“Done. I will do that for you,” Ryder said, sliding out of her Jeep. He strode around the vehicle, and she expected him to jog back across the street to retrieve his plastic pitchers, but instead he sauntered straight up to her and wrapped his arms around her.
Lexi froze, shocked to her bones.
Ryder tensed when their torsos met. He huffed a small breath as though surprised, too, then gently rested his cheek against her temple. Gads, he was tall, and so strong against her. She should balk at hugging a complete stranger but after Blake, it felt so good to have a man willingly touch her. Slowly, Lexi wrapped her arms around his waist and relaxed against him. She didn’t know how long they stood there like that on the side of the road, just hugging, but after a while, she wanted to cry for some reason she couldn’t understand or explain.
Ryder was a goofball and liked to joke around, but this was a different side. A softer side that pleasantly surprised her.
He moved his cheek slightly, and she could’ve sworn he kissed her there on her hairline, just a silent peck before he eased back. She thought he would have on a silly smile like he’d been wearing before, but he looked down at her with an intense, almost confused, expression on his face.
“I’ll see you Saturday,” he murmured in a deep, rich timbre that sent warmth streaking down into her middle.
“See you,” she whispered.
And then Ryder opened her door for her, waited for her to get in, never taking his eyes from her, and shut the door beside her gently. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again and patted her open window twice before he pushed off and waited for her to leave.
As she drove away, she looked into her rearview mirror at the confounding man who was shaking up butterflies in her stomach that she never thought she would feel again. Ryder stood on the side of the road with his hands linked behind that fiery red head of his, watching her leave with a frown etched into his face.
She understood that look because one glance in the mirror at herself, and she wore the same one. She was baffled by him, too.
Chapter Four
Lexi was being ridiculous. An hour into the Taste of Bryson City event, and she had already convinced herself Ryder wasn’t coming. Did that stop her from scanning the crowd every millisecond like a hopeful nutjob? No.
Across Main Street and up a few tents, the Bryson City Fire Department was cooking hamburgers and hot dogs on a giant grill with a buffet table set up with all the condiments. And one Aaron Keller was standing as greeter, talking cordially to passersby. From the Internet stalking she’d done on Ryder’s crew, he was one of the Bloodrunners. Second to Harper Keller, the dragon alpha herself. Never in a million years had Lexi thought one of the rare dragon shifters would end up here in tiny town, North Carolina. And Kane didn’t count. No one had actually seen the dragon inside the quiet man with the terrifyingly green reptilian eyes. Two tents down was a green one with Alana’s Coffee & Sweets logo on the front banner, and Alana was serving small plastic cups with samples of her pastries. She caught Lexi’s eye and waved.
Lexi flipped the shaved steak on the griddle quick and waved with her tongs.
Alana was part of Ryder’s crew, too, the mate of Aaron Keller, so where the hell was Ryder? Or should she say Air Ryder, because that’s the name apparently everyone in the whole world knew him as. She’d never kept up with shifter culture, but he had a huge following. Lexi’s Internet stalking had told her that Air Ryder was a badass rare shifter with personality for days, and one of the most famous flight shifters in the entire world. And the more of his posts she’d read, the more attention she noticed from his online followers, the less sense it made that he was showing interest in her. Who was she? No one special. Just a small town chef who enjoyed a quiet life and didn’t know the first thing about shifters or Air Ryder’s culture.
This was probably a game to him—chasing her, getting her crushing hard on him, then dropping her. Just the thought sent another ache through her stomach. She’d barely eaten in two days, all because she had been so nervous for today. It was just a casual meeting of new, sort-of friends, but she couldn’t shake the happy feeling that had warmed her when she’d stood on the side of the road in his arms.
For the first time in years, she’d felt safe, and okay.
Lexi slapped a slice of cheese to melt on top of the steak and stirred the mushrooms she was sautéing in a giant pan on another griddle.
Behind her, Sprinkles whined. She was leashed to one of the legs of the tent, which she hated. Her little back legs lay limply to the side, her tail completely still, but if Sprinkles was able, she’d be wagging at Lexi right now for looking at her. Sprinkles was paralyzed on her back end, but that hadn’t slowed her down at all. Once Lexi strapped her into her tiny wheels, Sprinkles loved to run and didn’t stop until she was worn out completely.
“Sorry, baby. Today is gonna be a little boring, but we’ll go on a big walk when we get home.”
Sprinkles, clearly pouting, lowered her chest to the pink, bejeweled dog bed and heaved a sigh as she looked up at Lexi with the saddest expression in her giant eyes. God, the little Chihuahua slayed her. Lexi giggled and went back to making the miniature Philly cheesesteaks. There was a line forming, and there were only three samples left on the table, so she hurried to make more.
For the next half an hour, she was blissfully too busy to dwell on the fact that the funny redhead she had a teeny crush on was standing her up.
Table full of samples and the crowd dwindling momentarily, she inhaled all the delicious scents filling the air and rested her hands on her aching lower back. She loved this town. Sure, it had the same problems every small town had, like everyone knowing everyone else’s business, but the people were friendly, and were helpful when a member of the community got into a jam.