She slumped against the counter; one hip braced at the edge. Dax slowly ran the towel over his hair. His clothes were starting to cling, and thank all the gods, so were hers. Humidity was taking over, creating a stifling atmosphere. They needed to get some windows open and fans going. With that thought, he looked around the room, easily spotting the reason he’d been called here. She wasn’t kidding; the critters had done a number on the place. She’d mentioned being closed a few days. He didn’t have the heart to tell her it might be longer than that.
“This is a historic building,” she mumbled. Dax focused his sharp hearing to better pick up her low tone. “I paid a mint for this place so it wouldn’t get torn down. It was fine,fine, when I bought it! I mean, besides the electrical fire.”
Dax ran the towel down his forearms. She looked at him then, followed the movement of the towel.
“Electrical fire?” He prompted.
She ran her top teeth over her lower lip as he dragged the towel up his bicep. His sleeve went up with it, baring flesh and muscle. “Uh, yeah... and the explosion.”
Dax moved to his other arm with a little grin. She was completely transfixed on what he was doing, and he loved it. Nothing wrong with some female appreciation, even if she did seem like a handful.
“Explosion.”
“Mmm-hmm. It was minor, unlike the drug bust.”
He dropped the towel. She drew back, her eyes snapping up to his like he’d broken some trance. Dax shook his head.
“Drugbust?”
With a sigh, she untied the apron and whipped it over her head. Motioning above the front windows, she then crossed her arms.
“Is that mold?” Her eyes went wide, her mouth parting. “I keep an immaculate kitchen. You could lick the floor and still kiss your mama, I swear.”
Dax grinned. “I’m not the health department, sweetheart.”
“Whoareyou?”
Your mate.
The words slammed into Dax’s mind and scurried off, but not without stunning him. All his family’s warnings about him having one last chance to take a mate were clouding his psyche, that’s all. How many times can a guy hear his father hollering, “You’re going to die, cub-less and alone!” before his brain starts putting that shit on repeat?
Yes, he needed a mate. No, he wasn’t in a hurry to find one. Except that he had one week to find a mate or his biological ability to produce cubs, and his epic virility, would be gone. His clock was literally ticking away and yet, he had no huge sense of urgency to do anything about it. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get himself to care that he’d be cub-less and alone. He’d do what he wanted, thank you.
Extending a hand, he didn’t wait for the woman to take it. He took hers instead. “Dax Mitchell, your contractor, Ms. Rowe.”
She didn’t pull away as he expected. And he was glad. Her hand was small and warm in his. The press of her soft skin against his palm drove electric sparks up his arm. Without pre-thought, he rubbed his thumb over her knuckles, once, twice. Never actually shaking her hand, just holding it.
“I didn’t hire you.”
She looked up at him, her fingers moving softly against his palm. Dax took a step closer. He was tall enough that he could easily curl around her, envelope her body in his. Protect her.
“Look around. You really want to let me go?”
The thought of leaving drummed up an uneasy feeling. Her eyes searched his and he had the impression she was considering booting him out the door. He knew a hopeless expression when he saw one and it was splashed all over her tantalizing face.
“What’s the point? I have raccoons, mold, and probably water damage now. The list keeps growing.”
The flatness of Allie’s tone made it seem as if she were talking about something beyond just getting this place fixed. He vaguely remembered something she’d said about a Loser Allie List as he’d walked in. Sounded like a woman being way too hard on herself. Or... someone else being hard on her. The protective surge blossomed in his breast again.
“Hey, it’s nothing I can’t fix.”
Allie pulled away then and his hand felt immediately empty. She went behind the counter to the doors that lead to the back. “Look, I can’t afford you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to call a few friends to help me dry this place out.”
Well, fuck. She was kicking him out. She pushed the doors and was almost through when he called her name. She paused but didn’t turn around.
“Allie, we’ll work something out.”
He meant it. The urge to help her, no, theneed, was all-consuming and confusing. Damn it, he didn’t need this complication right now. The mating ceremony was next week, something he had to endure and possibly use to find a mate. Life was a tangled mess and Allie Rowe was going to be a rose branch with thorns to make it worse.
