“I’ll pull the truck round.”
He stalked out of the room, and Haley turned to Hannah.
“He doesn’t want me to stay with him – are you sure this is a good idea?” Haley asked, hoping that Doctor Cooper would see sense.
“It’s an excellent idea. No questioning my professional opinion,” she joked.
Haley sighed, “Fine. But would you do me one last favor? Will you tell your husband, tell Colton, that I’m perfectly capable of doing the job? That I just needed some fluids, or whatever?”
Hannah laughed, “Sure I can do that. I told you, stop worrying. I’ll tell Colton you’re the perfect candidate.”
“Thanks Hannah – Doctor Cooper.”
“Hannah’s fine. Oh, and Haley?” she paused before walking out of the door, “I loved you in The Tempest – you were amazing. I cried the whole way through.”
Haley smiled.
“Thanks Hannah. I’m glad.”
The woman nodded and left. Haley rose from the bed and removed her gown. The clothes she arrived in were folded neatly on the chair beside her. She longed for a shower; she felt travel-weary and tired. The last thing she felt like doing was spending time with an intimidatingly handsome, taciturn man that didn’t really want her around.
Chapter eleven
“I’m so sorry about all of this.”
Haley gestured helplessly, irritated that she was still wrapped up in the wool blanket the Doctor had given her, like an old invalid.
“Don’t mention it, really.”
Wyatt Sterling kept his eyes on the road, barely glancing in her direction since they’d left the doctors. It was unnerving; Haley felt like she’d pissed him off somehow, but it also gave her the opportunity to study him surreptitiously without embarrassing herself.
Having travelled most of the world as a dancer, Haley could sometimes believe that she’d seen it all; suave men, richer that Croesus that showered gifts on principle dancers, exotic-looking lotharios intent on bedding the chorus, drunk yet talented and dashing orchestra players with warm, welcoming beds. She had started to think she was almost immune to the physical charms of the opposite sex, but that fallacy was ripped to shreds the moment she laid eyes on Wyatt Sterling.
Her usual type tended toward Romany gypsy men with subtle sex appeal – faintly malnourished and in need of looking after. As May-May continually reminded her, it was what had kept her love life in a state of continuous disrepair. Wyatt was the complete opposite; he towered over her for a start, easily six-four against her five-foot frame. He was also broad, filling out the white shirt he wore to almost bursting across the chest and shoulders. He’d rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, his blazer folded neatly over the back seat of the truck, and Haley became hypnotized by the flexing of the muscles and veins that ran along his forearm as he commanded the wheel.
Wyatt’s appearance gave her the impression of a well-ordered, scrupulous man. His nails were cut short and squared, his hands in general were large, though not inelegant, and capable looking. His shirt was perfectly pressed, as were his suit pants. The only unruly thing about him was his hair; it was dirty blonde, but at the temples, shot through with white, which Haley found completely intriguing for his age – he couldn’t have been much older than she was. His angular jaw was covered in thick stubble, which highlighted his full lips – currently set in an unwavering line.
He turned to look at her. Haley swiftly turned her head to face the window, blushing.
“Are you warm enough?”
“Oh, yes – thanks.”
“We’re almost there.”
Haley nodded and took a deep breath.
“Look, I’m pretty sure that before I passed out Colton Sterling informed me I wouldn’t be getting the job – because of the pregnancy. I just want to assure you, I am honestly as healthy as a horse – it was just the travel, I was dehydrated, that’s all. I would really, really like another shot at it. Can I at least meet the client?”
“Don’t worry about that right now.”
Wyatt could feel color rushing to his cheekbones. Shit, this was awkward.
“But -” she began to protest.
“Really. You’re coming to stay with me. I have a spare room,” he looked agitated, “You just rest there tonight, and tomorrow we can talk about the job. Okay?”
“That’s very kind of you,” she replied meekly. She smarted from his abrupt tone before reminding herself that the intention of the offer was a kind one - she was being overly sensitive.
