Fern’s eyes widened as she gaped at Susan. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Truly, I apologize. She’s under punishment and lashing out because of it.”
Connie Conner, whose son Kinsley had threatened, piped up. “That girl is an absolute heathen. Whatever her punishment is, it ain’t enough. You need to step it up a notch. She’s gonna land her behind in juvie—”
I growled and pulled my mate into my side. “Last I checked, Connie, you hadn’t earned yourself a degree in child psychology. If you don’t mind, we’re going to go inside and enjoy our date now.”
I wasn’t concerned in the least about burning bridges with Susan Bell, Connie Conner, or Shanice Hendricks. I was, however, concerned with the little crease worrying my mate’s forehead. I led Fern up to her front door and gently ushered her through it, closing it behind me. “I just realized I forgot to stop at Mann Grocery for supplies. I was in such a hurry to get over here.”
“What just happened?” Fern rubbed at the eye with makeup on it, smearing her mascara, and then gasped. “I’m not ready! You’re early! Like…” She glanced at the clock on her microwave. “Three hours!”
I rubbed my thumb under her eye, wiping away the black smudged mascara and smiled down at her. I didn’t know how I was supposed to keep my hands off her. “I was anxious to begin our date.”
Her face warmed and her eyes blinked a few times before she sighed and pressed against my hand, which was still resting on her cheek. “I’m a mess. That seems to be my pattern whenever I’m around you.”
“Mother!” A wild screech came from the back of the house. “Did you wash my blue shirt?! The one that Dee gave me? Oh my god, if you washed that shirt, I’m going to kill you!”
Fern’s shoulder’s stiffened and she sighed. “Maybe this was a bad idea. I don’t know what made me think this would work out.”
“And what is my doctor doing here?” Kinsley stormed out of her room and snarled when she saw me. “What are you doing here? Do doctors make house calls now or something?”
“Kinsley! Go back to your room.”
“Oh my god. Are you hitting on him? My doctor? That’s vile! What’s wrong with you?!” The teen wore a look of pure disdain. “Can’t I even have one thing that’s just mine? One freaking thing? He was going to teach me wolf stuff, so you go and throw yourself at him. You can’t stand not having all the attention focused on you, can you?”
I was half-shifted before I could control my bear. He let out a fierce growl and my dominance loomed over the room. “Do not talk to your mother like that.”
Fern stared up at me with shocked eyes, her mouth hanging open. She took a step back and stumbled over a discarded pair of shoes.
I fought my bear back inside, using all of my willpower to gain control over him. When my claws retracted, I swallowed and rolled my neck. “Sorry.”
Kinsley let out an angry wail and stomped back to her room, slamming the door hard enough to rattle the house. Sounds of things being thrown around came from behind the closed door, but Fern didn’t seem fazed by it, as though that was normal.
She looked up at me. “That was... Wow.”
I nodded. “I can’t watch you be disrespected.”
She snorted and rolled her eyes, breaking the tension. “You’ve come to the wrong house, then.”
12
Fern
Suddenly exhausted, I stumbled over to the couch and sank onto it. I’d barely gotten a few deep, calming breaths in when I felt something seep through my robe, wetting my backside. I instantly knew what it was, because, well, that was just how my life rolled. Still, just to be sure, I stood up and bent over the couch cushion, daring a quick sniff. Pee. I sat in puppy pee. Terrific.
A dose of reality: I was dressed in nothing but a tattered old bathrobe, only half of my face had makeup and that half was smeared, and now I was wearing dog piss perfume. Also reality: my neighbors hated me, my daughter hated me, I wasn’t sure how the puppy felt in that regard, and I. Was. Covered. In. Pee. In front of my date. A date who was way out of my league. A date whom I’d just witnessed half shift into the biggest grizzly bear I’d ever seen in the middle of my living room. Incidentally, that had been hot as hell.
