by Faye Avalon
Before Erin could tell her to get down, she started backing away, her tail between her legs and ears pinned back. Her squeaks turned to pitiful cries, her lowered gaze centered on Caleb.
The reaction was a strange one. Even considering what had happened to her, Willa never seemed especially nervous of strangers. If anything, she had a tendency to be too trusting. She’d been fine when Talia had called in once, and had promptly enjoyed a game of fetch the teddy with her.
As Willa continued to whine, Erin felt the need to offer some sort of explanation to Caleb. “Sorry. She’s probably freaked out because I’ve been gone a long time.”
Caleb stuck his hand in his pockets, looking down at Willa. He made no attempt to persuade the dog to come to him, nor did he seem at all bothered or surprised by her reaction. Most likely he wasn’t a dog fan. “No problem. You go ahead inside now.”
Erin turned to wave at Talia, gave Caleb a smile, then slipped inside and locked the door. She turned to Willa. “What’s all that about, baby?”
Willa was trembling, her whole body reacting in a way Erin had never seen. Hunkering down, she pulled Willa into her arms and stuck her nose into the retriever’s fur. “You’re safe, poppet. We both are. Maybe it’ll take us both a while longer to realize that, eh?” She rubbed and coddled Willa, then got up and headed for the kitchen. “How about I let you out into the yard and then you can have a biscuit? I could do with one myself, if I’m honest. Maybe a biscuit will soak up all the wine I’ve had tonight.”
When Willa was settled with her biscuit, Erin poured herself a glass of water and stared out the kitchen window into the postage stamp of a yard. It was enclosed within six-foot-high fences and had a padlocked gate at the end. It had security lights that came on the moment she stepped out, or if anyone stepped in.
Erin took a breath, letting it out on a long resigned sigh. She was so lucky to be able to rent this place, even if it was only for a few more months. It would be time to move on then anyway. It wouldn’t pay to put down roots, and she’d basically come to terms with that reality. Kay, her friend and only trusted confidante, had tried to convince her that once her new identity documents came through, Erin would be able to settle wherever she wanted. Kay had even said that her aunt, whose holiday cottage Erin was currently renting, might be willing to extend the holiday let if she was interested.
Erin sipped her water. Somehow she didn’t think that was a possibility. Kay’s aunt was letting her rent for a few months as a favor to her niece, no questions asked. If Erin wanted to extend the rental it would mean forms to complete, for legal and taxation purposes. Even with a new identity, Erin didn’t think she’d ever feel totally safe. And there was always the chance Justin would discover her friendship with Kay, and from that trace Erin’s whereabouts to Bodmin.
She’d been careful to keep her continuing friendship with Kay a secret, remembering that Justin had forced her to give up her circle of friends, forbidding her to keep in touch with them. Erin feared Justin would pursue every possible lead in an attempt to find out where she was, and then exact revenge on her for daring to leave him. She couldn’t afford to take any risks. It was best she kept moving on. It would give her the best possible chance of staying off his radar.
She turned away from the window, checked the locks and, with a cuddle, settled Willa in her bed. Tomorrow she’d call Kay on the burner phone she’d purchased with cash the day she’d packed her bags and turned away from her old life. She knew everything was fine from Kay’s point of view, because they’d had an arrangement that if Erin needed to know about anything, Kay would give two rings and then hang up so that Erin could call her back. That way the call would be untraceable to Kay, and she could protect her friend, and ultimately herself.
With the thought that all was well, Erin switched off the downstairs lights and went upstairs. In bed she reached for her book. She lay there for several minutes, her unopened book on her chest, and thought over the evening. It had been good being part of a crowd again. She liked Talia and Naomi, and their women friends. All so lovely and welcoming, even the beautiful Caroline. She only hoped that stunt the Neanderthal had pulled wouldn’t jeopardize any future interactions between them.
Sugar, he’d called her. Sugar. Bloody cheek.
His image flashed through her mind. Okay, he was incredibly attractive, tall, intensely masculine and ruggedly handsome. The sort of man who would have women falling at his feet. The trouble was he knew it, and didn’t seem to care one iota if they couldn’t get up again.