“What do you do, Wyatt?” She asked, trying to bring the conversation into safer territory.
“My brothers and I run an outdoor oufitter chain, and have recently expanded into a fishing interest – well, we will as soon as the lawyers stop arguing over the paper work,” he smiled wryly, “That’s in progress.”
Haley digested the information, very aware that Wyatt’s face had lifted at the mention of work – he was clearly a passionate man beneath the reserved veneer.
“What do you do? Well – before you applied for this job,” be amended.
“I was a ballet dancer.”
“Wow,” he smiled at her properly this time, “I have a huge respect for your profession – grace under severe pain.” He mock shuddered and Haley laughed.
“It’s really not that bad. You get used to it. You know, after the first few broken toes.”
He looked over at her in alarm. Haley smirked.
“Don’t worry – I’m half joking.”
“I guess you can’t dance while pregnant, right?” He asked.
“No.” Haley pursed her lips together. It was a good excuse; Wyatt didn’t need to know her whole messy history.
He observed that the question had shut her down, and looked over at her with concern. She must have found it difficult to give up dancing. It was a pity that he couldn’t help her out in some way. He idly thought of the possibilities of Colton’s nutcase scheme, but dismissed it. It was a stupid idea. He also found himself very reluctant to have the beautiful, accomplished woman know that he couldn’t find a mate via his own means.
“Here we are.” Wyatt pulled up into the drive.
“Oh, it’s beautiful.” She exclaimed.
The house was huge, reaching at least three stories high and sprawling out from where they stood to the waterfront. They were fairly isolated here, and Haley, a born city girl, marveled at the peace and quiet that Wyatt would be privy to. It was built entirely from wooden beams, with a low sloping roof, which was currently covered in a thick layer of snow. All the rooms had huge, floor to ceiling glass windows so Haley could peek in nosily at every room as she stood gazing outside.
On the waterfront she could see a small jetty and a small two-seater seaplane idling on the water. Oh. It suddenly occurred to Haley that Wyatt might not live alone.
“Do you live with a…girlfriend, wife?” Haley tried keeping her voice level and nonplussed.
“No.”
She nodded, turning her face away from his in the direction of the house so she didn’t give her relief away. Pull yourself together! She mentally kicked herself.
She wasn’t interested in Wyatt in that way at all, she had to remind herself – especially not in her condition, but if she’d had to see him being affectionate to an equally beautiful partner, it might have made her stay an uncomfortable one. She shrugged her thoughts off; she was only human. The man was a hot-blooded male god, and most women she knew would have secretly prayed for him to be single.
“Let me take that for you.” He held out his hand for her bag.
“Really, it’s fine. I’m good.”
Haley was determined not to show another moment of weakness. Carrying her tote bag was a small, ineffectual start.
Wyatt opened the door and gestured for her to come inside. Haley sighed blissfully as the warmth of his home enveloped her, before marveling at how elegant and understated the décor was.
He showed her through to the open-plan living r
oom, which adjoined a large, farmhouse kitchen. In the middle of the room stood an unlit fireplace which was completely open with a chute hovering above it. At the far end of both the living room and kitchen, sliding glass doors took up the entire wall. She could see out onto the ice-covered water, and beyond that the sloping land that made up a small cove.
“Can I get you something to drink?”
“If you have any herbal tea that would be great – though hot water if you don’t is equally good.” She replied, not wanting to put him to any further trouble.
“No – I have herbal tea. Hannah drinks it – the doctor you saw today.”
“Colton’s wife, right?”
“Yes.”
“She’s lovely.”
Wyatt nodded his ascent. It was on the tip of his tongue to comment that she, too, was lovely – but thankfully his sanity returned before he could say anything so wholly inappropriate.
While he made the tea, he reflected on what a strange and bizarre effect Haley was having on him. She was beautiful, there was no doubt about it – and otherworldly graceful, but Wyatt had met plenty of beautiful woman. Perhaps none to equal Haley, in his opinion, but beauty rarely made him speechless, and never before had it had the same pull on his bear as Miss Dubois appeared to have.
