Then there were heavy footsteps that Morgan heard coming up the front steps of the store, and she looked up to greet whoever was coming through the door as it jingled again.

  The sight of a familiar man, practically filling the entire doorway with his massive size, almost made Morgan’s jaw fall open.

  It was Diesel. Right here in her store.

  She glanced out at the desert, almost wondering if her eyes weren’t playing tricks, and saw that the tiny shape she’d been watching all day was no longer there.

  Holy crap, he was even bigger than she remembered.

  He hesitated at the doorway for a moment, looking around before his eyes settled on her intently.

  Morgan’s heart skipped a beat right there and then.

  “W-welcome to Samson and Seward’s.” The rote introduction barely made it through her suddenly dry throat. And when Diesel took another step in, his heavy boots shook the floorboards of the store.

  With nothing but desert surrounding them for reference, she hadn’t been sure yesterday if he was really as big as she thought.

  But as he came inside and made counters, storage racks, and everything that was near him suddenly look like they belonged in a dollhouse, she realized she hadn’t been wrong.

  Dang, he was terrifying.

  And so sexy she felt her entire body go tight with unfamiliar feelings.

  He was at least 6’6” with shoulders so broad she wondered how he fit through regular-sized doors. But it wasn’t just his bulk. His rugged features, which were only accentuated by his thick beard and dark eyebrows, couldn’t hide the fact that he was incredibly handsome as well, with high cheekbones and piercing blue eyes that were much easier to make out in the light of the store rather than the gloomy evening light from yesterday.

  And those muscles…

  He was ripped from head to toe, practically bulging out of the blue flannel shirt and dark-wash jeans he wore today. And peeking out from beneath the white undershirt he wore and all along his forearms, she saw dark tattoos in intricate patterns that played off his tanned skin and made her suddenly desperate to see just how far the tattoos went along his body.

  He was the very apex of masculine perfection in every way.

  Morgan felt the sudden urge to do something about her dry spell that had been going for… Well, she didn’t really know how long it had been since she’d had some.

  Just that this man, this Diesel, was the first man to ever give her even a single erotic thought since…

  A sudden, uncomfortable memory shook her to her core, and Morgan pretended to busy herself with something behind the counter.

  Meanwhile, Diesel went over to the snacks and, with the swipe of one arm, picked up a dozen bags of jerky and carried them toward the front desk, his gaze oddly refusing to meet hers for some unknown reason.

  Had she ever even felt this way about Adam? This fiery, almost explosive sensation that seemed as though it could burn her if she got too close?

  “I’ll take these,” Diesel said with a low murmur that seemed almost like a growl as he pulled a wallet from his back pocket. For some reason, he didn’t seem to be able to take his eyes off her yesterday. But today, he was as standoffish as their cat, Wendell, when it was time for grooming.

  She wondered darkly if it had anything to do with the fact that she’d accidentally mentioned her daughter in their short but tense conversation yesterday.

  Though, she was definitely getting ahead of herself with thoughts like that. She barely even knew his name.

  “How’s your day been, out there doing… Well, what are you doing out there?” she asked, and he raised an eyebrow at her.

  “Guard duty,” he said plainly, and she felt dwarfed by him as he towered over her. And when he placed a hand on the counter, leaning slightly, it creaked from his sheer mass.

  She tried to suppress a shiver.

  And failed.

  “Guarding what?”

  He cocked his head, and his once-over made her feel stripped bare before his sapphire gaze. “You’re strangely talkative today.”

  “Well, having my store almost leveled last night didn’t put me in the best of moods, so to speak.” She folded her arms, and while he tried to act disinterested, she caught a glimpse of something much hotter in his gaze. “Is this all for you?” She motioned at the humongous pile of jerky bags in every flavor.

  “You have really good jerky, though it doesn’t quite beat the real thing,” he said with a grin, flashing white teeth.

