Chapter Eight
On Monday, Autumn stayed home to help Imogen around the boarding house while her siblings headed off to camp.
Clover spent the day writing up copy for the website. She kept waiting for someone to burst through the door and tell them that all three kids had been arrested, but the day passed uneventfully.
At 5 p.m., Clover was about to head out to pick her siblings up when Sam strode in her door, carrying a tray with three jars of honey on it. There was a bowl with several spoons in it next to the jar. He shut the door behind him. Had he just locked it? She raised an eyebrow at him.
“Now what are you up to?”
“Hello, nice to see you. Amazingly enough, everybody survived their first day at summer camp,” he said. “And apparently they taught everyone to escape from handcuffs. Moonshine brought them. Said she’d borrowed them from a police officer when he wasn’t looking.”
“Oh. Dear God.” She buried her face in her hands.
“What are you upset about? It’s a valuable skill.” He grinned at her and set the tray down on the table.
“I’m upset because I can’t afford bail money. What are you doing?” she demanded, pushing her chair back and standing up quickly. Her, alone in a room with that bear and a bunch of honey? That was a dangerous combination. “I have to go get the kids.”
“I took the liberty of asking Imogen to come pick them up, because we need you to work late. She’ll watch them.” As she started to protest, he sat down on the desk next to where she was standing. He was wearing jeans and a black T-shirt today, and the T-shirt molded perfectly to his massive biceps. She tried not to stare.
There was a large bulge in the crotch area of his jeans. She tried not to stare, but it was difficult not to. Good lord, everything about him was oversized.
“We have these three new flavors of honey coming out. I need you to taste each one and write up the copy describing it.”
“Anyone could do that!” she protested.
“But we hired you.” He smiled winningly. “And we pay overtime.”
“Why do you need it done tonight? I could do it tomorrow,” she argued. She could feel her willpower fading fast.
“We’d like to get this new website up and running as soon as possible.”
Without waiting for an answer, he unscrewed the lid from a jar of honey. “This jar is mango honey.”
She looked at him suspiciously. “I do not trust you.”
“Smart girl.” He winked at her.
She tried again. “My sister says that you use women for sex, just like your brother.”
“Would that be your sister Sapphire? How are things working out with her?”
Clover shrugged and looked away, mumbling a noncommittal, “Family. What can you say?”
Sam nodded. “I thought so. And what she says is not true of my brother or me, ever. I have told the women that I’ve dated that I’m a very busy man, and I don’t have time for relationships, which has always been true up until now. If I’m not interested in anything serious, I’m always honest about it.”
“And what do you want with me?”
He stared into her eyes. “I want you in my bed right now, and every night for the rest of my life.”
Her heart leapt in her chest. Her knees suddenly went weak and she sank into her chair. “Excuse me, you what? You can’t possibly know that.”
“Ever heard of fated mates?”
She shook her head. “That’s a fairy tale. Modern shifters don’t believe that.”
“I do. I felt it the second that I saw you. It just took a little while for me to admit it to myself. The more I get to know you, the more I want to claim you forever.”
“But you…you’re just telling me this now.”
