Surrounded by Woods

by Mandy Harbin

  * * * *

  Mikaela slid into her tight shorts, sports bra, and fitted tank top. She hadn’t gotten much sleep last night. After Josh got called away, she tried to ignore her aching need, but she ended up taking matters into her own hands. Not nearly as good as it had been before, but she’d figured it would ease her pent up lust and help her sleep. She was wrong. She still tossed and turned until her alarm went off thirty minutes ago. Whenever she was awake, she thought about Josh. His hands belonged to a masseur, not to a man who looked like he could defend what was his and kill to protect with his bare hands. His touch was so soothing, yet passionate. Gentle, but commanding. Never had a man brought her that close to orgasm that quickly.

  After getting dressed, she wavered on whether she should wear makeup. She wasn’t one to dress up to exercise, and she’d be taking a shower right after. It seemed silly to wear it, but she almost did. Almost. She realized she wanted to wear it to look good for Josh, and that was a mistake. She didn’t need to do anything to encourage him. Remembering her resolve from last night, she scrubbed her face clean and threw her hair in a ponytail before heading out the door, smelling of soap and deodorant.

  When she walked into the dining room, all eyes were on her. She just knew they all knew she and Josh had gotten busy after dinner last night. She swallowed at the thought and felt a light blush color her cheeks when she met Josh’s gaze. He smiled softly at her. She quickly looked away while she walked over to the table to join everyone.

  “I didn’t even know this hour existed.” She chuckled, sitting down and eyeing the coffee before her.

  The men laughed with her, easing her discomfort a little.

  She took a sip of her coffee, enjoying the aroma as both a means to wake up and to brace herself for whatever topic lay ahead. She assumed no one would broach an inappropriate subject like the titillating touch of the sexy man across from her, the one she couldn’t force herself to look square in the eye, but she didn’t really know these men. She had no idea if they’d take the high road or not. God, she hoped so.

  “Can you meet me in my office at nine, Mikaela?” Thomas asked. “I need to give you the old estate papers and discuss the changes. Will that give you enough time for your morning routine?”

  She looked up from her coffee long enough to answer. “Nine is fine.”

  “Are you all right?” he asked. “You look a little tired.”

  “That’s because I am.” She smiled, taking another sip and forcing her gaze away from her coffee. She didn’t mind them thinking the only thing that bothered her was this wretched hour, but she didn’t want to take the chance on them speculating other reasons.

  Her eyes went to Josh of their own volition, but now that she actually looked at him, she noticed he seemed distant, almost cold. Maybe he realized the mistake that was last night and wasn’t going to push it.

  She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

  Toby leaned over toward her. “You don’t have to meet us for breakfast in the mornings. We just like to get an early start with the trees.”

  “Trees? What do you mean?” This, at least, provided a distraction.

  “Cutting and prepping them for sale and planting new ones.”

  She couldn’t contain her giggle, so she put her coffee down before she spilled it all over herself. “You mean you’re lumberjacks?”

  Rob’s eyes cut to her. “That’s not a bad thing.”

  She sobered immediately, realizing her tone was offensive. “Oh, I know. It’s just that my only visual of a lumberjack doesn’t really mesh with the real thing.” She couldn’t say that she’d thought of Josh as a sexy lumberjack the first moment she saw him. But the reality of it was that he was sexy, and apparently, he was a lumberjack. Her initial description wasn’t as farfetched as she originally thought, so she’d found it funny. She was laughing at herself, not them.

  Thankfully, they all seemed appeased by her response. While she looked at each of the men, her gaze landed on Josh again. He still seemed aloof. Clearing her throat and looking at Toby and Jack, she asked, “So what time do you all meet for lunch?”

  “We don’t,” Jack replied. “We try to eat together if we can, but usually have better luck with breakfast and dinner. Everyone is pretty much on their own during lunch.”