He brought the tea back into the living room. She was perched uncomfortably on the sofa, as if afraid to fully relax.
“Here you go.” He paused before continuing, “Please make yourself at home, Haley. You need to rest.”
He sat down next to her on the sofa, keeping a substantial distance between them. She took the cup gratefully and clasped it in her hands.
“Are you cold?” He asked.
“No – really, I’m fine. I do need to call the hotel though – they have my bags.”
“I’ll take care of that for you. Wait here.”
Haley tried to protest but Wyatt was off before she could say anything. A moment later she could hear him climbing the staircase, into another room.
Haley put the tea down and tried to relax. It was difficult, being in a handsome stranger’s home, and not really knowing whether or not she would be considered for the companion job – if the brothers had already dismissed her as a viable candidate then Haley would feel like a complete charity case. She really hoped that wasn’t going to happen.
As she leaned back on the sofa she felt a jolt in her stomach. She stared down in amazement. Another jolt, this time more insistent than the last. She placed her hands across her stomach, rubbing gently.
“Oh, hey there. I was wondering when you would show up, little blob.” She smiled, hoping that she’d feel the sensation again. It was the first time that she’d felt the baby kick, and it completely blew her away. Her little blob felt more real all of a sudden, a small little human growing inside of her.
She was so transfixed she didn’t hear Wyatt coming back down the stairs.
“Haley – are you okay?” His voice sounded taut and anxious.
She looked up, belatedly realizing that she’d been crying.
“Oh! – I’m so sorry,” she wiped her cheeks abruptly, “Mommy moment – the baby kicked for the first time, it just took me by surprise, that’s all.”
Wyatt smiled broadly, and Haley was instantly dazzled by his good looks, more pronounced now that he wasn’t so tight-lipped and stern.
“That’s incredible – how did it feel?”
He sat down next to her, closer this time.
“Weird,” she blushed, “It’s so strange – having something growing inside of you. Oh!” she exclaimed, “It’s doing it again! Here – feel.”
Without thinking she had reached for Wyatt’s hand and placed it on her abdomen.
The warmth of his hand, almost blazing hot, sated her whole body in an instant. His hand span covered the whole of her bump, and he held it there as the baby kicked away merrily beneath him.
“I can feel it,” he whispered in reverence, “Shit. That’s…” Wyatt’s voice trailed off. He didn’t know what it was. He suddenly felt strange about sharing such an intimate moment with a stranger. His breath hitched in his throat. Being so close to her was doing strange things to him. He was aroused, his blood pulsing in his ears as he felt himself growing erect. It was hugely inappropriate considering what they were doing, he chided himself, but he really couldn’t help himself.
Haley looked at him. Her large blue eyes gazed into his, and she exhaled a tremoring breath. Something intense passed between them – the look was heated and wanting on both sides. Wyatt felt himself being pulled closer toward her, as if hypnotized.
His phone buzzed in his pants pocket. Wyatt pulled back abruptly, the spell broken. He reached down and switched the phone to silent.
“Sorry.” He said automatically – not sure of he was apologizing for the interruption or what he had been about to do.
“I should have a shower, or something.” Haley said brightly. Her face was flushed, and she couldn’t quite meet his eyes.
“Good idea. I’ll show you where everything is.” He cleared his throat and stood up, shoving his hands in his pockets as if trying to restrain himself from touching her.
It was going to be another long night, for very, very different reasons, thought Wyatt.
Chapter twelve
“How is she?” Colton asked.
“She’s fine.” Wyatt replied curtly. He was still pissed as hell at his younger brother. They were sitting in the living room, going over the shipping documents while they waited for Tucker. The fire was blazing now, and the two of them shared a beer as they went over the fine print.
The doorbell rang and Wyatt rose to greet Tucker.