Nathan has a way about him, Talia had said. Well, he certainly had that. The problem being it wasn’t the type of way Erin hoped to experience again.
Except he wasn’t a man you could ignore. With those deep green eyes and slash of dark brows, the strong jaw with its designer stubble, the wide forehead, and lush full mouth…
Erin pushed the duvet away from her shoulders. Bloody hell. She was feeling hot all of a sudden. What the hell was that about? Yes, the man was built. So what? She wasn’t in the market for any sort of hookup with his sort, or any other sort come to that. She’d had enough of bloody men to last a lifetime.
From now on it was her and Willa. That was all she wanted. All she’d ever want. Period.
* * * * *
“What the fucking hell’s her problem anyway?”
Nathan spun the wheel and turned along the road that led back to Bodmin. He’d been spitting nails ever since they’d left Truro, and it seemed he wasn’t done yet.
Beside him, Tynan cursed under his breath. “For God’s sake, bro. Give it a goddamn rest.” He glanced over his shoulder toward the backseat “It’s just as well Naomi fell asleep thirty minutes ago, or she’d be giving you the evil eye about now. She likes Erin, and she’d tell you to shut the hell up about the woman.”
“The woman bloody insinuated I’d actually hook up with a tight-ass female like her. Like I’d choose to spend my time having her shove fucking accusations at me.”
Tynan laughed softly. “The way I see it, you did more than insinuate. You said you let Caroline believe Erin was your current squeeze.”
“I panicked,” Nathan said, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. “I screwed the woman once, and now she’s all about me having driven fifty miles for the express purpose of taking her home from a hen party.”
“At least you’d have gotten lucky. As things are, seems to me you’ll be sleeping alone tonight, buddy.”
“Not the point,” Nathan complained. “That woman Erin said I don’t have the guts to tell a woman to her face that it’s finished.”
“You already told me that. Twice.”
“Said she couldn’t see why any woman in her right mind would put up with the likes of me.”
“Told me that too.”
“Stuck her fucking chin in the air while she spewed all that crap. Like she’s too good to breathe the same air.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Tynan turned in his seat to face Nathan. “Why’s she got you so worked up anyway? You normally don’t give a rat’s ass what people think of you.”
“It was that freaking chin did it. Poking it in my direction like some kind of vengeful sword.”
Shit. And now he was thinking of that chin again, and the plump little mouth above it. All succulent and pouting and…shit, shit, shit.
“Think I’ve about had my fill of human women,” Nathan decided, swinging up to Tynan’s house. “I’m sticking to shifter females. Less trouble.”
“Not sure I’d agree,” Tynan said with a smile, unhooking his seat belt. “This one put me through the wringer before I got her to admit she can’t live without me.”
Nathan glanced back. “Yeah, well you got lucky.”
His mind drifted back to when he and Naomi had been fuck buddies. He thought of the easy, down-to-earth nature of their arrangement. Since neither of them had wanted commitment, sc
rewing a hot woman without obligation or the need for promises had been a perfect arrangement at the time. Add a big dose of friendship and admiration into the bargain and a man had the female of his dreams. But then Tynan came on the scene and royally screwed up the arrangement.
Nathan couldn’t seem to work up a full-out resentment of his friend’s good fortune, but now and again, it pissed him off some. He glanced over his shoulder when Tynan opened the door and reached for his sleeping bride-to-be.
“Need some help back there?”
Tynan wrapped a sleeping Naomi protectively in his arms. “Fuck off.”
Nathan grinned. He wasn’t past baiting his friend where Naomi was concerned. But he had to admire Tynan’s strength of character, that he could put away Naomi’s past relationship with Nathan and move on toward a future with the woman he loved.
When Tynan came around to the driver’s side, Nathan wound down the window.
Tynan leaned close, moving Naomi gently in his arms. She sighed and snuggled closer, her arms loose around his neck. “If we get that new software working tomorrow, we can get a head start on loading the data before our meeting with Mallory next week. Naomi’s on call, so I’ve got to be at home for a delivery. Want to load my system first, then do yours on Sunday?”
