“Are there any plans for today?” Tara asked before taking a drink of her juice.

  Elias tried to force his eyes from watching her throat move as she swallowed. And failed. Why was that so mesmerizing? When his eyes finally looked up at her face, she had a brow raised at him. He’d been caught. He shrugged at her and winked. He wouldn’t apologize for being attracted to her.

  “I thought I’d take you on a hike. Nature is, after all, my area of expertise. Jax and I have explored the area, and we came across a small waterfall farther up in the hills. Do you trust me enough to wander into the forest with me?”

  “Maybe,” she said and then without so much as a smirk added, “Do you trust me enough not to push you off the mountain?”

  His lips turned up in a slow smile. “Then I could literally say I fell for you.”

  Tara let out a snort of laughter. “I think I just threw up in my mouth.”

  An hour after Tara had fixed herself and Elias breakfast, they were climbing up a trail that would lead to the waterfall Elias had spoken of. She knew which one it was. She and Shelly had been to it a couple of times during their camping trips with Shelly’s family. But this was the first time she was experiencing it with Elias, and, for that reason, she was as excited about seeing it as she had been the first time.

  “You doing okay?” he asked as he glanced back at her. He hadn’t even broken out into a sweat.

  She, on the other hand, was panting and sweating like a sow in heat. Regardless of her less-than-attractive state, she was doing awesome because she was out in her element. It didn’t hurt that she had an incredibly sexy guy leading the way. Didn’t hurt one bit. “I’m great,” she said truthfully.

  He stopped and turned to stare at her. His lips turned up in a slow smile. “You’re glowing.”

  “Literally? Because I’m pretty sure that’s not possible.”

  “Then you’ve achieved the impossible,” he said.

  “Wouldn’t be the first time,” she muttered under her breath as she began following him when he started forward. She noticed she wasn’t the only one who seemed to get positive energy from being outside. From the moment they’d stepped onto the trail, something in Elias had shifted. It was almost as if he became one with nature instead of intruding on it. He would occasionally lay his hand on a tree trunk or run his fingers across the leaves of the foliage as if he was greeting them like sentient beings. She’d nearly tripped a couple of times just because she didn’t want to take her eyes off of him. She was mesmerized by his interaction with the forest around them.

  “You must really enjoy being outside,” he said after a few minutes of silence.

  “Because it makes me glow?” she asked, sidestepping a small box turtle she had seen him step over.

  “It lights you up from the inside out.”

  “How do you know? You’ve been in front of me the whole time,” she pointed out.

  “There are other eyes and ears in the forest,” he said cryptically. “The wood nymphs are besotted with you.”

  Tara’s mouth dropped open and then snapped shut as she saw a fly buzz by. Had she heard him right? Had he said wood nymphs? Surely not. She inwardly groaned, only it didn’t stay inward as it came flowing right out of her mouth. “Ahh damn. I knew you were too good to be true. Too handsome, too British, too,”

  “Too British?” he asked as he crested the spot across from the waterfall. “I wasn’t aware that one could be too British.”

  She’d continued talking as if he hadn’t said a word. “There were so many red flags. Soooooo. Maaaany.” She moaned and threw her hands up in the air. “How could I be so damn blind?”

  “I’m sorry, luv, but I’m not following. What are you going on about?”

  “You!” She snapped as she walked up to him and poked him in the chest with her finger. “I’m talking about you. You’re off your trolley. Isn’t that what you Brits say when someone is batshit crazy?”

  To her surprise, instead of getting angry at being called a raging lunatic, he laughed. Which only solidified in Tara’s mind that she was right. “Why is that funny?”

  “You thought I was being serious about the wood nymphs?” He spread his arms wide as he grinned at her. Like a crazy person. That’s definitely a crazy person’s grin.

  “You sounded very serious and completely rational.”

  His arms dropped to his sides at the same time his grin fell. “How can I be crazy if I sounded rational?”

  “The truly crazy people, like the ones with seriously misfiring synapses, always sound rational about whatever it is they’re talking about, even if it’s barking mad. Because they truly believe in whatever the barking mad thing is.” She crossed her arms in front of her and shifted her weight to her right leg.

  “So because I sounded like I believed wood nymphs were real, that makes me off my trolley,” he asked as if what she said was difficult to understand.

  “Exactly.”

  “You seem happy that I’m understanding your explanation of why you think I’m crazy.”

  Her face quickly fell into a frown. “Of course, I’m not happy. I didn’t want you to be crazy. No girl wants the first guy she’s ever been attracted to … to be a nutter.”

  “The first guy?” His brow rose in interest.

  Dammit! Had she seriously said that out loud? Yes. Yes she had. Apparently, his type of crazy was like Shelly’s type of crazy—contagious. He was infecting her with his wood-nymph madness, and she was word vomiting.

  “This year,” she said quickly. “First guy this year. I left that part out.”

