Whilst I was trying to process all my thoughts and ignore the constant stares of those around me, I felt a sudden chill across my back as the front doors of the pub opened behind me. I didn't turn around and simply kept sipping my drink, until I realised that the whole pub had gone silent again. Only this time, you could even hear a pin drop it was that quiet. Curious - and slightly scared - I turned slowly in my chair, unable to stop my jaw from dropping open at what I saw. Two of the biggest men I had ever seen had walked in, both staring at me with matching frowns on their faces. The one near the front was tall, with dark hair and tattoos that covered every inch of his body that I could see. He was wearing a white t-shirt which his muscled arms could barely squeeze into, with jeans that moulded to his body. The man behind him was dressed almost identically and looked very similar in features, only he had blonde hair and a small number of tattoos going down his left arm. They started to walk towards me, my heart pounding in my chest as I could not take my eyes off the man in front. I didn't know what it was about him, but he just exuded power and I had the massive urge to just bow before him and tell him I would do whatever he asked of me. Crap, maybe I just need to get laid. As they stood before me, they bowed their heads slightly in a silent greeting and I swallowed loudly as I tried to hide the fact that they made me nervous.
"Who are you?" The blonde one blurted out suddenly, his stance becoming aggressive as he looked at me. Startled by his rudeness, I snapped out of my daze and looked back at him with an equally angry face.
"Excuse me?" I said, standing up so I didn't feel quite so vulnerable with them towered over me. Didn't really help though, they still loomed over me by way over a foot at least.
"I said, who are you?" He took a step towards me, but the dark haired one in front held his arm out as if to stop him.
"Isaac," He said. I swear to God I almost passed out at the sexiness of his voice. As cheesy as it sounds, he just had the deepest, most beautiful voice. Could melt butter, I tell you. "Don't be rude."
"Jackson, this woman is a stranger. We need to look after our people."
"Our people?!" Ok, now I was pissed. "Look, my car broke down and I didn't have anywhere else to go, so until it's fixed I'm hanging around with ‘your people', okay? What is your problem?"
The rude man seemed taken aback for a moment, before he scowled and looked to the guy with the gorgeous voice to say something.
When he spoke again, I had to bring myself back in to the room and away from the daydreams about late nights listening to that beautiful voice.
"Is Logan talking to someone about getting your car fixed?"
"Yes, he's just doing it now. So are you guys like, police officers or something?"
"Or something. My name's Jackson and this is my brother, Isaac. We're not used to strangers around here; you'll have to excuse my brother's abruptness. Do you have somewhere to stay for the night?"
"No, do you know of any local hotels?"
"Around here, everything is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, so it's a ten minute drive to the nearest hotel. It's only a small B&B, but like I said we don't get many visitors. It's actually run by one of my brothers and his wife; would you like me to take you there?" I noticed while he was talking that he maintained that serious composure, never even smiling once. He had an aura about him, one of power and intimidation. I didn't want to show I was intimidated though. I didn't know these people from Adam, but I did know instinctively that I needed to avoid showing any signs of weakness in front of them.
"Yes please. What about my car?"
"I'll make sure your car gets dropped to you tomorrow, so you can continue with your journey. I know it may seem like people don't trust you, but we look after everyone here, even strangers. If you need anything, let me or one of my guys know. Each one of us has a paw tattoo on our left hand." He held out his hand and I spotted a tiny mark in the shape of a paw, barely noticeable unless pointed out.
"Any particular reason?"
"It's a long story."
"Hmm, cryptic." I smiled at him and let the story of the tattoo drop, for now. I was curious, but I was also tired and desperate to get out of my soaking wet jeans, so I was keen to wrap the conversation up as quickly as possible.
Just as I was about to ask politely if we can please go to that hotel now, so I could get some beauty sleep, Logan came back with a smile on his face, that instantly made me feel more comfortable. He definitely seemed to be my only friend in that place right then.
"Right, Miss Laura, your car will be ready and waiting for you tomorrow."
I smiled broadly at him, tempted to jump over the bar and give him a quick kiss! Wow, it really had been too long since I'd gotten any action.
"Thank you so much! Do you know how much it's going to cost me?"
He gave me a wink, leaning forward on the bar in a casual pose which screamed confidence.
"No charge. Take it as a ‘thanks for visiting' and ‘please come again'."
"Seriously? I really don't mind paying. I have my purse on me."
"Your car will be back in your safe hands tomorrow and that's all you need to worry about."
"Well then, thank you. I really appreciate it."
"No sweat." Winking again, he moved along the bar to serve two men who had walked in about five minutes ago. Turning around, I looked back at the two brothers to see them waiting impatiently for me to join them at the door. As I went to walk out, Logan called my name and I turned quickly to see him smile at me again. Seriously, if this guy wasn't twice my age he would be seriously cute!
"Hope to see you again, sometime."
Hmm, maybe it wouldn't be so bad here, after all.
****
Honestly, sitting in the back of a car with the two buff brothers, Isaac and Jackson, was probably the most awkward situation I'd ever been in. I could tell they were both annoyed with each other and they weren't particularly interested in getting to know me either, so it was silence all round. I tried to watch the scenery as we drove but all I could see were trees and in the cover of darkness I could barely even see them. I was still getting a weird feeling from the place, but the mystery surrounding it seemed to be calling to me, with a shiver passing through me that I couldn't explain. We'd been in the car for about five minutes when Isaac cleared his throat, glancing at me quickly out of the corner of his eye.
"Jackson, you know this is dangerous."
"Dangerous how? Isaac, she's going to spend the night in Noah's B&B and will be leaving tomorrow, what could possibly happen?"
"We don't know her! She could be any one; she could be helping someone who means us harm."
I felt confused as to why Isaac was so worried about me being a danger, but then that turned in to anger at being so blatantly talked about, whilst not being included in the conversation.
"It's one night, Isaac! I get the final say, and she stays."
I coughed loudly, causing them both to turn around and look as me, as Jackson pulled in next to a building and turned off the engine.
"Can you please not talk about me like I'm invisible? Isaac, I'm sorry but I've known you for about five minutes and I've got to say, I don't like you. At all. How dare you judge me so quickly, when all I've done is trek to the nearest place for help when I was stranded. Would you rather me have stayed in my car, freezing to death and waiting for a rescue? All I want is a few hours' sleep, my little car back and then I promise I will be on my way. Now, if you boys don't mind, I need to get out of these wet jeans and in to a hot bath, so I'll hopefully not be seeing you again." Feeling immensely satisfied with the stunned looks on their faces, I hopped out of the car and walked up to the steps of what looked like a cosy, welcoming hotel. The outside looked like a beautiful cottage, with pink and blue flowers over the entrance and large, welcoming doors with candles to light the way. Smiling to myself as I walked in, I realised that maybe all of my prayers had been answered. I'd wanted something different. I'd wanted an adventure. I'd wanted to get away from it all. Maybe this would be the perfect place to have my fresh start?
As I approached the front desk, I looked around and noticed how homely the quaint cottage was. There was an old fashioned fireplace with a roaring fire and a few vacant armchairs placed in front of it. A wooden, winding staircase led upstairs and there was a door heading to the back behind where the reception desk was placed. I heard the door open behind me, rolling my eyes as I spun to see Jackson walking in, with that stern look still on his face.