“Bosco?” She tilted her head to look toward the house, just in time to see Bosco’s large rear-end lumbering around the corner. She raised a trembling hand to her mouth and stared at him. “I—I don’t know if I can do this.” Her shaking fingers muffled the words. “A bear! I can’t deal with a bear.”
Bastien stood and offered her his hand, knowing that was his out. If he merely let the woman talk herself into quitting, he wouldn’t have to worry about how young or beautiful she was. Instead, all he could think of was how pale she appeared, and his protective instincts kicked in.
Before he knew it, Bastien replied almost against his will, “Of course you can. Bosco is nothing but a big baby.” He lifted one side of his mouth in a lopsided grin. “Well, he’s full grown, but he’s a baby at heart. I’ve had him since he was only a few weeks old. I even bottle fed him myself.”
Chapter Three
Carly stared at the stranger’s hand before resting her fingers against his. She immediately felt an odd tingling heat race up her arm. An almost visible aura surrounded the man. It practically screamed sex—great, passionate, sweaty sex. He took her hand for a moment as she looked up into his deep brown eyes surrounded by long, even darker eyelashes.
Squashing the little hum of desire that accompanied the warmth, she tightened her grip as he pulled her to her feet. She was here to be a housekeeper, not have a good time. Besides, the last thing Carly needed or wanted was another relationship with any man—no matter how nice or attractive he might seem.
Looking down at her, he frowned. “I’m sorry the gates weren’t open for you, Miss McGowen. I fully intended to meet you properly, but...”
While she watched, his face reddened. He reached up and rubbed at the dark stubble on his jaw before he thrust his fingers through his coffee-colored hair.
“... I lost track of time while doing the yearly maintenance on Bosco’s kennel.”
When she bent to pick up her bags, he pushed her hands away from the handles.
Eyes the same dark color of espresso stared into hers as he bent to pick up her suitcases. “Allow me. It’s the least I can do.”
Carly followed him up the long walkway, keeping an eye out for the bear. She didn’t care if the man said that thing was a baby. She was climbing a tree at the next glimpse of it.
“Don’t worry about Bosco, Miss. He only looks frightening.”
Keeping one eye looking for the bear, she glanced up at him. “Do you make a habit of keeping wild animals on your property, Mr. Sinclair? You are Bastien Sinclair, aren’t you?”
“Guilty on both counts. Bosco’s lived here for the last seven years. He wandered onto my property, a wounded, half-starved cub.
“I can only assume his mother died, and he would have died, too, if I hadn’t taken him in.” Bastien took a deep breath and sighed. “The big baby wouldn’t know how to care for himself if I sent him out on his own.” He shifted both of her heavy suitcases to one arm.
Carly placed her hand over her stomach at the display of her employer’s muscles.
How could she stop the fluttering that had started at the sight of this man? Was it because she found him attractive or because the exhibition of his strength frightened her? She wasn’t sure.
Get a grip, Carly. The man is your employer, for goodness’s sake.
Besides, she was an expert on how good looks and bulging muscles didn’t necessarily make a gentle man. Shifting her attention toward the back of the house, she watched as the decidedly rotund bear lay on its back, rocking back and forth in a patch of sunlight.
Carly cast another nervous glance around her. What if other wild animals were wandering about the premises?
“He’s harmless, Miss McGowen. I promise you have nothing to worry about, with Bosco.”
Yeah, right. In Carly’s experience, the value of a man’s promise wasn’t necessarily high.
Plus, he hadn’t been the one who’d faced down the big smelly beast while it had looked at her like she was dinner. Besides, how did the man always seem to know what she was thinking?
“Don’t look so startled.” He chuckled. “Anyone could guess the direction of your thoughts by your expression. Not to mention your nervous glances toward the backyard.” Bastien shoved his hands in his back pockets. “You were wondering how I knew what you were thinking, weren’t you?”
“Oh.” Carly’s face warmed at his explanation. Of course, he couldn’t read her mind. It was a good thing, too, considering how many times her eyes had wandered to his perfect backside during the walk to the house.
No matter what had happened in the past, Carly wanted to take her new employer at his word. After all, he wouldn’t benefit if that moon-sized hairball suddenly pounced and started eating her. Well, except that he would save on a day’s worth of bear chow, or whatever it was the thing ate. She hoped twenty-seven-year-old women were off its preferred menu.
“I-I don’t want to seem like a coward, sir, but I haven’t been around animals much. They...” Pausing, she hoped he wouldn’t fire her for what she was about to say before she even started working for him. Though getting fired would take care of her stay or not to stay dilemma.
Carly needed the job he offered more than she’d let on during her interview. It was just a good thing the meeting had been over the phone and with his sister, Natalia.
No matter how much she needed the job and the place to stay that came with it, she would have refused the position had she known it would involve wild animals. Since his sister had chosen not to reveal that bit of information and she was already here, she would just have to buck up and suffer through it.
“Well, to be perfectly honest, they scare me.” She pressed her lips together and lifted her chin.
“Really? Even dogs and cats?” His expression was incredulous, as if he couldn’t imagine a home without pets.