  That was a relief. Mikaela didn’t like the idea of stopping her work just to meet up for lunch, and if they ate breakfast at this ungodly hour, they’d probably want to eat lunch just when she’d get her workday started.

  They all finished eating and began dispersing. Thomas headed to his office, and Josh’s brothers gathered to leave, but they were not going without Josh. He rose and walked over to Mikaela, who was standing up and finishing the last of her coffee. The look in his eye went from clinical to heated within seconds of reaching her. Without saying anything, he leaned in as close as he possibly could without making contact and sniffed. A strangled groan escaped his lips.

  “You smell heavenly, almost as good as you look,” he whispered. “If you’re avoiding wearing perfume and makeup as a deterrent for me, it’s not going to work. Your natural beauty far outshines anything you could do to cover it up.”

  She pulled away from him, shoulders square. “I’m just ready to exercise. That’s all. I didn’t put any thought into how you’d take my appearance.”

  She was sure Josh noticed she tried a little too hard when she said that and stifled a curse at her lack of composure. “Lucky for me you didn’t.” He leaned in closer, and her body trembled with excitement. “This is how I’ll be visualizing you when I stroke my cock in the shower after work. It’s the third door on the left if you want to come watch. I might even let you play with my balls.”

  Just the thought of being alone with him in the shower caused heat to shoot to her pussy, flooding her, readying her for his penetration. How could she get so turned on so quickly by him?

  His nostrils flared, and he sniffed her again, groaning louder this time. “You’re a naughty little girl,” he murmured.

  No way could he tell she was turned on. No way!

  Someone cleared his throat, and Josh jerked his attention away from Mikaela.

  “You ready?” Jack asked.

  Josh took a deep breath and nodded, his eyes changing back to that mask of indifference from earlier, but right before, she noticed a hint of regret. Then he left without another word to her.

  Smooth, Mikaela. Real Smooth. So she couldn’t control her body’s reaction to him, but she sure as hell could control what she did about it. And even though Josh had talked dirty to her right before he left, she got the feeling that he, too, was trying to control his behavior around her. The question was, why?

  * * * *

  Mikaela worked out, showered, and was at Thomas’s office promptly at nine o’clock. She did her best not to think about Josh, and she didn’t. Much. But at least she tried to put him out of her mind.

  “Here’re the trust and will that Bill prepared for me a few years ago,” Thomas said as she sat down.

  She took the papers and scanned over them. “What changes do you want to make?”

  “Everywhere Eric Woods is mentioned, I want him removed.”

  Eric Woods? A disowned son? No one mentioned him before. It was her obligation to make sure Thomas understood the implications of leaving a child out of his estate. “Thomas, if Eric Woods is a child of yours, he could contest this will if he’s left out completely. It’d be in your best interest to leave him something, even if it’s just your love and affection. If we don’t mention him at all—”

  “He’s deceased,” Thomas said flatly.

  “Ah. Well, when an heir dies before an inheritance, the law dictates how his portion is to be divvied up. If he has any children, his inheritance would filter through to them. If he doesn’t have any heirs, then what he would have received would be redistributed among your remaining heirs. A codicil isn’t really necessary unless you plan on making other changes.”

 
“I appreciate your advice, Mikaela, but I’d feel better if Eric isn’t mentioned anywhere in my estate. He was my youngest and didn’t have a wife or any children.”

  “Well, it’s your money, Thomas.” She chuckled. “I’d be happy to charge you for the changes.”

  He laughed with her. “I’m sure you would, but I do appreciate you trying to save me the money. I’d just like to have it done.”

  “Not a problem.” She began to stand up.

  “One more thing, Mikaela.”

  Uh-oh. Was he going to chastise her for her behavior last night? If so, she had no idea how she was going to handle the situation. She took a steadying breath. “Yes, Thomas?”

  “I’d like for you to look over my business forms as well. I know it wasn’t part of this trip, but since your expertise is in corporate law, I’d like to take advantage of that to make sure everything’s airtight.”

