by Mandy Harbin
“Something funny?” she asked with a crooked smile.
All of them men looked at Rob. “Er, yeah. I just remembered something from a TV show I saw last night.” He shrugged and took another bite of his dinner.
Smooth move, idiot, Josh griped, taking a swig of his drink.
Enough. No more mental communication with Mikaela in the room. She’s a smart woman, and I don’t want her to get suspicious.
Josh wanted to remind his father that he was the one who started it, but he realized that’d be a little too petty. Looking at his plate of food, he continued to eat his gourmet dinner, which tasted of wood chips. Nothing tasted right or smelled right with Mikaela around because all his senses focused on her whenever possible. Not that he minded. What was one more torture? He’d rather see and smell her from across the room and remember her taste than to not have her around at all. That wouldn’t be torture because that notion was inconceivable.
As Josh pushed his plate away in dismay, Mikaela stood, and his eyes shot to her, all of the guys fumbling to stand since gentlemen always stood when a lady stood.
“If you will excuse me, I’m going to step out for a while. I have some errands to run.” She put her napkin on her plate and started to turn.
What the…? “Where are you going?” Josh blurted out. He couldn’t stop himself from asking even if he wanted to.
She turned to face him, and he had to work hard at keeping his gaze indifferent.
She shrugged. “Out.”
Out? What the hell did that mean?
As she started to leave, Josh darted around the table and clutched her arm. “Where?” he asked, staring down at her, stepping even closer into her personal space.
“I don’t believe that’s any of your business. But don’t worry, I’m a big girl, Josh.” She pulled her arm free and started for the door.
“Dad?” Josh whispered, and he knew he had a frantic sound in his voice. He didn’t care. He needed help keeping her here. What if something happened to her? What if she got lost and couldn’t find her way back? What if she got into an accident? Oh, God, he couldn’t stop his mind from spinning with all the bad scenarios.
Thomas cleared his throat. “Mikaela, perhaps I could join you? You do not know your way around.”
She turned around and looked at Thomas, refusing to meet Josh’s gaze, which was good because he was panicked as hell. He didn’t want his dad going with her either, but if she insisted on leaving, at least Thomas could watch out for her. Josh had no idea where she intended to go, and if there were going to be any untaken women around, that meant he couldn’t insist on going with her, though he had to fight to remind himself of that.
“That’s awfully kind of you, but it’s unnecessary. I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone.”
Mikaela turned to leave.
Josh growled.
He knew he’d catch hell for letting his animal loose, but he didn’t care. He did not want her leaving!
She stopped, clearly hearing his warning, straightened her back, and strode purposefully out the door without looking back.
“I’m following her,” Josh said as he tried to leave the dining room. Regardless of the risk he faced running into untaken women, Mikaela was not going outside the property alone.
Thomas rushed around and stopped him, reminding him that Mikaela was here on business and could come and go as she pleased. She only stayed on the property as a convenience and was not Josh’s personal toy. As he considered defying his father, his brothers moved around him. They knew he couldn’t leave, and he knew he couldn’t take all of them in an effort to escape.
Defeated, he spent the next several hours pacing the dining room, the den, his bedroom, and any other place his worried feet took him. By now, it was damn near midnight, so everyone else went to bed, but he just couldn’t. Not until he knew she was safely home.
Home.
This wasn’t her home, but he wanted it to be. More than anything. He knew he shouldn’t think like that, and he’d been trying his best to keep his thoughts clear of any future with her, but right now, with her gone, he couldn’t help but long for what wasn’t his. When his soles were eating up the grass beside the driveway, he heard her truck finally making its way through the estate. Relief washed through him that she was safe, quickly returning to irritation.
He watched her park and get out. He wanted to march right up to her and ask her where the hell had she been…or march right up to her, fling her back up against the truck, and kiss her until neither one of them could breathe.
He could do neither.
