My phone dinged and I reached into my bag to get it. I saw that I had a collection of texts that I hadn’t checked. After checking them and reading through all of Mandy’s new demands, I blew out a breath and decided that I was okay to still think poorly of her. She was terrible.
I cleaned up in the attached bathroom and stared at myself in the mirror while I changed into a long teal colored maxi dress. My skin seemed to be glowing and my eyes were bright. I grunted in disgust at myself. Where was my self-control?
I grabbed a notepad from my purse and made a list of all the things she wanted. Fresh flowers. White linens on all the beds. Candles in a particular scent. A grocery list with ridiculously specific items on it. I was even supposed to buy her a few fresh towels and other shit like that. Her father’s accountant had overnighted me a credit card, so paying for the things were fine, but I’d have to go and find them all.
Standing at the door, I couldn’t help but feel nervous at potentially facing John again. My body was a traitor and tightened at the idea.
Finally, I made myself do it. I opened the door and headed downstairs. John was sitting at the kitchen table with his phone on the table in front of him. He was frowning at the thing, like it’d done him some great disservice. When he saw me, he took in my dress and a sly grin crooked his lips.
“You’re beautiful.”
I frowned at him, even while a warmth blossomed in my chest. “I have to go shopping for Mandy. I’ll be back.”
He stood up and nodded to the stairs. “Let me get a shirt on and I’ll come with you.”
I just kept walking towards the door. “No, thanks.”
I made my way down his driveway, thinking of all the places I would need to go in order to get everything that Mandy wanted. I considered the conversation with John over until he suddenly appeared at my side, dressed in a simple black T-shirt.
My mouth watered at the same time I felt my panties grow wet. John was hotter than hot in the simple shirt. It fit snugly against his chest and arms and I knew that if he reached for something, I’d be able to see a sliver of his abs when the shirt rode up. I wanted to make him reach for every top shelf item in that shirt. I wanted to see the alluring hip V I’d seen earlier, and the thin trail of hair that pointed to his impressive package.
He was a giant of a man, as most bears were. Even at my height, he towered over me. His arms were massive, as well. With dark, buzzed hair and a five o’clock shadow that made me want to cry it was so devastatingly sexy, he was my dream man. My dream man who was completely off limits if I ever wanted to get back on my feet.
“As much as I love the way you’re looking at me, unless you want me to drag you back up to my bed, I suggest you close that pretty little mouth.”
I snapped my mouth shut and grunted. “I’m not looking at you any kind of way. Get over yourself.”
He grinned at me. “Come on. I’ll drive you around.”
“No, thanks. I’ll drive myself. My car is right… Where is my car, John?” I looked at the ground where I’d parked it and then back at him. “What did you do to my car?”
“I didn’t know it was your car. You had the entire driveway blocked. I had it towed.”
“You what?” I glared at him. “Why would you do that? I have a million things to do today and thanks to you, I wasted enough time already!”
“Now I’m a waste of your time? Ouch.” He pointed to where his truck was parked. “Even though you wound me grievously, I’ll still drive you around.”
I marched over to his truck and yanked the door open. “Fine. You can drive me around, but this doesn’t change anything. I’m not your mate and Mandy is still on her way here. Nothing happened. Nothing is going to happen.”
CHAPTER 8: John
I drove my heated little mate all over the place while she refused to look at me and angrily stared at her phone. She’d finally told me that she’d only recently accepted a job as Mandy’s assistant. From the way she looked at her phone, I could tell that Mandy was probably being her typically demanding self. I shook my head and tried to work through what plan of action I was going to take.
I’d tried calling Mandy already, but she wouldn’t answer. I knew what Bunny said, but I wasn’t willing to have my mate watch me with another woman. Hell, I couldn’t stand the idea of touching Mandy, or any other woman for that matter, now that I’d found my mate. I felt slightly sorry for her, but only slightly. Actually, Mandy would be fine. She’d probably be relieved that she didn’t have to hang out in Wyoming.
I didn’t want her arriving smack dab in the middle of a breakup. It looked like that was potentially the way things were going to go though. I was getting a headache that felt like a vice around my head. All I wanted to do was be with my mate. I was with her, sure, but she was about as warm as a block of ice towards me. I wanted the pretense gone. She knew about bears, knew about mates, she was perfect. Except for the whole not wanting anything to do with me thing.