Chapter 3

Paxton

If it was a date, he'd have called it a date, right?

Looking out the window of the small room I was renting, I should've been confident about the answer…but I wasn't. I'd been second-guessing it all afternoon and I still hadn't come to any conclusions. Fraser had talked about work and he'd talked about the locals. He'd even talked about our food while we'd eaten lunch.

But he hadn't explained what we were doing.

Yes, we were going to talk about the plans for my research and for our hike in the morning, but he was making me dinner at his house and he'd been wearing a look.

A mischievous one.

Where the rest of the town was weird and generally looked like they were confused puppies, Fraser's smile wasn't nearly as innocent.

But he hadn't said it was a date.

So I shouldn't have showered or dressed up, right?

Sending the wrong message wasn't my goal, but I wasn't sure what my goal should've been. Logically, the only thing I should've been worried about was making sure he could get me around their strangely confusing forests so I could find the specimens I was looking for.

Which, after meeting the locals, didn't seem nearly as weird as they first had.

If bugs could disappear like they were from a sci-fi movie, this must have been where they'd originated.

Yes, that should've been the only thing I was focusing on, but Fraser was taking up entirely too much of my ability to think…and most of that was about if this was a date or not.

He'd asked me to get food with him.

He'd asked about my work and my food preferences.

He'd understood why I shouldn't have to take random surveys.

He'd even already known what I liked for breakfast.

In any other situation, I would've labeled him a stalker for knowing that, but no one in town seemed to have a job, so the gossip ran rampant. I shouldn't know as much about the mysterious Lorne as I did, but I hoped he'd had fun being ravished in jail.

As excited as everyone had been for him, that had to be consensual.

Ugh.

The town had safewords.

I wasn't so uneducated about modern life that I hadn't realized what red meant, but I really didn't like the questions it was bringing up.

I also didn't appreciate what it was starting to say about the questions I'd been asked over the past couple of days.

"Oh, he's here." Taking a deep breath as an older model Jeep pulled up to the bed-and-breakfast-style boarding house I was staying at, I let it out slowly and quickly gave myself a pat down to make sure I had everything before I grabbed my bag and headed out.

Thankfully, the place wasn't full at the moment and I managed to escape without running into my temporary landlady, so I wasn't too frazzled by the time I walked out the front door. She asked strange questions too, but I was putting up with it because several of her recent guests complained about the odd bugs they'd seen.

Sadly, I hadn't seen the bugs, but I had been subject to so many interviews I was starting to wonder if I should be getting paid to stay there and not the other way around. She was definitely getting a lot of social credit out of my stay and I wasn't sure I appreciated it.

Especially at her rates.

But Fraser climbing out of the Jeep chased all those thoughts away with one wicked grin. "Eager for dinner or to escape all the nosy questions?"

"Both." Oops. "I mean, lunch was a long time ago and I've done a lot of work this afternoon."

The first rule of fieldwork was not to piss off the locals, but I was starting to think that wasn't a reasonable one in my current predicament. His laughter just made it clearer I was going to have to reevaluate my rules.

"You'd have more privacy if you were staying at one of the motels by the interstate or looked into one of the cabin rentals." Fraser took my problem seriously as he came around the front of the Jeep to meet me. "I think there are even some house rentals that are still available. We could find you a good deal."

That was nice of him.

Oh.

He was planning on opening my door.

How nice was he planning on being?

"I…I was staying here because there were some reports of the beetles I've been looking for. But so far, I haven't seen any." And the reviews for some of the local house rentals were stranger than the ones for the place I was currently staying in. "But depending on how long my stay ends up being, I might relocate."

To some place with more privacy so I could get work done more easily.

If I wasn't going to be seeing the oddly camouflaged beetles, I needed to get work done and to be able to relax.

"She might've gotten the place fumigated." Fraser chuckled when I frowned. "We do have an actual bug doctor, you know."

He grinned wider when I huffed. "I will not call a serial killer a doctor."

No.

Pressing his lips together, Fraser's eyes sparkled as he nodded. "Got it. I'll remember that."

He seemed to think I was entirely too funny.

"Thank you." I wasn't sure what else to say, but that just made him want to laugh more. I finally glared at him and waved my hand. "Just do it."

His laugher boomed out, which had me rolling my eyes as he quickly got it under control. "Oh, you don't want to know what I really wanted to do."

Wait.

What?

Oh.

Really?

Whatever he saw on my face made his grin turn wicked again. "You are delightfully innocent."

"No, I'm not." I was just a bit slow sometimes. "My brain just does not go the same direction everyone else's does around here."

Snickers escaped my naughty guide. "Don't worry. We can teach you."

That was not the reaction I'd been expecting and it took me a second to catch up to what he was trying to say…and that stunned silence made him even more delighted. "Yep, you're just as cute as I thought you'd be."

I was not going to discuss his propensity for stalking.

"I am not cute." I was a smart scientist. "I'm an adult."

For some reason, he thought that was hilarious, and I had a feeling it came back to something associated with that ridiculous stoplight discussion from earlier.

So I ignored it.

