Hers to Take(2)

"Still." Sasha shook her head in disbelief. "You must have had some aggression to work out after Mrs. McCarthy."

"Was that her name?" Kira propped the ax up against the chopping block. "She was something else. How did you manage to make her happy?"

Sasha laughed. "I told her a riverfront spot had just opened up that you didn't know about."

Kira raised her eyebrows and listened with interest.

"I gave her site 58."

"Site 58? The one behind the old outhouses?"

Sasha nodded and Kira couldn't help but laugh. "But did you see the size of their trailer? It would only-"

"Just fit?" Sasha smiled an evil grin. "Exactly. They'd be able to back in, nice and tight to the toilets. I'd be surprised if they could see the lake at all once they get in there."

"You're evil."

"I think you mean evil genius."

"Of course that's what I meant." Kira laughed. "Thanks for taking care of that for me."

"That's what I'm here for. Besides, I was kind of hoping you'd be so thankful that you'd go out and meet the maintenance guy for me in the shower house."

Inwardly, Kira groaned. Dealing with Cranky Carl, as he was referred to by the campsite staff, was typically a job they drew straws for and it was Sasha's turn. The old guy was fairly handy, but he far preferred to complain about it first. For at least an hour.




 

 

"You owe me," Sasha reminded her.

"Okay." She pulled the elastic out of her thick black hair and refastened it into a ponytail. She hoped she didn't have too many wood chips stuck in her hair. "But you're boxing the wood."

"Deal." Sasha tossed her the keys to the quad they used to get around the campground and disappeared back inside. Likely before Kira could change her mind.

She'd done a lot worse, and Cranky Carl wasn't nearly as bad as her grandfather used to get when he got mad at her brothers when they were cubs. The three of them always could fire up the old man, almost as if they made a sport of it. Come to think of it, they probably did. Not that they would have told Kira. She had definitely been her grandfather's little princess. She could do no wrong.

Except once.

Dammit. Why were thoughts of home intruding on her life today? It had been almost two years since she'd left. Two years since her brothers had come looking for her. And two years since she'd turned her back and sent them away. And all for a mate.

No!

For a man she thought had been her fated mate. She'd been wrong. And now there was no going back. She'd made her choice, and she'd just have to live with it. Just as she'd turned her back on her twin brother, he'd very clearly done the same to her. For months, she'd tried to reach out to him. The connection they shared was heightened because of their twin bond. When they were in bear form, they should be able to sense each other. Especially if the other was in some sort of pain or distress. And she had been. Every day since she'd left home, Kira felt the pain of the loss deep in her gut.

But Kade had never reached out to her. Every chance she got, Kira would shift into her bear and run through the forest, calling out for her brother. Even with the distance between them, there should have been something. Some connection to let her know she wasn't alone.

But there'd been nothing. And she hadn't tried in months. What was the point?

She'd accepted her new life. Mostly. But days like today when the memories flooded back were hard.

Kira fired up the ATV and put it in gear, headed to the shower house where two of the stalls had been backing up. Dealing with Cranky Carl would be a good distraction; at least she wouldn't have to think about anything else but clogged drains and broken showers.



There were about a thousand other things Nash North would have rather been doing than sticking his hand down the clogged-up, nasty ass drain of a shower stall in a public campground. When he took the job as the resident handyman for the summer, he hadn't given the job description much thought. Or any thought, really. All Nash cared about was a place to stay and a few dollars in his pocket while he figured out his next move. 

Now that he was elbow deep in other people's hair and some sort of sludge he probably didn't even want to identify, Nash was definitely second-guessing taking the job without paying any attention to what he'd be doing.

He wiggled his fingers around the clog and tried not to think about what he might actually be touching when his sharp senses tuned into the footsteps of someone approaching.

A female.

He didn't look up, but Nash wasn't surprised when a moment later a sexy, smooth voice, with just a hint of an edge, asked, "What exactly are you doing?"

Without removing his hand from the drain, he looked up into the dark eyes of a woman every bit as sexy as her voice. More so. She was tall, although not likely as tall as he was, with strong, luscious curves beneath her parks uniform. The animal inside him responded immediately to the sight of her long, thick ponytail hanging down her back, her arms crossed over her ample chest, and the fire in her eyes as she stared down at him.