by Terry Spear
“You’re kidding, right?”
He frowned a little, not getting the gist of her question.
“Your place, of course.” She sounded so hostile, he had no plan to take off the handcuffs any time soon.
He called Dan back and informed him he was taking the prisoner to his cabin. Dan was silent.
“I’ll talk with her. Learn what I can.”
“She’ll make a run for it.”
“I’ll keep her handcuffed.”
“It’s your call. Not what I’d do under the circumstances, but if you think it will work, go for it. Just let me know what you learn.”
“All right. Take it easy, Dan. I’ll call you once we’re settled.” Chase escorted the woman out to his car, helped her in, and said, “Stay.” Then he shut the door and headed around to the driver’s side, half expecting her to bolt. He really wished he hadn’t had to handcuff her, but he knew she wasn’t going to cooperate without them.
He was kind of surprised when she stayed put, and he wondered if the handcuffs had done the trick.
“We’ll stop at the grocery store and grab anything that you’d like to eat and anything else you might need.”
“You’re going to take me into the store while I’m handcuffed?”
“To me, yes.” He wasn’t taking any chances.
A few minutes later, they arrived at the store. Ten cars were parked there, and he helped her out of the car, then unfastened the handcuff on one of her wrists and fastened the cuff to his wrist. Then he took her inside. “What do you want?”
Several of the customers watched them, not just because he was handcuffed to the woman—well, maybe that also—but because they hadn’t seen him with a woman here in town ever, so the sight of him with her was catching everyone’s attention.
He was certain the news of his injury and his knocking her out had already spread among the shifters earlier also. Then her subsequent escape and the manhunt had to have circulated. Now everyone was as curious as he was to learn who the woman was.
“I can have anything?” she asked, and for the first time he saw something else in her expression. Appreciation, he thought.
“I have sample size toothpaste, hair products, and deodorant. I’ve got spare toothbrushes, all for guests who forget them at home. So mostly look for any food items you’d like. Meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Snacks. Anything you feel like.”
She looked around at the chicken and beef in the meat department, then turned her eyes on him. “I have no clothes,” she said.
He hadn’t even considered that part of the equation, since she was wearing Hal’s sweats, but then he glanced down at her bare feet, mostly covered in the sweat pants hanging in folds, but Chase felt like a heel for not thinking about it sooner. “You’re right. After we grab some food, we’ll run by a woman’s clothing shop a couple of doors down from here. I don’t know what she carries exactly, but maybe you can find what you need there.”
“I’ll have to try the clothes on.” She raised her handcuffed to his to emphasize how difficult that would be.
He smiled. He wasn’t letting her out of his sight. The vixen smiled back.
Chapter 6
If Chase had left her alone for just a few minutes, Shannon would have been out of the handcuffs in a jiff.
But Shannon couldn’t believe that Chase would sit with her in the dressing room of the woman’s boutique while she intended to try on clothes! Well, maybe she could understand. But he wouldn’t even turn away. At least while she was still wearing Hal Haverton’s sweats.
“While you’re sitting there, I can’t leave the dressing room without you noticing. Besides, the woman who owns the shop and three of her patrons are watching this dressing area just in case I knock you out and attempt to escape.”
Chase folded his arms and grinned at her.
He really was cute, well, and hot. But for now just… cute.
“I’m not letting you out of my sight. What if you managed to climb over the top and slipped out through the back door? Not on my watch. The handcuffs are off and I’m staying,” he finally said.
“Voyeur,” she said. Though she had to admit when she pulled off the sweatshirt and revealed her breasts, his cheeks reddened a bit, and then he turned to watch the door to the dressing room, taking his eyes off her. She tried on a bra, and then another, and another. She hated trying on bras. One was too tight. Another too loose. This one…
“Looks great,” Chase said.
This time her face turned red as she felt the heat creep into it. She tossed the too small bra at him. “Do something useful like watch the door, just in case someone tries to break in. You do realize that other women who might want to try on some clothes will feel intimidated that you’re in here with me, and they’ll feel they have to wait.”
He smiled and she yanked the price tag off the bra she was keeping and tossed the tag to him. Then she pulled on a woman’s sweatshirt, the color gray. She thought if she managed to slip away, no one would notice her much.
“The hot pink sweater would look good with your dark hair,” Chase said.
“It was too hot pink,” she said, though she did agree with him. The color did look hot on her. And she really liked a turquoise blue that also looked great with her coloring, but that’s not what she was trying for here. Obscurity was what she needed. If she’d found something to blend in with fall leaves or evergreen pines, that would work to an extent. Except if she reached the woods, she’d dump them and shift into her cougar form. As a cat hiding in the rocks, she blended in completely.
“You need the hot pink—to stand out,” he said.
She didn’t need him to clarify. She knew perfectly well what he was getting at. She motioned with her finger for him to turn around.
He watched the door while she pulled off Hal’s sweatpants and pulled on a pair of strawberry bikini panties, then yanked off the tag and tossed it at Chase. It bounced off his lap, and he leaned down to pick it up off the floor, but not before he got an eyeful of her in the sweatshirt and strawberry panties.
