Page 51 of Hotshot Mogul

Since her dress was so long, I ran to her door to help her down and checked my pocket for the tenth time. She noticed and looked at me in question. “All good, babe,” I said as I lifted her onto the sand. The breeze stirred and her hair blew into my face. It smelled like wildflowers.

I kissed her to distract us while the guy let some of the air out of the tires so we could climb the dunes in the new Jeep. She’d helped me pick it out. We had not been back to the dunes since our second date, over a year ago. I knew then, despite all the shit going on, that Anneliese was, well, it. I’d had yet to learn that I lived a life with Anneliese three hundred years ago. And that wasn’t the weirdest part. In extreme grief over losing me and our child, my beloved Anneliese walked into the earth realm of tree spirits and fairies to heal. She didn’t walk out again until she led a petition drive to stop me from cutting down the beloved oak tree she sought refuge in.

Then throw my parents’ eccentric, beloved friend Maria Rosa into the mix. Her words to my parents, about me: “The great tree in the glade, it holds your heart. Look close for what is true.”

And it did hold my heart, for four terrible days and nights.

Maria Rosa’s cryptic words to my parents, Kendall and Carter Clynes—“The answer is in the sky,”—put them on the same trajectory of life and love. They were so much in love my whole life, I felt like an outsider looking in sometimes. Now, I’ve got the same thing. And it was time to nail it down.

I was nervous as hell. Anneliese’s gaze sharpened on someone or something behind me. She pulled a small horseshoe out of her ginormous purse and stomped past me. “You!” she called. A petite woman with purple streaks in her short dark hair ran up a sand dune.

Anneliese hiked up her long skirt and ran after her. “Uh, we’re good,” the tire guy said, gaping at Purple Hair and Anneliese. I moved the Jeep then ran toward them.

I spotted them under a canopy. Anneliese held the horseshoe like a shield, so badass my cock twitched. Purple Hair shrunk back. “Why?” Anneliese yelled.

“To bring you back to the realm, where you belong,” Purple Hair said. She wouldn’t look directly at me or Anneliese.

“You mean to harm Bruce,” Anneliese said. “I will not allow this.” Then she said words that I didn’t understand.

Purple Hair snarled. “You left the realm. The tree falters. And you will let him plunder that which grows in the earth.”

Anneliese moved to shield me. Hell, no. I shielded her as much as I could around the horseshoe, which was significant, somehow. “Men,” Purple Hair spat. “They pay no mind to words or thoughts that are not their own.”

“I am in charge of the glade,” Anneliese said.

“This is true,” I said. “And that will not change.”

“Always, I will look out for that which the earth nurtures,” Anneliese shouted.

A park ranger stood, frowning. She wore mirrored sunglasses. “Problem here?” She saw the horseshoe. “You need to put that down, now.”

Anneliese lowered it but kept hold of it. “I’ll take that,” the ranger said, grabbing it. The wind gusted, throwing sand in our faces.

I shut my eyes against the grit. Whoosh. Something buzzed my ear. I opened my eyes. Purple Hair was gone. A single purple feather swirled in the wind to the sand.

The ranger looked past us, then did a 360. “Miss?” She shouted into the wind. “What the…? Where could she…?” The ranger scrubbed her hand over her face. I edged us away. The ranger caught our movement. “Wait,” she barked. She pulled out her phone and stepped away.

Anneliese rubbed her arms. “She can’t detain us,” I murmured against Anneliese’s neck. “We’ve done nothing wrong.”

I pulled her into my arms. “She’s a fairy, and a wicked one,” Anneliese said. “She means you harm.” She framed my face with her hands. They smelled like iron. “I will protect you, always.”

Her eyes blazed. She was thinking about before, when she watched me die. I kissed her to distract us. It was soft and tender, at first.

“Ahem.”

We sprung apart. The ranger stood there, looking all badass. “You’re free to go or stay.” She hurried away, muttering, “Darndest thing I’ve ever seen…”

The orange, blazing ball was sinking fast. It was time—if I wanted to stick to my plan. And I did love my plans, almost as much as I loved Anneliese. I took hold of her waist and turned us toward the Jeep. She took hold of my hand and hiked up her dress with her other one. We ran down the dune, laughing like children.

A pickup truck plowed up my favorite dune. So, I could wait or go to Plan B, my second favorite dune. We got in the Jeep and I sped toward it, cutting off another Jeep.

The driver, who looked like a teenager, was pissed. “Bruce?” Anneliese sounded worried. “What is happening?”

I squeezed her shoulder. “Trust me, babe?”

After a beat, she nodded.

I got out and sprinted toward the Jeep. “I’m sorry. Let me explain.” I smiled, turned so Anneliese couldn’t see, and pulled the ring out of my pocket.

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