  Morgan wanted to know what in the heck “the real thing” meant, but just the way he moved and talked distracted her with its sheer dominance. Not the posturing, look-at-me kind of dominance, but the primal sort that could scare the pants off anyone with just a look.

  She certainly wouldn’t mind that.

  Then betrayal stung at her heart, and she looked away just as footsteps came down the steps behind her.

  Grace’s voice was heard before she appeared from behind the door. “I’m still looking, but he’s not in this one eith—” Then Grace stopped suddenly as she looked up at the humongous man in front of the counter and stared in a way only an amazed kid could possibly stare, without regard for social decorum or anything.

  Oh crap, now Diesel knew officially.

  And he’d certainly run or act disinterested like every other man who knew had.

  All the better, she thought. She and Grace were safer here, alone, just the two of them. They didn’t need a man in their lives any more than they needed rain made of spaghetti or shoes that could jump them to the moon.

  To Morgan’s utter surprise, instead of running away or staying silent as the grave (which was Grace’s typical response to strangers), she instead walked straight up to the towering hulk of a man and began rapid-firing questions. All the while, she clutched the book she’d brought downstairs to her chest, practically hopping up and down with excitement.

  “It’s the guy who saved our house. Thanks for saving our house, mister. What’s your name? What was that thing you fought? Did you really change into that big spiky thing? What’s it called? How long—”

  Morgan came around the counter and gently pulled her overly excited daughter back behind the counter. All the while, Diesel seemed to watch with amusement, rather than annoyance or surprise, as Morgan had come to expect over the years.

  And she’d never heard her daughter say so many words in such little time. Not in her whole life.

  “What’s all that jerky? You must really like jerky.”

  Diesel, whose bearing seemed to have calmed, just nodded. “I do.”

  “Manners, Grace.”

  Grace didn’t seem affected. “I’m Grace. What’s your name?”

  “Diesel.”

  “That’s a weird name. Mom says too much jerky is bad for you. You should come have dinner with us. For saving our house.”

  What in the heck? One moment, Morgan was trying to avoid getting a lady-boner for Diesel. The next, her introverted daughter was inviting him to dinner.

  Diesel looked genuinely surprised by the offer. And when he spoke, he looked over at Morgan. “Maybe we should ask your mom and dad?”

  There was a looming silence as Morgan looked away, too ashamed of herself to even explain properly.

  At least, before Grace chimed in immediately. “I don’t have a dad, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

  Diesel’s eyes went a little wide as if he hadn’t expected that information. Though, why, Morgan didn’t know.

  When he looked at her, Morgan didn’t deny it. “It’s just the two of us.”

  Diesel frowned even as his eyes lit with keen interest. But instead of agreeing, he just patted the pile of jerky bags. “Thanks for the offer, little lady, but I have my jerky right here.”

  “You should come. We’re having chicken nuggets tonight. My mom makes great chicken nuggets,” Grace said.

  “This true?” Diesel asked Morgan.

  Man, every time he looked her way, it made Morgan get ideas she had no business having.

  She shrugged. “The neighbors all say so.”

  Diesel laughed in response.

  “Well, if it’s okay with your mom…”

  Grace immediately went into begging mode. “Please, please, please. I have so many questions I wanna ask him. And he did save us.” She did her best puppy dog eyes, and Morgan couldn’t possibly say no.

  Though, she was going to have to ask who replaced her daughter with this talkative, exuberantly inquisitive person now begging her to let a stranger join them for dinner.

  All of this felt dangerous. Not for their well-being, but for Morgan’s heart.

  But it had been a long time since they’d had company. And she would let the Bookers next door know, just to be safe.

  “Dinner will be in a couple hours if you’d like to join us,” Morgan finally said, and Grace practically leaped off the ground. “But you need to make sure your homework is done, okay, young lady?”

  “Okay!” And Grace disappeared, racing up the stairs before Morgan even had time to warn her to not run.

