Page 8 of Lost in the Moonlight

Then, he disappeared completely in the dark and mist. Only a sickly, cheery tune he whistled let us know he was moving farther and farther away.

I closed the knife, pocketed it, and then looked down into the face of the woman tucked up against me. Her eyes were wide and dilated as she watched the shadows where the man had vanished.

“Let’s get you out of here,” I said. I slid my arm from her shoulders and took a step away. When she remained frozen, I placed a gentle hand on her elbow, encouraging her to move and then guiding her through the tombstones.

Warmth crept through me with her nearness, more than the light touch could account for. A fizzle of attraction that spoke of kisses and tangled limbs. Things this woman certainly wouldn’t want after what she’d just experienced. I told myself the feelings were just because I was relieved to know she was real.

Wanting us out of the cemetery as quickly as possible in case the whistling asshole came back, I avoided the gates once more and headed for the stone wall and my house. I slid over first and then turned to offer her a hand.

At first, she didn’t accept. She just stood there, chest heaving, taking me in.

The light from my back door glowed across the drive, shining on her face, and I finally realized why I’d thought thehallucination had been off the other night. It wasn’t just the pink coat she wore that was a marked difference from the all-black clothing Sienna had favored. It was a thousand other tiny details. They shared the white-blond hair, fine-boned frame, and heart-shaped face, but the similarities ended there.

This woman was soft colors and warm lights versus Sienna’s dark and broody. Her eyes were larger and much paler than Sienna’s—a soft gray that almost blended in with the whites—and she had a dusting of freckles along the tip of her nose, whereas Sienna’s skin had been completely untouched.

Shewasa copy that had been slightly altered.

Not less. Not worse. Just different.

It was the difference that stole my breath away and flamed the fires whispering of tangled skin, taunting me with whispered words of passion and adoration and unyielding joy.

Things I didn’t want because they stirred up strong emotions I was trying to leave behind. I was damn happy to revel in the silent charm I’d found in my new home, and I was irritated it had been disturbed, frustrated that I’d been drawn into something ugly when all I’d been asking of the universe was for a few weeks of solitude and anonymity.

Why the hell had she been in the graveyard at this hour to begin with? And why the hell did I have to be the one to get involved? Where were the people who should have been looking after her? My irritation grew, morphing into anger at her for not only disrupting my peace but also for making me think Sienna had returned. For tormenting me with all my past failures, leaving me no option but to insert myself into whatever this situation had been about.

My resentment bubbled and boiled until my eyes landed on her tentative gaze resting on my outstretched palm. The sheeruncertainty in that look made my annoyance suddenly feel wrong, which only proved to anger me more. Except, this time, it was all self-directed. She’d had a terrible scare, and I was an ass thinking only of myself.

So I pushed my hand forward once more, offering even more help instead of less.

Chapter Four

Willow

LESSONS LEARNED

Performed by Carrie Underwood

My heart was pounding so viciouslyI thought it might explode. Simply shatter into a thousand pieces like peppermint candies hit with a kitchen mallet.

I’d never expected to encounter another living soul in the middle of the cemetery tonight. Usually, I was only surrounded by the energy of those who had left this world and their memories that had embedded themselves into the stone and earth. I certainly hadn’t expected to find Poco carrying a shovel or my stunning neighbor with his penetrating gaze. The stare that was right now burning me from the inside out rather than providing a soothing balm.

What would have happened if he hadn’t shown up?

No. I knew better than to go down the road of what-ifs. They’d dragged me onto a dark path after losing Dad, and I wouldn’t go there again. I would simply leave the heavy fearsand questions about what had happened with Poco in the dark of the cemetery.

I shook my head, trying to wipe the thoughts away and push aside the tremors running through me. My neighbor took the motion as an objection to the hand he’d offered. So when I reached out to take it, a flash of surprise crossed his face followed by something that I thought just might be annoyance.

Sparks shot through me the moment our fingers touched. They were almost painful, like a palm placed near an open flame. If I let it any closer, it would leave a mark that might never fade, and yet it tempted me to touch it anyway. I’d felt the same scorching heat when he’d put his arm around me after jerking me free of Poco, but I’d thought it had been adrenaline. The fear and then pure relief of having escaped.

But here it was again, screaming a different kind of danger.

I inhaled sharply before bunching my long skirt in a fist and using his hand and his strength to help me scoot over the wall. When I landed on the other side, we were standing so close our noses almost touched, and the blaze ignited again, flickering down through my entire body. Our eyes locked. His were wary and almost angry. I wondered if mine showed my longing for all the things I’d previously denied myself—physical connection, lust, desire.

I pulled free of him, stepping back from the tantalizing blaze.

The light from his back door shone on his face, lighting up irises a brilliant shade of blue. A color so perfect it only existed in nature. One strand of dark hair had dropped over his brow, and even after he shoved it back, it fell forward again in almost the same place.

“You’re shivering,” he said. It came out raspy and annoyed, as if I’d offended him with a bodily function I couldn’t control. “Come inside. I’ll fix you a cup of tea.”

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