a peak at the section he’d been coming from, just to see what kind of books he liked reading.
I was fascinated to see it was a section completely devoted to books on lore and myths. It made me wonder exactly what it was he’d been looking for.
Bastian was an enigma to me, yet he was someone who I felt I connected with on levels I hadn’t connected with anyone in a long time. It was new and exciting, yet it felt like more, too. Something about him drew me in and kept me there, hoping I could get just one last smile before he disappeared then I’d be perfectly okay.
I was hit with inspiration after our exchange, nixing the book and finally forcing myself to sit back down at my laptop to start writing. I didn’t even care that my shirt was still gross and sticking to me uncomfortably beneath my jacket. I just had to get the words out that suddenly started flowing through my mind like an avalanche.
Who are you Bastian Urso? And why do I want to know you so much more?
Nine
Bastian
As I walked to get Addy from school, I couldn’t get the exchange between me and Daisy out of my head.
The trip to the library had been a total waste as far as research. There was absolutely nothing about shifters in the section I’d looked through. I scouted the rest of the shelves, just in case there was another shelf of books on the subject, but I came up empty. The closest I’d get to finding anything out about me was books on regular polar bears. We may look the same, but our species were nowhere near alike.
One upside to the trip, however, was a chance encounter with Daisy. I finally got a moment alone with her since fixing the porch, and I had no clue what to say. Had it really been so long since I had tried flirting with a woman who wasn’t Eve? I had zero social skills when it came to women. Addy was only ten and even she could see I was lacking in the social department.
I had almost asked Daisy out, yet the moment the words were about to come out, I completely chickened out. A few of the parents said hello to me as I waited outside the school for Addylin to be released, but my mind was still wrapped around the way Daisy wrinkled her nose when she talked about work. How her cheeks flushed with the most stunning shade of pink when she told me what it was she wrote about. I’d barely felt the hot coffee spill on me when I got bumped. I was just so enraptured by her adorable look of horror and the fact that she started laughing. Her laugh was intoxicating and made me forget about the nerves of seeing her again for a moment.
Why did this woman twist me in ways that I wasn’t aware I was able to even twist in?
“Hey, Daddy!” I heard Addy say as she rushed towards me from the sidewalk. Just before she collided into me, she came to an abrupt halt at seeing my shirt. “Eww. You’re wet. What is that?” She asked, pointing to the stain on my shirt.
I chuckled then wrapped an arm around her neck, pulling her into me with a side hug and kissing her head. “I ran into one of our new neighbors earlier. She had coffee and it went everywhere.” I explained while we made the short walk home.
“Is that the pretty lady with the brown hair?”
I stopped and looked down at her in surprise. “How do you know what she looks like?”
She shrugged and grabbed the straps of her backpack. “I saw her from my window last night. She was humming while writing something and I thought it was pretty.”
I knew what she spoke about, because I had watched her too. I noticed she did that when she was on the porch and thought no one was looking. However, I was always looking. I also knew for a fact that was well after her bedtime last night.
I started walking again and gave her a pointed look. “You weren’t in bed like you were supposed to be?”
She looked up at me with one of her innocent smiles. “Only for a minute,” she hopped up on a log as she continued walking, her arms held out for balance. “My window was open, and it woke me up. She has a pretty voice.”
“It is pretty, isn’t it?” I asked her with a smile.
“She’s also really pretty.”
“She is,” I replied only to stop and give her a suspicious look. “Are you trying to pull something?”
“Nope! I just can tell you think she’s pretty,” she stated matter-of-factly.
“And how do you know that?”
She shrugged and smiled. “I see you looking at their cabin when you think I’m not looking. You look like you want to go say hi to her but are too afraid to.”
I shook my head in disbelief, not at all surprised by my girl’s perceptiveness. It awed me every day how much smarter she was than the day before. “I guess I kind of do. Do you ever miss anything?” I asked her.
She jumped down from the log. “Nope! And she should come over for dinner. I can make us all some cereal!” She said excitedly.
“Cereal, huh?” I laughed.
“I’m ten. I can’t use the stove yet, so cereal is what I can do,” she stated.
I laughed loudly. Addy would eat cereal every day for dinner if I’d let her. “How about I just do the cooking if we invite her over? Problem solved.”
She bobbed her head in agreement. “That’s probably a better idea.”
“Probably,” I replied with another laugh, wrapping an arm across her shoulders. “Let’s get some hot cocoa you crazy kid.” I said, moving her in the direction of the cafe in town.