Raising one eyebrow, I did my best to channel one of my college professors. They'd been an annoying bunch, so it looked impressive. "Thank you for agreeing to provide dinner for me."

Fraser pressed his lips together again, but he got ahold of himself fairly quickly. "You're welcome. I'm looking forward to…getting to know you."

The pause had been deliberate because his eyes were sparkling with mischief and the light from whatever glare had to be driving him crazy.

"It's always easier to work with someone when you're more familiar with them." I wasn't going to react and give him something else to laugh about.

"Familiar is very good." His grin flashed again and then he winked at me.

He winked.

It had to be the water.

They were all insane, and I'd caught it too because he should've been annoying, not funny.

"Beetles. We were going to talk about the beetles." And have dinner, but I wasn't sure what he'd do if I mentioned that part. "I'm ready to go."

For some reason that pleased him and not in the giggly way he'd been enjoying himself. "Then let me help you in."

Hmm.

I'd missed something.

Local subtext?

Could it be related to something he'd been teasing me about?

Not sure where to steer my thoughts, I was too distracted to notice the way he shifted closer and put his hand on my lower back until it was actually there.

And warm.

And firm.

And he was touching me.

"Thank you for letting me help you in." All it took was a faint brush of his hand to move me forward but that was only because it was the polite thing to do.

Yes.

That was it.

Polite.

The town was weird, so it required a lot of manners.

Fraser made a pleased sound that did stupid things to me, so I did my best to ignore my reaction and his happiness as he reached for the door. "Let's get you settled."

That was…

Did dates say that?

Work colleagues didn't but I hadn't dated in a while. It was obvious that my skills in that department were rusty, but I wasn't sure where things crossed from a me problem to a the town is weird issue.

It was entirely possible that we'd already blown past that point because he kept his hand in place as I climbed in and then he buckled my seat belt.

No, this wasn't a me thing.

I wasn't even sure it was a town thing.

My brain said it was a weird as fuck thing—and it didn't usually curse—but lower areas were disagreeing with it and I was back to not knowing what to do. Even realizing how careful he'd been with his hands didn't help me figure out anything.

"I'm not sure what's going on."

Shoot.

I hadn't intended to say that, but he was so close and my brain was focused on too many other things to keep track of what shouldn't escape. Apologizing was the first step to fixing the problem, whatever that was, but Fraser smiled.

Sweetly.

Understandingly.

"Did it make you good nervous or bad nervous that I helped you in?" The question wasn't reasonable at all, but he said it so calmly, I forgot it was ridiculous.

"Um, I don't think I know the difference, but you didn't do anything wrong." Technically. Logically. "It was just…"

Unexpected.

Weird.

Kind of sexy?

No, I wasn't going to say any of that, so I did the smart thing and pressed my lips together. I expected laughter from Fraser or at least a smirk, but he kept his sweet smile in place. "Thank you for letting me know that I didn't do anything wrong. That's enough of a response and I'm proud of you."

That should not feel as nice to hear as it did.

I didn't know him well enough to have any reaction to his words.

He was a stranger who'd just been watching me eat breakfast and he'd be leading me in the woods.

Ugh, I sounded like some weird version of Hansel and Gretel.

"I'm not going to ask what you're thinking, but I am going to let you know that I'm going to keep doing what comes naturally to me. All you have to do is to let me know if we're still at the not doing anything wrong level." Fraser paused and waited.

He was going to be a pain in the butt.

"I can agree with that plan." And I was going to hope we didn't move past that not doing anything wrong level of weird. "Also, thank you for not asking about my thoughts."

They hadn't made enough sense, so I didn't want to suffer through explaining them.

"And…and I can make sure you understand that we're still at the not doing anything wrong level." Of whatever he thought we were doing.

Ugh.

I was getting to be as weird as the rest of them.

"I'm glad." He was still wearing his confusingly sweet smile. "I'm going to trust you to let me know where we're at."

Hmm.

"I'm trustworthy." That was one thing I knew and could articulate. It was the rest that I was confused about. "We're just…we're just going to talk and get work organized and get to know each other."

Yes, that was a list that made sense and his nod said he was on the same page.

"That's right." Giving the seat belt strap a tug where it met the wall of the car, he chuckled when I rolled my eyes as he teased about trapping me like I was a wiggly kid. "And we're not going to worry about reactions. We're just going to be trustworthy and explain what we know."

I could do that.

I didn't know much yet…but that didn't seem to be a problem. Fraser liked making decisions, and even though he seemed to have a very go with the flow attitude, he seemed to be controlling the flow.

That was probably cheating but I wasn't going to point that out. He might make me take charge if I complained, and I had no idea where we were going.

Metaphorically or literally.

I had no idea what he was thinking or where he lived.

"I think that's a good plan." As long as I wasn't the one in charge but I got to tell him when to stop. "I'm sure you'll keep things going in a reasonable direction."

"I'm going to do my best." His wicked grin finally peeked back out. "And I have no problem with being in charge."

That was definitely some kind of warning, but I wasn't going to poke at it.

I had enough on my plate and I wasn't going to add to it.

No, we were just going with the flow and it would be fine…no matter if it was a date or not…because I still wasn't sure.