Cougar's Mate (13 page)

The house was quiet, Chase’s bedroom door standing ajar, and no sound of him moving about in the living room or kitchen. The phone rang in her pocket, startling her, and she fished it out and checked the caller ID. She was glad to see it was just Chase. She wondered then if he’d told everyone to call him on the police phone and not this one. "Hello?"

"I need to talk to you. I’m just finishing up some painting I’m doing in one of the cabins. Are you ready for me to make us those omelets for breakfast?”

"What's wrong?" she asked, instantly wary when he sounded like he needed to talk to her about something that could be trouble. No good morning, no—how are you this morning, did you sleep well? But—he had to talk with her.

"Nothing’s wrong. Dan had a suggestion that might work and I wanted to talk with you about it."

She still didn’t think it sounded good. When people had to speak face-to-face, that usually meant trouble. "All right. I just got up. I’m grabbing a cup of hot tea."

"Another bad night?"

"I thought I heard the bear prowling around again last night, and… I just kept waking for other reasons." He didn’t say anything for a moment and she frowned, thinking they had gotten disconnected. “Chase?”

“Yeah… you’re not… feeling like you would be more comfortable at someone else’s place in town, are you?”

He sounded so anxious that she might say she would prefer staying somewhere else that she smiled. “No. I love it out here.” She swore she heard him sigh over the phone. She couldn’t let him know the reasons that she wanted to stay out here though—that his place was in the wilderness and she could easily take off at any time, but she also felt he could protect her
and
himself better if they did have trouble.

"Okay. I’ll wash up the paintbrushes, and I'll be right over. Ham and cheese omelets all right? Or do you want something else? French toast? Pancakes?"

She smiled. "Omelets would be great. But I can fix them."

“Nothing doing. My treat.”

Now how could she say no to that? She wasn’t used to being pampered like this and she wondered if he was always this way or if he was only trying to make her feel more comfortable so she’d tell him the truth.

When he arrived, he was all smiles as if seeing her waiting for him was the best thing ever. He wore jeans, boots, and a red plaid flannel shirt and looked as sexy as always. His eyes were bright and his smile just as cheerful. And that worried her a bit. What if he hoped to encourage something more… permanent between them? When she knew it couldn’t happen—not given her current circumstances.

He headed into the kitchen and began banging around in a cabinet for a pan. "First, Dottie invited you to her kids' birthday celebration. It's a little earlier than usual, but I guess she really wants to make sure you're going to be here and can attend. It’s in a couple of hours. I certainly would understand if you don’t want to go." He looked hopeful that she would say yes.

"That would be fun as long as you’re going," Shannon said, looking forward to it. She didn’t know why she said the part about him going. That made her sound horribly clingy when she wasn’t normally like that.

He smiled a little at her. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Because he was dying to see the kids, or because he wanted to stick close to her at all times? Then she realized she had no money for gifts.

"No gifts expected," he said, as if anticipating her next comment.

When he served up the omelets, she brought over a couple glasses of milk. He seemed so serious now, and she wondered what was up. She suspected something else had happened that he hadn’t wanted to talk to her about over the phone. And it wasn’t about going to a kids’ birthday party.

"Okay, the other thing Dan called me about last night was a suggestion, really. In case anyone's looking for you," he said.

She began eating some of her cheesy omelet and thought she was in heaven. Especially after having to catch her own meals in the wild. And not being very good at it. "Hmm, these are
so
good."

He smiled, but he still looked concerned. "Well, he had the idea that we'd have the cover story that you've lived here all your life."

"Okay." That would work for her. She had no problem with that. She lifted her glass of milk and took a sip.

"And… that you are my wife."

She practically choked on her milk.

"It would look
less
suspicious if you were married and had lived here all your life than if you were a single woman who suddenly just showed up in our town, should anyone come looking for you,” he said quickly as if trying to convince her what a good idea it was. Then he paused and said, ”So… will you be my wife?"

