“I think we’ve got everything now,” she said, jarring him back to the moment.
He cleared his throat. “Looks like it.” Hoping she hadn’t noticed his lustful stupor, he recapped the water and returned it to the cart. After all she’d done a lot for him in the past two days, he insisted on paying for the groceries.
Out in the parking lot, she wouldn’t let him help load the groceries into the hatch of her Range Rover. “Just get in,” she told him.
A few yards away from them, a man in a blue mechanic’s jumpsuit lifted the back end of a sedan—with his bare hands. Dean rubbed his eyes, sure he must be seeing wrong, but no. The man pulled a black cord out from under the tire, then set the car down.
A middle-aged woman thanked him. “My phone charger must have fallen out of my car when I got out of it before, and wouldn’t you figure it’s my luck that someone parked right on it.” She shook his hand. “You’re a lifesaver, Dustin.”
“Glad I could help,” Dustin said as he walked away.
“You okay?” Ember asked Dean.
He scratched his head. “I’m not sure.”
She set a hand on his arm. “Ankle hurting you?”
Her touch was gentle and warm and felt way too good. “I just witnessed a man lifting up a full-size car with one hand.”
The mechanic climbed into a tow truck and drove off.
Blanching, Ember shook her head. “You’re imagining things.” She handed him another water bottle. “Sometimes when people get dehydrated, it affects their mind. You should drink more.”
Maybe she was right. He took the bottle and set it in the cupholder inside her SUV then got inside. Was he losing it? That was what his mother used to tell his dad.
“My family says you need help, Frank,” his mom had said after his father told them he was going on another research trip. “This isn’t normal. Grown men don’t spend their time and money looking for the tooth fairy or the Easter bunny or Bigfoot.”
“They’re not the same thing,” his father had insisted. “Bigfoot is real. It’s been photographed several times.”
She’d pounded her fist on the kitchen table. “You’re delusional. If you don’t give up this nonsense, then we’re through.”
Dean unclenched his hands as Ember parked in an alley off one of the main streets.
“You’re sure you don’t mind waiting while I get my haircut?” Ember asked. “I’m sure Amethyst could reschedule it for next week after you…”
After he was gone from her life. “No, it’s fine. There’s a bench by the park across the street. I’ll hang out there until you’re finished. Text me when you’re ready.”
Ember slipped on her mirrored sunglasses. “Okay, just take it easy. And drink the rest of your water.” She raised a dark eyebrow. “Are you sure this is all right with you?”
At the moment he wasn’t sure of much. Were there mythical beings living in this town? Or was he delirious? Or maybe even crazy? All he knew was that the scientist in him wanted time to observe them.
Inside the Hair Scare, Amethyst greeted Ember with a big hug. “How have you been?”
Ember followed the purple-locked hairdresser to her station and took a seat. “Pretty good. What about you?”
The dozen or so bangle bracelets on Amethyst’s wrists jingled as she raised the chair and draped Ember with a cape. “Crazy busy. I’m moving into Dustin’s house in a few weeks.” She showed Ember her engagement ring—a large amethyst surrounded by diamonds. “He had Willa at Illusions make this special for me. Isn’t it gorgeous?”
“Perfect. Congratulations.” Every item Willa made was stunning, but the hairdresser’s ring was particularly beautiful. “She’s an amazing jeweler.”
“I know, thank you.” Ami spun the chair around then reclined the back against the sink and started washing Ember’s hair.
“Dustin seems like a great guy,” Ember said. “I just saw him at the Shop-n-Save.” Well, Dean had. The mechanic and garage owner had changed the oil in her Range Rover a few times and had always been polite and professional.
“He is, especially considering everything he went through growing up.” She massaged shampoo into Ember’s hair.
Ember shut her eyes, enjoying the sensation. “Did he have a difficult childhood?”
Amethyst groaned. “Awful. His parents are scientists who accidentally exposed him to some toxic chemicals that made him super strong. They studied him as if he was a lab rat.”
