“But th-th-that’s…”
Gem ignored the stuttering Shaun, nodding instead at Evan and Caroline. “Thank you for the lovely visit. Caroline, perhaps we could meet for dinner tonight? You know where I’m staying.”
Then she lifted her chin and calmly stepped away from the table, leaving a stunned Shaun in her wake. He watched her walk a few paces before leaping to his feet.
“Shaun,” Evan warned. “You might want to give her a little space to cool off.”
His friend turned back in the middle of the room, the most pleased expression on his face. “Are you kidding? She’s got a freaking backbone. I love it!”
Evan shrugged. “Your funeral, man.”
Shaun disappeared out the door, running past the shop windows in his attempt to catch up with Gem.
The shoulder under his hand wiggled, and Evan glanced up to see Caroline shaking with silent laughter. “What’s with you?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think you can understand exactly how entertaining you wolves are when you’re all hormone-driven with your mate thingy. I’ve never seen Shaun act like that before.”
Evan laughed. “Yeah, well, somewhere they’ll come to a solution. I hope. And about time too, for Shaun at least.”
Caroline offered him one of the muffins from the table, and he placed it on his plate. She did know enough about wolves to deal with a lot of the shit that would go down if he accepted her offer.
But was she strong enough? To deal with the pack and handle him?
Should I? Shouldn’t I?
Why the hell not?
She stopped in the middle of buttering her muffin. “Why are you staring at me like that?”
“Because your offer this morning is intriguing, and I’m going to say yes—on one condition.”
Her eyes widened to the size of silver dollars. “One condition? What’s that?”
He leaned back in his chair, gesturing to the empty seats on the opposite side of the table. “Just like they need to work out a few things, we have to as well. You do know that if you move in, you’ll be sleeping in my bed.”
Not only were her eyes wide, but her jaw dropped open. “Oh shit, I forgot—”
“Because we’re obviously not mates, and none of the pack will believe we’re a real partnership if we’re not having sex. So straight up, you okay with that?”
“With having sex with you?”
Damn, she was cute when she blushed. “Sex. Lots of it, too.”
Then she snorted, and his ego got a little bruised. “Oh yes, the legendary wolfish sex drive. It’s okay, Evan, I think I can handle anything you want to dish out. Only I’m not doing kinky things with you when you’re in your wolf form. I draw the line at that.”
Ick. “Of course not.”
She straightened up, all business-like. “So, is that it? The condition is I agree to sleep with you?”
“Sleep, screw, fuck, roll in the—”
She slapped his arm. “Enough, I get it. Fine. Done. It might kill me, but for the sake of the hotel, I’ll make the sacrifice.”
He examined her closely to see if she was yanking his leg or not. Damn human sense of humour. “That’s the first part of the condition.”
Caroline laughed. “If there’s another part, then you don’t have one condition. You have two.” She waved at him. “Go on.”
“You have to claim me in front of the pack.”
The way all the colour drained from her face was enough to let him know she understood exactly what he’d demanded.
“I claim you?” she forced out, low and hesitant.
Hmmm. “Did you think you could just move in and we’d announce it? Sweetie, this is pack. You can either deal with them, or you can’t. What’s it going to be?”
She stared out the window for a moment. He examined her smooth skin. Was he crazy for hoping she’d have the guts to go through with it?
When Caroline turned back to face him she had bright red spots on her cheeks, and a determined expression in her eyes. “Fine. When the time is right. I’m agreed.”
She held out her hand and he took it. One firm shake later, they both let go and stared at each other.
Then she calmly returned to her muffin, asking about an order he’d suggested for the hotel. Business as usual.
Evan enjoyed the rest of his breakfast. Shaun was headed into his own personal wilderness with Gem, and here he was, also venturing into new territory. He looked forward to the next stage of the adventure.
Part Two
There’s nothing gained by whining, and you’re not that kind of stuff;
You’re a fighter from way back when, and you won’t take a rebuff;
Your trouble is that you don’t know when you have had enough—
Don’t give in.
If Fate should down you, just get up and take another cuff;
You may bank on it that there is no philosophy like bluff,
And grin.
Chapter Eight
She was as punctual as he expected. Shaun loaded her equipment and bags into the cargo section and completed his last-minute checks before returning to the airport hangar to escort her to the helicopter. Whitehorse was small enough he got to care for everything himself. The next commercial plane wasn’t due in or out for over two hours, so there was no need to rush.
The sensation of panic haunting him had more to do with knowing that somehow in the next two weeks he had to make her fall in love with him, and prevent her from killing herself in the bush. Bloody tangled mess he’d gotten into.
She lit up the area with her smile as he approached the gate. “Shaun.”
Damn, she was gorgeous. The urge to scoop her up and toss her into the back of the helicopter to ravish her was strong. His wolf was beyond pissed at him, for allowing them to be separated for the past three days.
He ignored her outstretched hands to pull her tight to his body and take a deep breath of her sweet scent. That was all it took—his wolf calmed in a flash.
“I missed you,” he confessed.
She returned his embrace, the heat of her torso melding with his, and he couldn’t let go. Her slight weight as she relaxed against him comforted the ache, then stirred the ashes. “I missed you as well.”
She lifted her mouth and he eagerly accepted her lips.
Public place, man. It took a ton of energy to keep himself from consuming her like a bag of cotton candy. Instead, he gave her a gentle kiss. Maybe a little too gentle. He leaned away, and she grabbed his head, holding on to him and increasing the greeting to something on a higher-fire warning.
Hello, she tasted good.
They were both slightly breathless by the time they drew apart.
He finally noticed what she was wearing. “Sweet—like the boots.”
Gem lifted a foot and displayed her hikers. “All broken in and everything. I’ve been walking around Whitehorse for the past two days to make sure I’m ready.”
Two days? Shaun didn’t have the heart to warn her that wasn’t nearly enough time. “Awesome! Shall we go?”
She accepted his elbow and they made their way to the chopper. He dawdled over strapping her in, enjoying having his hands on her body again, even if she was buried under a bulky shirt and thick cotton pants. He liked her in those pants, liked the way they hugged her curves. For one terrible second the image of her wandering Whitehorse alone—and all the guys who got to see her in said pants—flashed into his brain and his temper flared.