  She felt her muscles relax and didn’t even realize how tense she had been, thinking he was going to mention Josh. “I can do that. Since you do not have many changes to your estate, I should have plenty of time to look over everything.”

  “Great.”

  Yes, it was. If she buried herself in work, then she’d have no other choice than to focus on that and not on one Josh Woods.

  Hmm… Maybe that was Thomas’s goal after all.

  Chapter Five

  Mikaela spent the next several days with her nose in her work and her eyes off Josh. She opted out of getting up early for breakfast and spent her days barricaded in the spare office next to Thomas’s. If she worked really hard, she could get through everything in another day or two and head back early.

  On two occasions during the day, she ran into Josh in the kitchen—once when she went to grab some lunch and another when she was getting a drink. Both times, he smiled politely and found the quickest excuse to leave. If she wasn’t trying to avoid him just as much as it seemed he was doing his damnedest to avoid her, she might’ve felt offended. He had had his fingers inside her pussy the other night, and that following morning, he hadn’t minded elaborating on her being his jerking off material. Regardless of how she felt about his avoidance, she knew it was for the best.

  But no matter how much she tried to avoid Josh during the day, there was no getting away from him at dinner. Thomas insisted she break for dinner, feeling guilty she was working so hard. She didn’t have the heart to tell him that she’d much rather keep at her work than face the temptation that his son presented. So she went, but she didn’t dress up. She worked in suits and stayed in them at dinner. It was a reminder to everyone what her role was here. She was their attorney. Not Josh’s plaything.

  “Are you ready to go down for dinner, Mikaela?” Thomas asked, peering around the door of her temporary office.

  “Give me two seconds.” She locked her laptop and followed him out.

  Everyone else was already in the dining room when they arrived. She expected as much. They all liked to have a drink before dinner, but Thomas had been staying back and working up until dinner just like Mikaela. She wasn’t sure if he felt the need to do that since she was or if there was some other reason, but she was grateful that she didn’t have to walk into the room alone. When she walked in with Thomas, Josh didn’t show her any more attention than the other guys, just like the previous nights. She didn’t know for sure, but she figured it helped Josh maintain his objectivity when Mikaela entered with Thomas. She knew that Josh’s father could see his reaction if he showed any interest toward her, but she didn’t care what the reason was. She was just glad he was backing off.

  Or was she?

  Even though she tried, she still couldn’t shake the deep-rooted feelings that were building for Josh. It made no sense. She hardly knew him, but there was just something about him that called to her. Although she was doing her best to get finished with work early, there was a part of her that dreaded the idea of leaving here.

  And it wasn’t because she enjoyed being stuck in the woods.

  “Would you like a drink?” Rob asked her as he handed his father a glass of scotch.

  “Sure.” Might as well. She’d been working for days and felt like she could use one. Maybe it’d help take the edge off this thing she felt toward Josh. If not, maybe it’d just help her get through another evening and help her sleep.

  “What would you like?” Josh asked as he stepped toward her. Even though he asked gently, his attention still startled her. It was the first time he’d singled her out since breakfast that first morning. As he approached, all she could do was ogle at the dusting of hair on his forearms, and as he got closer, she could smell his clean, masculine scent that contained a rustic, woodsy essence. He wasn’t even touching her, and she was already mesmerized.

  She looked up, but had to blink to focus on his face. “What do you have?”

  “Practically everything.” He smiled softly at her, and she couldn’t help but smile back. He seemed so warm and inviting, not the cocky guy he had been originally, though if she were really being honest, she’d found that side of him attractive too. But more surprising, he was not being the cool, indifferent guy of late.

  Stunned, she couldn’t form a complete sentence. “Wine?”

  “Red or white?”

  “Red.”

  “Cabernet or merlot?”

  Clearing her throat, she said, “Merlot would be great.”