“What an awful way to grow up.”
Ami rinsed out the shampoo. “For sure. He wasn’t allowed to play with other children or do anything normal at all. As soon as he was old enough, he left home. He didn’t speak to them for years.”
Ember could relate, although it sounded as if Dustin had had it worse than she. At least she always had her family. As Amethyst cut her hair, Ember thought about Dean, and his desire to put Bigfoot under the same sort of microscope that Dustin’s parents had him. Dean wanted professional recognition, but was that a reason to destroy the creature’s life?
“Are we drying it today?” Amethyst asked, bringing Ember back to the moment.
Ember studied her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was a couple of inches shorter, and her head felt lighter for it. “Not today. I’ve got someone waiting for me.”
Amethyst waggled her eyebrows at Ember as she removed the cape. “Oh? A guy? Tell me you’re finally dating someone.”
Her cheeks heated. “He’s only a friend.”
“Mm-hmm, sure he is. That’s what I used to say about Dustin.” Ami gasped. “OMG, I have a great idea. I’ve got another client coming in a minute but why don’t you have Mallory give you a quick reading?”
Ember glanced across the room to the manicure tables and found Mallory at her station filing her own nails. Although Mallory was Jordan’s twin, Ember didn’t know her as well as she did Jordan. And the last thing she wanted to was to have everyone in the salon hear about her past. “Um, maybe another time.” She pulled two twenty-dollar bills out of her wallet and handed them to Amethyst. “Keep the change. I’ve got to run.” Giving the hairdresser a quick hug, she thanked her then slipped on her dark glasses and left through the back door, which opened to the alley.
Rather than text Dean, she headed to the park to get him, but the bench he’d mentioned was vacant. Where would he have gone? After their time at the museum and then walking all over the Shop-n-Save, he ought to be resting his ankle, not galavanting all over town. She sent him a message offering to pick him up from wherever he’d wandered. Then she went to fetch her car.
As soon as she got in, her cell dinged with a text.
“At the fountain,” he wrote back.
She drove the short distance to the town center and parked as close as she could get—a block away. As she strode toward the fountain, the fairy lights that decorated all the downtown buildings at night, went on. She adored living on her mountain but had to admit that this place had a certain charm. Passing Santa’s Workshop, she waved at one of the elves, who was setting up a display of dolls in the window. Hugh and Delaney Ellingham smiled as they strolled by, arm in arm.
“Hello,” she said, feeling a tiny pang of envy. Living so far from town could be lonely, especially because she spent most of her time alone. There were weeks when the only people she saw were Mika and Rod when they came to clean her house and work in the yard. But she wasn’t ready for a relationship, no matter how attractive she found Dean. Not yet. The scars were still too fresh. Trust had always come hard to her, and since the kidnapping, it was even worse.
Approaching the fountain, she glimpsed Dean sitting on a nearby bench, his crutches leaning against the armrest. He feverishly tapped the screen of his phone with a stylus. Then he stopped and looked up at a passerby—a vampire—before continuing his note-taking.
Was that what was he doing? Taking notes about the locals? That wouldn’t go over well with the Ellinghams—or any of the
other residents for that matter.
Ember circled the fountain, stopping just behind Dean, and peered over his shoulder trying to read the screen of his phone. She managed to make out a few words—fangs, shifter, elf.
Gulping, she touched his arm. “Hey.”
He turned and looked up at her, and a big smile settled on his handsome face. “Gorgeous.”
Heat tendrilled through her. She flipped her hair over her shoulder. “I only had a couple of inches cut.”
His gaze tracked down her body before returning to her eyes. “I guess you’re always this pretty.”
Silly butterflies flitted around in her belly. But she couldn’t get bogged down by flattery. She tipped her chin at his phone. “What are you doing?”
“Observation.”
