in her literature class after he’d had problems with Mr. Lewis?
Oh God.
“Yeah, but nobody calls me that. They never have.”
He stepped away from her and turned to face his sister. “Leave me alone, Wavy. Mom is used to my shenanigans by now.” He turned back to Quinn. “I would introduce you, but if I do, it will be all over town, and then there’s zero chance your brother won’t find out you’re here.”
“No. No, that’s okay.”
Blake Bollinger.
“I’ve got to get back to the shop. Are you okay? You look a little off.”
“I’m—I’m fine.”
Oh God. She needed to tell him that she’d been the instructor to take over his class—the one who’d shut down his attempt to communicate with her about his struggles. She was surprised he hadn’t figured it out already.
But it wouldn’t take long. That was going to end their non-date dawn date pretty quickly.
“Baby, I...”
He hooked his finger in her apron and pulled her close. “I’ll see you Friday at dawn. Don’t be late, or I’ll have to come drag you out of bed.”
“I should really tell—”
His lips brushed against hers, then again as if he couldn’t stop himself. “Tell me everything at dawn on Friday, Cupcake. Everything’s better at dawn.”
Chapter Eight
Quinn had never had a problem being an early riser. Maybe it was because she’d never had much of a nightlife.
Meeting Baby at dawn on Friday for their non-date wasn’t a terrible hardship.
That didn’t mean she didn’t lecture herself about how terrible an idea this was as she stood watching her coffee brew in her rundown kitchen in the dark. Nor did it mean she didn’t belittle herself as she meticulously showered, shaved, and primped. She definitely didn’t internally roll her eyes for spending twenty minutes staring at her closet trying to figure out what in the world she should wear for a dawn non-date.
She barely had any idea what one should wear on a regular date, let alone what was appropriate for something like this. With a frustrated groan, she finally settled on a pair of jeans and a lightweight sweater to go under her jacket.
She snatched a granola bar and a second cup of coffee to go and headed out the door before she could talk herself out of this whole thing. It wasn’t like it was going to end well anyway.
It was still dark outside. She sat inside her cold car, cursing under her breath when it didn’t start right away. She’d never had this problem when she’d had her BMW in Cambridge.
“Come on, please,” she chanted softly. She would die from humiliation if she had to call Baby, the town mechanic, and cancel because her car wouldn’t start. That would rank right up there with telling him she’d been the online teacher bitch who’d refused to hear him out.
She thumped her forehead against the steering wheel. This entire plan was such a bad idea.
She lifted her head and opened her eyes, letting out a little shriek as something moved in the trees near the side of her tiny house. Was somebody out there? Why would somebody be around her house this early in the morning?
She grabbed her phone, which trembled slightly in her hand, and stared into the faint darkness. For the first time, she wasn’t thrilled about the rental’s isolated location. She’d thought it would be perfect to stay out of the main bustle of Oak Creek, but now she wished she had neighbors. Her closest one was a quarter mile away.
Calling Riley to say her final goodbyes because she was about to get attacked was definitely not how she’d wanted to let her brother know she was in Wyoming.
Surprise, I’m here, also...I’m about to die!
She stared off into the trees for a long time but didn’t notice any further movement.
“City girl,” she murmured and shook her head. With a deep breath, she tried to turn the engine again.
There probably wasn’t anything out there. And if there was, it was much more likely to be a wild animal than a person, which made her feel better and worse. But when the car started, she let out a sigh of relief. “Later, serial killers and yetis. I’ve got some real trouble to get into.”
She was quite proud of herself for timing the drive correctly—even though she’d cheated and had driven out here yesterday to make sure she could find it. She pulled up to the address Baby had entered into the GPS app on her phone as the sun was truly starting to