“Yeah. That’ll work. I’ll be over early. You can shout me breakfast.”
“Not too early.” Tynan grinned. “My female’s not on call until ten, if you get my drift.”
This time it was Nathan’s turn to mutter, “Fuck off.” After which he drove away.
Chapter Three
“Didn’t expect it to take that long,” Tynan complained, watching the last stream of data load on the computer system in his home office. “At least we’ve teased out the problems. Downloading your system should be a breeze.”
Nathan swigged back the dregs of cold coffee and grimaced. “I’ll copy the coding and get it started tonight.”
“Another night without a hot date?”
“Right now, this is more important.”
The two partners were involved in a government security detail for a visiting dignitary and were tasked to monitor online activity which strongly hinted at a possible kidnap attempt on his family.
“You must be losing your touch,” Tynan prompted. “You were once the quintessential multi-tasker when it came to combining work and pussy.”
“My touch is the same as it always was. Maybe better.” Nathan gathered up the array of mugs they’d used for coffee during the day. “I’ll put on fresh. You got anything to eat around here?”
“Naomi shot me a text thirty minutes ago. She’s grabbing some sandwiches for us on her way home. Said she knew we probably hadn’t eaten since breakfast.”
Nathan checked his watch, surprised it was almost four in the afternoon. He headed down to the kitchen and put up fresh coffee. While he waited, he planted his feet and rolled out his neck. Working at computers all day took its toll on a man. He didn’t know how Tynan did it but thanked the gods that he was the real techie of the team. Nathan enjoyed fieldwork more. He liked being in the thick of the action. There were times he missed Special Ops. Missed the excitement of it, the strategy of battle, the feeling that each moment could be your last. A man seemed to live to the fullest when he lived on the edge.
It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy what he did now. But sometimes he felt the need to kick ass. Like now. He felt edgy, restless.
The run last night when he’d gotten home hadn’t done him much good. Normally when he shifted into panther form, he was able to run off any tension and agitation. Maybe Tynan was right and he shouldn’t have cut his nose off to spite his face where the breathy Caroline was concerned. At least a hot piece of ass might have taken the edge off.
He rolled out his neck again, stuffed his hands in the pockets of his pants and stretched his back.
“Oh.”
At the exclamation behind him, Nathan turned and met the startled gaze of the woman from last night. Erin. That was all he damn well needed.
“Err, Naomi told me to put these out here.” She held a grocery bag in each hand, a bunch of yellow flowers poking out of one. “Sandwiches and fruit and…she’s gone upstairs to see Tynan.”
She was pretty easy on the eye, Nathan decided. Even if she was an overopinionated human female with a Goody Two-shoes complex. With a talent honed from years of enjoying and appraising the female form, he allowed his gaze to scan her assets. Slim, bordering on skinny, but her breasts would fill his palms. And there was a curvy little ass, one he’d taken a good look at when she’d walked away from him last night. Her brown hair was cut short, reminding him of a pixie, and her average height and slight build added to her youthful appeal. But though her light blue eyes seemed innocent, there was a depth to them, a wariness.
Because staring into them made him uncomfortable, he let his gaze slip to her mouth. While that didn’t make him uncomfortable, it gave him a definite jolt to the system. Shit, but he bet the female could kiss. His cock jerked its agreement, and Nathan could almost feel those moist, wet lips taking him in.
Fuck.
He swallowed, took a breath, then reached out for the bags she still held. “What the hell? This weighs like you’ve bought up enough food to feed the troops.” He popped them on the counter. “Are you expecting a siege of marauding armies fixing to take over Bodmin?”
The downward turn of her mouth was almost a sneer. “Some of it’s mine. I met Naomi in the store, and she invited me back for coffee. Since my cottage is the other side of town, she said to put my perishables in her refrigerator while I’m here.”
