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if cataloguing the room.
She watched him hesitate as he moved closer, but then he leaned against the
counter near her. He seemed larger than he had yesterday, but maybe it was
because she hadn’t spent much time standing next to him. He loomed over her,
broad-shouldered and muscular. Just the kind of guy she liked, not that it
mattered. He wasn’t hers to touch. He cocked his head, waiting for her to
speak.
    She nodded at him, not sure what else to say. Why was this so
damned awkward? Because they make you feel things you can’t have, a
little voice whispered to her in the back of her head. And they’re crazy
gorgeous.
    “Is it okay if we stay a few more days?” he asked suddenly,
surprising her.
    She blinked, then wrenched her brain into focus. “Uh, yeah. I
guess so,” she replied, twisting her purse’s strap between her fingers.
    Jeremiel smiled. “We need a rest. We’ve been hiking non-stop for a
long time.” He traced his finger around the rim of his cup.
    She watched him, mesmerized, then shook herself out of it. She
really did need to get to work. “It’s fine. You can stay as long as you need,”
she offered. She didn’t know why, but she trusted them, as absurd as that was
on one night’s acquaintance.
    “Thank you,” Haniel said.
    She smiled at him briefly. “You’re welcome.”
    He touched her arm.
    She froze, heart knocking on her ribs. Even just his fingertips on
her skin had her flustered.
    “We really appreciate it,” he murmured.
    She stared at his hand. Fine lines, so light she wasn’t sure if
they were scars or just some strange variation of his skin, ran up his wrist.
They looked almost like faded legacy marks, light instead of dark against the
corded muscles of his forearm. What had happened to him? She shivered and
pulled away, not understanding why she wanted to shove closer, instead. “Um, it’s
okay. But I’ve really got to get going, now. I don’t want to be late,” she said
brightly, faking cheerfulness as she crossed the room. Inside, she felt a lot
of different things: arousal, need, longing. Happiness? Not so much.
    “Be careful,” Jeremiel said, stepping out of her way.
    She paused at the door. “Careful?” Of what? She lived in a tiny
rural town. The only thing she had to worry about was maybe hitting a deer with
her car. Of course, there were those feelings she’d been having of being
watched lately. She reigned in her imagination. No, you’re just being
paranoid.
    He shrugged and shook his head. “Just… yeah. Be careful driving,”
he said, like he was her father or older brother or something.
    She smiled, amused. “I will.”
    ****
    Eight and a half hours later Charmeine was ready to drop. She’d
spent the entire day catering to busloads of tourists and school children, here
to visit the nearby parks and their many trails on the last day of the week.
She’d dealt with more than the usual number of comments about her eyes, which
drove her crazy. They were just eyes. She looked like her mother, so what? It
was like no one had ever seen an interracial person before. The ones who asked
how her hair could be curly when she was Asian just made her angry. Ugh.
Fridays tended to suck. Her feet ached. Her head ached. She’d burned her arm
right near the crease of her elbow and it throbbed annoyingly.
    “Melvin, I’m sorry, but I’m exhausted. I gotta go before I
collapse,” she said, untying her apron.
    He waved a hand at her from the grill. “Yeah, no problem. You go
home and get some rest.”
    She waved at the other two waitresses and headed outside. The late
afternoon sunlight slanted through the trees that lined the street, but she was
too tired to care about the lovely weather. All she wanted to do was go home
and sleep. She stopped by her car, tensing when a pricking at the back of her
neck alerted her to eyes following her movements. Surreptitiously, she looked
around, pretending to check out the flower arrangement in the shop next to the
diner.