Chapter 2 #3
I’m not sure how long I stand there, silently fuming with my thoughts spiraling, before a black Range Rover pulls into the driveway to my left.
I pocket my phone and then open the back driver’s side door to grab my backpack and the final box.
It’s all I brought with me to Montana. Mostly it’s shoes.
As I turn to take my things into the house, the neighbor from next door has parked and walks my way. I’m not really in the mood to chitchat, but I force a smile and glance up.
I’m not sure who or what I expected, but this man wasn’t it. He’s tall with dark hair, wearing red athletic shorts and a white T-shirt. Judging by his expensive, shiny vehicle and the large home he’s parked in front of he clearly has money. Still, he can’t be much older than I am.
“Hi.” His smile is wide and downright dazzling.
My stomach flutters low in my belly before I’ve even finished cataloging his features.
Dark eyes framed by long inky black lashes, dark hair that’s thick and wavy and a little longer on top.
But it’s his mouth that I find myself fixating on.
His bottom lip is fuller than the top and his teeth are strikingly white and straight.
Almost too perfect but somehow it works on him.
I think it’s the way his lips pull slightly higher on one side.
It keeps him from looking like a cardboard cutout.
That and the threadbare T-shirt that looks like it’s been worn and washed about a million times.
I can barely make out the letters that form Wolves Hockey.
“Are you looking after the house for Martha while she’s gone?” he asks before I’ve managed to greet him back.
“Hi,” I say, then shake my head. “Not exactly. I’m renting the place for a few months.”
“Oh.” A crease forms between his brows. “I didn’t realize she was going to be gone that long.”
After a beat, his smile returns and so do the flutters in my belly.
“I’m Travis.” He starts to extend a hand then chuckles softly. “Can I give you a hand?”
“This is all of it. I’m Hannah.”
“Nice to meet you, Hannah.”
What is it about a man saying your name that makes him instantly more attractive?
Not that this guy needs any help. I tend to be more attracted to guys in suits or corporate garb since I spend my days in gym clothes and surrounded by men in the same.
It’s like wanting what you don’t have, I suppose.
Women with straight hair want curly and vice versa.
Though every time I’ve had my hair professionally done for an event, I’ve hated the big curls. I was not meant for big hair.
“Yeah, you too.”
“If you need anything while you’re staying here, let me know. I’m around in the late afternoons, some evenings.”
“I appreciate that.” Though I may not be here long enough to take him up on the offer. Without the Meyer sponsorship, I’m screwed.
“Let me get the door for you.” He walks with me as I start toward the house.
“Thanks.” Maybe my day is about to turn around.
Online dating has been a bust and my schedule makes going out to bars or restaurants next to impossible.
I thought the only way I was going to meet a nice, good-looking guy in Montana was to pay a matchmaker, and yes, I did look into it but quickly decided I couldn’t afford it.
The reminder of my finances has my chest tightening again. I really hope Everly is working her magic.
“What do you do, Travis?” I try out his name. I like it and instantly wonder if he likes the way I say it the same way I had him saying mine.
“I’m a hockey player. I play with the local pro team here.”
“Oh.” He’s the second guy I’ve met since I moved here that plays for Moonshot. I can’t remember the other’s name. Nate? No. Noah? No. That doesn’t sound right either. “That’s cool.”
“You?”
“I’m here training at Premier. I’m a gymnast.”
“No way?” The corners of his mouth pull higher.
We reach the front door, and he pushes it open for me.
“Yes way.” I drop the box in the entryway and turn back to face him. He lingers just outside.
“That’s rad. I want to hear all about it.”
The eagerness in his reply should be a turn-off, but he seems so genuinely excited that it has the opposite effect.
“Okay.”
“How about Saturday night?”
This might be a record for a guy meeting me and asking me out. Is that a red flag? I might need to ask my friends, but in the meantime…
“Yeah. I can do Saturday, but it’ll have to be early. I eat with the senior citizens so I can get up early for training.”
His smile is lopsided and totally endearing. “I love early dinner. How’s five?”
My head spins a little, like maybe I should take five minutes to think this over, but he’s standing there smiling at me like he can’t think of a single thing he’d like to do more than have dinner with me. It’s intoxicating. I nod.