Why did I think a date with a handsome, single doctor whose life was clearly orderly and systematic was a good idea? Me, queen of chaos and bedlam, ruler of pandemonium and disarray. Tears of frustration prickled my eyes and one leaked out, trickling down my cheek. I wiped it away with my sleeve and hurried into the kitchen to find something to scrub the couch with. That’s when I discovered that the kitchen was a mess, too. Boots was in his open crate, eating a box of crackers—cardboard and all. The trash can was knocked over, and there was another puddle of pee on the floor.
I stopped and leaned against the wall. I’d had plans to clean the house…earlier. There were dishes piled in the sink, and it smelled like a dirty dog kennel. As embarrassed as I was to have Harrison see the state of my house, it was probably for the best. He needed to know the truth, and I wouldn’t blame him one bit if he ran as fast and as far as he could.
I reached up to run my hand through my hair—and there were the rollers I’d forgotten about. With a heavy sigh, I buried my face in my hands. I was a hot mess. There was no hiding it for long. It was apparent in every aspect of my life. This was good, though. This was real. Once before, I’d fallen for a man way too fast—before I really even knew who he was. Ever since, I believed that it was better to be open and honest from the get-go rather than present a sugarcoated version of oneself.
“Hey, come here.” Harrison had come up behind me and was pulling me into his arms, one big hand on the back of my rollers, gently pressing my face to his chest, the other stroking my back up and down, lower, and lower. It stopped moving entirely at the top of my ass. “What…”
“I sat in dog pee. The puppy’s not quite housebroken yet and he peed on the couch. And tipped over the trash can. And he left a puddle in here, too. And there’s a sink full of dirty dishes. And everyone in the neighborhood hates me.”
At that moment, Boots seemed to decide that the stranger in the room was more interesting than the box of crackers he’d been intent on pulverizing, and he yelped excitedly. The little ball of fur came tumbling out, his tiny beagle body shaking with boundless enthusiasm. He jumped up on me, his sharp little puppy claws scratching my legs, then turned to Harrison, who, fortunately, was wearing jeans.
I smiled tightly, but I was ashamed. My house, my kid, even my puppy—it was all a mess. I just wasn’t one of those people who could hold things together. I was imagining what it all must look like through Harrison’s eyes, and it was not pretty. Not pretty at all.
“Okay, that’s enough of that. Look at me.” Harrison held my chin and lifted my face to his. “I want you to go take a hot shower—a leisurely one. Finish getting ready. Take your time. I’ll take care of this.”
I shook my head. “I can’t let you do that. I’ll clean this mess up.”
“No. You have to care for yourself, first. You’re stressed, overwhelmed, and you smell like pee. There’s nothing wrong with letting someone offer a helping hand.” Before I could protest again, he turned me around and gave me a push toward the back of the house. “Don’t come back out here until you’re calm and relaxed. I got this.”
Bossy man. Pouting, I turned to look back at him. “I...”
“Go.” He flashed a smile and winked. “I’ll be here when you get back.”
I paused again, just before I reached my bedroom door. “You don’t have to stay, Harrison. No one would blame you, least of all me. This isn’t paradise, and I know it’s not what you were expecting.”
His dark eyes flashed. “You don’t know what I was expecting. You go take that shower, honey. I got this.”
Feeling properly chastised, I ducked into my bedroom, slipped out of my robe, and tossed it into the hamper. In the bathroom, I let the water heat up before stepping under the steamy spray. By the time I washed off and slipped int
o the dress I’d picked out for our date, I was feeling lighter. I wasn’t sure what I’d find when I went back out to the kitchen, but whatever it was, I’d pull up my big girl panties and deal with it. The house wasn’t going to clean itself. Boots wasn’t going to walk himself.
I left my face bare, and let my hair just dry naturally and do its thing. I was thrilled, if slightly surprised, when I stepped out of the bedroom to find that Harrison was still here.
He was sitting on the dry end of the couch petting Boots, who was in his arms. The soiled couch cushion was missing and the room had been tidied. Boots, normally a rambunctious, wiggly ball of energy, was calmly giving Harrison kisses on the chin. A candle was lit on the coffee table, and as I moved toward the duo, I did a double-take at the kitchen. Clean. Completely. Dishes done and put away, trash picked up, floor washed, and another lit candle on the counter.