When we got there, she got her usual hot cocoa with extra marshmallows, then sat down at one of the tables to happily sip on it.
“How was school today?” I asked, drinking my own cocoa.
She brushed some of her white blonde tresses behind her ear. “Mikey McCormick tugged on my hair during class today. I told him to cut it out, but he kept doing it.”
Addy had been having trouble with little Mikey the past few weeks. I knew without a doubt he liked her. That’s just how boys handled crushes. Addy, however, didn’t seem to understand the concept of it.
I arched a brow and held back a grin. “Did you tell Miss Smith?”
“No. I didn’t wanna be a tattle tale,” she replied dismissively, stirring her cocoa with a spoon to melt the marshmallows better.
“For the record, it’s not tattling if someone is bullying you, but maybe you should ask him why he keeps tugging on your hair,” I supplied.
I usually suggested her asking him why he was doing something, but she never took the bait. Two days ago, it was him stealing her pencil. Last week he had pushed her down on the playground before running away. Odds were, the poor kid would have no idea what to do if she asked him up front why he was picking on her.
“I think I’ll just ignore him. It didn’t hurt anyways. It just bugs me when I’m trying to read.”
I chuckled silently into my cocoa. I was surprised by the fact that he interrupted her reading and it didn’t get him a good lashing from her. My girl loved her books.
“How about we shift and go for a run?” I asked her, remembering our earlier conversation and knowing she needed to run off some energy. If anything could take her mind off a boy being mean to her, this would be it.
The way her face lit up at the idea was a look I wish I could put on her face every day. I’d rather die a thousand deaths than ever let my baby girl lose that expression of pure excitement.
“Yes!” She pumped her fist up in the air and began drinking her cocoa faster, rushing to finish. “Can we go by the lake?” She asked excitedly when she came up for air from her cup.
I grinned at her chocolate smile and handed her a napkin to wipe her face. “If that’s what you want. Then we’ll do pizza for dinner. How’s that sound?”
She clapped her hands. “Like the best day ever!” Without giving me much time to pull my wallet out and leave a tip, she jumped up from her chair and zoomed out the door.
I laughed as I rushed to catch up to her.
Daisy
I was one of those people who baked and cleaned when I was stressed, excited, or nervous about something. Anyone who knew me, knew that both were signs of any of those things.
Today’s reason was because of my interaction with Bastian, and then my eventful walk by the lake afterwards.
When he left, I’d come up with a relatively detailed beginning to my story and hadn’t stopped writing for at least three chapters. After I was satisfied with my work for the day, I took a stroll that led me towards the lake. I had sat and started listening to music as I drew in my sketchbook and took in the serenity of the expansive frozen lake with the mountains that surrounding it. The ice was still thin, but I hoped at some point while I was still here it would harden enough I might be able to skate on it. I hadn’t ice skated since I was a girl and that had been at an indoor rink. Nothing like the beauty that had stretched out before me.
While there, something miraculous happened that made me angry at myself for not bringing my camera.
Two polar bears crossed through the trees at the other side of the lake.
I had no clue polar bears were even in this part of the country. I knew it was entirely possible with how close we were to the places you would find them in the north, but here was not where I expected. Polar bears were always my favorite animal growing up. Ever since I saw one in a zoo next to the penguin exhibit, which was my second favorite animal, I’d been hooked. I had written a children’s book about a little, polar bear cub who was the smallest of her sleuth because of that love for the animal. It was my bestselling children’s book.
It had made my day seeing them both scurrying into the trees. One was larger and probably the mama bear, while the other much smaller one followed quickly behind. I had dropped my sketchbook and ripped my headphones from my ears. By the time it sunk in what I’d seen, it was too late for me to take out my cell phone and at least get a picture of them.
As soon as I got back to the cabin, I was on such a high from the excitement of the day, I immediately got to work cleaning up the place. However, since we hadn’t been here long, and Hannah and I were relatively clean people as far as organization, I ran out of things to clean. That was when I found all the baking stuff and went to town making brownies. I decided to make them for Bastian as a thank you, and as an apology for spilling coffee on him.
Which was how Aunt Em found me when she dropped by, the kitchen a complete disaster.
“What on earth are you doing?” Aunt Em asked as she hung her coat up and wandered into the kitchen cautiously.
“How did I not know polar bears came this far south?” I immediately asked her with enthusiasm, completely ignoring her question.
For a split second she looked shocked, but the look was gone before I could confirm if it had really been there.
