Beck could never know I’d gotten off to fantasies of him. And he wouldn’t, I thought as I pulled on pajamas and combed the tangles from my hair.
But I needed to figure out why he was so evasive on the trail. What was he keeping from me? What was he protecting?
As I settled at the desk with my laptop, one thought replaced all the others.
Beck was hiding something, and I was going to figure it out.
Chapter
Four
BECK
Iunloaded the dishwasher as the first rays of morning sunlight crept through the kitchen windows.
My hands moved on autopilot, stacking plates in the cabinet, lining up mugs, and slotting silverware into the correct places in the drawer.
I’d been guiding Charlotte for three days, and I was in deep, deep trouble. She was smart as hell and just as capable as she’d claimed. She climbed like a mountain goat, never complained about the cold, and her scientific knowledge left me in a permanent state of awed befuddlement.
And my bear wanted to scoop her up, carry her off to a quiet cabin, and make her forget her own name.
That was more dangerous than any mountain trail.
Every morning when she came downstairs, the scent of tuberoses flooded my senses. When she bent to collect soil samples, my beast tried to rip from my skin. Every soft smile and husky laugh left me hanging on the edge of a crumbling cliff.
I was fifty years old. She was twenty-three. A relationship between us was impossible. But my bear was increasingly restless…and insistent.
The beast was convinced Charlotte was ours. Mine. And it wanted to claim her and fill her. My bear wanted to stash her in my bed and satisfy her. It paced in my mind, growling with the need to fuck her until her belly swelled with my cub?—
I slammed the dishwasher shut with more force than necessary, making my coffee mug jump on the counter.
Christ.I had to get myself under control. The worst part? Charlotte wasn’t indifferent to me. I’d have to be blind not to notice. She’d stolen plenty of looks over the past three days, her gaze lingering on my shoulders before dropping to my hands. She bit that plump pink bottom lip when she thought I wasn’t watching, her cheeks flushing the same deep red as her hair.
She’d been checking me out, and her interest only encouraged my bear.
I pulled my phone from my pocket and stared at the darkened screen. One call to Everett, and I’d have my answer. He could test Charlotte’s blood and tell me within the hour if she was compatible with bear shifters.
One phone call.
One blood test.
My thumb hovered over his contact.
Wood creaked overhead. I shoved the phone in my back pocket.
A moment later, footsteps descended the stairs. Charlotte appeared in the kitchen doorway with her laptop clutched in both hands. Her hair was a red cloud around her shoulders, and she wore sweatpants and a Colorado State University hoodie that made her look achingly young.
And so far out of reach she might as well have been in a different solar system.
“I want to show you something,” she said, a determined glint in her eyes.
My stomach tightened. In my mind, my bear stiffened, the beast on high alert. If she meant to leave…
Shushing my beast, I nodded toward the table. “Have a seat.”
She held my stare for a second, then obeyed, but the determination in her eyes held steady as I filled a second mug and carried the coffees to the table. Setting her cup in front of her, I settled in my chair and gestured to her laptop.
“If there’s math involved, you’re on your own. I stick to alphabet soup.”
