by Layla Silver
Maybe looking her best was a way of showing him what he’d missed out on by being such a playboy. She smirked at her reflection and hopped out of the car.
There was an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach as she made her way to the shop. She’d never been able to tell Josh that he had a daughter. But now that she’d unexpectedly run into him, a long way from where they’d first met, shouldn’t she tell him? But what if he wouldn’t care that he had a daughter? Or worse, what if he walked into Emma’s life only to discard her again? Wasn’t that what men did, especially men like him, who just hopped from conquest to conquest?
She shook her head to shake off those thoughts as she pushed the door open. There was no way she could tell him. It had been years, and she and Emma were doing just fine without him.
Josh flashed her a brilliant grin when she walked into the shop. It smelt of car grease and cheap air freshener, but none of that mattered while she stared at him. Shit. Her plan was already going wrong; he was supposed to be the one tripping over her, not the other way around.
“What’s the damage?” she said. She barely managed to keep her voice steady.
“Ah …” Josh deflated a little. “We had to completely replace the starter and battery.” He handed her the receipt.
Angie scanned the paper, her eyes widening at the price of each listed item until she finally reached the bottom of the list with the total. “1050 Dollars?” she whispered, this time failing to keep her voice from trembling. All her fantasies of teaching Josh a lesson on her way out evaporated under the weight of that bill. She’d expected a few hundred at most. That would have sucked, but she could have managed it. But a thousand? There was no way.
“I … Shit. I can’t afford this.” She closed her eyes, wanting to shrink into nothingness in her embarrassment.
Josh’s brow creased. “These repairs shouldn’t cause you hardship. If you can’t afford it, don’t worry about it. I’ll cover it for you.”
Had she heard him right? Was he offering to pay the bill out of his own pocket?
Her eyes flicked up to meet his. His gorgeous, angular face with prominent cheekbones looked regal, but it was his eyes that always caught her attention. Green like the wildest forests, dark and spiraling, like how she felt each time she looked into them. More than two years ago, when she’d looked at him like this for the first time, she’d seen him as roguish and daring. Had something changed in him?
It didn’t really matter, did it?
“No. I can’t let you do that,” Angie mumbled. She looked away, biting her lip in thought. “I’ll have to get a higher paying job.”
“What do you do?” Josh said.
She sighed. “I’m a financial administrator for Core Tech.”
Her job was basically a glorified bookkeeping position, at least in terms of pay. She’d never had the chance to go to college full-time and get a real degree, so all she had was a bookkeeping certification. It’d been the best she could do, even with her mother offering to watch Emma more frequently while she studied. She hadn’t got the certificate because she was passionate about math or finances, but because she’d needed the extra money from a job that was a little more stable than part-time waitressing at another bar or restaurant.
Angie had the skills of a real financial administrator, but without that four-year diploma, she was treated like less. The system always bothered her, making it so women had to choose between children and education. But there wasn’t much she could do to change that, and she hadn’t had much choice in the matter.
Josh smiled, captivating Angie all over again. “Well, you’re in luck. We need a financial administrator here at the garage. We’ve been looking for one for a while, but haven’t found anyone suitable. I’ve been managing it myself as best as I can, but I don’t have the right skills. Much better with my hands than computers.”
He chuckled, forcing Angie to smile, but she wasn’t sure if it was genuine, or a bad innuendo. After a moment, she realized there was no mischievous glimmer in his eyes, no drawing look that dared her to bite on some hook he’d laid specifically to reel her in. He really meant it.
“If you could work here for a little while and help us out, maybe for a couple of hours for a few weeks or so, we could call it even,” he said.
The job didn’t sound bad. She didn’t know much about auto shops, but to be fair, she didn’t know much about the software her current employer sold, either. A grand in a few weeks sounded pretty good, too, much better than the second job she did online, which netted her less than half that every month.
“I can probably do that,” she said. “Would it be a problem if I worked from home?”
Josh’s smile faltered a bit. “Of course not, if that’s what works best for you.”
“Great,” Angie said and took her car keys from Josh when he offered them. “I really appreciate this. Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. You sound like you could use a break,” he said. He glanced at the clock hanging on the wall to Angie’s side. “We can talk about the job another day. It’s getting late already, and I’m sure you’ve had a long day.”
Josh was looking her up and down, she realized, admiring her tight pencil skirt and cheap suit jacket. Angie laughed nervously and bit her lip, uncertain if she liked his gaze being on her like that or not.
She’d sure had quite the day at work, though the work itself hadn’t been as vigorous as Josh probably imagined. It was getting close to five, and she still had to pick up Emma.
Guess she’d have to see Josh again after all.
Chapter 5 – Josh
The wooden beam in his hands was hot with the summer sun. The vast hills and fields of the ranch spread out around Josh while he carried it to the house that he was building with his own two hands. The house’s foundation had been finished already, and he’d already put up most of the frame, besides a couple of finishing touches, but today he had his eyes set on a different project.