***

She’d had three boyfriends, all dead now, and not one of them had ever asked Shannon to marry him. Though she knew it was all pretend with Chase, she almost wished it was for real because she couldn’t think of any man she’d ever met who could be more ideal. Chase had finally—and she thought a bit reluctantly—told her just how many people, single males included, had wanted to take her in. How could she not love it out here with the beauty of the forest, lake, and mountains so close at hand? And being with him. He was a dream come true. But didn’t all dreams come to an end?

For her they did. And then the dreams turned into nightmares. She had three dead boyfriends to prove it, too.

“It was just a thought,” Chase said, and began to pick up their dirty dishes, looking a little hurt.

Even though this was all a ruse, she guessed even for pretend, a guy getting turned down could feel—rejected, and she hated to see his hurt expression.

“It was just such a shock,” Shannon said, helping him to clear the table. “I’ve… I’ve never been asked before.” She hated to admit it, but it was true. She seemed to hook up with guys who hadn’t had the marrying gene. Which, considering what had happened to them, was for the best or she would have been a widow three times over. Maybe with kids to raise as well.

Chase’s gloomy expression quickly brightened. “Hell, Shannon, what kind of idiots have you been dating?”

Criminals, she thought morosely. Even Ted, who was supposed to have been upholding the law.

Then she gave Chase a small smile. “I’d love to be your wife. Where should we take our honeymoon?”

He smiled right back, only his smile was much broader, his eyes sparkling with pleasure. “Hmm, I don’t know. Where would you like to go?” He finished loading the dishes and silverware into the dishwasher.

“Fiji Island? Grand Cayman? Virgin Islands?” She slipped her arms around his waist as if this was for real.

He rubbed her shoulders, smiling down at her, a good sport about playing the game. “One of the islands, it is.” He leaned down then and kissed her as if sealing the bargain, and she realized this was another reason she wouldn’t have considered staying with anyone else.

She loved this, their movie night and the promise of more, their… well, just being together. It felt good to be with him, around him, talking to him, or just sitting quietly beside him.

He broke off the sweet kiss and cleared his throat. “I’ve got something for you.”

He couldn’t have picked up a ring, or intended to loan her his dead wife’s ring. She tried not to stiffen at the notion.

“I’ll be right back.” He left her quickly and headed for his bedroom.

She attempted to put on a cheery face, no matter what, after all he’d done for her, but she couldn’t help feeling apprehensive. She didn’t want him to get the notion she was staying.

When he returned, he was carrying a pink box with a bright pink bow on it, a clothes box, not a jewelry box and she breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s the toddlers’ birthday celebration today. Not mine,” she reminded him, but she was dying to open it, even if she shouldn’t have been.

She hadn’t gotten a gift in forever. Even when her on-the-lamb boyfriends had given her the rare gift, she always had to ask if they’d bought the item and hadn’t stolen it. So she had much preferred they didn’t bring her anything in the form of a gift or she could have been charged with receiving stolen goods.

Chase smiled as he handed the box to her, looking eager to see how she liked what he’d picked up for her. She wondered when he’d done so. Before she’d awakened this morning?

She felt some trepidation, afraid of what it could be, that it might be something too personal. With trembling fingers, she unwrapped the bow, then handed it to him. She opened the box and saw something pink vaguely hidden beneath the pink tissue paper.

Her heart was thumping harder in anticipation and a little thrill of expectation building. She pulled the tissue open and smiled to see the hot pink sweater she had admired at Millicent’s Dress Boutique, but wouldn’t have gotten for herself in a million years.

“I thought for the party you might like something a little more… colorful,” he said, sounding like he truly hoped she liked it.

But she also thought he’d gotten it for her to ensure she didn’t blend in so much that he could lose her in a sea of people. “I’d say this is the nicest thing you’ve ever gotten for me and I adore it, but you’ve done so much for me that everything—well except for the tranquilizer dart in my shoulder—that you’ve given me, I’ve truly treasured.”

He smiled a little at the mention of the dart.