That was what she was afraid of. Hopefully, no one had heard, or if they had, they wouldn’t realize that Dean was spying on them. She handed him his crutches. “Ready? It’ll be dark soon. I’d like to get going.”
“Sure, sure.” He got up, and they started walking. “There’s a lot going on here, you know.”
“Yes, the town is gearing up for the Red, White and Boo Festival on the Fourth of July.” She turned left onto Black Cat Boulevard. “I’m parked across the street.”
“No, I don’t mean events,” he said. “People are…different here. I first noticed it last night on our walk to the restaurant. The locals aren’t like normal human beings.”
She knew exactly what he’d meant. He was going down a forbidden path, and she had to steer him away from it.
They waited for the tourist trolley to pass before crossing.
She unlocked the car then opened the hatch and grabbed another bottle of water. Getting behind the wheel, she passed him the water. “Here you go.”
Waving away the offer, he buckled his seatbelt. “I’m not dehydrated,” he said. “I just finished the last bottle. My thinking is quite clear. In fact, the wheels are turning.” He rubbed his chin. “Maybe the mountain air is charged with something that creates all these crazy side effects. I don’t know. But I think there might be more here for me to study than just Bigfoot. Something way more amazing.”
“What? No.” She stopped at a red light.
“This could work out for both of us,” Dean said. “Don’t you see? I could rent a room here in town until my ankle heals. I’ll spend part of my time continuing my Bigfoot research and the rest of it studying the locals. I have lots of downtime with my current project, waiting for my subject to show up. The cameras are there to see what I can’t. Seriously, just in the half hour that I was sitting by the fountain, I noticed all sorts of strange things.”
And the whole town would be exposed. Her friends’ lives would be turned upside down. “Of course you did. That’s because it’s all a show, a play for the tourists.”
“I don’t think it is. Not all of it.”
Ember sped up as she left the downtown area. “I’ve lived here almost two years. I’d have noticed if there was something going on. Believe me.” Her belly tightened at the white lie.
He leaned his head back. “I guess I could have imagined that some things were real when they were merely very well-done fakes.”
“Exactly.” Thank goodness the water was working on him. She’d begun to think that he was immune to the power of the water from the falls. Clearing her throat, she changed lanes. “Looks like I’m in for a gourmet dinner.”
He sat up taller in the seat. “Shrimp kabobs and herbed rice. Oh, and s’mores, of course.”
“Sounds yummy. Who taught you to cook?”
“My father was always a genius at the grill. He rarely used his stove.”
“You’re making me hungry.” She slid him a sideways glance. What was it about his hair that made her yearn to run her fingers through it? And those turquoise eyes. They reminded her of the color of the ocean in Miami. Sexy didn’t begin to describe him.
“Ditto.” His voice was deeper, throatier than usual.
Did he mean…?
He gave her that combination wink and grin thing guys did when they were interested. And it made her toes curl. Over dinner, she’d do her best to make sure he’d nixed his plans to study the locals. And to let Bigfoot be—whether the creature was real or not. If she had to, she’d drive him back to Florida herself. Which would give them a little time away from Nocturne Falls, and all the supernatural beings who had everything to lose if Dean saw through their ruse.
Chapter Six
Dean deveined the shrimp next to the sink in Ember’s summer kitchen on the deck. He’d made the recipe numerous times, but never in such a scenic spot. The view of the mountains was breathtaking, although his gaze kept wandering to his helper as she chopped the vegetables. She sure was beautiful, and fun to be with.
And evasive. Every time he mentioned the odd residents of Nocturne Falls, she clammed up. He was sure there was something going on of scientific significance, and Ember likely knew what.
When Ember’s phone buzzed, she wiped her hands on a dishtowel before answering. “Hey, sweetheart. What’s up?”
His jaw automatically tightened. He stole a covert glance her way. She smiled and nodded in response to what Sweetheart was saying.
“Of course you can.” Another nod. “Any time. I’m not leaving.” Then she hung up and returned her phone to the back pocket of her jeans.
