Page 10 of Hotshot Mogul

He said it as “last night.” I had to remember my phrasing.

“Even at that…”

Honk, honk. Callie turned her car toward the main roadway. “These woods aren’t safe,” he said. “People think it’s okay to camp here. But it’s not zoned for that. And people have told the police that their things got stolen.”

Fairies.

While we slowed for some geese on the roadway, Bruce put the blanket over my breasts.

I pushed it down. “I’m not cold.”

He groaned. “Maybe not. But your perfect little tits are saluting me.”

The sky darkened. The wind kicked up sticks and little leaves. Crack. Rumble. A tree fell behind us. I grabbed his arm and squeezed hard. “Stop!”

“Why?” he asked, as he slowed the Jeep. I opened the door, bounded out, and raced to see who had fallen. Rikki’s sugar maple was cracked in half. Rikki’s tree spirit was gone—back to our home beyond the skies. So, the organic matter would absorb into the nature surrounding it, if Clynes Development didn’t desecrate this part, too.

Bruce was by my side. I rounded on him, wanting an answer. “Does Clynes Development want to cut this down, too?”

He ran his fingers through his wet hair, pushing it off his forehead, then took my hand and walked us back to the Jeep. He gave Callie another thumbs-up as I climbed inside. We followed her to the smoother roadway.

“It’s not that simple, Anneliese. I wish it was.” Lightning streaked across the sky. “I’m, I mean Clynes Development, is going to plant more trees, better trees, like the place where you found me today.”

“I must speak to the man or woman in Clynes Development who can change the current plans.”

Callie slowed and turned onto a street lined with trees. They formed a canopy over the roadway. We stopped at a bright yellow and blue, two-story structure. Callie got out and went inside. Bruce stared at me. “Anneliese…” He cocked his head, took hold of my chin and pressed his lips to mine.

When I pressed closer, he pulled me over the part that separated us and into his lap. His mouth hardened, coaxing mine open. He tasted like wine and something else that was only him. He rubbed his thumb over the wet cloth covering my nipples, then moved to my sex and stroked my pearl of nerves over the wet fabric. I was glad for the sodden barrier as wetness flooded my core. I was too shy for him to know how much I wanted him and wanted this.

He drew back. I missed his touch. He dropped his forehead to mine. “Who are you, beautiful girl?”

I couldn’t tell him the truth, not yet. Maybe never. So, I said something that I believed would put distance between us, as it had done before. “I am the one who will stop the trees from being cut down.”

He turned away, clenched the steering wheel, then turned back to me. “Tomorrow. The sand dunes. What time is good for you?”

I wanted to spend more time with him. I would only get more attached, but I didn’t care. “Anytime. And thanks for helping me today.”

He pulled out his cell phone. “What is your number? I will text you in the morning, before I pick you up, to make sure…”

I pulled my phone out of my bag, then the slip of paper I’d written the number on. I said the number aloud and he keyed it into his phone. Ping. My first text: C u tomorrow.

He pressed his lips to my forehead. “Nine-thirty, tomorrow morning. See you then.”

CHAPTER THREE

Anneliese

Callie set down a steaming mug on the table. “It’s chamomile to help you sleep.” She asked if I liked cherry pie. I smiled and nodded.

She sliced it, topped it with white, fluffy cream and watched as I tasted it. There was sweet, tart red fruit with a flaky, tender part covering it. The flavors and textures exploded in my mouth. “So good,” I said, before I took another bite. Tree spirits don’t take food as humans do. I’d forgotten how good nourishment could taste.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Callie said. She left and came back with what I know is a horseshoe and a striking tool. “I need to hang this up, to keep that bad fairy away. Hold it as far up as you can, please.”

Wait, what? How did she know that the iron in horseshoes kept bad fairies away? Did she mean the woman with the purple hair that spilled hot liquid on Livvie? I held the horseshoe so the curve faced down. She hammered pegs through holes in the metal into the wall.

“Let it go. I think it’s good. So, you know that iron repels fairies? Or you are too kind to tell me I’m full of beans? I wouldn’t mind the kind ones, but it’s the only way.”

“It is.”

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