  Josh turned and walked out of the room while everyone took seats around the table. He walked back with a bottle of wine, a corkscrew, and a glass. He stepped over to her at the table and set everything down before opening the wine and pouring her a glass. Because of how he was standing in relation to his family members, Mikaela was able to stare at him without everyone else noticing. It wasn’t his handsome face or masculine chest she stared at. No, it was those wonderful hands. Hands that soothed her, hands that tortured her, for those hands did not get to pleasure her for long. Pleasure sampled then denied was nothing but torture because Mikaela knew what they were capable of.

  Once Josh finished pouring her wine, he walked over to his seat without another word. She took a sip and glanced at him. He was staring at her, not that that was unusual. Even over the last few days, he still stared at her and waited for her to start eating before he did, and she always looked at him before she’d start eating. It had been their only sense of connection during their time of avoidance, and some part of her was grateful that they at least had this. If not, she probably would’ve caved during one of their kitchen encounters by ripping off his pants and sucking his cock into her wanton mouth before he realized what was happening.

  Knowing that Josh was still watching her, waiting for her to start eating, she decided she could take a step like he had by offering her the wine. She looked up and held his gaze, lifting her glass. “Thanks, this is really good.”

  He cocked his head to the side and smiled, seeming both genuinely surprised and pleased that she addressed him personally in front of everyone. “You’re welcome.”

  Then his eyes seemed to dim before her very eyes, and he looked down at his plate. He still waited for her to eat before he dug in, but he didn’t watch her.

  So much for him not avoiding her anymore.

  He was right, though, and she knew it. Getting involved with Josh would only lead to disaster. Mikaela just didn’t understand what his reason was for avoiding her. Was it just because she was here on business and he was trying to respect that now? Or worse… Was he not really attracted to her? Oh, God, was she just a convenient lay that he realized wasn’t worth the hassle? She’d hoped the wine tonight would help ease her, but what she really needed was a break. She had to get away from the temptation Josh presented, especially if that temptation was one-sided. She was immediately grateful that she never clarified about her broken engagement. No need to let that cat out of the bag now. It’d just raise questions as to why she kept quiet, and worst-case scenario, the knowledge that she’d essentially lied would probably fuel Josh’
s reasoning for leaving her alone, assuming he was even interested in her. Hating the idea that she could’ve misread his attraction, she suddenly felt trapped in the middle of nowhere. She had to get away from here.

  Tonight.

  * * * *

  This was madness! She sat across the table from Josh, and he could feel her heat from where he sat. It was bad enough that he could smell her. Hell, he could smell her everywhere in this house. He’d spent his days working as far away from the house as he could and his nights running in his feline form just to try and get away from her. He didn’t understand why she called to him, why he wanted her, why he needed her. She was becoming the center of his world, and he hadn’t even fucked her. When he shut his eyes, he could still feel her pussy on his fingers, still smell her juices on his skin, still taste her on his tongue. She consumed him, and he hated it! Hated it because he couldn’t do a damn thing about it. He tried his best to honor his father’s wishes and not pursue her because he knew his father was right and he wanted to keep her safe. But he didn’t have to like the fact that he was torturing himself by denying what his body and soul craved, especially when he felt she was the only woman who could fulfill his innermost desires.

  Get a grip, Josh, Thomas warned. They usually saved this type of communication for when they were in their feline forms. It was a convenience, but it wasn’t private. Everyone with the ability to communicate that way heard it as if the words were spoken aloud.

  I’m doing what you asked, Dad. I’ve barely said anything to her in days.

  You’re not the only one who finds her attractive, Josh, Jack said. I’d like nothing more than to claim her myself. This is difficult for all of us.

  Stay away from her! His eyes shot to Jack.

  Back off, Josh. Jack’s right. The only man in his room who doesn’t want to bed her is Dad. Hell, even Toby can’t stop staring at her, and she’s much older than he is. Rob chuckled, and Mikaela’s eyes shot over to him.