  “Riiiight,” he said drawing out the word. “How about we drink some water while we work through my alleged madness and your lack of attraction for any male besides myself.” He reached into the backpack he’d been carrying and pulled out a bottle of water. He held it out to her, and Tara took it, making sure their skin didn’t touch. Just breathing the same air as Elias had obviously fried some brain cells. There was no telling what touching him would do. He didn’t miss her avoidance and winked at her. Stupid, handsome, crazy ass.

  When she’d had enough, Tara handed the bottle back to him and then hunted for a rock to rest on. He might be crazy, but she didn’t think Elias would hurt her. There was no reason not to enjoy being out in the woods, surrounded by the sight and scents of nature. Just as she was about to plant her rear end down, her phone chimed. She pulled it from her back pocket and saw that it was a text from Shelly.

  * * *

  What are you doing? I’m bored. That means come entertain me.

  * * *

  Tara shook her head and rolled her eyes.

  “Everything all right?” Elias asked.

  She nodded. “Yes, just my lunatic best friend. She’s a different brand of crazy than you,” she said as she texted Shelly back.

  * * *

  Can’t entertain you. I’m hiking … with Elias.

  * * *

  “Five, four, three, two, one.” Tara counted under her breath and chuckled when her phone chimed as she said “One.”

  * * *

  WHAT! Is that a euphemism for something NOT like hiking at all?

  * * *

  I’m shocked you know what a euphemism is let alone how to spell it.

  * * *

  Spell check, bitch.

  * * *

  Tara’s eyes widened and she laughed. Her friend must be irritated if she was resorting to profanity instead of her usual creative insults.

  * * *

  He invited me to hike up to the waterfall. We just got here. And it turns out he’s crazy.

  * * *

  Knew it. Too good to be true. What about Tucker?

  * * *

  I think we both know Tucker is only and will only ever be just a friend.

  * * *

  Be safe, don’t do drugs, make out. Crazy is not contagious through bodily fluids. I know. I researched.

  * * *

  Of course you did. You’re so strange.

  * * *

  #weirdone4life

  * * *

  Tara put her phone back in her pocket and glanced over at Elias. He was leaning against a tree trunk, watching her with the same intensity as always. The humor from earlier was gone. “No worries. Did she have anything interesting to say?”

  “If you count her telling me not to do drugs and to make out in the same sentence as interesting, then yes.” Tara took a seat on a rock next to a tree. She scooted back to rest against the trunk. As far as natural seating went, she couldn’t have gotten a better deal. Especially with a waterfall and Elias in her view.

  “Did you tell her you think I’m a nutter?” he asked matter-of-factly with no hint of being offended.

  Tara shrugged. “She’s my best friend. Even though she was forced on me, I still stick to the BFF code and tell her everything.” She paused and then amended, “Most everything. Everything else she just reads from my diary, apparently.” Tara realized, for the first time, that she’d made a wise decision in never writing about her so called superpower. Though she doubted Shelly would have taken the writing as truth. She would have thought Tara was using her diary as a way to write a fiction story.

  Tara rested her head against the tree and watched as Elias took out a pocketknife, picked up a stick, and began to whittle on it.

  “Why do you say her friendship was forced on you?” he asked as he turned his focus to his work, giving her a break from his intense stare.

  “Because it’s exactly what I mean,” she said. “When I first came to Carol’s, I didn’t really want any friends.”

  “You were hurting,” he murmured, his focus still on his work.

  She nodded. “I met Shelly the same day I arrived. She decided we were going to be best friends forever and pretty much just inserted herself into any area of my life that she could. I tried to get rid of her, was even mean to her. But she just kept on coming back, like a damn fungus.”

  “Do you resent her for it?”

  “Of course not. Shelly didn’t befriend me for her own benefit, no matter what she claims. She saw something in me worth salvaging, and she never gave up on me. She still hasn’t.”

  “And yet you call her crazy,” he pointed out.

  “Being crazy doesn’t automatically disqualify a person from being a friend.”

  “What about a lover?”

  He asked it as if it was a completely rational question. Once again proving to Tara he was batshit.

  She was about to tell him so but got distracted when a squirrel suddenly appeared on Elias’s shoulder. Well, not appeared exactly. It had run straight down the trunk of the tree and hopped directly on his left shoulder.

  She gasped, shocked to see one of the usually elusive critters being, well, not elusive. “Is there something wrong with that squirrel?” she asked as she watched Elias reach up and scratch the animal’s head and then return to his whittling. “That’s not normal.” Her eyes widened and she snapped her fingers. “It’s because you’re crazy. Animals love crazy people.”

  Elias frowned and looked up from his whittling. “Did you read that on the internet? You know you can’t believe everything you read on the web.”

  She huffed. “No. Haven’t you ever watched an animated movie? All those princesses had animals at their command, and those chicks are all off their trolleys, too.” It was a discussion she and Shelly had had many times.

  “You’re very passionate about this,” he said, sounding amused. His attention had returned to his work, and the damn squirrel was still sitting on his shoulder. True. Story. “Why do you think all the princesses are crazy?”