“Yes. Even dogs and cats.” Looking to her left, she stared into the dense hedge next to the house. “I had a dog once a few years ago. It was a little black terrier mutt with white feet.” She shook her head, dismissing the horrible memories. They would get her nowhere. Carly decided she must keep her attention on the present.
“I’m sorry. You don’t want to hear about my dog.” She blinked rapidly and looked down at the flagstone beneath her feet.
What had gotten into her? Why in the world was she acting so damned melodramatic? She was here to work, not to talk to him as though she needed some sort of therapist. What if he decided she wasn’t right for the position? What would she do? Where would she go?
Chapter Four
Good lord! Were those tears in her beautiful eyes when she looked away? Bastien paused before climbing the stone steps to the wraparound porch and wondered if he should say something.
“Memories make us who we are, Miss McGowen.
An undefined emotion flickered in her eyes before she answered. “Perhaps, Mr. Sinclair, but sometimes they’re best left forgotten.” She lifted her chin and pressed her lips together as though daring him to contradict her. “I’ve never been one to pick at a wound.”
Bastien felt the inexplicable need to comfort her, yet didn’t know why. It wasn’t as though his other housekeepers hadn’t had their problems. Every one of them had been running from something. Just as he did, they had all had their secrets.
He led her into the house and up the stairs, knowing he should put her in the butler’s apartment on the first floor. Instead, he put her in the room across from his, just the same. Something told him the woman had demons. At some point, they would haunt her dreams and he wanted to be there when they did.
It was the least he could do. After all, it was his carelessness and Bosco’s over-enthusiastic welcome that had dredged up her painful memories.
Bastien sensed her behind him as they climbed the stairs. He imagined the sway of her wide hips, and her hand lightly caressing the banister as she followed him up to the second floor. He felt the heat emanating from her body, smelled the faint scent of h
er shampoo, her soap, and the underlying fragrance that was uniquely hers alone.
Closing his eyes for a moment, Bastien fought for control of his overheated body. The urge for physical release nearly overwhelmed him. How in hell would he keep himself at a professional distance if she had such a powerful effect on him already?
After dropping her things in her room, he would go for a run. Alone.
She followed him into the room, and he set Carly’s suitcases on the chest at the foot of the bed. Bastien did his best not to imagine her lying on the smooth blue coverlet—naked.
Taking a deep breath, he wondered what the hell had come over him. It just wasn’t like him to react so strongly to any female.
She was... Bastien took a deep breath and inhaled her intoxicating scent. The woman was something else. He didn’t know what it was about her that screamed out for him to touch her, to kiss her, to plant himself firmly inside her in every way possible.
“I’m supposed to sleep in here?” She spun around, her eyes wide.
The sound of her voice brought Bastien back to their conversation. He pulled himself together, trying to concentrate on what she said, instead of what the smell of Carly’s faint arousal did to his senses. She wanted him. He could smell it.
Bastien also scented her fear. He did his best to keep his face blank. No matter what the woman might think, she had nothing to fear from him. The man in him might desire more than she wanted to give, but the other part of him, the one not entirely human, only desired to protect her—to cherish her. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder what he’d done to deserve her obvious trepidation.
That was the reason he never dated humans. The complications usually weren’t worth the risk. With another were-being, he could declare his intention to mate or have sex and be done with it. Human women always wanted romance and commitment. What the hell was up with that?
“Is there something more you might need?” Bastien did a mental inventory of everything in the room. “Does it not meet with your satisfaction?” He watched her cheeks turn a becoming shade of rose as she licked her full lips.
“I-uh, no. I just thought there would be a room separate... Your, um... The lady who interviewed me mentioned a small private apartment. I just thought—” She backed away from him, her purse held to her chest.
“Of course. When Natalia told you about it, you naturally assumed you’d be staying in the apartment off the kitchen,” Bastien said with a nod.
“It’s completely understandable that you’d come to that conclusion. However, my sister didn’t realize that I had already scheduled to have the apartment renovated,” he lied easily. Leaning against the wall, he stuck his hands in his pockets. The apartment needed a paint job and new appliances. No time like the present to take care of it.
“I’d hate for you to get comfortable there since you’d only have to move your things again in a week or two. You’re welcome to use this room and cook your meals with mine in the main kitchen.” He flashed her the well-practiced grin he knew made most women weak in the knees. “There’s nothing to worry about, Miss McGowen. I don’t bite.” He grinned. “At least, not hard.”
Chapter Five
Carly watched Bastien push away from the wall and walk out into the hall, leaving her alone to unpack. Instead, she brooded about her newest dilemma.
“You are so in over your head,” Carly mumbled to herself. “He’s so hot he puts Robert to shame—and that ass!” Flinging her suitcase open, she shook her head. “What is it with his ass, anyway? Leave it alone. He is your employer for goodness’s sake, not some exotic dancer in a G-string waiting for you to stick dollar bills in his crotch.”
At that statement, a vision of her employer in a G-string popped into her mind, and she groaned. It was difficult to ignore all of those hard muscles and tanned skin her imagination dreamed up.
“You cannot entertain ideas like that about him. You need this job more than you need companionship.” Or mind-blowing sex. She frowned. Where had that thought come from? She wanted nothing to do with any man.
