Cole turned onto the highway, still silent.
Dani decided to come right out with the question she wanted to ask him. “Cole, do you believe shifters are real?”
He nodded. “I do.”
Well, that was something. At least he didn’t think she was crazy.
He pulled the truck over onto the grassy area where the Taurus was parked and handed Dani the keys from his pocket.
“Thanks,” she said, “for everything.” She cringed the moment she said the words. She hoped he didn’t think she was thanking him for the sex. “I mean thanks for rescuing me. Not…you know—not that it wasn’t wonderful and everything but…”
He leaned over and kissed her before she could ramble on any longer. He tasted so good. Dani felt as if she could melt into him and be kissed like that forever.
When he finally took his lips from hers, he said, “Are you going to be okay driving home? Do you want me to follow you to make sure you’re safe?”
“I’ll be fine,” she said, smiling at his concern. “You don’t need to see me to my door.”
“I want to.”
“I know you do,” she said. “But really, I’m fine.”
He nodded. “Will I see you tomorrow?”
“Sure.” Cole was definitely not the type of guy who got what he wanted then never called you. “You mean like a date?”
He grinned. “I mean like a date.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“I’ll think of something. What time should I pick you up?”
“I have to help Simone. We’re fixing up her grandmother’s old house so it can be sold. You can pick me up after lunch.” She gave him the address.
“Okay. Do you have hiking boots?”
“Yeah.”
“Wear those. And comfortable clothing.”
“All right.” She should have guessed that spending time with Cole would involve being outdoors. She didn’t mind. Despite her fear of the woods, she felt safe with him. She would feel safe wherever he took her.
“See you tomorrow,” she said, sliding out of the truck. She got in the Taurus and started the engine. Cole remained parked behind her until she had pulled onto the highway and was on her way home. Then, the truck pulled away from the grassy area, flashed its lights once, and turned toward the dirt road that would take Cole back to his dream house in the woods.
As she drove along the highway, Dani let her mind wander to the time she had spent in Cole’s bed. It had been so orgasmically wonderful.
She didn’t stop grinning all the way to the house.
6
“I can’t believe it!” Simone said, holding her untouched bottle of beer in her hand. She had been so intrigued listening to Dani’s story of the night’s events that she had forgotten to take a drink.
They sat in front of the fire, eating the cold remains of the pizza. Dani had told her best friend about everything that had happened, skimping on the details of her sex with Cole other than to say it had been fantastic. She had included the part about her attacker changing from a man to a bear, even though she knew Simone was skeptical about shifters.
Telling the story to her friend made Dani realize how close she had come to being seriously hurt by the shifter, but her mind could hardly think of that; it focused on the time she had spent with Cole. Thinking about him made the shock of the attack easier to handle.
“And you’re seeing him tomorrow?” Simone asked. “This is so exciting!” She finally took a drink of her beer. “Where is he taking you?”
“I don’t know. Probably on a hike. He told me to wear my boots.”
Simone grinned and hugged Dani. “I’m so happy for you. The best thing you could do after breaking up with Henry was meet someone else.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not all that simple, is it? Cole lives here and I live in New York. We go home next week. That doesn’t leave much time for anything to develop between Cole and me.”
“It sounds like there’s been plenty of development already,” Simone said with a wink.
“You know what I mean. What’s the point of starting up something with Cole when it will all be over in a week?”
“Live in the moment,” Simone said. “Enjoy your time with him and worry about the rest later. If it’s meant to be, it’ll work out somehow.”
“I’m glad you’re so optimistic.”
“It’s like I tell my clients, most barriers originate in our minds, and we can overcome them with the right mental attitude.”
“I’m not a sprinter about to run a race,” Dani said. “This is my life we’re talking about, not a sporting event.”
“Okay, let’s talk about your life. Your life in New York. What’s so important that it ties you to the city?”
“My parents, my job, my apartment.”
Simone nodded. “Those ties can be broken.”
“My parents?”
“Dani, my parents live in Chicago, and my job takes me all over the place but I still see them. Also, you may not have heard about it, but there’s a computer program that lets you talk to them and see them whenever you want.”
“Okay, there’s no need to be sarcastic.”
“I’m just saying that you’re a grown woman now. You can live wherever you want to. And as for your job working in your dad’s kitchen? Even he can’t wait until you leave. He only gave you the job because he feels sorry for you.”
“Okay, I know that. No need to rub it in.”
“And as for your apartment, that isn’t even worth mentioning,” Simone said. “You only rent that place, and you aren’t exactly in love with it. Hey, you could rent this house. Grandma said she doesn’t mind if it gets sold or rented out. I’m sure she’d be happy knowing you were living here.”
Dani held up her hands to stop Simone. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I only just met Cole, and you’re already planning on me moving back to Silver Rock.”
“It’s you who was talking about the future after this week,” Simone said. “I was just showing you how it’s possible to have a future with Cole if that’s what you want.”
“I can’t believe we’re even discussing this. I only just met the guy.” Dani threw an uneaten slice of pizza into the box and drank her beer.
