She stepped back, warming her cold hands in her jacket pockets as she considered her options. She’d been walking for over an hour and hadn’t found this supposed town Darren had directed her towards. As much as she wanted to be careful, she also didn’t want to die of frostbite and starvation.
She’d watched a few videos on self-defence. She could probably risk a peek at the cabin of horrors…
Harper walked further around the fence, but it was impossible to see much more through it beyond trees and shrubs. She came to a gate, finally, and breathed a sigh of relief, but when she tried to open it, she found it bolted from the inside.
Her teeth chattered as a particularly harsh wind blew through the forest. She was about to head back to her suitcase when it began to rain. Heavily.
This, she had been expecting. Living in the north meant always waiting for the next sudden change in weather.
The rain pelted, making the collar of her woollen shacket chafe uncomfortably against her neck. Her raincoat was in the suitcase, tucked deep beneath autumnal dresses and cosy jumpers that she’d spent yesterday coordinating with the right accessories and shoes.
“Oh, bollocks to it.” Harper was done traipsing to a town that, for all she knew, might not even exist. Whoever was in this shed surely couldn’t be any worse than the Airbnb host who had left her in this position.
She rubbed her hands together as she beheld the fence. It was at least a foot taller than her, but she could get a decent foothold. Hopefully.
She hooked the muddy toe of her boot between the slats and grabbed the sturdiest part she could find. When splinters dug into her palms, she winced, but she kept her fingers wound tight. Damp hair clinging to her face, she squinted through the droplets hanging on her lashes and stepped onto the next slat.
Immediately, she slipped and fell ass-first in the mud.
She wanted to scream.
“It’s fine, Harper,” she whispered to herself, remembering the TikTok tutorials she’d watched on how togentle parentoneself through stressful situations. “Just get back up and try again.”
She couldn’t bear to look at the state of her jeans as she skidded and stumbled back to her feet. All she knew was that she was caked in muck to the point where somebody might mistake her for Bigfoot.I hope this town has a bloody laundrette.
This time, Harper used a low tree branch for purchase. The fence scratched her other palm as she slowly wriggled her way up it.
“Okay,” she whispered between heavy breaths. “Well done, Harper. You’re doing it.”
And shewas… sort of. She faltered a few more times before finally reaching the top.
Only when she got there did she wonder how on earth she would haul herselfoverit.
But she’d come too far to go back. She cocked her leg over the other side, holding on to a leafy tree branch for dear life as she shifted her weight. Somewhere, a dog began to bark, and she wondered again if she was jumping to her death. “Ohgodohgodohgod—”
“What the hell are you doing?”
The new voice made her flinch, and her grip was lost all at once. She fell to the ground with a thump and an “Oof!”, the wind knocked out of her. Spotted yellow leaves rained down around her, the branch she’d used as support bending at an odd angle over the fence. Flattened spiny thistles clung to her clothes, and she groaned to discover that she’d narrowly avoided a patch of stinging nettles.
“Jesus Christ!” the man swore loudly, and then capped work boots rushed towards her sprawled figure.
Harper was certain that, if she was a cartoon character, there would have been stars haloing her head now. Dizzy, she forced herself into a seated position and sucked air back into her lungs. Her entire body smarted against the impact of the fall – and it was only made worse when a heavy lump of fur pounced on her,wet tongue swiping across her cheek.
“No! Don’t attack me! I come in peace!” Harper screeched, waiting for the snarls and the pain and the blood. Had she found the manandthe bear in one fell swoop?
But the creature just kept licking until he was shouted off by that same booming voice. “Bernard! Off!”
The dog – it must have been a dog, thank goodness – finally surrendered and trotted away, and the brown fur and amber eyes of a Border Collie took form.
Then her vision cleared as the man crouched over her. He was objectively gorgeous, with blue eyes framed by thick lashes and flecks of red peppering his otherwise dark stubble. His chiselled features were creased with concern, and only then did Harper remember that she was sitting in the mud, in the rain, after climbing over what must have beenhisfence.
“Shite, are you all right?” He scanned her body for injury, a firm hand finding her shoulder. “What the hell were you doing, climbing over the fence like that?”
“It’s a very, very long story.” She was still breathless, and also very embarrassed. He was ridiculously attractive, but had she noticed that already? A damp, coppery strand of hair fell into his eyes, and the ends curled just above his chin. His square jawline, though half-hidden by a thick promise of a beard, was sharp enough to cut paper. To make matters worse, ink curled around his muscular biceps and into the sleeves of his dirty white shirt. Tattoos guaranteed Harper’s attraction to anyone, and the universe knew it. The shirt in question clung to his toned chest and abdomen, leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination.She could see more ink trying to peek through the wet, translucent fabric, and had never wanted so badly to disappear from humiliation.
He looked at her like she was mad, which she probably was. She cleared her throat and dared to look down at her ruined clothes.
She was a mess. She’d come here to reinvent herself, to become a better version of herself than the one who had lost her job and her relationship, and instead, she’d stooped to a new low. In front of a handsome stranger.
