Page 16 of Midnight Whispers
“Well, welcome to Emolyn Cove. I hope you enjoy your stay.”
He smirks again. “Thank you, Lillia. I think I’ll like my stay very much.”
I can’t figure out if his smile is cocky or charming, but I don’t give him much time to let me figure it out. I smile, put my head back down and start to walk out of the aisle.
Don’t be such a coward.
“You know…” I say, pausing to glance coyly over my shoulder. “There’s a Halloween party at the historical society in a couple of days. You should come.”
Cedar’s mouth twitches up in a smirk. “Will you be there?”
“I will.”
His grin grows, almost sinisterly. “Then I wouldn’t miss it.”
I bite my lower lip as the warmth flows from my chest to my face, which I know without looking at my reflection is back to the same crimson as before.
“Good,” I say, turning and hurrying out of the building before I have a chance to change my mind.
After throwing my bicycle in her trunk, I run to the door of Flora’s car and sigh as I sit back in the front seat.
“You didn’t get a book?” she asks as she turns on her blinker and merges onto the street.
“No. There isn't a book Ineeded, but I did get something else.”
“Oh? What’s that?”
“I crashed into a stranger, agorgeousstranger, and invited him to the Halloween party.”
“Shut up! Who are you and what did you do with my best friend? Give me all of the details!”
“I really don't know much. His name is Cedar, he’s here visiting family, which he said is complicated, and gorgeousin an almost hypnotizing way.”
“Well, I can’t wait to meet him! He’s going todiewhen he sees you in your costume.”
Butterflies suddenly began to dance around in my stomach. My nerves are finally getting the best of me, and I am now second-guessing everything.
Why did I invite him?
“Oh no. Don’t do that,” Flora snaps, looking back and forth between me and the road.
“Do what?”
“Start regretting your decision to invite your mystery man!”
I let out a small chuckle before turning to face the window. Suddenly, I am filled with guilt andwhat ifs.
What if my mysterious stranger is at the party?
What if he sees me with Cedar?
I sink down in my seat, biting my lip, and cursing myself for being bold.
8
I watchfrom across the street as Cedar speaks to Lillia,my Lillia,inside of the bookstore. My vision blurs red, and I fight against every urge within me to crash through the glass and rip his fucking heart out. Thoughts of the last interaction I had with him bubble up to the surface.
After I changed Wren, we returned to L.A. reluctantly. Wren was desperate for anything other than the Alaskan wilderness and we knew he would love California as much as we had, so we sold our duplex and purchased a small manor in a gated estate in Bel Air.