“You only just met him, but I can see you’ve fallen hard for him. I don’t blame you; I wish a guy would come charging in on a white horse and rescue me from a pissed-off grizzly.”
“He wasn’t riding a white horse, he was driving a truck. And it wasn’t a grizzly, it was a shifter.”
“Okay, honey. If you say so.”
“I do say so. I saw the guy change right in front of my eyes.”
“Uh huh. So who was he? Did you recognize him before he changed, when he was still in human form?”
“No,” Dani admitted. “I was blinded by his car headlights.”
Simone nodded.
“That doesn’t mean I imagined it. I know what I saw. And Cole told me he believes in shifters.”
“Well, if Cole says he believes, then they must be real.”
Dani sighed. There was no way she was going to convince Simone. Her friend wasn’t going to believe in shifters until she saw one with her own eyes.
Cole seemed to have a strong belief in them. He had answered, “I do,” without even having to think about it. Maybe he had seen a shifter himself. Maybe that was where he’d gotten his scars from. Dani planned to ask him tomorrow during their date.
She smiled at the thought of going on a date with Cole. She couldn’t remember the last time she had even been on a date. She and Henry had rarely gone on anything that could be called a date. She had settled into her relationship with Henry because it had been comfortable, but there hadn’t been any passion or even interest in each other, only boredom and familiarity.
With Cole, the passion was almost overwhelming. That was both wonderful and scary at the same time.
After she had said goodnight to Simone and settled in bed, Dani tried to imagine what tomo
rrow was going to be like. Today had been both bad and good; bad because of the shifter attack and good because she had spent some amazing time with Cole.
She hoped tomorrow would be all good.
Surely it would be.
She had met a handsome, intelligent, artistic man who was hot as hell and was going to be taking her out.
Nothing could go wrong.
7
Cole followed the scent through the trees, still in human form but using his inner bear’s senses to track the shifter that had attacked Dani.
He had returned to the scene of the attack and sniffed at the ripped up clothing the shifter had left behind, identifying its unique scent. Then he had returned to the place where the trees were shredded and picked up the scent, following it down the mountain. He couldn’t track the shifter from the grassy area because the shifter was driving, but Cole could follow the trail it had followed earlier, when it had been in bear form in the woods.
He wanted to shift into bear form himself, but if the trail led him to town, he wouldn’t be able to roam the streets as a bear, or as a naked man, so he remained in human form.
Cole had no doubt that the attack on Dani two years ago and the attack today were related. They had both been carried out by the same shifter. To believe otherwise was to believe in coincidence over logic. The question running through Cole’s mind was, Why Dani?
The question was irrelevant; Dani was his mate and he would protect her to the death, no matter the reason for the attack. But Cole’s curiosity got the better of him. He wanted to know why someone was trying to hurt his mate.
The trail wound through the woods haphazardly, as if the bear had been lost or had no idea where it was going. That was strange because most bears had an excellent sense of direction. Cole paused when a thought struck him.
Maybe the shifter that attacked Dani was a New Blood.
He nodded. That made sense.
Cole and his brothers were hereditary shifters, having inherited the ability to shift from their parents. That meant that Cole, Brad, and Carter were just as comfortable in bear form as they were in human form.
New Bloods were not born shifters; they were turned after being bitten by another shifter, whether on purpose or accidentally. They were renowned for being clumsy in their animal form until they spent a considerable amount of time in a shifted state. It took them years to master the abilities of the bear.
If a New Blood had attacked Dani two years ago, it was entirely possible that he or she was still learning about their bear, a process that could take more than five years for a new shifter.
That could explain why Dani was being targeted. If there was someone in town who desired her, and they were a New Blood, the desire would fuel their actions when they transformed into a bear. So they might seek her out. Unable to control their emotions in bear form, they could be driven to attack her, their passion becoming anger.
If it was a New Blood pursuing Dani, that changed things. Cole had no desire to kill a new shifter.
He sighed and continued along the winding trail until he broke from the woods and found himself on a dirt road with houses on either side. The scent led him to a small house set back behind an untended lawn.
On the driveway sat a white Ford Bronco and a blue Toyota Corolla.
The same Toyota Corolla that had been parked behind Dani’s car when she had been attacked.
Cole dropped into a crouching stance and kept to the shadows as he approached the house’s largest window. The room beyond was in darkness save for occasional flashes of color that suggested a TV was on in there.
Peering through the window, Cole saw two young men who had similar facial features, suggesting they were brothers. But the similarity between them ended there. The one sitting on the couch playing a video game wore glasses and his hair was unkempt. He had a thin frame and looked like a strong breeze could knock him over.
His brother stood in a kitchen area beyond the living room, spooning protein powder from a huge tub into a glass of milk. He looked like he played sports and worked out.
Cole hesitated. He couldn’t know which of these brothers was the shifter unless he got into that room and picked up the scent from one of them. He guessed he could simply knock on the door and see who answered. If they had the scent, he had found his shifter. If they didn’t, he would know by process of elimination that it was the other one he had tracked here.