Carly needed the money her new job paid. She couldn’t afford to get her own place until she moved out of state. It would be too easy for Robert to track her down in Michigan. The phone and electric bills gave her away. She had learned that the hard way.
With her ex-husband’s computer hacking skills and his contacts, he could find her anywhere once she acquired a utility bill. She had barely escaped him the last time he’d discovered where she lived.
She might not be so lucky again. Robert would most likely kill her the next time he caught up with her. No one had to tell her how lucky she had been when her employer had agreed to transfer her to a new lab on such brief notice.
The company didn’t have to accommodate anyone in that manner. Photo technicians were easy to come by and easier to train. They could very well have told her that her personal problems were just that. Personal.
If she were lucky, Robert would think she’d quit and already moved to another state to get away from him. Carly refused to consider the possibility that he’d already figured out that she had transferred to a new lab only three hours away. She also knew it was only a matter of time before he spotted her somewhere and tried to follow her home. It would be a shame to lead him to Mr. Sinclair’s beautiful estate.
She thought about Bastien Sinclair as she unpacked. Tall, dark, and handsome, he was everything she had ever dreamed of in the perfect man when she was younger. But she was older now. Old enough to know better. Old enough to know that good looks and charm didn’t mean a man was a nice guy behind closed doors.
Her new employer had seemed sincere, though. It would be a shame to bring Robert and the rest of her troubles pounding at his door.
Very muscular, at least twice her new employer’s weight, and strong as an ox, her ex would probably make mincemeat out of the poor man if he found her here.
A knock at the door interrupted her dark thoughts. “Yes?”
“I’m about to order a pizza. Would you care for some?” Bastien Sinclair’s muffled voice carried through the thick wood.
Carly blinked, a bit surprised. “I can fix something if you’ll just give me a minute.”
She didn’t want him to think she wasn’t ready to assume her duties as his housekeeper. She walked to the door and opened it. Looking up at him, she swallowed thickly.
Lord, he was tall. Bastien Sinclair was taller than Robert, though not as muscular. She fought the grimace she felt pulling at her face. Men’s muscles were overrated. And their strength could prove painful.
Rubbing absently at her collarbone, she tried to ignore the familiar ache in her jaw, leg, and arm. The pain always returned when she thought of Robert’s last attack. She’d almost saved enough money to leave the state when he’d gotten paroled from prison and hunted her down at work in Utica. She’d immediately asked for a transfer and moved into a hotel for the added security until it came through.
Two weeks at a hotel had depleted a good part of her savings. She now needed a second job to replenish it.
At the thought of her precautions, Carly glanced at the doorknob, and she almost sighed with relief. Yes! There was a lock on it. The knowledge comforted her more than anything else had today. She fought the urge to scowl when she wondered if she would lock the door to keep him out, or herself inside.
“This is your first day, Miss McGowen. Unpack your things. There’s plenty of time for you to prove your culinary expertise in the days to come.”
“Carly, please call me Carly. Everyone does,” she said, screwing up the courage to offer him her hand. That same delicious warmth radiated up her arm when he grasped her fingers with his. He bowed over it, catching her off guard.
“Then I shall call you that, if you’re sure you don’t mind, as long as you’ll call me Bastien.” He smiled, his dark gaze traveling slowly from her face to her toes, then back to her eyes. He dropped her hand as if he sensed her discomfort, bowed slightly, then turned to
leave. “Dinner should be here in about thirty minutes. I’ll see you then.”
Carly watched as he descended the stairs. She sighed and her lungs ached. Had she been holding her breath? That man sure could turn on the charm when he wanted to.
Good Lord, she was so in over her head!
Chapter Six
Six weeks later:
Bastien was kneeling on the floor of the barn as he bandaged the left foreleg of one of his friends. “Didn’t I tell you to stay away from Carmen Tolbert? I told you her brothers would break your legs. You damn fool.” He scowled at the injured wolf as he tightened the splint.
“I know we heal faster in this form, Kyle, but did you give any thought to the fact that you can’t change back until your bones have completely mended? He scrubbed his face with his hands and sighed.
“You’ll be lucky if you don’t lose your job. You can’t very well show up at Harve’s restaurant and expect him to let you cook like this.” He waved at Kyle, indicating his four broken legs and his wolf form. “Hell, you’re lucky Galen had enough of a conscience to drop you off here.”
He patted the animal on the head and rubbed it behind the ears. It closed its eyes and groaned.
“Don’t get used to that.” He pulled the wolf’s ear gently. “I’ll expect you here to clean out the kennels every day for two weeks after you’re restored to health, you know.” Bastien never charged for healing his people, but he didn’t have a problem pressing them into service when the need arose.
The wolf growled, its ears perking up as it tried to force itself into a sitting position.
Bastien tried to hold him down, afraid that Kyle would undo the work he’d just done on his broken bones.
The female panther in the back of the barn snarled, holding her ears flat against her head. She crouched low in her cage hissing at some unseen danger, her eyes glowing bright yellow in the dim light. Growling low in her throat, she paced her large cage.
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