Page 17 of Chasing Stripes

Despite herself, Artemis laughed. “You’re terrible.”

“I’m practical,” Kalyna corrected. “And I know sexual tension when I smell it. This place reeks of it.” She sniffed dramatically. “Honestly, it’s a wonder the muffins aren’t bursting into flames.”

As if on cue, a small spark leaped from the muffin display, singeing the edge of a napkin. Artemis quickly patted it out, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.

“See?” Kalyna’s grin turned triumphant. “Your magic agrees with me. You should?—”

The bakery bell chimed again, cutting off whatever outrageous suggestion Kalyna had been about to make. Both women turned to see Tilly entering with a bag of groceries.

“Kalyna!” Tilly beamed. “Perfect timing. I was just telling Mrs. Norwood at the market about our exciting morning. Did Artemis fill you in about her tiger rescue?”

“She tried to downplay it,” Kalyna replied, shooting Artemis a smug look. “But the evidence speaks for itself.” She pointed discreetly to Artemis’s waist where the glow remained visible.

Tilly’s eyes widened with delight. “Still glowing? Hours later? Oh my, that’s even more significant than I thought!”

“It’s not significant at all,” Artemis protested. “It’s just residual magic from?—”

“From an incredibly powerful connection,” Tilly finished for her. She set down her groceries and joined Kalyna at the counter, both women now regarding Artemis with identical expressions of amused speculation. “Magical imprinting like that doesn’t happen with ordinary interactions.”

“That’s what I said!” Kalyna exclaimed. “Classic signs of?—”

“A potential mate bond,” Tilly nodded sagely.

“Exactly!”

“I’m standing right here,” Artemis reminded them, exasperation coloring her voice. “And this conversation is wildly inappropriate.”

“What’s inappropriate is ignoring what’s obviously happening,” Tilly countered. “Fae-shifter bonds are rare but powerful. Your grandfather nearly caused a hurricane when he first touched your grandmother.”

“I thought they met at a harvest festival,” Artemis frowned.

“They did. Why do you think the festival moved indoors after 1942?” Tilly grinned. “Their connection disrupted weather patterns for miles. Magical compatibility can be... intense.”

“The question is,” Kalyna interjected, “what are you going to do about it? Because that tiger definitely didn’t dash through a magical explosion just to be neighborly.”

“I’m not doing anything about it,” Artemis insisted. “I have a bakery to revive, remember? That’s why I came back to Enchanted Falls. Not to... to...” She gestured vaguely, unable to even articulate the suggestion.

“To find your destined mate?” Tilly supplied helpfully.

“To have wild, passionate affairs with sexy tiger shifters?” Kalyna added, wiggling her eyebrows.

“You’re both impossible,” Artemis groaned.

“We’re both right,” Kalyna corrected. “And deep down, you know it.”

FIFTEEN

The sad part was, a tiny voice inside Artemis whispered that they might be onto something. The connection she’d felt with Bartek defied logical explanation. In all her dating history, she’d never experienced anything remotely like the jolt that had passed between them—the recognition, the heated awareness, the sense of rightness that had momentarily overwhelmed her.

But acknowledging that possibility opened doors she wasn’t ready to step through. She’d returned to Enchanted Falls to rebuild her life, not complicate it with a cross-species romance straight out of one of those supernatural bodice-rippers.

“Can we please change the subject?” she begged. “Tell me about the library, or town gossip, or literally anything else.”

Kalyna and Tilly exchanged knowing glances but mercifully allowed the diversion. As they shifted to discussing the upcoming town council meeting, Artemis found her gaze drifting involuntarily toward the window. Across the street, Tooth & Claw stood silent and closed, giving no hint of the powerful alpha within.

Yet she could still feel the ghost of his hands on her waist, still smell cedar and spice when she closed her eyes, still see that flash of amber in his gaze when their eyes had met. And despite her protests, a small, traitorous part of her wondered when she might encounter Bartek Arbor again—and what would happen when she did.

The lights flickered overhead, confirming what her racing heart already knew: whatever had sparked between them was far from over.

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