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She scoffed. “There’s always time for a treat.”
Susan stuffed a few sugar cookies into my bag and winked. “Don’t forget to take a few moments for yourself today, dear.”
“Thanks, Susan.” My mouth watered. I’d probably eat the cookies the second I got in my car. I may have been working and focused on the job at hand, but one needed a specific sort of willpower to resist Susan’s goodies, and I didn’t have it.
Susan was just one of several local business owners who seemed to appreciate me and my catering business. When I’d first started out on my own, I cooked for a lot of middle-class families in the area. They continued to support me, and I loved giving back to the smaller businesses. Now that I’d made a name for myself, it was only right to return their support.
My last stop was the Presley Acres Farmers’ Market. I grabbed my canvas shopping bag from the backseat and began perusing the tables. The market was filled with vendors in tents and booths who were selling homemade jams and jellies, pies and cheeses, homegrown produce from their gardens, and even a woman who created hand-selected bouquets based on each customer’s request.
I made my way over to my favorite vendor: a local farmer with the best tomatoes and vegetables in town. While I inspected one of the cucumbers, a man appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and stood a little closer than I would’ve liked.
Had he never heard of personal space before?
“Is it natural for tomatoes to be this big?” He held a tomato up to the light and twisted it slowly, as if he was trying to determine whether it was real.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “You know, I thought the same thing when I discovered this booth a few months ago. Believe it or not, they’re all natural and just as delicious as they are large.”
When I glanced up at the guy, my breath nearly left my body. A very blond, light-skinned man stared down at me with icy blue eyes.
I hadn’t seen another blond wolf in Presley Acres during my entire time living here.
I was shaken.
He held out his hand. “I’m Stone.”
Reluctantly, I took his hand, trying to figure him out. “Hello.” He didn’t need my name.
Stone’s gaze darkened as he looked me up and down. I glanced around the market, wondering if anyone else was surprised by this light-featured stranger, but everyone seemed to be going about their business as usual.
He drew his gaze back up my body and settled on my eyes. “Are you from here?”
I wasn’t a share-my-life-story kind of gal, so if this guy expected me to tell him everything about myself, he would be sorely disappointing. I didn’t know this pale wolf from Adam. Even people I knew pretty well didn’t know everything about me.
He shrugged a shoulder. “Oh, I’m sorry.” He pointed to my hair, which was piled loosely on top of my head in a messy bun. I still had an ache behind one eye so I wouldn’t be tightening the bun. “You just don’t seem to fit.”
I recoiled. “Do you always speak so bluntly to strangers?” Who the fuck was this guy?
His eyes widened. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. I was just trying to point out that you’re different.” A slow smile spread across his face, and it wasn’t wholly unattractive. Actually, it was quite the opposite. “I didn’t mean it as a bad thing.” He chuckled and pointed to his own hair. “Obviously.”
I was suddenly more uncomfortable than I would have preferred, so I quickly selected tomatoes, cucumbers, and several heads of lettuce.
“Is this all for today?” Joe, the farmer, smiled as he looked at my selection and hit some keys on his calculator.
“Yep. That’ll do.” I eyed the strange man as Joe bagged my produce.
I handed him my card, then loaded everything into my canvas bag. Stone just stood there as if he was waiting for me to continue our ridiculously awkward and somewhat insulting conversation. All I wanted was to get out of there.
Joe handed my card back to me. “I’ll see you next week, right?”
“You bet.” I waved goodbye to Joe, then turned to Stone. “You should buy the tomatoes. You won’t regret it.”
I made my exit a little faster than usual, not stopping to peruse the other vendors’ stalls. I could still feel Stone’s eyes on me. Where had he come from?
As I drove to Cecily’s, I pondered the questions milling around in my head. I wanted to know who that Stone guy was and why he was in Presley Acres, but there were no answers. Brushing the questions aside, I dug into the bag of cookies Susan had given me.
There was nothing like a little sugar rush to calm my nerves after an odd and random encounter.
When I arrived at the address she’d put into her intake form, Cecily stood on the porch along with her entourage of assistants. She tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for me.
