CHAPTER THREE
brAN
At five fifteen I'm on the bench waiting for a woman whose name I don’t yet know.
I’m not the most social of beings, and sadly, that showed in my lack of manners and etiquette.
I should have apologized immediately for getting in her way and asked for her name.
That probably would have saved me from having to chase her down and getting blasted in the face.
I could be on my way back to my realm now if I had secured her love immediately.
I frown. Except that’s not how that works, unless I obtained a few of Cupid’s arrows and shot her full of them. Which I don’t want. I want a woman to love me without the use of magic.
The wait stretches longer than I expect it to, and I check the phone I was given every couple of minutes. It’s twenty minutes past the agreed upon time, and I’m fearing she has no intention of showing when suddenly there she is.
I surge to my feet as she approaches. She's changed out of her running gear into dark jeans and a blue jacket that matches the shade of her eyes. Her blonde hair is loose around her shoulders instead of pulled into a tight ponytail. I rather miss the ponytail, as it showed off the sharp planes of her face, and for some unexplainable reason, my fingers tingled to grip it. She crosses in long, even strides to the bench where I’m waiting, and my heart speeds up the closer she comes.
She stops a few feet away and looks pointedly at my feet.
“You got boots.”
“You said five thirty,” I counter.
One corner of her pink lips twitches upwards. “So I did. Traffic was hell, and I got us dinner.” She holds up a paper bag and shakes it. “I got turkey subs. I didn't know what you liked.”
“I like those,” I say confidently, despite never having had a sub before.
She plops onto the bench and I follow her down, the wood creaking faintly under both our weights.
She hands me a long cylinder wrapped in white paper and sets a bright green can of soda beside me.
I’ve never had one, but I’m quite familiar with the cans as they litter the woods of just about every continent of the human realm.
Without fully meaning to, I sneer at it.
She gives a sudden short laugh that sends a jolt through me.
“Okay, not a soda fan. No problem.” She pulls a bottle of water from the bag and takes the soda for herself.
“Thank you,” I say, remembering my manners.
Flashing me a smile, she says, “You’re welcome, Bran.”
Hearing my name from her lips sends another jolt sizzling through me, and in wonder, I realize it’s attraction.
As we unwrap our subs, I sneak peeks at her. She looks different from earlier, besides her hairstyle. Then I noticed that it’s subtle, but she has color on her eyelids and cheeks, and her eyes look wider due to some black she has ringed them with. She’s wearing makeup. For me?
Quickly, I dismiss that thought. No, she mentioned work, the makeup must be from that.
“What is your name?” I demand.
She pauses with her sub raised in front of her lips. “Alexandra.”
“Alexandra.” I taste her name on my tongue and immediately like it.
“Most people call me Alex.”
Scowling, I shake my head. “Alexandra suits you better.”
She doesn't reply, instead taking a large bite of her sub.
I follow her lead and take a bite of mine. The texture of the bread and lettuce is pleasing. The turkey is rather dry, and I’m thankful for the bottle of water as I take a long gulp after I’ve swallowed my bite of the sub.
We eat in silence, and that’s mostly fine. I’m unsure what to say or how to begin. I don’t do much talking in my realm. I’ve gone decades between having to converse with anyone before. I’m not certain I like it, but it’s simply what I’m used to.
She finishes eating before I do. Balls up her wrapper, drops it back into the bag, and turns on the bench to face me with an expectant look on her face that instantly makes me leery. Which is ridiculous. I’m the Lord of the Woods, I fear no one, least of all a mortal woman.
“So,” Alexandra says. “Are you going to tell me what you're actually doing here? And I mean here in this city, not here on this park bench.”
The half-lie comes to me automatically. “I work in the park.”
Her pale eyebrows lift and she nods. “Sure you do.”
Leaning back on the bench, she crosses her arms and stares me down. “Look, Bran, you seem like an okay guy, but let's cut the bullshit.”
I am relieved she is open to the truth instead of some story to make her feel better. “Very well.” I set my sandwich down beside me and hope I do not have lettuce stuck in my teeth. “I am known as the Lord of the Woods.”