  Leaving her alone, once again, with the mysterious man who, perhaps for the first time in a long time, made her feel like a woman with the way he looked at her and not just a single mom.

  Diesel, whose subtle smile almost couldn’t be seen behind his thick beard, just picked up the jerky bags and motioned toward the door. “I’ll just be outside, then.”

  And as quickly as the whole thing had happened, he left, leaving Morgan there to wonder what on earth had resulted in this strange turn of events.

  A basilisk was coming to dinner. A basilisk that her daughter had invited over personally.

  And though warnings went off inside her head that this was betraying the memory of the man she once loved, Morgan was almost too tired, too strung out from life’s worries to care at this point.

  They deserved something new, hopefully something good, for once in their lives.

  And with the way Diesel looked at her, like he wanted to eat her up, who could blame a woman for at least seeing how the sexiest man alive responded to her Crater-famous nuggets?

  4

  It was late evening by the time Diesel arrived to have dinner with Morgan and Grace.

  He wondered for a second whether he should enter the store before he spotted a separate set of outdoor stairs that led up to the second floor.

  That must be it, he thought, confidently turning and striding up the stairs toward a worn oak door that held slightly crooked address numbers.

  When he got to the top, he paused.

  Should he knock? Reno and the others had assured him that was what humans normally did to announce that they had arrived, but the whole idea still seemed foreign to Diesel.

  When he wanted to go somewhere, he went, knocking be damned.

  But this was no ordinary place. There was something special, though he couldn’t quite say why yet, and he wanted to make the right impression.

  Earlier that afternoon, he’d gone to Morgan’s store resigned to the idea that she was taken by another man. And he’d been ready to make peace with the fact that this woman, like all the others, was not his mate.

  But then Grace had told him that she didn’t have a dad, and Diesel’s heart had leaped. When Morgan had confirmed it, his basilisk had roared its triumph.

  Still, it didn’t mean she was his mate.

  Nope, this was just dinner with the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and her astoundingly talkative daughter.

  Reassured, he knocked and listened for footsteps. After a minute or two, the door opened, and there stood Morgan, whose eyes widened for a second before she cleared her throat.

  “Right on time. Glad you could make it,” she said, waving him in.

  Diesel nodded. “Thank you.”

  He took a second to look around. The place was quaint and homey, if a little small. A wonderful smell emanated from the kitchen.

  “Smells delicious,” Diesel added.

  “That would be the chicken nuggets,” Morgan replied, smiling as they both headed into the kitchen. She shot him a playful look. “Hopefully, you didn’t ruin your appetite with all that jerky.”

  He chuckled. “Don’t worry, I have plenty of room for your famous chicken nuggets.”

  “I imagine so if you spend all your time fighting those rock dragon monsters.”

  “Not all the time, thankfully,” Diesel said, his eyes meeting hers, heat rising between them for a moment before she turned away to check something on the stove.

  Damn, she was beautiful, even with a cooking apron on and her hair up in a messy bun. He fought the urge to lean in closer to her as she fiddled with the stove for a second. It didn’t help that the kitchen was slightly cramped and she was only a foot or two away.

  Mate, his basilisk growled.

  Shut up, he thought back.

  Eager to distract himself, Diesel cleared his throat. “Can I help?”

  Morgan turned back to him, her face slightly flushed for some reason. “Yeah, why don’t you set the table? Plates are in the top left cabinet,” she said, pointing.

  With a nod, he stepped over and opened the wooden cabinet door, careful not to exert too much strength as he grabbed a few porcelain plates and stepped into the dining room to place them on the table next to the three chairs.

  “So how long have you been in town?” she asked, joining him at the table and setting down a few forks and spoons. A wave of shock went through his body when she brushed by him.

  “Not long, a day or two,” he replied gruffly.

  “How long will you be staying?”

  He shrugged. “Long as I’m needed, I suppose.”

  “And you’re just gonna stand out on the road in the sun all day? How do you not get sunburned?” Morgan asked, smiling amusedly.

