Page 5 of Sweeter Than Honey
“You can wait, damn it.”
She wanted to get a little farther away before she stopped again but her middle cramped sharply in protest.
“Okay, fine.”
The truck stop was bustling with people. That should have made her feel better, right? But any of those men could be shifters, just ready to pounce after one good whiff. Unless…
Cara grabbed her bag and dug around for the bottle of perfume she’d stashed inside eons ago. A vendor had gifted it to her. It smelled like cat urine mixed with stale beer and decaying fruit. She’d meant to throw it away.
Digging it from the box, she winced at the odor as she popped the top off. This crap would probably deter the devil himself.
Closing her eyes, she dispensed rapid-fire jets of perfume over her head, middle and lower half, again and again until a thick, putrid fog hung inside the Jeep. She tried not to gag as she scrambled out and locked the doors before hurrying to the building. A woman held the door for her and immediately drew back with a slight choke as Cara walked in.
Mission accomplished. Now she just had to pee and get out of here.
The restroom was empty while she made quick work of her business. The scent of hotdogs on a hot case roller made her stomach growl as she walked back out. Oooh, she smelled garlic bread sticks. Was that the scent of warm fudge brownies? Her stomach became more demanding than her bladder had been. Most days, she forgot to eat. But ever since the pregnancy test showed two blue lines, she had unpredictable bouts of ravenous hunger. Eat. Now! It was crazy. Between the peeing and eating, how did pregnant women get anything done?
People parted ways as she came through, turning their noses away. She smiled apologetically and loaded up on food and a few bottles of water. The aroma of coffee tempted her, but she knew caffeine was off limits—except for the brownies. Those couldn’t possibly be as bad as dark coffee, right?
Pausing on her way to the cash register, she turned to the ATM blinking a little green light in the corner. This should probably be the last time she used any bank or credit cards. Would the shifters be capable enough to track her digital footprint? She had a grand in her purse that she’d intended to drop in the night deposit at the bank, but she’d need more. Setting the food on a shelf near the ATM, she maxed out the withdrawal limit on both her bank cards and hurriedly stuffed the cash in her pocket. A dark figure caught her attention from the corner of her eye. A man stood near the end of the candy aisle, trying to make it look like he hadn’t just been staring at her.
Cara gathered her things and backed up. He moved from the aisle into full view, his left hand still hidden behind the shelving. She swallowed hard and took another step back.
“Wait,” he said.
Her throat went tight. Damn, the perfume hadn’t worked after all—
“You’re scaring off all my customers. Not sure what you got into, lady, but here, take these. Go wash up if you want to keep shopping in here, okay? You freaking reek.”
He pulled a package of scented baby wipes from the shelf and thrust them into her arms. “The sooner the better, got me?”
“I’m—I’m just leaving. Thank you.”
Well, well. The perfumehadworked. Maybe a little too well. The cashier scrunched his nose while ringing her up and hurriedly tossing her items into a plastic bag. Other shoppers gave her a wide berth, and she was pretty sure she heard clapping as she exited the store. The stench inside the Jeep was stifling but she didn’t dare crack all the windows until she was safely on the freeway. There was steady traffic, giving her the security of not being completely alone out here in the dark. The GPS on her phone glowed reassuringly as she set the cruise control and downed a hotdog.
The hours passed, night turning into colorful rays of new daylight. Cara caught herself nodding off more than once. Cranking the radio didn’t help. Nor did opening the windows to let the cool breeze in. She stopped at three busy waysides to use the restroom as quickly as possible. Each uneventful stop made her feel a bit more reassured that she wasn’t being followed. The clock rolled 6:00 a.m. as her GPS dinged that she was entering Estes Park.
Cara rubbed her sleepy eyes and downed a drink of lukewarm water. Damn it, she had to pee again! She pulled over on the deserted road to pull up the directions to her hotel. The car sputtered and gagged. A thin stream of smoke curled up from beneath the hood.
“What the hell?”
She was so close to the city limits! Putting the car in park, she eased it back onto the road. It lurched and made the high pitchedwhirrrragain as she pressed the gas. The car resisted, rolling at a snail’s pace as if it were out of gas. She scanned the console to check for warning lights. Nothing.
Smacking the steering wheel with one hand, she looked up and gasped.
As she ran straight into a man standing in the middle of the road.
Chapter Four
ThefrontoftheJeep tapped the man’s leg as she slammed on the breaks and white-knuckled the wheel.
Gasping, heart zooming, she stared out the windshield in disbelief. The man was massive, his upper body clearly muscular behind the red and black flannel shirt. A full, dark beard covered his jaw, his black hair, thick and curling around his temples.
He rubbed his mouth with one hand and shook his head with clear annoyance, then pointed for her to move her car to the side of the road. Cara gulped. Her body wouldn’t obey. Her mind was spinning. She’d just hit a man.
Anotherman! Jesus, she was mowing them down like bowling pins.
She rolled the window down a crack. “I’m so sorry! Are you hurt?”
