Sage delivered the final word of her promise just as the door swung open, Belmont抯 shadow appearing on the staircase where Aaron stood with Sage, with what felt like a bemused expression. Fair enough.
揅ome inside,?Belmont rumbled. 揚lease.?
With a final nod in Aaron抯 direction, Sage pushed a handful of hair over her shoulder and sailed past, somehow managing to keep a thin sliver of daylight between herself and Belmont as she moved through the doorway, joining him and Peggy inside the rental office.
Aaron dropped his head back, imploring the bright blue Iowa sky for patience, consoling himself with the fact that as soon as he got away from his family there would be peace. Maybe not in the classic sense, but at least he would definitely be in a situation he could decipher and handle.
A prickle at the back of his neck had Aaron pausing once again, one foot inside the door as he looked toward the woods, but he shrugged it off and continued into the office, holding up his credit card in a signal for his party to make way, allowing the plan man through.
*
What brought Aaron to the edge of the forest in the middle of the night? No idea. His excuse for pulling on rumpled dress pants and crunching through the woods was to look for Old Man, but when dog found him first, their party of two had kept on going. Now, the mutt walked alongside him, throwing him an occasional What the fuck? glance.
揧ou抮e free to go back, you know. I don抰 remember issuing an invitation.?
Sniff. Sniff sniff.
揥hat is that? Morse code??
Okay, Aaron had some idea what had sent him on Nature Quest. He just had zero notion of what he hoped to achieve by walking to the site of tomorrow morning抯 Breakfast and Politics, a nationally televised, invite-only event for which he was most definitely not on the list. Oh no, he was on only one list, and the word NAUGHTY was in permanent ink at the top. Presidential hopeful and Iowa senator Glen Pendleton, however, would be in attendance, and Aaron needed to get the man抯 ear. Before Aaron had flushed his career down the toilet back in California with one bad decision, his boss had confided that Aaron was on the short list for adviser with Pendleton himself. A big-ass deal when the man already had one foot in the White House. What he抎 needed was the youth vote梐nd that was where Aaron would have come in, if he hadn抰 neatly erased his chances.
Tomorrow, he needed face time with Pendleton. The question was how.
As Aaron and Old Man reached the perimeter of the forest, a series of connected buildings came into view. The local high school, which would serve as the site of Pancakes and Politics come morning. Already news vans were parked outside. Police vehicles. What the hell was his goal here? To get arrested for trespassing?
Old Man seemed to be asking the same question with a silent look, so Aaron moved in the opposite direction of the congregated vans, prepared to head back toward the cabin and get some much-needed sleep. The kind that would allow him to bring his A-game in the morning. As if he ever brought anything else.
Just as he turned, Old Man stopped, ears pricked, nose twitching. A noise behind them. Aaron heard it, too. A long slide, followed by a soft, feminine hum. Better than the sound of a gun being cocked, but definitely not what he expected to hear in the pitch-black woods at midnight. Aaron stepped back behind a tree, giving himself a good view of the school抯 closest building. He watched as a leg dropped over the southernmost windowsill and dangled a moment before a head ducked under the frame. The figure jumped to the leaf-padded ground without a single crunch, the hum never ceasing or losing its melodic rhythm.
Girl. There was no question. In the dappled moonlight, he could make out curves beneath tight-fitting clothing. Slight ones, but nice ones. And even if his attention hadn抰 been magnetized by the tight jut of her ass梖uck, he抎 been a while without having a woman抯 cheeks in his hands梩he hair would have tipped him off. It was everywhere. Even the muted darkness couldn抰 hide the wild, colorful nature of it. The mass of it fell to midback, interrupted every inch or so with a corkscrew curl or a braid or a ribbon. Her hair was schizophrenic. Looked like it hadn抰 been brushed in a while, but maybe the lack of diligence had been on purpose.
Old Man chose that moment to make a sloff sound, which jolted the girl, sending her careening back against the building. She slid to the ground into the shadows before Aaron could get a good look at her face, and for some reason the delay made him anxious. What kind of a face went with hair like that?
揌ello??She called, just above a whisper. 揚lease don抰 be a bear. Again.?
That wish sparked so many questions梐gain?桝aron didn抰 grab Old Man抯 collar in time and the furry bastard slinked toward the girl, totally ignoring Aaron抯 sharp command to retreat. He lay down a few feet from the shadows where the girl was hiding, laying his face on two paws. Showing her he isn抰 a threat?
Just when you think you know a dog.
The girl entered the moonlight again, this time on her knees, hands reaching out梡alms up梩o Old Man. And so the first time Aaron saw her face, it was washed over with pleasure. 揌i,?she breathed. 揌i, pretty卋oy? Boy, I think. Thank you for not being a bear. Again.?
Aaron felt a twinge in his fingers and realized he抎 been gripping the bark of the tree too hard. This is why I came into the woods. She抯 why.
揟hat抯 ridiculous,?he muttered, raking the sore hand down the side of his trousers. He was prowling around in the middle of the night on some misguided mission to get the lay of the land for tomorrow. Not to accidentally run into a girl with freak-show hair and an unrealistic fear of bears.
揂re you alone??She asked Old Man, under her breath.
Aaron made a sound of disgust as the pooch turned his head, tongue lolling to the side like a drooling fool. He had no choice but to step out from behind the tree, but felt the need to put his hands up. So she would know he wasn抰 a bear, for the love of God. 揑t抯 just a human. You抮e safe.?
The girl shot to her feet, her back coming up hard against the stucco building. Her eyes were as turbulent as her mane of braids and curls, but they seemed to calm when he halted his progress. 揌umans are most dangerous of all,?she finally said. 揥hy aren抰 you wearing a jacket??
O-kay. He had to be back in his cabin dreaming, right? 揈xcuse me??
揑t抯 freezing and you抮e wearing a T-shirt.?
Aaron looked down, as if he wasn抰 fully aware of his attire. Come to think of it, he was pretty goddamn cold, but he抎 been too distracted to notice. 揑抦 from California.?
She nodded gravely. 揂re there bears in California??
揥e have one on our state flag.?He chanced a couple steps closer, but Old Man actually growled at him, cutting off his progress. Really?
揧our dog doesn抰 seem to like you very much,?the girl remarked.
揧eah, thanks for noticing. The feeling is mutual.?Aaron tilted his head, irrationally vexed that her face was half shaded by shadows again. 揌ey, do you mind coming out here into the light??
A beat passed. 揧es, I think I mind.?
Not what he抎 been expecting, at all. Had he completely lost his touch with women? 揥hy do you mind??
揃ecause you saw me climbing out of the window.?He could hear her swallow across the distance separating them. 揑 didn抰 do anything wrong梟ot really梑ut if someone were to disagree and claim I did do something wrong, you could identify me.?
Aaron snorted. 揑 could pick your hair out of a thousand-person lineup.?
揟hank you,?she murmured, her hand reaching out of the darkness to scratch behind Old Man抯 ears. 揧ours is nice, too.?