Mikaela’s eyes shot to Josh briefly, but it was long enough for him to notice that the irritation was mutual. She turned away from him and walked into the house. Without a word, he followed her in, staying two steps behind her.
She smelled like a parade of male and female cologne and reeked of cigarette smoke, which meant she’d been at a bar. He bit his lips so hard to keep from growling at her that his mouth bled. He paused beside her bedroom door while she opened it, staring at her back. She walked in and slammed it shut, and he walked to his own room.
Fighting the urge to shift and sleep right outside her door.
Chapter Six
Mikaela stomped around her room, ripping off her suit, and hastily donning her pj’s while her anger fumed. The nerve of that man! First, Josh acted like he was totally interested in her, then he abruptly changed his tune. Now, he was acting like some jealous lover. She yanked the brush through her snarled hair and realized she was too pissed to go to sleep. She wanted answers, and she was getting them. Right now!
Storming down the hallway, Mikaela didn’t even knock when she reached the third door on the left. She gripped the cold knob and pushed it in, slamming the door shut behind her.
Josh’s head snapped up when she walked in. He was unbuttoning his shirt and had most of the buttons unfastened. His lightly furred chest stood proud, and Mikaela’s fury briefly halted by the beauty of that man.
Briefly.
Stiffening her back and throwing her hands on her hips, she glared at him. “What the fuck’s your problem?” she yelled.
His hands dropped from his shirt and balled at his sides. She saw his jaw ticking while he glared back, speechless.
Stewing over the fact that he refused to answer, she took two steps toward him while she tried to calm her tone. She could be mad, but she didn’t want to just give him the upper hand by screaming a litany of questions. “What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?” she asked, barely controlling the volume of her voice.
His hands relaxed, and he chuckled without humor. It almost seemed as if he was laughing at some ironic, unfortunate inside joke. “Yeah,” he finally said, returning to his task of unbuttoning his shirt.
Was he dismissing her? Why, that egotistical son of a bitch! “So you come on to me, ignore me, then act possessive? Why? If you’re not interested in me—”
“Not interested?” He advanced on her, stopping inches from her. His eyes were green fire, heated from the depths of his soul. But he quickly shut his eyes, shook his head, and cleared his throat. When he opened his eyes again, they were back to that cool, green color, displaying that forced lack of interest.
“Right,” she mumbled, turning for the door. Who was she kidding? If he didn’t want to fess up to his actions, she couldn’t make him, and if he wasn’t interested in her, then standing here raving on about him only made her look that much more pathetic. The last time she felt like that was when she’d walked in on Joel and his secretary. Not a feeling she enjoyed.
As she whirled, she noticed his eyes lit on her breasts. Only then did she realize how revealing her pajamas were. The pants clung to her like a second skin, and the camisole top had sheer lace covering threadbare satin at her breasts. Not only were her nipples hard, he could make out the shape and shade of them. Knowing he peeked, whether he wanted to or not, only fed her irritation. He was a man. It was her experience that men looked at a nic
e pair of tits whenever the opportunity presented itself. It didn’t mean anything. She stomped to the door and yanked it open. “Goodnight, asshole,” she said as she slammed the door shut.
Once in the hallway, she heard a bloodcurdling roar from his bedroom that made the hair on her neck stand. She’d heard him growl at her when she left after dinner and wondered how he managed to sound like that, but this roar sounded animalistic. No way could a man make that sound. A feeling of foreboding prickled her, so she quickly went back to her room.
As she climbed into bed, she couldn’t help but think of Josh. Who was he really? What was his deal? And why was she so attracted to him? She allowed her mind to wander, her imagination getting the best of her at times, until sleep found her.
When she awoke, she was no closer to any answers, so she did the only thing she could think of. She renewed her purpose. Rather than avoid Josh, she would treat him like he was one of the others. Unexplained feelings or not, whatever had happened between the two of them would be forced behind her.