This beam was for the frame of his future porch. He'd always wanted a house with a porch. It wasn't something they had back in his old village, but now, building his own house, he could have one. When designing the house, he'd made it so it would face the setting sun in the evenings and look over the open expanse of the ranch for the rest of the day.
Josh crouched and settled the beam in place, stopping to imagine little cubs running across the finished porch. Two of them. A little girl teasing her younger brother, keeping his favorite ball out of reach, then giggling and tossing it to him before transforming into little Bears together so they could wrestle.
He smiled fondly at the daydream, running his fingers over the beam absentmindedly. He pictured his mate on a porch swing, leaning onto his chest. She would look up at him behind thick black lashes, and he would lean in to kiss her. Angie.
"Jeez, Josh, you look completely lovestruck." The voice tore Josh from his daydream, and he ran his hand over a rough part of the beam under his hands. A sharp prick made him almost drop it onto his foot, but he ignored it and glanced up to see Greg striding toward him. "You're not still hung up on that woman from the shop, are you?"
"She's just—"
"Just a customer, yeah, yeah, cut the crap," Greg said.
The intensity of his stare caught Josh off guard, and he looked away to investigate the brown wedge stuck uncomfortably beneath his skin. He clawed for it with his fingers, but when that failed, he tried to suck it out.
"Or at least stop lying to yourself, man." Greg walked down the trail in front of Josh’s house, leaving him to finish sucking the sliver out of his finger.
Once he got it out, he sighed. Greg, of all people, was right. Angie was a lot more than just a customer or even just an old fling. She was his mate. He knew it like he knew that the sun would set and rise again the next morning. Like he knew every piece of himself. She was the big chunk missing, the hole he'd felt every day since that night more than two years ago.
He really would have paid for the c
ar repairs if she'd needed him to. When he offered, it hadn't been about the money, or even wanting to get anything from her in return; he just wanted to see her safe and stress-free. Of course, when she said that she worked as a financial administrator, it seemed too good to be true. He'd hoped she would come to the shop, not work from home, though. If she'd worked at the shop, he would have seen her multiple times a week, could have found a way to show her that she was special to him.
But now that she would be working from home, how would he accomplish that?
He brooded over her decision to work from home. Was she doing it to avoid him? Was she not interested in him? When she’d first shown up at the shop, she’d been upset with him, he could tell, but after they’d gotten over the initial shock, things had seemed almost fine.
What if she was married? He had watched her slender hands while she filled out the forms when she brought in her car. There hadn't been a ring on her finger. Though, that wasn't saying much; not everyone wore wedding rings these days.
The beam was crooked on its supports, so Josh adjusted it at eye level, then placed a level on top. He adjusted the wood until the little bubble was perfectly aligned, indicating it was flat, and then screwed it in place. With that, the frame of the porch was done, and he just had to lay the floor in place over the top. When he’d set to work that morning, he had planned on finishing the whole thing today, but he'd been so caught up on Angie that he’d fallen into daydreams more often than actually working.
Josh almost stumbled when the idea came to him. When she'd accepted the job the other day, he'd told her that he'd contact her and get her set up. It was the perfect excuse to go to her place and see her, to put some more feelers out and see if she was married. And if she wasn't, to tell her that he was different than when they'd met.
Even if it would only be for a few minutes, it'd be worth it. He already had her address, too, she'd given it to him when she filled out the paperwork for her car.
***
After gathering all the files from the shop, Josh drove to Angie's place. It was on the opposite side of town, so he had plenty of time to figure out what to say to her and gather his nerves. Greg would have laughed at him for being so nervous about going to a woman's place, but Josh shook those thoughts out of his head. His clanmate didn't know what it was like to have a mate, and certainly not one who seemed to despise the sight of him.
He pulled into the lot outside her address, noticing her car out front. There was a duplex with peeling white paint and a small fenced yard out front, but the grass was yellowing and dying. It wasn't the best place, but it wasn't the worst, either, at least if the outside appearance was any indicator of what the inside might be like. But Angie was his mate; he always wanted better for her, even if she wasn't really his. At least not yet, his Bear growled.
Josh was certain she’d be happier in his house surrounded by wide open fields than this little place, but of course, he couldn’t just ask her to move in. Especially when the house wasn’t done. He was getting way ahead of himself.
According to the address, she was in apartment B. He cut the truck’s engine, grabbed the box of files from the back, and cleared the steps to her door. Each step felt like an eternity. He'd never been this nervous before. Even that first time with her, when he'd known there was something different about her, he hadn't felt like the whole world could fall from beneath his feet in an instant. Maybe he’d just been too full of himself back then.
For a moment, he stood outside her door, waiting. Almost like he expected his presence would be obvious to her. But the idea was ridiculous. He rang the doorbell.
A moment later, she opened the door. Her black hair wasn't as neat as the last two times he’d seen her, and her makeup wasn't as pristine. Like him, she probably had Saturdays off. The imperfections didn't bother him, though. In fact, seeing her natural face, the real her ... it captivated him even more. Even if he never saw her again after this, this picture of her would be stuck in his head forever.
"Josh," she said, sounding surprised. Her voice drew him from his thoughts. "What are you doing here?"
