A Lady's Heart (Takhini Shifters #3)(6)

He wasn't getting out of the pool anytime soon, not unless it turned icy cold, which wasn't likely.

Distraction was needed.

She rested her chin on his shoulder to speak. "I made us an appointment this afternoon at the art studio."

He leaned toward her. "Sounds fun."

"We'll see. Are you sure you won't get in trouble with me taking over your schedule like this?"

He shook his head. "I'm pretty much my own boss unless Tyler is around."

Which reminded her all over how confused she'd been to discover Justin had remained in Whitehorse. Glad-but confused. "I thought you were a bodyguard. How come he's gone, and you're not guarding?"

"Because he left on his honeymoon, and I was smart enough to know I wasn't welcome." He turned and offered her a secret grin. "He's safe. I've got a surveillance team on him at all times."

"That's sneaky." And made her a little nervous. "He doesn't know?"

"Oh, trust me, he knows I've got someone watching him, even though he doesn't know exactly who, but it's not the same as having his best friend watching him make goo-goo eyes at his new wife. One of my jobs is to keep him safe, well, him and Caroline now, and he's not allowed to argue with what it takes to get the job done."

She nodded, but it still made her think back to less-than-happy times. "That was my least favourite part of being married to Todd. With all his political aspirations, it always felt as if someone was watching me." A shiver escaped in spite of the heated water.

"It's not always pleasant to think about," he agreed "but it is the price of being a public figure."

He leaned his head back on the pool ledge and closed his eyes, and she got to stare to her heart's content.

Justin's dark good looks were eye-candy to add sweetness to the ordinary, simple pleasure she'd already experienced. The heat of the water buoyed her as she considered his willingness to come jump up and down and basically make a fool of himself.

She held onto his arm, using him as an anchor.

People were entering and exiting the pool all the time, but they gave Justin and her a wide berth, especially as a rumble rose from his hairy chest. At first it was low enough to be a tickle in her ears, but as she checked him more carefully, the rumble deepened. Grew more intense, the kind of noise she could imagine him making as he ran his hands over her skin. Petting and caressing her. Pressing his lips to the spot under her ear that drove her wild as he stroked a hand up the inside of her …

Okay, that was letting her imagination run away a bit too far.

He groaned-an intensely sexual noise, as if he was in the middle of a wild fantasy similar to the one she'd been enjoying, and in spite of everything inside her that wanted to keep listening, she wiggled higher until she could lay her hand on his chest.

"Justin," she whispered urgently.

He cracked an eye open. "Had enough?"

Not nearly enough if her libido had anything to say about it. But she nodded then offered a warning. "You're making … noises."

Dirty noises. Wonderful, panty-wetting, makes-me-want-to-melt noises.

He shuffled back to a sitting position, blinking when he discovered only one person remained in the hot tub with them. An older woman. Human, but obviously alert to the nuances of the shifter world as she glanced between the two of them, a mischievous smile twisting her lips.



       
         
       
        

"Y'all planning on coming to Aquasize on a regular basis?" she asked with a grin. "Because I think my ticker got a better workout watching you two for the last few minutes than it did during the entire workout."

Mandy had no idea what to say in response.

Justin offered the old woman a wink.

She returned it enthusiastically. "You go getter', boy. If I were only twenty years younger."

"I'd have to be twenty years younger to keep up with you," Justin returned.

A smile drifted in unbidden as Mandy exited the tub and waited for Justin to join her.

"Flirt," she teased as they walked side by side toward the dressing rooms.

"My ego likes a little stroking," he confessed. He picked up her towel and draped it around her shoulders.

The offer to stroke parts of him other than his ego hovered on her lips. Mandy hurriedly tossed out different words. "Meet you on the other side?"

"Since that's my only option, sure."

She set the shower as cold as she could stand it, excusing the need to cool off on the hot tub and not a reaction to being around Justin while letting her fantasies run rampant.