My heart wedged in my throat. This was completely unexpected. No man had ever done anything like this for me before. As I swallowed back the lump that tried to choke me, Harrison rose and came toward me. Boots trotted right alongside him and stopped when Harrison stopped.
“I wanted to wait until you finished to let you know that I’m heading to the grocery store to grab some stuff to make for dinner.”
My mouth opened and I had every intention of thanking him verbally, but the next thing I knew, I had fisted the front of his shirt, and I was pulling his face down to mine to plant a passionately grateful kiss on the amazing man’s mouth. Harrison moaned against my mouth, sending tingles coursing through me. His arm wrapped around me as I pushed him against the side of the fridge, threading my fingers in his hair so I could deepen our kiss.
His hands slid down, locking on my ass, and he lifted me so I was pressed against him intimately. I felt a wildness in myself that I’d never experienced, a need that overwhelmed common sense. The attraction had gotten even stronger than it had been in his office.
He moved us so I was sitting on the counter with his body wedged between my legs. We were making out like teenagers, and I had a compelling urge to taste him, to bite and nibble and give him a hickey like we were in high school.
“Are you kidding me?! Are you two going to have sex in the kitchen? I can hear every single thing you’re doing!” Kinsley’s angry voice shattered the mood and snapped me back to reality.
I quickly pushed Harrison away and hopped off the countertop, smoothing my dress and trying not to die of embarrassment. I felt like I’d just been caught by the prison warden as I attempted a jailbreak.
“I vaguely regret teaching her how to fine-tune her sense of hearing.” Harrison pulled me back against his chest and bent his head so his lips were next to my ear. “Later.”
I pushed him away again and ran my hands through my hair. “Don’t bet on it.”
Grinning, he lifted an eyebrow. “Challenge accepted.”
“I can still hear you and it’s still disgusting!” Kinsley appeared in the kitchen doorway and scowled at me. “You wait until I’m fifteen to turn into a slut? I’m not having a little sibling now!”
I snapped into serious-mom mode, temporarily forgetting the delicious man making panty-melting propositions to me. “First of all, young lady, you watch your mouth. Second, call me a slut again and you’ll be grounded for a month. Third, go to your room and stay there.”
“Great. Banish me to my room so you can screw my doctor on the kitchen table. Is that the plan? I can’t believe you!”
Harrison growled, but I held up my hand. I was her mother and her attitude was mine to handle. “Two weeks, now. No screens, no hanging out after school with your friends.”
“I hate you!” Kinsley screeched and stormed off to her room, slamming the door shut and rattling the entire house.
I sighed and turned back to Harrison, all the tension from earlier was back in full force. “I’d love to be able to say that this isn’t the norm, but the truth is, it’s pretty much always a barrel of laughs around here.”
He frowned, his eyes on the spot where Kinsley had just been. “It’s not easy to watch her behave that way.”
“It’s not all that easy for me, either—and I love her. I don’t know what else to do with her. I’m really hoping she’ll grow out of this anger and defiance. And out of hating me. In the meantime, though, this is my reality and she’s my responsibility. If by chance you decide you’re going to hang around for a while, you can’t go threatening her with your big, growly bear. I can’t have you coming in and disciplining her, even if she deserves it. That has to be my job because when you decide you’re done with me, I’ll still be here parenting her.”
He shook his head. “That’s just it, Fern. I’m never going to be done. Not with you, or with Kinsley.”
13
Harrison
I sat in my office leaning back in my desk chair and trying to focus on the bills in front of me. Despite them being normal monthly expenses and despite having done the same thing every Saturday afternoon for years, I couldn’t focus past the first one. I couldn’t stop thinking about Fern. She was a conundrum—delicate, soft spoken, but strong as steel at the same time. She’d gone through almost every emotion last night, but she’d still managed to put on a pleasant face as she ate dinner across from me. Even though Kinsley had not let up all through dinner.
