Chapter 2
Avalon
Istare at my phone with a wry grin because Courtney’s exhortations to call her if anything goes wrong are useless.
There’s no signal this far up the mountain, and as I stand there, the taillights of the Uber draw further and further away until they disappear.
I’m stuck up here by myself, and there’s nothing to do but to subject myself to the beast.
Still, it can’t be that bad because this could be a babysitting job.
Maybe Mr. Carrington (as I’ve been informed his name is) has no idea that I’m being gifted through Sweet Lies, and thinks that I really do belong to a nanny service.
Seeing that I know nothing about children, this could be a giant mistake, but here goes.
I take one last breath and look down at myself.
I’m dressed in the “clean girl aesthetic” popularized by college co-eds these days, and my blonde hair is neatly braided down my back, and my features are only lightly dusted with a bit of blush and lipstick.
A big sweatshirt envelops my frame, topping a long, loose skirt and cute Adidas sneakers.
The look is definitely projecting modest, considerate, kind, and most of all, trustworthy.
I arrange my face into a smile and then knock.
There’s no answer. Then, I knock again, again to no answer.
Damn, does Mr. Carrington know I’m coming?
I hope there hasn’t been some humongous breakdown in communication, and that he’s expecting his new babysitter.
Or maybe he’s not even at the cabin, and I’m here all alone.
Oh shit, how do I call the Uber back when I have no signal?
With a bit of desperation, I look around for the doorbell, but there is none! Then, I ball my hands into fists and begin pounding on the heavy wooden slab.
“Open up!” I yell. “It’s your new babysitter, Avalon. Hey, is anyone home?”
In the middle of pounding like a lunatic, the door suddenly jerks open and I fall flat on face onto the floor. Literally, one moment I’m upright and yelling, and the next, I’m staring straight into a colorful rag rug with my nose buried in the tensile fabric.
“Look who the cat dragged in,” a low male voice says. “What the fuck? Who are you, and why are you at my cabin?”
I pick myself up slowly. Ouch, my shins hurt, and I think I banged my left knee on the way down. Not to mention, my braid’s now askew and my face is flushed with embarrassment. This is definitely not how a Sweet Lies encounter is supposed to start.
But I need to make things right because I’m here for a job. Stay calm, Avalon, the voice in my head instructs. Collect yourself, and then get to work.
The voice is right, and mentally, I will my blood pressure to subside while pasting a smile on my face.
My mouth opens to start talking, but that’s when all the air whooshes out of my lungs because Liam Carrington is gorgeous.
The mountain man is at least six four, his dark head almost hitting the door frame.
His shoulders appear wider than a tank, with bulging biceps and a lean, flat waist. His thighs are as thick and sturdy as logs, but it’s the look in those blue eyes that make me shrink because Liam Carrington’s hostile.
His gaze pierces me to the core, missing nothing, and he literally growls then.
“Again. What the fuck. Are you doing. At my cabin?” he bellows, practically blowing my eardrums out.
Oh no. To say we’re off to a bad start would be an understatement … and now, I’m at the mountain man’s mercy.