Page 18 of Cuddling Carly

That option seemed more likely.

But it wasn’t a mountain lion who emerged farther up the hill—though the tall man moved as gracefully as one.

“Oh my gosh! Please don’t hurt me!” Carly screamed.

“Huh? Oh! Ma’am, I’m sorry!”

The guy stopped and pointed to the other man who had finished bleeding out multiple orifices but was still on his feet. “He’s not real! Look.” The guy did something on his cell phone and the bleeding man suddenly drained of power, his eyes closing and head sagging.

Another tall man—this one more muscular than the guy with the phone—appeared from up in the rocks, too. Even from that distance there was something vaguely familiar about him.

His voice resonated, as well.

“We’re sorry, ma’am. Didn’t realize anyone was here. Is it okay if we jog on down?”

Carly dared to take a few steps, coming close enough to see that the now lifeless bloody man wasn’t real at all. He was an animatronic—though the most life-like one she’d ever seen.

“Sure,” she said. “Eh, yeah. Come on.”

The two guys did so.

“Our apologies,” the one with dark blond hair said. “My name is Stryker.”

“And I’m Harrison,” the more muscular one with black hair said.

That’s when his identity dawned on Carly. “Harrison Trent!”

“Yes, ma’am. Pleased to meet you.”

Totally starstruck, it took her a few moments to respond. “Oh, I’m Carly! Carly Thedford. Nice meeting you, too.” She giggled and then added, “What’s a movie star doing out in the middle of nowhere with that…thing?” Her eyes flickered to the creepy animatronic.

“Testing it,” Harrison answered. “You see, we live in a town called Mountainville just up the road here, and we operate a big haunted house every Halloween. This is our newest addition. His name is Edgar. What do you think?”

“He certainly had me scared!”

The two men exchanged glances before looking back at her. “Yeah. Sorry about that,” Harrison said.

“Are you heading to Mountainville?” Stryker asked.

“Yeah. I guess I don’t have to be embarrassed. But it feels weird to admit to someone. I guess it’s kind of obvious since that’s the only place this road leads.”

Stryker grinned. “And the stuffie you’re holding. Kind of a dead giveaway. I like him! What’s his name?”

Carly held him up and excitedly answered, “Mr. Pumpkin Head! He’s my best friend.”

“That’s awesome,” Harrison said. “My favorite stuffie is a lion I call Leo. Not original, I know. But…” He shrugged.

From the sound of it, Harrison wasn’t a Daddy but a Little.

How cool was that? The big, famous action star was like Carly!

“But Leo isn’t your best friend,” Stryker said.

Harrison laughed. “Not by a long shot. You are.”

It was obvious the two men held a great fondness for one another, and Carly loved seeing it.

“And no reason to be embarrassed about going to Mountainville. No shame with us! I mean, you know—we live there.” Harrison grinned.