Or would he? What if other people lived in this house? The owner of the blue Toyota might not be home right now, although that was unlikely since their car was in the driveway.
As he pondered the situation, an older man came into the room. He was balding and out of shape and looked like he was the father of the two brothers. He gestured for the game player to turn off the game and said something Cole couldn’t hear. Then the older man settled on the sofa and pressed the buttons on the remote until he found a station he wanted. He opened a beer and sat watching the TV.
The younger men both disappeared from the room.
Cole had seen enough. His search for the shifter had been narrowed down to a few suspects. They weren’t going anywhere.
He stepped back from the window, and sneaked back across the lawn. He noted the house number and the name on the mailbox. Lewis.
Then Cole slipped back into the shadow of the woods and shifted. He lumbered all the way home in bear form and remained naked as he ascended the stairs to his bedroom.
Once there, he lay on the bed where he had made love to Dani earlier and breathed in her scent. It made him wish she were here now so he could be inside her again, sharing sensations with her, driving her to a peak of pleasure as he felt his own inevitable climax building.
Thinking about her made his cock hard as steel. He went to the window and looked out over the moonlit woods. Tomorrow, he would tell Dani that he was a shifter. She deserved the truth.
Cole knew she wasn’t going to react well to the news, but he couldn’t hide his true nature from her any longer. He didn’t want to. He had to be honest with her.
Returning to the bed, he closed his eyes and breathed in her intoxicating scent again. The scent of his mate.
Tomorrow, Cole would tell her what that meant, explain to her that they were destined to be together.
Whether Dani accepted her destiny or not was up to her.
8
“Staring out of the window won’t make him arrive any quicker, honey,” Simone said as Dani peered out of the living room window for the hundredth time.
They had spent the morning working in the back yard, pulling up dead plants and thriving weeds. Dani had found a lawnmower in the garage and used it to cut the overgrown grass while Simone replaced broken fence panels and dug up the soil in the borders so they could plant new seeds.
It was a hot day, and the work was sweaty and wearying. After a lunch of cheese sandwiches and corn chips, which Simone had bought from the grocery store along with all the items Dani had abandoned yesterday, they sat on the back porch and drank cold lemonade.
Dani had run upstairs for a quick shower, and dressed in jeans, boots, a white T-shirt, and a blue checked shirt. She wished she had brought more clothes with her, but hadn’t realized when she was packing that she would be going out on a date. Her suitcase was so full she could barely close it, but every item of clothing inside was made for comfort and not for flattering Dani’s fuller figure.
Cole had told her to wear something comfortable, but she wished she had some piece of clothing that said, “I’m going on a date,” rather than, “I’m going to hide my body beneath oversize shirts.”
She had put on her makeup, come back downstairs, and was now looking out of the window for Cole’s truck.
“I know staring out of the window won’t make him come any quicker,” she told Simone, “but I feel too nervous to do anything else.”
“Nervous?” Simone joined her on the sofa and watched the driveway and road beyond. “What are you nervous about? Cole is crazy a
bout you.”
Dani shrugged. “Maybe. I just don’t want to make a fool of myself. It’s been a long time since I went on a date with anyone. And don’t mention Henry because he doesn’t count.”
“I wasn’t going to mention him. I was going to say that you have nothing to worry about. Cole is nothing like Henry. And you look great.”
“Oh yeah, I hear oversized shirts are all the rage this year.”
“You said he told you to wear boots. I don’t think he’s taking you to a fancy restaurant, honey.”
“I know, but…here he is!” The sight of Cole’s truck pulling up outside made Dani’s heart leap. Cole climbed out and sauntered up the driveway. He looked good enough to eat in his black T-shirt, red check shirt, and boots.
“See, he’s dressed like you,” Simone said. “Now go and enjoy yourself, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“I’m not sure what you wouldn’t do,” Dani teased. “You’d do anything.”
Simone rolled her eyes. “First I’d have to find a man to do it with, and at the moment, I’m having no such luck.”
“Oh, my God,” Dani said, “I forgot to tell you about Cole’s sporty younger brother.”
Simone’s big brown eyes widened. “What? Sporty younger brother? Tell me more.”
Cole knocked on the front door.
“I’ll tell you later,” Dani said, “I promise.” She opened the door and invited Cole inside.
He stepped in and said hello to Simone.
“So I hear you have a younger brother,” Simone said by way of a greeting.
Dani shot Simone a pointed look. “Simone!”
Cole grinned. “Yes, I do have a younger brother. His name is Brad.”
“And I hear he’s sporty,” Simone continued eagerly.
Cole laughed. “He’s a tennis player.”
Simone looked out at the truck. “Did you bring him with you?”
“No, he’s on tour at the moment.”
“Wait here,” Simone said. She rushed to the kitchen.
“What are we waiting for?” Cole whispered to Dani.
McClintock Bears Box Set Page 6