Page 6 of Beast of Misty Mountain

“It’s not like that,” I say, maybe a little too fast. “There was a mix-up with the lease. I’ve been renting that cabin all summer. He wasn’t supposed to be back until fall. He showed up last night.”

“Sure,” Clara says, far too innocently. “But now he’s back. And you’re still there. Maybe some love will be in the air?”

I hold my coffee like it might shield me from the way they’re both looking at me.

“We’re not sharing anything but square footage,” I say.

“Uh-huh.”

“Clara, please,” I plead. She acts as the town matchmaker, and so far, she’s stayed away from me. If Milo really is Beast, then I want nothing to do with him. People make him sound like the most misanthropic grouch that ever existed.

“I bet you two would make a great couple. You could tame him,” Clara teases, winking at me.

I cringe. My brain does not need that image right now. The man may be sexy as hell, but he’s still infuriating.

“He’s quiet. Kind of intense. But not awful.” I try to deflect. “There’s nowhere else for me to go.”

“He’s famously private,” Sami says. “Doesn’t come to town events. I’ve lived here four years and only heard him speak once. It was one word.”

“Was it ‘no’?” I ask.

“‘Coffee,’” she replies, her eyes crinkling as she laughs. “But it sounded like a threat.”

That makes me laugh, and I let some of the tension ease out of my shoulders. It’s not that I’m ashamed of the situation. It’s more that I didn’t come here looking for drama. And I definitely didn’t come here looking for a man.

He hasn’t even done anything wrong. Not really. He’s grumpy, but it’s also his cabin, so it’s hard to be mad at him for being mad at finding me there, even if I have a lease. And even though he was angry last night, he was still respectful and unexpectedly considerate.

Yet when I saw him when I was having coffee…I thought I was going to combust from my libido going from zero to a gazillion in the blink of an eye.

I take another long sip of my latte.

“We should give her a break,” Sami says. “If you want a distraction, I’ve got a book rec.”

“Please,” I say, grateful for the change in subject. I love these two, but I’m still a little in shock at Milo showing up last night and suddenly having a roommate.

She pulls a slim paperback from beneath the counter and slides it across to me. The title—Just Peachy!—is printed in playful script, with a cracked heart sketched beneath it.

“Peachy Malone,” Sami says. “Comedian. Pure chaos. She turns all her worst dating disasters into brutally honest essays. It’s hilarious and smart and a little sad in that way that feels good.”

“I’ll swing by Evergreen Books later and pick it up,” I say, flipping the book over to read the blurb. “Honestly, that sounds like exactly what I need.”

Sami nods, approving. “It’s weirdly cathartic. And it makes you feel like it’s okay not to have your life together.”

“Good,” I say. “Because I’m currently living with a man I barely know, in a cabin that’s barely big enough for one person, and now, apparently, everyone in town knows about it.”

“Sounds like chapter one,” Sami says, grinning.

I grab my latte and start backing toward the door. “You two are dangerous.”

Sami salutes with a stirring spoon. “Only when properly caffeinated.”

Outside, the air is warm for late morning. I walk slowly to work, coffee in hand, letting the rhythm of town chatter and shop doors and distant birdsong settle my nerves.

But I can’t stop thinking about Milo. Or Beast. Regardless of what name he goes by, he’s infuriating, and I can’t stop thinking about him.

He’s also sexy as sin.

Heaven help me.

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