  “Because no sane person sings that damn much.” Tara settled herself back on her rock, her eyes still on the weird squirrel. “They sing about everything. Look, I’ve found my toothbrush. I’m going to brush my teeth,” Tara sang in her best princess voice. “Here, I’ve found a cockroach. He’s gross but will be my best friend and know all my secrets, and look, he sings, too.” She drew out the last word in a long note, getting louder, and then cut it off abruptly. When she opened her eyes—because all princesses close their eyes when they sing—it was to find Elias, stock still, staring at her. Her eyes shifted to the squirrel, who was also not moving. Tara swore it was staring at her, watching her with more intelligence than the animal should have.

  After several more beats of silence, Elias said, “Being outside really frees something inside of you, doesn’t it? You’ve got a very candid vibe going on. I like it. Go with it.”

  Tara would probably be horrified later that she’d just sung a ridiculous song and argued for the lack of mental health stability in beloved animated characters. But at the moment, Elias was right. She just felt relaxed, free, and completely at home.

  “I still say there’s something wrong with that squirrel,” she said.

  “He’s not foaming at the mouth, so I don’t think it’s rabies or anything,” Elias said.

  “Mad cow?”

  “Doubtful.”

  “Bird flu?”

  “Not likely.”

  “Attracted to your crazy?”

  “I forgot to tell you that one of my alter egos is a cartoon princess,” he whispered conspiratorially.

  She stared at him silently, taking in all the handsome lines of his face, the unusual color of his eyes, just the sheer maleness of him, and sighed. “I really wanted you not to be too good to be true.”

  “Bloody hell, woman,” he suddenly growled, pushing off of the tree with his shoulder, causing the squirrel to scamper away. “I’m not a nutter, you beautiful, daft girl. I was just playing about when I said the wood nymphs were crazy for you. You asked how I could know how you looked when I’d been in front of you the entire hike, and so I teased you. That’s what you Yanks call it, right? Teasing? I should have just said that there had been quite a few times when you’d been looking down or away when I’d looked back to check on you and might have noticed more than the fact that you were still behind me.”

  Tara’s eyes were wide as she stared at Elias. The last time she’d seen him this worked up was when he’d met Tucker at the job fair. She had gotten used to his flirty playfulness and had forgotten there had been something dangerous and mysterious about him that first day. Now she saw it again. He was a predator and, at the moment, irritated.

  “So, you’re not off your trolley?” she asked slowly.

  He shook his head and leaned back again, though he didn’t look quite as relaxed as he had before he’d snapped at her. “I’m perfectly sane. Though I don’t know how long I will remain that way considering you seem determined to invent a reason I have to be too good to be true.”

  She pursed her lips and then quietly said, “My bad.”

  After a few minutes of tense silence, and of Tara watching him work, he blew on his project then scrutinized it. He walked over and held it out to her. A frown still marred his handsome face. “A token to remember this day,” he said.

  Tara held up the small carving and laughed. It was a tiny squirrel. The shape was a little rough, but it was definitely a squirrel.

  “Am I forgiven then?” she asked, her voice rising just a bit.

  He reached out and gently ran a fingertip down the side of her face, his own features softening. “You are. Try to be gentle with me, luv. The male ego is a fragile thing.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Where’d you learn to do that?” She motioned to the carving in her hand.

  Elias dropped his hand, took a seat next to her, and looked over at the waterfall. “My grandfather. He loved to whittle. He was much better at it than I am.”

  “Thank you,” she said softly. “Pretty sure after the whole ‘it’s attracted to you because you’re batshit crazy,’ I’m undeserving of such a gift.”

  “I don’t remember you saying batshit crazy.”

  “That’s because I said it in my head.”

  “You do realize you are the one who burst out in song, in the forest, with a guy and an animal, and yet you were calling me the crazy one, right?” he asked.

  When he put it like that… “Shelly would be so proud.” She shook her head at herself and then slipped the carving into her pocket, pushing it deep so it wouldn’t fall out.

  Elias laughed. He leaned his body against hers, and Tara felt the heat from the top of her head all the way to the tips of her toes. After settling in, he didn’t move away. His left side from shoulder to knee pressed against her right side. It was like a half-side-body-hug without the arms. Okay, so maybe he was saner than her. Half-side-body-hug, Tara? She mentally kicked herself. What is wrong with you?

  They sat in that spot, sometimes talking, sometimes just watching the falling water, for several hours. Tara couldn’t believe how easy it was to be with him. Even when she believed, for that very brief moment in time that he was actually crazy, being with him, talking to him, had been as natural as breathing. It was as if they’d known each other for years instead of days.

  “If you could go anywhere in the world, right this second, where would you go?” Elias asked her as he pulled two wrapped sandwiches from his backpack. “I figured we’d get hungry,” he added as he passed her one.

  “Thank you.” She took the food and then considered his question. “I’ve seen pictures of New Zealand. It looks magical with all the lush, green, rolling hills. Sort of like something out of a fairy-tale. That’s where I’d want to go. What about you?”

  He stared at her, brow raised. “Something out of a fairy-tale, and you gave me shite about wood nymphs?”

  She couldn’t help but laugh and appreciate his good sense of humor.