Page 12 of Colton’s Mate

Callie glared out at her construction site. Now that the fun of fucking with the scammers was fading, depression was setting in. She was going to have to start all over. More contractor bids. More interviews. More time wasted.

Not to mention a possible hassle with the insurance money because of Jackson H. Higgins.

Depression made her pissed. She was supposed to be done with being depressed. And downtrodden. And taken advantage of.

“Dammit!” She picked up a piece of rubble and heaved it at the old Crows’ Nest sign, by the parking lot entrance.

It barely missed Colt. “Whoa,” he said. “Easy there.” That furious dominance had disappeared like he’d flipped a switch.

“I am not taking it easy,” Callie said. “I. Am. Pissed.”

“Scammers are enough to piss anybody off,” Colt agreed. For some reason that just pissed her off more.

“And you!” she said, pointing her finger at Colt. “You had no right to fire them like that. And you had no right to threaten them!”

He shook his head. “Wait, what? What the hell was wrong with that? You weren’t going to keep those lying assholes on your project, were you?”

“Of course not!” Callie yelled. “But they were my lying assholes. I wanted to fire them myself.”

She saw the corner of Colt’s mouth twitch.

“If you laugh at me, I swear I will turn lynx and bite your face.”

Colt raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. “I’m doing my best not to,” he said. “I’m sorry I didn’t let you fire them.”

Let her? She glared at him, slitty-eyed. He immediately saw his mistake and backtracked. “I mean, I’m sorry I jumped the gun and fired them before you got a chance.”

“I can’t believe they had the nerve to try that shit on me.”

“You didn’t fall for it,” Colt pointed out.

“But you thought I would.” Just like Tex and her stepfather and every other man she’d grown up with. “That’s why you raced in here in your shiny armor waving your dick—I mean, sword. Right? To save me from my female incompetence?”

Colt rolled his eyes. “Did it occur to you that it was not my dick, but my structural engineering expertise I thought you might need?”

“That was real? I thought you were just messing with them.”

“Nope, they’re real. Got the diplomas to prove it.” She must have still looked skeptical, because he got another card out of his wallet and handed it to her.

It was from a place called Bearcat Construction, and had his name and all his degrees and licenses on it.

“Wow,” she said, despite herself. “I’m impressed.” That was a lot of work to earn all that. And a lot of brains, too.

“I know, right? And all this time you thought I was just a smokin’ piece of prime shifter flesh with a ginormous, irresistible wiener and not a brain in his head.”

She almost felt bad until he added, with his usual cocky grin, “Now that you know I’m all smart and shit, makes you kinda hot for me, doesn’t it?”

Moment gone. “That is not even close to what I was thinking.”

Even though it was. She could feel the heat and sex appeal radiating off him, and damn he smelled good.

“I know. You were thinking you wanted to get in my pants and wishing I would let you. Which I would have, but then you hurt my feelings with your ingratitude. Now you’ll have to buy me drinks and dinner, and then take me home and put on some 70s ‘fuck me’ music while you do a sexy dance in your thong, and—”

Callie rolled her eyes and hid a smile. “You are ridiculous. Thanks for your help. Go home.”

“Okay, fine. We’ll take the sexy dance off the table. But I can find another contractor for you. A reputable one.” He flicked the edge of the card with his finger. “It’s kind of what I do.”

And there it was. “This one seemed reputable too,” she said. “Just because I hired someone who tried to scam me doesn’t make me incompetent. She suddenly felt very fierce. “This is my bar.” She waved her hand at the hole in the ground with its faulty foundation. “My business, and my livelihood. Caleb already took it over once, and turned me into an employee. I’m not handing over control over to somebody else.”