COLD HEARTS HIDDEN FIRE

ed Soul had opened just an hour ago, and Avery was restocking the front displa

r her breath as the be

e called out, not

rep

-measured, slow, and

her breath caught

was

en W

ession unreadable. He stood just inside the door, eyes scanni

ed, standing straight, her fingers t

first. Just stared at her, as i

" he said finally, the t

. "Because you seem like someone wh

ed slightly. "Wh

don

at p

hing strang

smi

nd one.

sement there. A s

hink you know pe

n. "But I know a man who almost ran me over a

rk disa

closer. "Yo

hon

ould b

etween them, tension threading like a

didn't

ad slightly. "Tell m

ve

sting the name on his tongue.

s your name on the plate," she s

earche

t's not obsession-i

eep. "You're not like

. "You say that lik

ed quieter, his eyes flickering-like

spond, the door beh

ssed in a tight cream blazer, high he

erfect. Her perfum

th a soft, practiced

y bl

he shop, then settled on her. They

mentioned," she said, walking besi

er of surprise. "Stacey, I di

r take side trips," she said

pped back

of woman who surrounde

Confident.

e," Stacey said to Avery

ed, keeping her vo

. "Charming little pl

n't take

candle?" she asked Damien

studying her again like he wasn't q

, picking up one of her new

scanning the message written below: "

ifted in his

he walked to the count

ake thi

n though her heart was pounding

he said, handi

too. "I'll buy one as w

gaze. "They're

I'll take whatever you th

s test

y kn

her a candle from the lower shelf. I

it-"Beautiful things can still bur

ed to Damien.

dded

t Avery one last time. That

expected," he said.

sk you to,"

hest ached quietly as

-

That

lit beside him. The scent was light-pine and

h

ind. Or the way she didn't care who he was. Most

dn't wan

t unset

other hand, w

comfort zone. But even now, as she texted him "She

re she was r

-

ey's

signer condo, gla

n the look

ker-but it

her that way. But he had

like it meant something. She remembered how qui

o

irl who sold scented jars in

eside him through every heartbreak,

she could walk in and c

y w

-

v

, cleaning the shop, her h

layed every seco

that neither of them acknowledged. The woman

e wasn't looking for romance, and c

hing in the way he

ened when he said her

t mean a

gh

cked up, the scent of pine still lingered

really

she ready for the s