“Perfect. I can’t wait.” His gaze lifts from me as if taking in the house behind me and his smile falters. I hadn’t realized how intently focused he was on me but as soon as his attention roams, I miss it. “Does this place have an alarm system?”
The change in topic throws me and it takes me a few seconds to process and answer his question.
“No, I don’t think so. The doorbell has a camera though.”
His face seems all wrong without the big, uneven smile. He’s still possibly the hottest man I’ve ever seen in person with the serious expression, but it doesn’t suit him.
“I’ll be okay,” I assure him. My sister already gave me the safety talk when I told her I was going to be living alone.
I’m under strict orders to lock all doors and windows, leave the front porch light on, and always keep my cell phone nearby.
She’s a true crime aficionado so I figure she knows her stuff.
“I don’t want to freak you out, but there was a break-in last night.”
A momentary flash of fear hits me before understanding dawns and my emotions level out. The person who broke in—no, the person who came in through the window of a place she had every right to enter—was me.
I attempt a smile that wobbles a bit at the reminder of last night and its never-ending fallout. With a shake of my head, I open my mouth to somehow explain but he beats me to it.
“It was probably just a kid having some fun, but my cameras caught someone climbing the tree between our houses and going in through the upstairs window. I wasn’t here so I’m not sure what happened, but my alarm company notified me and then the cops…
” As he trails off his gaze lifts from my face again and scans the house like he expects the perpetrator to jump out at any minute.
Joke’s on him, I guess, because I’m standing right in front of him. Then his words click into place.
“Wait. You called the cops?”
He nods his head rapidly with an almost proud expression. A white knight on his steed ready to save the day.
Whatever expression he sees on my face has his gaze narrowing.
“I felt bad for the kid, don’t get me wrong, but he can’t just break into homes.” He gives me a timid smile that I don’t reciprocate.
“I can’t believe this.” A gruff laugh slips from my mouth. “I spent the night in jail because of you.”
His brown eyes widen almost comically.
“Yeah,” I read the oh shit bubble hanging over his head. “That was me.”
“Why the hell were you going through the window?”
“Because the realtor forgot to leave the key.”
His head bobbles as he processes this like he heard me but thinks that isn’t a great explanation. I don’t owe this guy shit, let alone a perfectly sensible explanation for my actions.
“I’m sorry.” He rakes a hand through his dark hair. The movement draws my attention to his bicep muscle and the edge of a tattoo.
“You’re sorry?! You have no idea what you’ve done.”
He tries another one of his lopsided smiles. “Actually, I do. I’ve spent the night in a holding cell. Although in my case the misunderstanding was of my own doing.”
Is he really joking about this right now?
“This isn’t funny. I lost my sponsorship because of this.”
His smile falls.
“Yeah,” I say, inching closer to him. I’m fueled by anger and desperation. Not all at him. In fact, mostly not at him. “Because of your ‘save the day’ routine, I not only spent the night in jail, I’m going to lose the funding for my training.”
“If it was a misunderstanding, then I’m sure it’ll all blow over.” His lips part into a timid but still assured grin. Just like that, no big deal.
I huff another bitter laugh. “Spoken like someone who’s never had the world fall out from underneath him.”
The air crackles around us. I’m standing so close to him now that I can smell his shampoo or body wash. Apples or pears maybe.
“I think we got off on the wrong foot here.” Travis clears his throat and shifts from foot to foot. His discomfort has a tinge of guilt bleeding in with the rage.
“Yeah, because you ruined my life.”
“Well, that’s a little dramatic, don’t you think?”
He either has no idea what he’s done, or he just doesn’t care. Either way, I can’t laugh it off like it’s no big deal.
I wish I could believe that it’ll all smooth over like he obviously does, but my intuition is rarely wrong.
And it’s currently telling me that Everly is right, Meyer wants to distance themselves from anyone that makes the smallest of waves, regardless of fault.
And because of Travis, I’m someone that made a wave.
“Thank you for your neighborly concern, but in the future, I think it’s best if you mind your own business.”
His brows pull together and he stares at me, his expression is confusion with a hint of amusement. “So that’s a no then to dinner?”
I grab a hold of the door with one hand and step back, slamming it shut in his perfect, handsome face.