She was frazzled, that much was evident. Kinsley had done a good job of wearing her mother’s nerves thin, but it needed to stop. I understood what Fern had said about disciplining being her job, and I respected it. On the other hand, I was her mate and I was going to be in her and Kinsley’s lives, whether Kinsley liked it or not. I wasn’t going to step on Fern’s toes, and I wasn’t going to pretend to be Kinsley’s father, but the girl had to learn to treat her mother with respect. It drove my bear crazy to see how Kinsley treated our mate. Yet, he was fond of the child. We both were. After all, we had a connection to her as well. We needed to come up with a clever way to help.
First, I had to come up with a way to tell Fern that we were mates. I was almost hesitant to, though. She was stressed and exhausted from dealing with her daughter, and I wasn’t sure she even knew what mates were. How would she handle the news that I was going to be a permanent fixture in her life? It was a big change. I wanted to think she’d embrace it as a positive change. I knew it would be for me, but Fern had been alone with her daughter for a long time. Just how long, I wasn’t certain, but it was evidently a conscious choice. She was beautiful, hardworking, loving, and kind. If she hadn’t chosen to be single, she wouldn’t be. If she so much as snapped her fingers, men would line up for a chance to take her out.
I growled at the thought. All the emotions and instincts that come with finding a mate had kicked in full force for me. I was possessive and jealous. I didn’t like the idea of anyone else looking at her, much less touching her. I couldn’t wait for her to wear my scent—and my claiming mark. The fact that I’d made it to the office instead of following the strong urge I’d had to go straight over to her house that morning was a miracle. I needed to see her again. I’d had to leave her house the night before with just a chaste kiss on the cheek because Kinsley had planted herself on the couch, arms crossed, mean-mugging Fern and had refused to move. Fern wasn’t keen on the two of us displaying affection in front of her teenage daughter, and I couldn’t blame her for that. But I ached to have more of her.
I rolled the kinks out of my neck and shoved the paperwork aside. My bear wanted to run, but I wasn’t that stupid. If I let him take control, he’d beeline it straight to Fern’s front door. I stood up to stretch my legs when I heard a knock at the front door. The clinic closed at noon on Saturdays, but a deep inhale told me that it was Kinsley.
A rush of panic shot through me. Was something wrong with Fern? I hurried to the front and threw open the door. I looked behind Kinsley, down the street left and right, then ran my eyes over her to check for any injuries. “What’s the matter?”
She rolled her eyes and squeezed past me
. “Nothing. God. You’re wound as tight as my mom.”
“Is she okay?”
“Um. I guess. Although, she’s probably gonna throw a shit-fit when she wakes up and finds me gone.” She grunted. “Can you believe she grounded me for another week?”
Realizing that nothing catastrophic had occurred, I relaxed a bit. “You’re lucky she didn’t let me hang you upside down by the ankles and shake you until your brain wiggled into place and you learned to play nice. I offered.”
“What. Ever.” She walked behind Polly’s desk and plopped down into her chair.
“To what do I owe this unexpected visit?”
Spinning back and forth, she looked like she was chewing on a mouth full of words that didn’t taste very good. “What are your intentions with my mom?”
Taken aback, I didn’t answer.
“She’s annoying as hell and I can’t stand her most of the time, but if you’re just trying to get a piece of ass and then move on, you should know that I know people who could beat the shit out of you.”
I barked a laugh, unable to help it. “Wow.”
“It’s not funny. I’m serious.” She scowled at me. “If you hurt her, I will hurt you.”
“I see. So she’s not so bad, huh? If you’re not careful, someone might suspect that you might even care about her a little. I mean, if you’re here, willing to fight a grizzly for her and all.” I grinned at the girl, a warmth blooming in my chest. “Well, you don’t have anything to worry about, Kinsley. When it comes to your mom, the last thing in the world I want is for her to be hurt, by me or anyone else. She’s my mate.”
She frowned. “Your mate? What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
It was my turn to frown. I pulled one of the waiting-room chairs over and sat down, facing her. “Apparently, there’s a lot about shifters that you don’t know yet.”
Charmed Mate (Cybermates Series Book 2) Page 6