Two Wrong Turns (Love Sync Mates Season Two #9)

Chapter 3

Barrett

Lindsea’s words stayed on my mind while I ate my meal. It made little sense to me how a place like this could function without any outside input. My curiosity had me wanting to ask questions until the puzzle pieces fit.

I knew from experience that might not be the best idea. People didn’t take well to strangers questioning their lifestyles.

Midway through my second slice of pie, I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Chills moved down my spine, and I felt the urge to bare my throat for someone to feast on.

Fuck me. What the hell was in this pie?

Had I taken something so strong I couldn’t think straight?

As I tried to get Lindsea’s attention, the bell above the door chimed. My head whipped toward it before I could even really register what the sound meant.

A large man stood in the doorway. Black hair cropped short sat atop his head. He had soft blue eyes, which were surveying the room as if he were looking for danger.

And that body.

I wanted to bite my fist because it should have been illegal to look that good. He was massive. Like break me with his pinky big. I wanted to cuddle in his chest and let him swallow me up.

Never in my life had I reacted to someone this strongly. I really needed to know what the hell was in that fucking pie.

The man’s gaze moved to me and the world stilled. It was as if time both slowed and sped up all at once.

I heard a rumble of sound, then he was marching across the room toward me. When he reached my stool, he pressed against me. I felt something very hard pressed against my hip from where I’d half turned.

“Who are you?”

“Barrett,” I said softly. “Barrett Griffin.”

He hummed. “Barrett.”

I shivered at the sound, my cock tenting my pants like I’d gone back to puberty or something. It took everything I had to not whimper and beg him to do whatever he wanted with me.

Because I had no doubt he wanted to do something with me. Or to me. I didn’t really care anymore. All I needed was whatever he’d give me.

“Where did you come from, Barrett?”

At his question, I realized the entire diner had gone still. The quiet shook a bit of the stupor I’d fallen into.

“New York. I’m traveling and needed a change of pace. Found this place by accident. It pretty much came out of nowhere after my GPS stopped working.”

The man’s eyes trailed down my body and back up, like he was cataloging everything in great detail. I knew I wasn’t the most attractive man around, but I wasn’t all that bad. People often said my curls were adorable and that my few freckles made me unique.

I’d also been called plain and boring. It was my art that drew attention, not me.

“Your GPS wasn’t working?”

“Yeah. Strangest dang thing since it was brand new. It was like I was meant to end up here or something.” I laughed to cover up the awkward silence.

He hummed. “Does seem that way. Mind if I join you?”

“Be my guest.” I pointed to the empty seat, then discreetly wiped my mouth after realizing I could have been messy from eating. Didn’t need to give this attractive man a bad impression.

After he joined me, the noise in the diner picked back up. It felt a bit like a scene in a movie or something, how it all went still and then sped up again. I was dizzy from it all.

Or maybe it was simply the presence the man had.

Another person walked up to the table. “Guess you’re ditching me tonight, huh, Boss?”

I flushed at the implication of him already having plans. “I can take this to go?— ”

My words were cut short by a growl. My eyes widened.

Guess that’s a no.

“Tell Lindsea to add your food to my check as way of apology. I’m sure you won’t want me to interfere with your time there anyway,” he replied.

“Give it a rest. You know it’s not like that.” The guy turned my way. “I’m Robbie by the way. Nice to meet you, Barrett. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around.”

He left before I could ask what he meant by that ominous statement. Maybe he figured I’d be staying in town or something. I’d been tempted pretty much from the start. It was too dark to get a good look at things, but I had a feeling I’d love this place just as much during the daylight hours.

“Sorry for him. He loves to give me shit.”

“It’s no problem. I just didn’t want to interfere or anything. Do you two work together? He called you boss.”

Nosiness was one of my worst qualities. I’d been told I was far too curious my whole life. I’d often argue that the world was meant to be explored and navigated. If we didn’t ask questions, we’d never get anywhere.