“Nice,” he said.
“No commentary necessary,” she said, getting what appealed to her and not caring whether it appealed to him or not. He was only the purse for the moment.
She pulled on a pair of jeans. She wasn’t used to wearing jeans cut quite that low but she figured she wouldn’t need them for long.
“Perfect,” he said.
“Aren’t you tired of me trying on clothes? Because if you are, you could go down the street and get a cup of coffee at that quaint little coffee shop.”
He smiled at her. “Nice try. I’ll suffer.”
She pulled off the jeans and tried on a pair of gray sweatpants. “You don’t look like you’re suffering.” Not from the way he eyed her while she removed the clothes and put new ones on. “Do I have a dollar limit?” she suddenly asked. She didn’t want to be greedy and get too much, or run up a tab too high. Especially since she planned to vamoose as soon as she could.
“Buy whatever you need.”
She took a deep breath, guilt washing over her again. “Thanks.” She considered the sweaters she’d brought into the dressing room, then pulled off the sweatshirt and began trying them on. “I’ll take these two.”
“Black and gray.” He shook his head.
“I like black and gray.” Well, black was okay. She hated gray. Still, she’d feel more nondescript in the gray. “I’ll need these socks, and some more panties. And that’s it.”
“All right. Wear whatever you want, and I’ll take Hal’s things back to him later. Did… you need something to sleep in?”
She chewed on her bottom lip. “I’ll grab something before we leave. I don’t have to try something like that on to see if it fits.”
She handed him all the clothes, and then slipped into the jeans again, and a pair of socks, black tennis shoes, and the black sweater.
As soon as they walked out of the dressing room, they found ten women st
anding there watching for their exit, some smiling, some looking a little disconcerted.
The owner quickly divested Chase of all the clothes. “I’ll take these so that you can keep your hands free,” she said, and glanced at Shannon as if to say that she knew if he was busy and Shannon tried to flee, he had to have his hands free to grab her. “I’ll put these on your account and you can settle up later.”
“Does she usually put things on your account in here?” Shannon asked, amused. Unless he had a girlfriend, she suspected he didn’t come here to shop with or for a woman very often, if ever.
He took hold of her arm and headed for the counter where the owner was ringing up the sales. Shannon glanced at the other women, a couple of whom finally headed for the dressing room with clothes in hand.
“See, I told you, Chase. You scared the women off who wanted to use the dressing room. Oh, and I need to get something to sleep in. And some more panties.”
That had all the rest of the women standing there bug-eyed, staring at her.
She would have bought something warm for the winter nights, but because she had a gawking audience of women who would gossip about all this later, she figured she’d give them something to really gossip about. She lifted a sweet pink nighty trimmed with lace off a rack. She could wear the sweats over that. And then she grabbed a handful of colorful bikini panties. She might not want to wear anything noticeable as an outer garment, but for herself, for as long as she was stuck here, she’d enjoy some colorful underwear.
She noted Chase was smiling a little, but his face was a little flushed, too.
He carried the bags in one hand, and he had his other locked around her hand. She knew just how to twist her wrist to get free of his hold on her, but she noticed that even while walking out to his hatchback, two people watched them from the grocery store parking lot, another half dozen from a café observed them through the big windows, and two others, who will filling their cars at a gas station, glanced their way.
“Not much going on here, I can see,” she said, since she seemed to be the height of entertainment.
“It’s not very often that a she-cat knocks out both a deputy and the sheriff like you did, then has an APB put out on her.” He waved at a blond-haired man, his hair curly, and she thought he looked like a surfer-dude, tan, muscled, with a pleasing smile. He appeared to be in his late twenties like Chase and Dan, as he headed across the street to intercept them. “Hal Haverton,” Chase warned. “Like me, he works part-time as a deputy sheriff. He’s also the man who owns the home you broke into.”
“His window was unlocked. It was an open invitation.”
“Hey, Chase, so is this the little lady everyone’s talking about?” Hal looked her over. Then he smiled, showing off dimples. “You could have left her handcuffed in my place, and I would have taken care of her.”
“You and who else?” she asked.
Hal laughed. “You’re not going to let her get away, are you?”
Shannon didn’t think his comment had anything to do with confining her for the crimes she’d committed since she’d come here.
“First chance she got, she would have slipped away,” Chase said.
“She wouldn’t have knocked me out,” Hal said, not taking his eyes off her. He finally turned to Chase. “You’re not locking her up at the jailhouse, are you?”
“She’s coming home with me to have some of my famous Irish stew. I’ll talk to you later. Sorry about the mess she made at your place,” Chase said.
“It was all his fault. He startled me,” she said.
“She used the glass of milk as a missile,” Chase said.
Hal grinned and folded his arms. “Well, if you need me to watch your back on this one, just holler.”
“Thanks, I’ve got it covered.” Chase escorted her to his vehicle, threw her packages in the backseat, waved at Hal, got into his vehicle, and drove down the road. “Special Forces buddy of mine.”
“You said Dan was also.”