Dean set the ingredients on the table and sat down to prepare the kabobs. Grabbing a wooden skewer, he stabbed a cherry tomato then a shrimp and a mushroom as he waited for her to say something.
“You okay?” she asked him.
“Sure, fine.” No, he wasn’t. Who was her sweetheart? He’d been sure that her story about having a boyfriend had been some silly ruse because she didn’t want to let on that she was alone at her house.
Setting a bowl of onion chunks and the rest of the vegetables on the table for him, she snickered. “Your curiosity is showing. That was my friend Jordan on the phone. She’s coming by to ride Lycia soon.”
The kinks in his shoulders and neck relaxed. “Oh. Will Jordan be joining us for dinner?” He hoped not, and didn’t care to think about why sharing Ember with anyone bothered him so much.
“Nope. At seven-thirty she has to pick up a pitbull that lives a few miles away. She owns a petsitting service in town. Since she has to come out to the area to get the dog, she thought it would be a good time for her to ride. Lycia needs more exercise than I can give her, so Jordan comes once or twice a week.”
He finished prepping the skewers then wrapped them in foil and slipped them into the small fridge. “As soon as the rice cooks, I’ll put these on the grill.”
“Great.” Ember took a sip of water.
Which reminded him that he had a nice bottle of Chardonnay in his truck. “I’ve got to run over to the stable for a minute.”
Gesturing at his crutches, she laughed. “I’d like to see that.”
“Oh, yeah. I keep forgetting about my bum ankle.” Making use of the banisters, he half hopped, half slid down the steps to the lawn. When he was almost at his truck, his phone buzzed. He checked the display. It was William, his grad student, returning Dean’s call.
He thought about William’s assurance that he’d researched the area and that the property was part of a state wildlife preserve. Irritation churned in his gut as he leaned against the door of his truck and answered. “Good evening, William.”
“Hey, Professor. Your message sounded urgent. What’s up?” William asked.
Dean told him about the land being under private ownership, and how as a result of Dean being there, he’d ended up with a broken ankle.
“Geez, I don’t know what to say,” William said. “I guess the records were wrong.”
“Mm-hmm. Did you call to verify it?”
Silence.
“I was counting on you,” Dean said.
“I have some news for you.” William lowered his voice. �
�It’s gossip, actually, but I think you should know.”
So much for an apology. “What’s that?”
“Word in the department is that American Geographic is going to do a story about Dr. Stephens’s turtle study.”
Just great.
“The school will probably increase her funding because of it,” William said. “And they’re cutting other programs that aren’t panning out.”
“Yeah, I heard.” Which would no doubt be his Bigfoot project. Maybe his time was running out sooner than his boss had implied.
“Also…” William sighed.
“Yes?”
“I have an opportunity to join Dr. Stephens’s team. I think that’ll be a better fit for me.”
Wasn’t as if the kid was doing much for Dean anyway. “I understand.”
“She requested me.”
Dean rolled his eyes. Adele had surely done that on purpose. “Well, I wish you the best. I’d appreciate if you’d put out the word that I’m looking for a new grad student.”
“No problem, sir.” William disconnected.
Hopefully, Adele Stephens’s success would bring more prestige and grant money to the university, rather than dry up Dean’s funding. After all, Dr. Vargas had said that nothing was definite yet.
He opened his truck and rummaged through the space behind the seat until he found the wine he’d bought back in Gainesville. It had been for Dr. Stephens’s celebration after the announcement that she’d been awarded that huge grant for her turtle project. In the end, he’d bailed on the party at the last minute, after Adele had commented that his research was frivolous and pointless.
As he set the wine bottle in the deep utility pocket of his pants, a blue Smart Car parked next to his truck.
An attractive blonde got out and tipped her chin at his cast. “You must be Ember’s latest victim.”
“Guilty,” he jested. “I presume you’re Jordan.”
Beauty and the Bigfoot Hunter Page 7