Then she gave him a hug that said she loved him. Not in a “forever, I’m marrying you kind of way,” but to say she really, really loved the way he had been so good to her. But then she felt guilty again about not telling him what was going on with her.

He’d want to take everything back, his deeds, his gifts, everything and turn her out before he was a target next.

“I love it, Chase,” she said, and kissed him full on the mouth, breasts pressed against his chest, the whole nine yards, wanting to be about as close as she could without getting herself in over her head.

His arms went around her again and he kissed her back. She felt his arousal, knew she’d incited him too much already, but she wanted this for the moment. She loved their sweet intimacy.

He finally broke off the kiss, his heart pumping as fast as hers, his eyes lusty and dark, his breathing hard. “As much as I regret having to say this, if we want to make it to the birthday party—“

She figured he was the kind of guy who was never late for anything. But if she’d pressured him to take this further, would he have skipped the party? She wouldn’t have done that to him or to Dottie, yet the devil in her wanted to see if he would.

“If it’s all right with you, can we stop to get the kids a gift each?” she asked.

“Just the thought I had. Which is why we need to leave a little early.” He sounded as though he truly regretted that they had to leave so quickly.

“I’ll just change.” And then with tears in her eyes that she tried damn hard to hide from Chase because at every turn, he’d been so good to her—but she was certain he saw her tears anyway—she slipped into her bedroom and closed the door.

As soon as she took off the gray sweater she’d been wearing and put on the hot pink one, she saw the transformation right away from a gray look to bright and vivacious. She thought she looked good for the first time in over a month.

When she left the bedroom, Chase was waiting for her in the living room, his mouth curving up in a generous smile. His appreciative expression stated how much he liked her in it and made her feel like she was rocketing to the moon. “I told you that you’d look hot in that.”

Maybe he hadn’t been just interested in the sweater to make her stand out in a crowd, but because he thought he’d truly like the color on her.

She smiled. “Thanks again. It’s beautiful.”

“You’re beautiful,” he said, kissed her cheek, and then before they could get distracted and take this further than prudent, they were on their way to town to pick up toys at a department store first, which caused all kinds of speculation that she hadn’t expected.

“For Dottie’s kids’ birthday party,” he told the clerk, who was eyeing them
way
too much, along with four others in the store.

As soon as Chase and Shannon were again on the road, she asked, “The word isn’t also being broadcast that I’m already pregnant with your child, is it?”

He chuckled. “No telling. If they think that will protect you, they’ll say it.”

He didn’t seem to be bothered by the notion and for that she was grateful. She’d thought about having kids, but not with the boyfriends she’d had, who had been working outside of the law. She knew nothing good would ever have come of it. And not with Ted, who had told her right upfront he wasn’t interested. But for some inane reason, she was thinking about having Chase’s babies. Only because of the way the women had been eyeing them with the toys in the store. And maybe because of how nice he was to Shannon and since he’d already had a baby and he’d cared deeply about her—it just seemed natural to think about it.

“If you want to leave the party at any time,” he said, “just let me know. Dottie will understand.”

And that was another reason she really cared about him. He always was so concerned about how she felt.

She nodded and enjoyed seeing the area as he drove her out of town to Dottie’s place. The forest. The flutter of birds in the trees. She was surprised she didn’t feel the urge to run at the moment. For now, she was just relishing this.

Dottie’s place was out a ways, in a different direction than Chase’s place, woods were all around her one-story, brick home, and several cars were parked outside already. But the sheriff’s car caught Shannon’s attention.

She worried about the reason he kept showing up at all the things that she and Chase had invitations to as if Dan was there in the capacity of sheriff, observing her every move. Seeing his car here now, she felt a little apprehensive. Chase escorted her inside and she was a little overwhelmed to see all the kids, moms, Dan, even Rick and Yvonne Mueller, and Hal, which surprised her the most. She would never have had thought a bunch of eligible bachelors would be at a kids’ birthday party. He winked at her and she felt the heat rise in her face. Like with Chase, she didn't think he looked like a rough and tough military type. When they ditched their uniforms, they’d ditched their military haircuts, too.