Her lips twitch and she nods again. “Of course you are,” she says. “Nice meeting you, Lord Bran Flakes.”
Nearby, a sparrow startles and flies off into the trees with a series of loud chirps.
I watch it go. Beside me, Alexandra picks up the soda and takes a sip.
She is taking this far better than I thought she would. Maybe this entire wooing business will be simple as well. A lightness fills me and I take another bite of my dry sub, quite eager to get back to my realm full of juicy meats and savory vegetables.
“What do you actually do for work? The real answer this time.”
So much for things being simple. Alexandra doesn’t believe me. “That was the real answer.”
“The Lord of the Woods isn’t a job. Try again.”
Ahhh… she’s confused by the title. “I oversee every forest on this earth. Every tree, every root, every creature that lives beneath the canopy. It is not a job in the way you mean the word.”
“So like a forest ranger. But cosmic.”
It’s not a bad way of putting it, so I shrug. “Something like that.”
“And you came here why? Vacation?”
I could lie again. It would be easy enough, and she already doesn’t believe me, so why complicate things further.
Except when I open my mouth the truth comes out anyway. “I'm lonely.”
Her blue eyes narrow as she compresses her lips.
It’s funny, I’ve never spoken that out loud before, and now that I have, it feels like a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders.
Alexandra tilts her head back as she finishes off her soda, the can crunching in her hand as she shoves it into the bag. She wipes her hands on her jeans and offers me a smile. “Okay, that was the truth at least.”
“You don't believe the rest of it.”
“I believe you believe it. That doesn't make it true, though.”
“What would make it true to you?”
The last of the daylight turns her hair into spun gold, and for a man not good with words, I find myself wanting to be. Alexandra deserves a poem dedicated to her beauty.
“Proof, Bran. Something that tells me irrefutably that you are some magical being.”
In the spirit of fairness, I surrendered my powers, well, the bulk of them, when I came into this realm to seek my mate.
I still have a tiny amount. Not enough to summon a storm or cause a tiny sapling to grow into a towering pine in the blink of an eye, but it’s enough that I could show her if I wanted to.
I decide against it.
“Patience,” I tell her.
She snorts, the sound entirely unladylike and somehow exactly right for her. “That's not an answer either.”
“No,” I agree with a smile. “It isn't.”
She stands, brushing crumbs from her jeans, and looks down at me with a faint grin on her face. “This was weird,” she says. “Just so we're clear.”
“Agreed.”
Signing, she grabs our bag of trash. “And I'm still not convinced you're not homeless.”
Perhaps I should have showered before meeting her tonight. “I have a cabin. It’s through those trees.” I point. “Come for dinner tomorrow. I'll cook.”
Her blue eyes roll heavenward before she says, “Look, Bran, you’re nice and all, but I don’t know you.”
I understand her hesitation, but she’s safer with me than with anyone else. “You'll know me a little better by tomorrow evening,” I promise.
She huffs out something between a snort and a laugh. “What the hell. You only live once, right? But I plan to have more pepper spray on me and a taser, just so we’re clear.”
I’m assuming the pepper spray is what she sprayed in my face earlier today. The name is apt, as it was spicy and peppery. I hold up my hands, palms facing her in a gesture of peace. “Perfectly clear, no more chasing after you.”
She snorts this time. “Something like that. Now, what’s this cabin’s address?”
“Meet me here first. I'll walk you.”
Alexandra purses her lips as she stares down at me; eventually, she nods. “Okay, tomorrow at the same bench, I’ll be here at five-thirty.” She turns to leave, then pauses. “Don't make me regret this, Bran.”
She doesn't wait for me to agree before she's walking away, and I sit there watching her leave me again. I have ruled every woods on this earth since before there were names for things, and I have never once felt the particular satisfaction and anticipation that I do now for a new day.
The sparrow comes back and lands near my feet, gobbling up the breadcrumbs we left. I meet his curious gaze and smile. “I have a date.”