Because that would not have made her think you are a stalker at all, his lion told him bluntly.
Charlie turned around and walked back to his truck. Pulling open the door, he climbed in and switched the engine on. If she did come back, he wanted the interior of the truck to be warm. She already looked cold, and the mountain would be worse. He could dig out some of Lilly’s clothes, she wouldn’t mind.
His lion chuckled. This is all going to take some explaining.
You’re right. I just hope we get the chance. Then he sensed her approaching, getting closer. When she walked around the side of the building and came back into view, the relief was immense.
Charlie jumped out of the truck and went around to the passenger side, yanking the door open a little too eagerly. “I thought you might run out on me.”
“I decided my run of luck where men are concerned could not get any worse.” She climbed into the truck and seated herself next to the window, leaving a spare seat between them. He’d like to sit a little closer to his mate, but he needed to give her time and space.
“I hope I can persuade you not all men are bad.” He shut the door and strode around to the driver’s side and got in.
“I know not all men are bad. Just the ones I choose.” She buckled her seatbelt and then added, “No pressure.”
“I like a challenge.” He drove across the hotel parking lot toward the road, keeping his speed slow. The roads were treacherous, and he was carrying the most precious cargo. His mate.
“What else do you like?” she asked, leaning back in her seat and watching the scenery go by. “What do you do for fun out here?”
“I like the mountains. I enjoy exploring them. There’s nothing like the quiet and tranquility of a new morning on the mountains.” He looked at the mountain range wistfully.
“Have you lived here all your life?” Penny sounded genuinely interested, or maybe she was getting as much information on him as possible; in case he turned out to be a bad guy.
“No, I went to school in Reamington. I moved here to Bear Creek when I was nineteen.” He took a deep breath. There was no point hiding the truth from her. “I got into some trouble. And I realized I had to do something to start again.”
“So you moved here.” She nodded. “It takes a lot of courage at that age to see where your life is going and do something about it.”
“I guess.” He turned onto the road leading to his house. “I came here, earned enough money to buy a small piece of land and built my cabin. It took me a couple of years, but I’m proud of it.”
“You should be. I work with many young people who are in the same place you were. It’s encouraging to see someone turn their life around so completely.”
“Is that what you do for work?” Charlie asked. “You said you didn’t have a job.”
“I volunteer.” She looked faintly embarrassed. “I have an inheritance, and that gives me an income. So I decided to give something back. I volunteer at a couple of charities. My parents have always taught me that what I have should not be taken for granted.”
“They sound like good people.”
She nodded, her lips pressed together as she looked out of the window. “They are good people.”
“Hey, what’s wrong?” He reached out for her hand and she let him take it, finding comfort in his touch.
“I feel as if I’ve let them down,” she admitted. “I know they would tell me that isn’t true, but I feel that way all the same.”
“How come?” Charlie carefully navigated the turn onto the gravel driveway leading to his cabin. The sun was just peeking over the trees and a short thaw would follow before the temperature plummeted again. The days were short leading up to the holidays, the kind of days when you curled up in front of the fire with your arms around the woman you loved.
“My parents are childhood sweethearts. They have been together for so long, it’s as if they live and breathe as one.” She gazed wistfully out of the window. “Growing up, I always had this dream that I’d have the same kind of relationship. But I never met the right man.”
“Until your husband.” He saw her wince. “Sorry, none of my business.”
Penny chuckled. “It’s everyone’s business. It’s all over the internet. All over the society pages in magazines.”
“I don’t have a computer and society pages are not my thing.” He gave a short laugh. “In case you didn’t guess.”
Her eyes looked brighter, shimmering with humor as she turned toward him. “I’ll give you the short version. Laurence Levine walked into my life, swept me off my feet, told me he loved me, and we were meant to be together. He was perfect in every way. He dressed well, he ate at all the high-class restaurants and said all the right things.”
“Wow, that is a lot to live up to. He sounds kind of perfect,” Charlie murmured as his small wooden cabin came into view.
“But he was totally fake. He’d researched me and molded himself into what he thought I’d fall in love with. The worst thing is, he was right. It was as if he knew me better than I knew myself.” She leaned forward and looked out of the window. “You built this?”
“With my own two hands.” He lifted them up and waggled his fingers.
“I love it.” Penny was out of the truck before he even had his seatbelt unbuckled. “What a perfect position.” The sun obliged by shining through the trees at the exact moment she turned and looked at the view.
His lion grinned, fate is on our side.
Except for she’s a Lady with an inheritance, and I’m a simple man with a house and a sketchy income.
We did what was right for Lilly and Sally. There is no shame in that.
His lion was right. They had lived the past seven years with a mother and child as their primary focus. Sure, Charlie knew there was a chance he would meet his mate and things would have to change. But he’d seen firsthand how long a shifter might wait for his mate. His parents had been older when they met, his mother struggled with fertility until they were finally blessed with a child, Charlie. They had both since passed away, leaving Charlie alone in the world.
