Seduced by a Shifter(33)

Tess turned in her seat, giving Willow her full attention. “Not that kind of anonymity, Willow. The kind where no one gives a damn if you’re feeling sad or lonely. The kind where, if you fell over on the street, people might very well just walk over you to get where they need to go. That’s what I mean.”

Willow chewed on her lip a moment. “Huh. I never felt that in New York.”

Tess rested her arm along steering wheel. “No?” She sounded dubious.

Leaning back in her seat, Willow gave the question its due. Maybe she hadn’t felt that way in the city because she’d been one of those people too much in a hurry to get where she needed getting to think about what or whom she was walking over.

It made her wince, recalling the few homeless people sitting in abandoned doorways she’d seen as she’d traversed from work to home and back again. At first she’d given a buck or two, some change from her pocket when she had it. But as time wore on and her life seemed to spin out of control, she started to avoid them, then flat-out ignore them.

But would she have walked over them? The fact that she just didn’t know nearly brought her to tears.

“Hey. Are you okay?

Opening eyes she didn’t know she’d closed, Willow gazed out blindly past the crowded parking lot. “I’m fine. Just doing a little introspection and not liking what I see.”

Instantly contrite, Tess leaned over to touch Willow’s arm. “Oh, honey. I’m sorry. I never meant...”

“No, no. I’m okay. I’m just...” She paused. Not only because she wasn’t sure what she was, but because she suddenly noticed an old man sitting on one of the benches in the open area that divided the looped road. Alone, and to Willow’s thinking, not bundled up enough for the cold. Then again, few of the people she’d met in this town were, no doubt accustomed to the temperature changes.

But it was the fact he sat there, so still and alone that caused Willow to make a snap decision to go speak with him.

“That man. Who is he?” Her eyes remained fixed on her quarry.

Tess dipped her head to follow Willow’s gaze. “Oh. That’s Henry Harkins. He’s the town recluse. Rarely comes out from his cabin, and when he does, most steer clear.”

“Whatever for?” Willow glanced back at Tess.

Tess rolled in her lips. “Well, to be blunt, he’s a crab. And a grouch. Barely says a word and when he does, it’s not anything nice.”

Willow’s eyes drifted back to the bench. The man hadn’t moved. “Don’t you think he’s lonely?”

Tess hesitated. “I think when the solitude gets too much he comes into town where he sits by himself and glowers at anyone who might dare come close. There are only a handful of people he will speak with.”

Interest piqued, Willow asked, “Like who?”

“Like my sister. And Dean, of course.”

“Why ‘Dean, of course’?”

“Uh.” The other woman appeared at a loss for words, which caused Willow to tilt her head in suspicious anticipation. “Yes?”

“Because,” Tess said hesitantly before a “duh” look displaced the panic in her eyes. “Because Dean’s the mayor, of course.”

Even though Tess said it with complete conviction, Willow knew it wasn’t the right answer, but decided to file it away along with all the other weird things she’d seen and heard since stepping foot in this town. Despite the friendliness of its natives, Willow had a feeling the inhabitants of Woodcliff were hiding something, which made Willow’s forced exile quite intriguing.

Of course, nothing in this place captured her attention like Ben did. Just the thought of him made her tingle in places she’d tried to cap a lid on for years. Squeezing her thighs together only made the sensation worse. She needed to move, to expel the restless warmth that started to crawl through her veins. The cool air would do perfectly.

Willow laid a hand on Tess’s arm before the woman could open her door. “If you don’t mind, I think I’d like to stay out here for a bit.”

Lines marred the smooth finish of Tess’s forehead. “Whatever for?”

Willow shrugged, not willing to tell the truth: that she was so pathetic in her crush that the mere thought of Ben made her hot and bothered. “I feel kinda warm, and while I don’t think I’m getting sick, if I am, I certainly don’t want to spread it around.”

In a quick move, Tess lifted one cool hand to Willow’s forehead and placed her other on her own brow. “You do feel warmer than me, but I run cooler than most so that’s not saying much.” Then she did something odd. She took a deep breath through her nose. The eyes on that million-dollar face widened in stunned shock and Tess yanked her hand back as if she’d been burned. Then her lips twitched, as if she was holding back from laughing.