The bell over the door gave its usual tired little ring as I stepped into Mara’s produce shop. The place always smelled like fresh earth and sunlight—honestly one of the few things in Velna that did. My boots scuffed across the old wooden floorboards as I made my way toward the counter, dropping a few apples into the basket I carried.

Mara looked up from arranging peaches. “Well, your fruits are delicious,” I said, leaning one elbow lazily against the counter. It came out casual, maybe a bit flirtatious, but it was just the truth. She grew half this stuff behind her house.

“Flattery won’t get you a discount, Issac,” she snorted.

I grinned and pushed off the counter to leave… or tried to.

My boot caught on absolutely nothing—air, maybe destiny—and I stumbled. Me. Issac Atlantis, thirty-year-old mechanic with two shops to my name. I’d trekked the Amazon rainforest, scaled Icelandic ridges, and once helped fix a heating unit in Antarctica during a blizzard. I didn’t stumble. My reflexes usually saved me before gravity had the chance.

I caught myself on a crate of potatoes, blinking. What the hell—

And then I saw why.

The door had opened again, letting in a breeze and her.

A woman I’d never seen before. Which was damn strange, considering Velna was the kind of town where you knew who someone’s aunt’s dog belonged to. I knew faces—everyone did. But hers? Completely new. She didn’t look like a tourist, though. No map, no confused glances, no camera around her neck. Just… someone who didn’t belong here yet. Someone passing through? Or someone settling in? I couldn’t tell.

Either way, hot was the first word that hit me—blunt, unfiltered, nearly physical. Hot enough to knock me off balance apparently. Her hair was still tousled from the wind, cheeks faintly flushed, like she’d just walked a long way without realizing how good she looked doing it.

I forced my attention back to the counter, pretending the tomatoes and potatoes were suddenly fascinating. But my eyes drifted anyway, traitorous things stealing small, quick glances when I thought she wasn’t looking.

A soft throat-clear sounded behind me.

I froze for half a second.

“Hm?” I hummed, turning just enough to see her standing way closer than I expected.