He didn’t use his own life to make excuses for what he’d done. It was the memory of his parents and what they would think of him and their legacy that made him turn his life around. Helping Lilly and Sally was his way of making amends for anyone he might have hurt.
“Can I see inside?” Penny asked, whirling around as a flurry of snowflakes fell from the trees as a light breeze blew down from the mountains.
“Sure.” He led her toward the cabin. His home. The home he’d built for his mate. He tried not to look at it with a critical eye. He loved the place, he loved the way the weather-worn timber blended in with the trees surrounding it and how the forest seemed to cradle the cabin, keeping it safe and sheltered from the worst of the weather.
Charlie opened the door and stepped back, letting Penny enter first. It was still warm inside and the smell of pancakes, Sally’s favorite, lingered in the air. He watched Penny, she stepped inside his house and paused, looking around, before taking another step and another step along the hallway, her hand brushing against the mellow timbers.
“You built all this yourself?” she asked again in disbelief.
He grinned. “Yes. I learned as I went, so there are parts of the cabin I’m not so pleased with. But each defect reminds me that people grow and change, they try and fail and then try again.” He tapped the solid wood walls. “It’s weatherproof and warm, that’s all that really matters.”
She smiled at him over her shoulder. “It’s beautiful. The wood almost seems to be alive. I love how the wood grain shows through, and the knots in the wood are imperfections that make the cabin unique.” She looked up at the ceiling. “That’s what I try and teach young people who I meet. That we are unique and all of us have imperfections. No one, nothing is perfect.”
I might have to disagree with you, he thought as he watched his mate. She was perfect to him in every way.
Chapter Seven – Penny
“Coffee?” He walked past her, his hand brushing against her back, and electricity sparked. Could he feel it, too? If he did, he didn’t show it.
“Yes, please.” She followed him into the kitchen and then froze as she saw Sally’s doll on the kitchen table. Her eyes shifted to Lilly’s purse on the countertop. The mother and daughter lived here. This was wrong. All so wrong. She backed toward the door. “I should go.”
“Wait, I can explain.” He made a move toward her, and she knew she should turn and run, but she didn’t.
“Explain how you have a wife and child, but you want a little excitement while they are working or at school?” Her face flushed pink with anger.
“Lilly is not my wife,” Charlie told her firmly.
“Wife, partner, girlfriend, does it matter?” Penny spat. She wanted to trust him, she truly did. But she couldn’t.
“Friend. She is my friend and Sally is her child. Not mine.” He held his hands up as if trying to soothe a frightened horse.
She took a deep breath. “You were with them last night. They live here?”
He nodded and looked a little embarrassed. “I should have explained, I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s none of my business. We’ve just met, you don’t owe me an explanation.” She backed away from him, then realized there was nowhere for her to go. She’d never get back to the hotel without freezing in these weather conditions.
“No, I don’t owe you an explanation. But since you told me about yourself, I’d like a chance to tell you about me.” He poured two cups of coffee and set them down on the table. “Please.”
Penny looked uneasy, warring with herself over what she should do. Then she took a step forward, pulled out a chair and sat down at the kitchen table. If she walked out now without listening to his explanation, she might regret it for the rest of her life. “Thanks.”
“Can I get you anything else?” Charlie asked as he sat down across the table, his hands wrapped around his coffee cup.
“No, I’m fine, I ate enough breakfast at the hotel to last me the whole day.” She sipped her coffee and focused on the bitter aroma. “This is good.”
“After we’ve been in the mountains, I can guarantee you’ll have worked up an appetite.” He glanced out the kitchen windows and she followed his gaze. The view from here was amazing. She longed to explore the peaks and valleys of the mountain range.
“You love it here.” She was watching him, and heat crept across her skin. Penny could not deny her attraction to him.
“I do.” He nodded, a far-off smile on his lips. Lips she longed to kiss. “I made Bear Creek my home and I’ve never regretted that decision.”
“I’ve not been into town yet, but everyone at the hotel seems super friendly.” They were making small talk, but that was not why they were here.
“They are.” He paused and took a deep breath, and a sip of his coffee, to calm his nerves. “You met Lilly this morning.”
“I did. She seems nice.” Penny waited for Charlie to compose his words.
“She had a troubled childhood. Met a man she fell in love with and found herself pregnant.” He looked a little guilty at talking about Lilly behind her back.
“And he didn’t want the child?” Penny asked sadly.
“He was married. Lilly had no idea, she was devastated. I really think she loved the guy. But then her home life was never happy, and he might have been an escape route.” He rubbed his hand over his chin and huffed. “I don’t like talking about this when she’s not here.”
“Whatever you say won’t be repeated,” Penny promised. “I’m good at keeping confidences.”
“Thanks.” He went back to his story. “When she told her parents, they kicked her out. She called me and I took her in.”
“That was an incredible thing to do.” She pursed her lips, wanting to say more but didn’t.
“I never had a thing for her, if that’s what you want to know.” He ducked his head to catch her eyes, but she averted them.
“It’s none of my business if you did,” she insisted, but it mattered to her all the same.