Not waiting to be told, Nathan dug in the bags. His prowess in the kitchen didn’t amount to much, but he knew what needed to go where. “Which part?” he asked, stacking butter and cheese on the top shelf of the fridge.
“Excuse me?”
“Your cottage. Which part of town?”
She turned away from him. “West,” she said, wrapping her arms across her chest. “Up toward the moor.”
“Nice area.”
She nodded, still avoiding his gaze. For some reason, it pissed him off. “I’d offer to take your coat, but since you look like your nerves are strung tight as a freaking drum—”
“There’s nothing wrong with my nerves.” Now she looked at him, that accusatory chin angled in his direction and her eyes spitting fire.
He held up his hands, palms out. “Whatever you say, sugar. But I’m still not taking your coat. You might get the wrong idea, seeing as you’ve got me down as some lecherous bastard who uses women.”
Pink speared across her cheeks. “I didn’t say that. Exactly.”
Taking his time, he leaned back against the counter and crossed his own arms. “Good as.” And he hadn’t realized until that moment that it still rankled. “You want to get your facts straight before you accuse people of that kind of stuff. It could get you in trouble.”
She visibly swallowed, one hand sliding up to cover her throat, and her eyes again filled with that wary quality. He thought that if she had anywhere to go right then, she would have backed away from him like a frightened animal. As it was, she was flat against the wall.
Last night she’d taken him on, yet now she seemed almost scared of him. Before he could think further on that, he stepped forward, and she visibly flinched.
Nathan immediately backed away. While he liked to put women on their back foot—he was perverse that way—he didn’t enjoy having them recoil from his presence.
Naomi chose that moment to breeze through the door. “Bloody hell, Nathan. Why haven’t you taken Erin’s coat?” She reached out toward Erin. “Give me that, and go sit down. Is that coffee almost ready?” she asked Nathan.
He was still watching Erin, trying not to fulfill all her expectations by ogling her breasts beneath the cream sweater she wore. If a woman was s
o obviously nervous in his company, it didn’t seem right to cop an eyeful. But, shit, his brief glimpse confirmed how fucking well she filled out that sweater. And away went his cock again.
“Couple more minutes, I’d say,” Nathan managed, forcing himself to answer Naomi’s question. He pushed away from the counter, nodding toward where Naomi got out fresh mugs from the cupboard. “Not for me. I’ve got to be heading out.”
He glanced at Erin and saw the look of relief flash over her face and the way her shoulders visibly relaxed. Well, damn. What was wrong with the woman? He’d never given her one reason to act like this around him. Okay, he’d implied she was his latest skirt last night, but damn it to hell, it wasn’t as if he’d pushed her into a dark corner and shoved his hand down her panties to prove it.
That perverse side of him battled for supremacy and he deliberately chose the chair right next to Erin. “Come to think of it, I guess I’ve got time for another coffee. What type of sandwiches are on offer?”
Naomi sorted plates and cutlery. “Meat for you and Tynan, brie and grape for Erin and myself. Plus, I’ve got your favorite. Tortilla chips.”
He groaned for effect. “I always knew I should have fought Tynan a lot harder for you.” He leaned back in his chair, making sure to let his knee brush Erin’s. She didn’t jolt, but he felt her discomfort flow like a wave of tension between them. Almost imperceptibly, she moved her leg away from his.
Erin hoped that Nathan couldn’t hear the rapid boom of her heart beating against her rib cage. God. What was wrong with her?
It was him. Nathan. There was something in him, some quality. Predatory and menacing. What was it about her that seemed to attract that type? Not that Nathan was anything like Justin. Nathan was in-your-face intimidating and didn’t even try to hide behind a façade of anything different, whereas Justin had been the epitome of charm, good manners and gallantry. At least on the surface. But when you even remotely scratched it, you saw an entirely different animal. She often wondered how she’d ever been taken in by Justin’s good-guy act. When had been the moment she thought it okay to simply give herself up to him, let him call the shots? Now, she didn’t know how she was ever supposed to fully trust anyone again. How would she know what sort of person they were? At least before it was too late. The only way was not to get close to anyone. To stay at arm’s length.