“Mind telling me why I’m carrying,” he checked the label, “Haley Dubois’ luggage?”
Tucker stood on the porch surrounded by three bags, looking mildly peeved.
“You can ask Colton. Come in – thanks for doing that.”
Wyatt relieved him of the bags and placed them by the stairs, ready to take up to Haley when the meeting was over.
“Ah. Yeah – this has Colton Sterling scheme gone wrong written all over it,” sniggered Tucker.
“His finest yet,” muttered Wyatt, “We’re in the living room.”
Tucker sauntered on through.
“Before I have a good laugh, we need to discuss some Pack business.” Tucker announced. He helped himself to a beer and popped it open.
“Any more news from Drake?” Wyatt asked.
“Nothing conclusive yet in regards to a planned attack – but one of their own Pack members, who was sharing intel with Drake, was found murdered.”
“That’s harsh.”
Colton and Wyatt looked stunned. If Simeon was killing members of his own Pack, then it wouldn’t be too long before an all-out war was launched.
Before Simon’s rise to power the Altik Pack was far more temperate; they had always believed that the wolf shifter species was superior to humans, but they were more or less outwardly civil – they mostly kept to themselves, and inhabited the more remote parts of the world, avoiding mingling with humans to the best of their ability. The Yupiq Pack, the oldest shifter pack – born back when Alaska was an undiscovered land, and the America’s were considered The New World, always treated humans as a species that needed to be protected and cared for: precious and innocent.
In the early days of Simeon’s rise to power, he was markedly less temperate than most Altiks would stand for, and his behavior had only got more reactionary as time passed. Families that had been in Altik for generations started to divide – it was now not uncommon to have families spread across both Packs.
If Simeon was killing his own Pack members, then he would be killing the mothers, fathers, sons or daughters of Yupiq wolves. It seemed that war would be inevitable, and the Sterling Clan would be caught up in the fight.
“I’m going to speak to Joe. We need to offer complete support to Drake and the Yupiq Pack, or Port Ursa is going to turn into a bloo
dy battlefield,” said Wyatt.
“I’m really worried that Joe’s going to try and duck out of this one,” Colton eyed his brother wearily, “you know what he’s like.”
“If we go soft, we’ll lose the respect of the Clan,” muttered Tucker, “everything we have is built on that respect – and if we let Simeon roam free, then Port Ursa and beyond is going to be overrun by power hungry wolves.”
“We know what the outcome will be,” sighed Colton, “I just can’t figure a way to stop it unless Joe stands strong.”
“Or Wyatt starts being a bit more attractive to the opposite sex,” smirked Tucker.
“Don’t start that shit again.”
“Alright, Wyatt - look you’ve got Haley upstairs, that’s closer than you’ve ever got with another lady…”
Wyatt shot Colton a murderous look.
“I’m joking, I’m joking,” he held out his hands in surrender, “but what’s the harm in taking her on? Giving her the job? She needs the money – she seems like a really nice woman, I’m sure she’ll understand…” Colton trailed off – partly out of surprise that Wyatt wasn’t completely dismissing him out of hand.
“I am so confused – anyone want to fill me in?” Tucker interrupted.
“I put an ad in the newspaper – for a companion for Wyatt. She’s come all this way, but she’s pregnant.” Colton replied.
Tucker took a sip of beer.
“I don’t understand the problem. So what if she’s pregnant. Doesn’t matter, does it?”
“I’m starting to agree. Goddamn it, Wyatt – it’s fifty thousand dollars, she’s not going to mind going along with it – she’s a performer for crying out loud.” Colton replied.
“She’s a ballet dancer, it’s not the same thing!” burst out Wyatt, “and how the hell am I going to tell her I’m a shifter? You think about that, huh?”
“It makes so much sense now!”
All three brothers spun around at the sound of Haley’s voice. Colton and Tucker were rendered speechless.
“You know what I am?” asked Wyatt, his voice hoarse.
“If you’re a shifter, then yeah – I know what you are.”
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