* * * *
Josh showered and headed to breakfast, but his movements felt mechanical. After Mikaela stormed out of his room last night, he spent the next couple of hours vacillating between anger for both her actions and her assumption that he wasn’t interested in her to relief that if she’d drawn that conclusion, then she wouldn’t pursue him. But as soon as he’d think about that, he’d remember she hadn’t pursued him at all. He was the one pursuing her, and she was the one ignoring him. Okay, he was ignoring her too, but he didn’t have any choice. He would not gamble with her life.
Not interested? If only that were the case. He’d never been more interested in another woman, or even another person for that matter.
Walking into the dining room, Josh braced himself for the lecture he knew he deserved. He’d acted possessive of Mikaela last night, and when she came into his room and called him on his actions, he’d roared after she stormed out. He knew that it was loud enough to wake his father and brothers, but they hadn’t come to his aid. They knew what kind of sound he was making.
Pain.
Josh felt so bereft. He’d upset her, and he couldn’t explain why. Sure, he was angry with her for leaving, but even most of that anger was directed internally. But knowing he upset her made him feel like he let her down. He was so shocked to see her walk into his room that, just for a moment, he forgot about his lot in life. He was a man who wanted the woman before him. And God, she was beautiful. Even if she was royally pissed at him. He now felt like she didn’t even trust him, and no matter his reasoning for avoiding her—or trying to, at least—he didn’t want to earn her distrust. If only he could explain to her about his feral side. The feline within felt like talk was overrated, but if it brought it one step closer to claiming Mikaela Patterson, it was all for it.
Thomas wasted no time letting Josh have it when he joined them. He listened and listened, and whenever his father paused from his berating long enough to inhale for another round of bitching, Josh used those moments to agree with Thomas. But he knew his father could go on and on, so he mainly sat there, listening to his dad’s tirade while his brothers waited for Jeffery to bring in breakfast. Josh knew his father was right. He was just too tired and too lost to argue, so he acquiesced in an effort to minimize the damage. But while he verbally agreed to his father’s take, Josh couldn’t help but feel it wasn’t fair that he couldn’t just claim her and live happily ever after. What was most upsetting was that he wanted her to want that, too, but he knew that that would never happen.
Once Jeffery brought the food in, Josh got a much-needed respite. All the men filled their plates and began eating. Thankfully, the topic of conversation transitioned to work, affording his brothers an opportunity to join in.
While discussing the pine harvest and paper company mergers, the main door to the dining room opened. Josh looked up, his heart racing before he even saw Mikaela walk in. And he knew it was her. Not only was everyone else already in the dining room, but her luscious scent also assaulted him as soon as the door opened.
I thought she wasn’t a morning person, Jack mentally said, but Josh didn’t look at him. His eyes were locked on the door, waiting to see her. Just one quick look was all he was going to allow because if his eyes lingered, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from staring. But when he saw her, his head snapped down faster than he anticipated, his heart crashing in his chest. He expected her to be in her workout clothes, but she was in a robe! It looked like she had on the same pajamas as last night. When she had been in his room. God, he wished last night had turned out differently. Rather than fighting with her, he should’ve taken off her clothes and carried her to his bed. Knowing if he had to do it over again he still wouldn’t allow himself to give in to his desire didn’t help this little fantasy he had going on. He needed to not think about what was under that robe.
Josh heard her greet everyone as she sat down. He lifted his head to reciprocate the greeting, but didn’t meet her eyes. When he looked back at his plate, he realized he still had his fork in his hand. His lion self chastised him, and he dropped his fork, it clinking loudly as it hit the plate. The reaction was purely an animal instinct, even though in the wild both male and female lions hunted on their own. But since he was a shifter, his animal demanded its female to eat first. He understood this characteristic from watching his parents; his mother typically did the hunting and brought the kill to his father. Since she’d make the kill, she’d eat first. So from their first dinner, Josh couldn’t bring himself to eat before Mikaela. His lion wanted to claim her as his mate, and Josh knew that he couldn’t. He felt like acknowledging her status at mealtime was a pitiful compromise, but it was the best he could do. Hopefully, she’d never ask why Josh did that. Once she picked up her fork and started eating, Josh retrieved his fork and continued.