  Diesel snorted. “Whatever it takes to keep people safe. But for the record, basilisks don’t sunburn. We’re too strong and cool for that.”

  She smiled at his remark. And if he wasn’t mistaken, recognition lit in her eyes at the mention of being a basilisk.

  At least he didn’t have to spring the news on her that he was an immortal, dangerous monster. She already knew.

  “Hold on to that thought. I’m sure Grace would love to know. She’s been researching mythical creatures all day,” she said, shaking her head. “I love her, but sometimes I think she might be a little too absorbed in her books. To the extent she’s had trouble making friends.”

  The thought confused Diesel. How could anyone not like Grace? He’d known her all of two minutes, and she’d completely melted his heart with her huge, bespectacled eyes and rapid-fire questioning.

  Then again, it wasn’t as if he were familiar with children. In fact, Grace was really the first one he’d met.

  “Sorry, I don’t even know why I’m telling you all this,” Morgan added, bringing in a few dishes and setting them on the table. “Be ready. She’ll have a billion questions for you once it’s time to eat.”

  “It’s no problem.”

  Morgan smiled gratefully, and to Diesel’s own surprise, he returned it.

  Damn, what was happening to him? He was all warm and fuzzy inside, and he wanted to close the distance and take her in his arms, hold her close, and take her lips with his.

  After a few seconds, Morgan looked away and cleared her throat, the tension breaking. “Dinner’s just about ready, so I’ll go get her from her homework.” With that, she left the room, leaving him alone.

  At least, she seemed to be just as affected as he was even if she tried to hide it.

  From the dining room, he could hear her calling for Grace and prepared himself mentally for the barrage of questions that was probably about to ensue.

  Then he felt something rub against his leg, and he nearly jumped. To his surprise, a black cat was rubbing itself against his jeans, purring as it walked back and forth, nuzzling his shin.

  Diesel froze.

  What in the—

  “Wendell, there you are,” Grace exclaimed, running into the room and scooping the cat into her arms.

  Morgan followed a few seconds later, laughing as she cocked an eyebrow.

  “Sorry,” she said. “I forgot to mention Wendell is—”

  “Our cat. Say hello to Diesel, Wendell.” Grace interrupted, holding Wendell up, his hind legs dangling comically as she held one of Wendell’s paws out as if to shake hands.

  Shake hands with a cat?

  The idea was beyond bizarre, but Morgan was watching with avid interest. Diesel had to admit that Wendell was a very cute cat, so he reached out and took Wendell’s paw, shook it carefully, and released it, making a secret promise with himself that neither Gunnar nor Ajax would ever find out about this.

  “Nice to meet you… Wendell,” Diesel said somewhat awkwardly.

  “Good kitty,” Grace cooed as she snuggled Wendell, who seemed slightly smothered, close to her.

  “All right, that’s enough. Let Wendell down. It’s time to eat,” Morgan said, smirking as she came to the cat’s rescue.

  Once he had been set on the ground, Wendell the cat took one long look around the room and then padded away.

  “I have a question for you, Diesel,” Grace said as they all sat down at the table.

  Diesel fought back a smile. “Only one?” His eyes met Morgan’s, and she gave him a wary look.

  “Well, no. I have lots of questions, but Mom said it’s rude to ask too many questions while someone is trying to eat,” Grace replied.

  Diesel cocked an eyebrow at Morgan, who just blushed and narrowed her eyes at Grace. “I did not say that. I said that he was coming over to eat, not be interrogated.”

  “Fire away. Questions are nothing compared to fighting monsters,” Diesel said, ladling some green beans onto his plate.

  Grace sat up excitedly at that and readjusted her glasses. “Okay, what exactly are you?”

  “A basilisk.”

  She frowned. “Like a snake?”

  “No, like… a basilisk,” Diesel replied with a shrug.

  “Hm.” Grace’s eyebrows furrowed at that. “Do you have wings?”