“She was my best friend through high school. We kept each other sane. We were there for each other. When my parents died, she helped me through that, too. We drifted apart for a couple of years, each of us finding our own way in the world. I built this place, she found a job.” His expression as he remembered the past revealed the agony, and the ecstasy.
“It sounds as if she’s a good friend. And you’ve helped raise Sally...” Penny drank her coffee and fell silent before asking, “I’m not looking for a Christmas romance. And I’m not on the rebound.”
“Oh, no. Neither am I.” He looked at her with concern, willing her to understand. “Lilly has trained to be a teacher, she has a new job starting in January at the local school. It was last-minute, she only had the interview last week, and she just received the news she got the job yesterday.”
“That’s amazing. She should be proud of herself,” Penny said.
“We talked last night, and she is going to move out into a place of her own. I’ll still be there for her and Sally. Although since Sally is at the same school, I will be redundant to some extent. Which means I could get a better job...” He stopped as Penny held up her hand.
“This is starting to sound like a proposal of some kind.” Her brow creased as she studied him. Why did he need her to know this when they had only just met?
“I needed to make sure you understood my living arrangements. And that they are not permanent, and Sally is not my child. And Lilly and I... are not...lovers.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I’ve made a mess of it all.”
“No, you’ve explained it all very thoroughly.” Penny paused. “What confuses me is why.”
Charlie looked down at his hands. “I wanted you to know I don’t bring women back here. I’m not that kind of a man.” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
A smile played across her lips. “But you brought me.”
“Yes.”
“Did I look that pathetic back at the hotel? Lady Penelope Granger, the woman who married a man thinking it was love when in reality he was just after her money.” She smiled sadly. “Is that why I’m here?”
“No, I told you, I had no idea about all...” His fists clenched. “Laurence married you for your money?”
“Oh, yes, he said he loved me, and I was the one, but really all he wanted was to get his grubby little hands on my inheritance.” She drank her coffee and stood up. “Could you drive me back to the hotel, please?”
“No.” Charlie stood up abruptly, banging into the table. “I mean yes. I could. But I thought you wanted to see the mountains.”
“I do. But I think I should find a different guide.” She edged toward the kitchen door and took out her phone. “I can call a cab otherwise.”
“No.” He spoke a little too loudly. “I can take you. The signal up here sucks.”
Penny looked at her phone, concern spreading across her face. “You’re right, I have no signal.”
“Come on, I can take you back to town.” He walked around her and went down the hallway to grab his keys. “But I promise you, you can trust me with your life.”
“And why should I believe you?” Penny asked, following him back out to the front door.
He stared at the front door. Was he going to bar her way and tell her she was never leaving? Had she managed to rebound from a narcissist to a sociopath?
“What did Julius say to you?” Charlie turned around and faced her, taking in her heart-shaped face and brunette hair, which curled around her face. His fingers twitched as if he wished he was one of those tendrils of hair, that he could reach out and caress her face whenever he wanted. She swallowed down her desire for him. She could not encourage him. But she wanted to.
“Julius. He said I should trust in fate. That he met his wife a long time ago, but she was married to someone else. But fate brought them back
together again.” She stared at him, her eyes dilated, as her tongue slipped out between her lips and moistened them. Charlie focused on her lips, and she wanted him to kiss her more than anything.
But she couldn’t let herself jump right into another relationship. There was a shield around her heart. A barrier to keep herself safe.
A barrier she no longer needed. It was written on his face, the need to protect her, to love her. Should she simply let herself go and take a chance on love once more?
“Fate. Fate brought us together.” He raised his eyes to hers. “Do you believe me?”
“I don’t know.” She wanted to. She wanted to believe the look in his eyes. But hadn’t Laurence had that same look when she first met him? He’d looked at her as if she were the most special person in the world. She’d believed him completely or she would never have put his ring on her finger.
“I know you got hurt. But don’t let that ruin the rest of your life.” He placed his hand on her arm, his touch warm, waking a part of her she’d tried to bury.
“What do you want from me?” Penny searched his face, trying to figure him out. “We only just met. You know nothing about me...or so you say. But you say we have a connection.”
“We do and if you’ll give me a chance, I can explain it to you.” His gentle voice soothed her soul. If she took his hand and went with him, he wouldn’t hurt her. Couldn’t hurt her. Was she a fool to believe that?
Well, she’d been a fool once. What harm was there in being a fool again?
“Are you still offering to take me into the mountains?” she asked, nerves creeping into her voice.
He smiled and nodded. “I sure am.” he looked at his watch. “I have three hours before I have to be back to pick Sally up from school. If you still want to go it’ll take me a few minutes to get some supplies ready and find you some warmer clothes.”
“Supplies? I thought we were only going into the mountains for a couple of hours.”
“We are, but we need to be prepared. If something happens and we get stuck...by accident, we have what we need. Water, food.” He grabbed a backpack and went to the fridge where he picked out a couple of bottles of water, then grabbed some energy bars from a cupboard and added a couple of candy bars.
The Lion Loves a Lady Page 5