Page 9 of Wolfish Heart
“She has a paid course with all the online presentations. Several years ago, she was ahead of the curve simply by having voiceover videos. Now everyone expects to see a talking head.”
She looks at me with a shrug. “Mom thinks she’s too old for on-camera work. So I kinda…volunteered.”
“You don’t want to do it?”
Zoe sighs. “Hm. It’s her thing, not mine. I mean, it helps a lot of people, and brings in enough money that we’re doing okay, but it’s hard to figure out what I want to do with my own life if I keep on working for her, you know?”
“Yeah. I really do.” Nodding as I stare off into space, I wonder briefly how much I should share.
Why not. I really do want Zoe to know all sides of me.
“You were right about my brothers and I being princes in this town. If we wanted to, we could just laze around and do nothing all day. But then nobody would like us, and we wouldn’t even like ourselves. Which is kind of important, right?” I pause. “We all make our own jobs, since we don’t need to worry about the salary. One of my cousins, Jace, is a forest ranger, since he loves the woods. He maintains trails and keeps people safe. Another one, Josh, became a forester and goes out to people’s properties to help maintain the trees.”
“So why did you guys pick computer security?”
My thumb reaches out to trace along her cheekbone. “My brothers and I all love technology. We love the forest and the mountain, too, but we all kind of gravitated toward programming. When we realized that some people were blending organic input into the data to create algorithms, we realized that we had unlimited access to unique resources around here.”
I chuckle. “I think it’s kind of hilarious that right now the encryptions keeping a European data center safe are being generated by the splash of a river just north of us.”
Zoe bursts into laughter. “You’re right.”
Leaning down, I kiss her gently, instantly becoming lost in her softness. Then a thought blinks through my mind: I’ve taken this lovely woman through town to show her off, but I’ve never shown off my town to my girl.
“I’ll fix you a coffee, then stay out of your way while you work,” I murmur. “And then later, may I take you out to dinner?”
The dreaminess in her eyes strikes me right in the heart. “Sure.” Her eyes drop for a second. “Nowhere fancy though, okay?”
“I was thinking maybe pizza? There’s a great place downtown.”
Naturally I don’t mention that partly I want us to be seen together again. But I do. I want the entire mountain to know that Zoe is my girl.
And I want her to see how mellow our lives would be here if she chooses to stay.
6
ZOE
I’ve never relished the thought of being stared at.
All afternoon, I felt prickly and strange as I did my camera tests and rehearsals for the videos. I had to keep telling myself that the only people watching would be those who paid for Mom’s content and were focused on design for restaurants. They didn’t care about me, they simply wanted to learn and grow.
That was just run-of-the-mill stage fright, and it was bad enough. But now, as I look around the lovely patio at Jim’s Pizza, every pair of eyes subtly darts away as soon as I’m about to catch them staring. This is not idle curiosity. Well, maybe it is. I’m sure they want to get their gossip straight tomorrow.
Kaden, however, enjoys his last few bites of pizza without a care in the world. He knows that everyone is looking at him with admiration. Maybe a bit of awe. And now, probably a drop of curiosity as well.And he doesn’t mind.
Why is a gorgeous mountain man who looks like a movie star or action hero sitting here eating pizza with me, anyway? I’m just an average girl. Okay, gray eyes are kind of interesting, but people can’t see that at a distance. And yes, in the right clothing Ido have a rather noticeable rack. Yet nobody has dared to check out my boobs since the first time Kaden hugged me.
“Was I right about the pizza here or what?” he asks with one of those gorgeous smiles that makes me flutter.
“You were very right. It’s terrific. And that’s pretty convenient, since it’s the only pizza place for…how many miles?”
His easy laugh is relaxing. So is the breeze drifting across the charming patio, and the murmur of several other couples a few tables away.
We got here a bit early, and as everyone else arrived, I noticed they stayed away from our corner, leaving a ring of empty tables between them and us. Kaden didn’t even seem to notice, simply greeting each person by name with a friendly wave as they walked in.
Our server, Bianca, comes over. “Can I get you some dessert? Or coffee?”
Kaden looks at me, and I shake my head. “One more bite and I’ll fall into a coma. But it was all amazing. Thanks.”
