“The bear spray thing,” he mumbled around a mouthful.
“Yeah?”
“Where do I buy that?”
“I have a few cans in the storage. I’ll show you how to use it when you’ve eaten.”
“ ’Kay. Thanks.”
It was nice to see him eat what I’d made for him.
Equipped as well as he could be, Laurel left for his hike. I itched to go after him in fur, to make sure he was safe, but I had stuff to do. He’d be fine.
The driveway was covered with leaves, and the kitchen needed a sweep. Sedric usually did the housekeeping, but it didn’t make sense for him to run here just to take care of one bedroom. I could manage myself. And after lunch, I had a meeting with the new foreman at the lumber mill.
Jordy woke up late. His routine was way off because of the nights at the pub. He stumbled into the breakfast room at eleven and patted my ass.
“Make me a black one, boss, would you?”
“Who works for whom around here?”
“I did call you boss, didn’t I?”
Shaking my head, I snickered. “Double?”
“Oh yeah.” He adjusted his dick in his sweats. “Do you want me to stack the firewood? The guys were supposed to drop it off this morning.”
“It’s done. I was up early.”
“Huh.” Jordy opened the fridge and pulled out the cheese box. “And where’s our guest?”
“Already gone. He went hiking.”
He straightened, his eyebrows flying up. “What?”
“Yeah. He asked about the trails at breakfast, so I recommended the one right around town. Hopefully, he listened and won’t go off the trail by himself.”
Jordy shook his head, scratching his neck. He cut off a piece of cheddar, popped it into his mouth, and chewed. He swallowed loudly, hummed, and cut another piece.
“Laurel doesn’t seem to have much know-how about life here in the mountains,” he said.
“He doesn’t. But he’s got his phone fully charged and a new can of bear spray.”
“Let’s hope he won’t spray one of the locals.”
Hell. I hadn’t thought of that. “He will know a shifter from a bear, won’t he?” I asked.
Jordy eyed his coffee mug as if judging the color. “Maybe? He saw us shifted once. That time at Barclay’s house. But it was from a distance, through Barclay’s kitchen window.”
Holding a wet sponge in one hand and dish soap in the other, I froze. A terrifying image appeared in my head.
“Shit. I don’t care if he douses Hunter, Frey, or even Chickie in pepper spray. But what if he meets an actual bear and strikes up a conversation?”
Chuckling, Jordy cut off yet another thick slice of cheese. “He’ll be fine. There hasn’t been a grizzly this close to town in years.”
I sure hoped Laurel would stay on the trail. I shouldn’t have let him go alone. But when I imagined his reaction if I tried to stop him or force my company on him… Yeah, not like I had a choice.
Perched on a barstool, Jordy began spreading butter on his toast, the open cheese box dangerously close to him. I’d have to cut him off in a minute, or he’d eat it all. I pulled the snifter glasses out of the dishwasher and put them on the counter by Jordy’s left. He eyed them, no doubt thinking about what we’d done in front of Laurel.