"I have the files from the shop," he said. She frowned. Josh noticed how she kept the door pressed tight against her side so he couldn't see inside. "The stuff you'll need as our new financial administrator."
Her eyes lit up with understanding. "Oh, right," she said and took the box of files from him. She dropped them on the other side of the door, somewhere out of sight. "Sorry, I just … When you said you'd get back to me about the job, I was expecting a phone call, not a house visit."
Josh laughed; he couldn't help himself. "I hope this isn't too weird."
"Technically, you're my boss now, I guess, so whatever," she said, shrugging. "Anyway, I've got some other stuff going on, so I'll take a look at these later." She smiled at him and started to close the door. "See you—"
"Wait." Josh grabbed the door to stop her from closing it. When Angie opened it a bit more so he could see her whole face, he saw that she was staring at him expectantly. "I thought we could ... talk."
"Talk? About what?"
"I've ..." Josh let go of the door and ran a hand through his hair. "I've never forgotten about you. Since that night."
Angie laughed. "Never forgotten? What about all those other women you spent nights with? I knew who you were when I decided to go with you to that hotel: the kind of guy who searches for a new woman to warm his bed every night, discarding each one like the trash from some fast-food burger. It was one night. I didn’t think it meant anything to you."
She looked upset, the way she held herself, the way she glared at him. Josh's heart squeezed. Before he met her, that'd been him, absolutely. But somehow being with her that night had changed everything for him, no matter what he’d thought when he brought her to that hotel room.
"Angie, not getting your number that night has been one of the biggest regrets of my life. Not having a way to contact you ..." he said. He floundered for words, but when Angie's face softened a bit, he found the right words he needed. "I know who I was back then. I was terrible, a self-centered asshole who, yeah, wanted to taste a bit of every girl in the city.” He cringed at his own words, but that’d been exactly how he phrased it when he was younger. “I'm different now.”
“Oh yeah? Different how? You look just about the same to me,” she said.
“That night we shared ... it was you who changed something in me. I haven't been the selfish man you knew back then in a long time,” Josh said. He moved his hands with his words, his frustration and guilt animating him. “I don't want to spend every night with someone different, someone who I barely know, and won't take the chance to know. I want to know someone else like I know myself. I want to know you."
Angie crossed her arms almost like she wanted to look intimidating, but it seemed half-hearted. She sighed and looked away from him, no longer looking mad. "I've never forgotten about you either."
"Really?" he whispered.
She nodded. "The very first time you came around and I heard what you were doing, I swore I'd never go anywhere near you. But that night ... the way you looked at me before we went to the hotel, before ... and during our night together ... It wasn't something I could just forget. I really wanted to believe you would be different than everyone said, but after everything I'd seen, I would have been stupid to think you and I could be different."
"I ..." Josh hadn't even thought about what his history with women might have meant to her. Of course, she hadn't wanted to take the risk. How could he have been so stupid? Him being a shifter must have just been a large shock on top of something already terrifying. "I'm done with that life. A whole new man."
He wasn't sure if Angie would believe him, but he hoped she would give him a chance. She looked up at him with trembling lips, her eyes a little glossy.
Josh stepped toward her, leaning against the doorframe. She was so close he could feel the warmth of her body.
"Will you ..." he leaned a
little closer. She didn't move away. "Will you let me show you?"
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his lips to hers. Josh's heart skipped a beat, and he wrapped his arms around her, drinking in the taste of caramel on her tongue.
Chapter 6 – Angie
Josh's lips pressed to hers, and she couldn't believe that this was actually happening. Clove and earthy spices laced his lips and tongue as he kissed her, breaking apart from her only to catch his breath as he kissed her with a fevered passion. Angie could have lost herself in that kiss, in the unbelievable emotion she felt in it.
She couldn't believe she was kissing him at all, but she also couldn't believe it had been more than two years since she'd felt the warmth of his mouth on hers. His touch felt so natural, like a part of her had been missing and only just rejoined her body and spirit. Angie tightened her hold of his neck, pulling him closer so their chests were pressed together. Their heartbeats thrummed together as one, both surprised and eager for more.
Josh’s hands found her hips, his rough and enthusiastic fingers keeping her close. Warmth spread across Angie’s body from each point where their bodies met, the overwhelming heat momentarily forcing them to break the kiss. Just for a second, long enough for them to gasp for air before Angie lifted her chin to find him again, losing herself in the comfort of his lips.
“Angie …” he whispered, his voice husky with need. “You’ve no idea how badly I’ve wanted to kiss you since you showed up at my work.”
Angie couldn’t think, didn’t want to, or else she’d get confused all over again. From what she’d heard, Josh never slept with the same woman twice if he couldn’t help it. And that’s where they were headed right now, weren’t they? With the way his hands roamed her body, tickled her spine and made her shiver, wanting more.
This was what she wanted, wasn’t it? She'd dreamed of kissing him again, of falling into bed with him and losing herself in the way he possessed her body, the way she needed him to possess her again. Only she never thought it would happen, never thought ...