“It happens sometimes. They migrate a little off course and wander the mountains from time to time,” she explained. “Why?”
Her explanation seemed a little rehearsed, but I shrugged it off.
“I saw two today. A mama and it’s cub. It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. I almost didn’t believe it honestly.” I finished mixing my batter just as the chime for my first batch went off on the timer.
“That’s lovely! I probably would’ve felt the same way. Is this why you’re baking up a storm, or is there another reason?” She asked.
“Uh oh, she’s making the brownies,” Hannah said as she wandered into the kitchen and yawned. Her hair was sticking up in all directions on one side. That combined with her drooping eyes confirmed she’d just woke up from a nap.
If she didn’t take at least one nap a day, I’d end up killing her by how cranky she gets.
“Why ‘uh oh’ about the brownies?” Aunt Em asked, taking a seat at the dining room table.
I pointed the rubber spatula threateningly at Hannah. “Don’t go there. That’s not what this is.”
Hannah laughed and took some orange juice from the fridge. “Bull! You make these every single time you –…”
“Don’t!” I interrupted her loudly. “This is not that!”
“Can one of you explain to me what’s going on?” Aunt Em asked in confusion as she looked back and forth between us.
“Allow me!” Hannah said excitedly as she poured herself some juice then sat down across from Aunt Em. “Our little Daisy here only bakes her special brownies when she wants to get - …”
“No,” I interrupted again.
“Laid.” Hannah finished with an evil smirk.
I groaned and started taking my frustration out on the batter, practically beating it into submission with my spatula. “These are not the get laid brownies. These are the ‘I’m sorry I spilled coffee on you and thank you for fixing the porch’ brownies for Bastian.”
“Do they have cinnamon in them?” Hannah asked; her smirk widened.
“That means nothing! I add cinnamon to all my brownies because it gives it an extra bit of flavor!” I argued. It was my secret ingredient in brownie batter, and I refused to make them without it.
“Which you only make when you want to get laid. You made them for that guy Dale in high school that you lost your virginity to. And you made them for Matt before prom. And what happened every time you made them? You banged. Case closed, horny friend of mine.” She sipped her orange juice with a satisfied grin.
“Doesn’t matter. These are not those brownies. I had a good day. I wanted brownies and to bring some to Bastian because I’m a klutz and he’s a nice guy. Case closed, pain in my ass.”
“Sure. Whatever you say. You win,” she surrendered.
The tone of her voice said the exact opposite. She wasn’t convinced in the slightest. Her giving up so easily on arguing practically said she didn’t mean it.
I knew why she thought they were. She was technically right this time, but so what? I could pretend she wa
sn’t this one time. Somehow, my brownies were like magic when it came to wanting sex. However, I’d also made them because brownies felt like a good way to apologize to Bastian. I still felt awful about his shirt and wanted to make it up to him. Or maybe I just wanted an excuse to go over there and see him and bringing baked goods was about all I could think of to do.
Damn it! These are not ‘get laid’ brownies! I argued against myself. I’d probably be arguing with myself about this for a while. It was the only way to convince myself I made them with completely honorable intentions; when in fact that was far from the truth.
“You girls have some strange ways of asking men for sex. If you want to have sex with Bastian, you should just tell him sweetheart. God knows, I would if I had even the slightest inkling he was into me like that. I don’t care how old I am, I know a good man when I see one. And that man is one of the best. You couldn’t do better.”
“Oh, my goodness! I do not want to have sex with him! I’m just being, well, neighborly! Geez! Besides, he has a girlfriend or something doesn’t he?”
“Why do you think that?” Aunt Em asked with surprise.
“Cause you mentioned an Addy the other day and she’s been obsessing over it.” Hannah replied nonchalantly.
“Have not.” I countered, but then couldn’t help asking anyways. “But seriously, who is she?”
Aunt Em laughed. “I’m not telling you. It’s not my business and you’ll find out soon enough anyway.”
“Oh, come on! It’s not like I’m asking you his schedule so I can go stalk him. I just wanna know who she is, is all,” I begged.
“Nope! Not telling!” She replied with an impish grin, then stood and walked over to the brownies. She picked up a knife and began cutting them into little squares, before placing them on a plate. “You should bring those brownies over, honey. I’m sure Bastian will love them,” she said, kissing my cheek and heading into the living room.
I gave Hannah the evil eye and she blinked at me in surprise. “What?”
“You suck. Just saying.”
Polarity of Us Page 7