“Did you find your way around okay last night, Mikaela?” Thomas asked.
She cleared her throat and nodded. “Sure did. And Josh was kind enough to stay up to make sure I made it back.” What? Josh’s eyes flashed to her, and she looked at him. “Thanks. I don’t think I said that last night. I’d had a couple of drinks.” She shrugged with a giggle as she looked back at her plate.
What was going on? She was acting like last night didn’t happen. She might’ve had a buzz, maybe, but she wasn’t drunk enough to forget. “It was no big deal,” Josh responded just as casually, taking another bite.
“I was thinking I could observe you all today,” she said, looking at everyone. “You know, take a tour of the estate, see the type of work you do, the equipment you use. It’d give me a better understanding of your industry in case there are other legal matters I need to consider before leaving.” Another bite.
“I think that’s an excellent idea, Mikaela,” Thomas said. “I need Josh to help me with some things, so Jack can show you around.”
You better keep your fucking hands off her, Jack! Josh warned.
Don’t worry, big brother. I wouldn’t do anything you wouldn’t do.
“Great. That is, unless you want to make it a group effort and let everyone show me the ropes? Well, except for you and Josh since you’ll be busy.” She looked at Josh with the same casual expression she used when she looked at Thomas.
“Er, sure. The rest of the guys can help.”
Hot damn!
I’m not fucking playing, Rob. And before you squeal with excitement, the warning includes you too, Toby. Not a fucking finger—or paw—on her!
“Unless I’ll be interrupting your work by having everyone show me around. I don’t want to cause problems.”
“It won’t be a problem, Mikaela. In fact, it’d probably be more informative if we all join you. Josh and I can meet up after your tour.”
Josh hoped his sigh of relief wasn’t too noticeable. He didn’t want one brother alone with her, much less all of them. He knew his father well enough to know he didn’t need to meet with Josh about anything. But his little plan to k
eep him away from her backfired when she suggested the tour be a group effort. No matter how much his dad hated Josh’s reaction to Mikaela, he was smart enough not to trust the rest of his sons alone with her either. At least now he could keep an eye on them and her.
After Mikaela dressed, the tour commenced. They spent three hours going over the grounds on ATVs, showing her the types of trees they planted and what each one was used for. They even gave a few demonstrations on how the trees were planted and cut with the heavy equipment. Mikaela asked all kinds of questions and genuinely seemed interested in what she was learning. She talked to everyone equally, including Josh. Toby even cracked a few lumberjack jokes, and Josh thought Mikaela found them funnier than they were. Maybe he’d just heard them all before. But hearing her laugh was like listening to a musical masterpiece. He’d felt the urge to keep saying funny things just to hear her laugh again.
“Is that a paw print?” Mikaela asked, squatting down to examine the dirt road they were on.
The guys knelt down beside her and stared. Every one of them knew exactly what it was. They just didn’t know which one of them put it there.
“Looks like it,” Thomas said.
“What do you think it’s from?”
“Looks like a cat to me,” Toby said, chuckling.
Mikaela stood while Josh glared at Toby. What was he thinking acting like that?
“Cat? Seems awfully big for a little kitty cat.” She smiled at Toby, probably wanting him to elaborate.
“I didn’t mean that kind of cat.” Toby smiled back at her, and Josh wanted to growl at him. Toby was flirting!
“Well, what did you mean?”
What, now Mikaela was flirting with Toby? Oh, this had to stop. “He meant mountain lions,” Josh clarified.
Mikaela looked at Josh, eyebrows raised. “You mean cougars.”
“Yeah, same thing.” He shrugged.
“I thought they were west of here. Have you actually seen them on this property?” She seemed a little scared by that idea.