Only when she opened her locker all sexy thoughts vanished-

Something was off.

Mandy checked her things, but it seemed they were all there. Money, ID, credit cards. Her clothes and shoes were untouched, and there was no scent she could point out, but then her sniffer wasn't the best, and with the chlorine in the air and shampoo and soap wafting by, she was left with a lingering sense of uneasiness, and nothing more.

Maybe … she was missing her watch? But she couldn't be sure she'd even worn it today, after waking in a new place all excited to get together with Justin.

She dressed quickly, suddenly needing to be next to the big protective bear and let him reassure her that nothing was wrong.

Nothing could be wrong, because she'd already survived too many days where things went wrong. Those days were in her past …

Oh, how she hoped they were in her past.





Chapter Four





Justin waited outside the change rooms, nodding politely as other members of the class left. Some giggled as he dipped his head, but he barely gave any of the other women more than a passing glance, his focus fixed on the door Mandy should slip out of soon.

The bit of teasing between him and Mandy during the class had been nowhere near where he wanted to go, but the sweet, innocent interaction had felt right, as long as she didn't plan to keep them going at that pace for another couple of months.

He'd hurriedly showered and dressed while considering hard. She'd been through a lot, he knew that. And for a human woman it would probably take a long time to recover from how she'd been treated. But as a shifter, she'd already made it clear she was taking steps to move on. 

She never should've suffered in the first place, and the urge to track down her ex flared again. Justin let it go and refocused on the most important thing, which was him and Mandy, and finding how they fit.

More ways than one.

It was too much temptation for one man to bear, or maybe it was too much temptation for one bear to handle without losing control of his man. The woman he wanted with a desperate need had sat next to him clothed in a scrap of fabric he could ball into one fist and barely notice it was there.

Justin leaned against the wall and rested his head back, closing his eyes as he attempted to think of terrible things to get his cock to deflate.

The problem was, with his eyes closed it was too easy to drift back to the hot tub, the sweet scent of her filling his head. The scenario slipped farther in his mind than it had in reality as he imagined her straddling him, resting her hands on his shoulders as their bodies slid together.

He forced his attention back to the here and now, willing his body to stop tormenting him.

When she finally joined him, Mandy's expression seemed dazed, and he jerked to attention. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "I don't know for sure. I thought I wore my watch, but it wasn't in the locker. I was looking around to see if I'd left it anywhere. Sorry it took me so long-"

Justin went on high alert. "You think someone stole it?"

"Or I'm mistaken, and it's back at my new place." She offered him a sheepish smile. "I'm not completely settled in yet. It's very possible I didn't follow my usual routine."

He didn't want to alarm her, so he didn't argue other than insisting they stop at the front desk where she left a description in case it was turned in to the lost and found.

Out in the parking lot, though, he couldn't help himself. "Since we're both going the same direction, how about we get down to one vehicle?"

Mandy considered the suggestion. "I suppose that makes sense."

"Be nice to the environment," he teased.

"I insist on paying for gas." She tossed him her keys.

Okay, that was better than he'd expected.

With all the stalking-correction-with all the casually happening to notice every single detail about her in a totally not stalker-ish creepy way he'd done, he'd figured she was going to insist on driving. He didn't really care if it was her Jeep or his, as long as they were together in one vehicle.

He'd text one of the Takhini pack and get them to grab his vehicle from the swimming-pool parking lot. "What time is our art class, and do you have anything you need to do before then?"

Mandy asked to stop at the store, and he followed along happily as she selected a few things, pretending he was in dire need of some items himself. She strolled up and down the aisles wearing a contented expression, and he wasn't about to do anything to wipe that expression off her face.

Shopping was followed by lunch at another a coffee shop, with sandwiches and pitcher-sized cups of coffee filled to the brim. It was brisk out, but both of them sat at their outdoor table in shirtsleeves, the cool air nowhere near enough to make their shifter blood need a jacket.