“We do work together,” he answered carefully, his eyes never leaving mine. Holy eye contact! It was intense.

“What do you do? And what’s your name? I already told you mine. You should tell me yours, unless of course, you want me to call you boss too.”

He smiled at my teasing tone. “My name is Nolan. I’m the sheriff here. Robbie is one of my deputies.”

“Sheriff Nolan. Nice to meet you.”

His eyes flickered in the light of the diner at my use of his name. I could have sworn they went golden for a minute. Must have been the exhaustion throwing me off.

People’s eyes didn’t change colors like that.

Lindsea brought out Nolan’s food a few minutes later, saving us from the silence that had come once there was nothing left to talk about. At least, that’s what I thought.

After taking a few bites of food, he leaned forward. “You mentioned needing a change of pace? May I ask what led you to travel?”

I stuffed the last bite of pie in my mouth, then pushed the plate away. As I took the time to chew my food thoroughly, I decided honesty was the best policy here. While I didn’t often begin by sharing my art with others, I figured it wouldn’t hurt where the sheriff was concerned.

Not only was I not planning to stay all that long, but if he really wanted to, he could do a background check on me and get the information anyway. Why start off on a bad foot when I could simply tell the truth?

“Back in the city, I’d found myself unable to keep going with the life I’d built. I’d lost my inspiration to work.”

“Inspiration? Like a muse? Are you an artist, Barrett?”

There’s a laugh from beside the table. “Yeah, I’d say he is. He drew this earlier. Looks interesting, don’t it, Nolan?”

She slid the bear I’d drawn on the napkin over to him. I was immediately embarrassed that the first hint of my work he’d see would be the damn animal I couldn’t seem to shake. It wasn’t that the drawing was bad or anything, it just wasn’t my best work.

It was my most consistent thought.

Nolan took in the drawing as if it were a precious piece rather than a basic sketch on a napkin. His finger traced over the patch of white fur right in the center of the bear's face. It was the only spot that wasn’t dark. For some reason, every time I got the mental image of him, it was there. I couldn’t leave that part out no matter how odd it made the picture seem to others.

“This is amazing,” he said flatly, like he was impressed but didn’t want to admit he liked it.

I frowned as I reached for the napkin. “It’s nothing. Just me doodling while I waited for my food.”

His gaze snapped up to mine. “It’s not nothing. This is amazing work. The detail is perfect. What made you draw this though? Have you always drawn bears?”

Ugh. That’s the million-dollar issue.

“No, I haven’t. It’s only been a recent development. And it’s part of the reason I hit the road.”

He tilted his head to the side. “I don’t understand.”

I pointed to the image he kept close to him. “My art isn’t usually this. The first time it showed up in a painting, I worked around it. The buyer didn’t seem to mind, and all was fine. The second time was much the same. By the third, I realized I had a problem.”

Nolan’s eyes went wide. “How many times have you drawn him?”

Wincing, I shook my head. “I’d rather not admit it. It’s embarrassing, you know? I mean, why won’t my brain let me move on? I’ve never even seen a bear in real life, much less one like this.”

“Would you like to?”

“To what? See a bear?”

He nodded. “There’s some in the area. You might wind up coming upon one.”

It was my turn to have a shocked expression. “Can’t say that it’s something I’d actively search out. Wouldn’t it be dangerous for me? Should I get bear spray?”

Lindsea was passing by the table at that moment and laughed loudly. “You don’t need any spray,” she yelled at me while continuing on her way.

I frowned. “How can she know that? You just said there are bears around here.”

That earned me a scoff. “Because everyone knows I won’t let anyone in town get hurt. Especially not by a bear.”

Something about the way he said it made me think there was more to the story. Could I be missing some crucial piece to the puzzle? Was this town special in some way I didn’t understand?

It didn’t matter. Not really.

My stay here wouldn’t be long. I was sure I could avoid running into a bear for a little while.