“And Stryker Hill, his regular deputy who’s on vacation at the moment, is also. We all went into the army together. And when we got out, we returned here.”
“So, the other two will be giving you and Dan a hard time concerning me.” She thought it was sweet, really. Though Dan and Chase might not think so. “Aren’t you afraid I’m going to try and escape from your place?”
“You have no reason to. I’m offering you a place to sleep, shower, and eat. You have clothes to wear, a television to watch, and a beautiful view of the lake and mountains. It’s a forested paradise. And you are under my protection. Now, if you really don’t want to stay, I’m not going to force you to.”
She stared at him in disbelief. He appeared to be serious.
“Then… then why did you chase me down?”
“You saved that boy at the waterfall, didn’t you?”
“He would have drowned.”
“Right. Well, the word will have spread that a cougar wanted the boy for a meal. Hunters would have gone after you, or any cougar in the area. You were staying in a cave still close to that waterfall. Beyond that, hunting season starts in less than two weeks. None of our people run as cougars at that time. And you were starving. Besides, I’d tranquilized you. You were in no shape to fend for yourself.”
“You think I’m a hardened criminal.”
“I think you’re running from someone, and I’m here to help you out if you need my assistance. Which, I’m guessing you do. I don’t believe your recent crime spree was something you do on a regular basis.”
She raised her brows at him, not sure she believed that he really thought that.
He smiled. “I’ve seen criminals in action. You didn’t run after I passed out near the river. You watched over me until Dan arrived. You were concerned for my welfare. A hardened criminal wouldn’t have been. You would have been more concerned with getting out of there. You stayed with the boy until help came. That put you at a hell of a lot of risk. You didn’t break Hal’s window or jimmy it open. You just found that it was unlocked and slipped inside. You didn’t ransack his place, just got what you needed—some warm clothes that fit well enough and a glass of milk. That’s not the actions of a lawbreaker with a long rap sheet.”
He pulled into a treed log cabin resort, each of the cabins connected by a trail to the main one, but pine trees surrounded them, giving each of them privacy. And at once, she loved it. It seemed homey, both to her cougar and human half.
He parked. “So here’s the thing. You can stay in one of the rental cabins and we can share meals if you like, or you can do your own thing until you want to talk. You can slip off and run away again. Or you can stay with me.”
“Stay with you,” she said, not meaning that she wanted to, but she didn’t know why he was suggesting that as an option.
“That’s what you want to do? Stay with me?” He sounded surprised she’d go for that choice.
“No. I mean, why would you suggest that?”
“Because you’re running scared. Running from someone. I have two bedrooms. You can take the guestroom, and I can protect you if you need protection. It would make it easier for me to keep an eye out for anyone who might wish to bother you. If you’re staying even in the closest cabin to mine, I can’t see it from my place.”
This changed everything. All that Chase said had merit. She wanted to stay in her own place so she would have more privacy. But she’d been running for so long on her own, isolated from others, and terrified, she’d like to feel she had someone who could watch her back.
“Don’t take this the wrong way,” she said, “but I’d like to stay with you.”
He tried to look ultra-serious, but then he gave in and smiled broadly. “That works for me.”
***
Chase had hoped he’d said the right words to convince the lady to stay with him and not want to run off again. In the meantime, he had to learn who she was and what the trouble was that she was facing.
“So, do you h
ave a name I can call you?” he asked.
“Ann,” she said this time as she carried the bags of clothes into his cabin and he grabbed the sacks of groceries.
“You’re not an Ann.”
“What’s an Ann supposed to be like?” she asked, glancing around his cabin. He was glad he’d picked up the place before he’d had to run after her yesterday.
“Sweet and innocent.”
She snorted.
He laughed. “So what is your name, really?”
“Shannon. But that’s all you’re getting.”
He was glad for that much. His phone rang. He set the groceries on the kitchen counter and glanced at the caller ID. “It’s Dan. I’ve got to take this.” To Dan, he said, “Hold on a sec.” Then he said to Shannon, “First door on the right is your guestroom, bathroom is the second door on the right. Make yourself at home.”
“Thanks. Say hi to Dan for me.” Then she hauled her bags to the guestroom and shut the door.
Chase pulled the stew out of the fridge, dished it into microwave dishes, and began warming it up. “Shannon is her name, and she’s staying with me. I’ll protect her at the same time until we know what’s going on.”
“Who’s going to protect you from her?”
“I’ll be fine.” Chase smiled, then began putting away the groceries.
“Hell, she’s liable to handcuff you to your furniture and run off with your money and car. Or leave as a cougar and disappear. Are you sure this is a good idea?”
“Yeah. How are you doing?”
“I’ve felt worse. But at least I’m home now. Do we have a last name for her?”
“No.”
“You think the first name is really hers?”
“I believe so. Not completely sure.”
“I’ve had twenty calls from our people. They want to know the trouble she’s in.”
“As much as I do.” But he worried a little that the townsfolk were concerned she would bring trouble to them and want her gone. Not that he was changing his mind about this. She was staying as long as she wished.
“They want to help her in any way that they can.”
