“This is just gorgeous. I like that painting. Did you paint it? Of course, you did. The one in your shed was just lovely too. Oh, your bathroom is huge. Nice double vanity and that tub.” I trilled breathlessly, turning to smile cheerily before I walked right by him again and sailed back downstairs.
I wouldn’t laugh at the shock I saw on his face because that would just be rude, but I mentally high-fived myself when I reached the living room again and stopped with a sigh.
“Okay. So I’ll start tomorrow. My battle plan is simple. I’ll just clear up on the first day, make sure all the laundry is situated where it needs to be. Get the dishes sorted and the kitchen clean, and then I’ll move on to the bedrooms and bathrooms, and I’m assuming that’s the study?” I mused, pointing to a doorway tucked away to the right of the stairs.
When Caleb just nodded, grunting a non-verbal affirmative, I smiled again and reached out, taking his hand in mine this time to avoid an awkward repeat of before.
“It was so nice to meet you, and I’m so happy I’ll be working for you and helping you with this beautiful house.” I belted out in one breath, almost wheezing as I jabbered and tried to keep talking so that hecouldn’t. “I have to go now though. My Grammy Lacy, that’s the one from mama’s side, lives with a friend of hers here, and I cook for them every Thursday, Sunday, and Tuesday. Judie’s daughter Yolanda does the other days. I told her she didn’t have to, but Grammy followed me here, leaving the pack. It was so sweet. I mean, it’s what really helped me after Shane and his…well, that’s a whole other story. I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye.” I croaked, sucking a big breath into my lungs while I skittered out and back onto the porch.
I managed to keep my giggles in all the way to the car and as I pulled out, but the moment I glanced up, peered into the rearview mirror, and saw Caleb Chase standing on the porch, his face still covered in the dazed, confused look of a man who’d never met me, I let out a hard laugh.
And laughed all the way home as I thought about Caleb Chase, his hotness, and the fact that I’d just steam rolled my way into a job. What would happen now? Would he let me stay? Was I going to finally be protected?
Mostly, I wondered if I was going to be okay working for a man I found as attractive as I did Caleb Chase. The man was angry, that was clear enough, and he didn’t want me around. I could work with that since I wasn’t a stranger to being unwanted. What I wasn’t sure I could work with was how very much I felt for a man I’d just met.
I couldn’t allow myself to feel for him. This was a job, one I desperately needed, and I couldn’t risk it by feeling anything for Caleb Chase. There was one problem, though; I already felt something, and knowing me, I’d feel a whole lot more soon.
I had a feeling this may just be one more in a long line of mistakes I’d already made, but as usual, I shrugged it off and kept smiling.
And prayed that everything would be okay.
Chapter 2 Caleb
“C
all her and tell her no.” I snarled into the phone, my patience at its lowest ebb since I’d come back from the feral state, and wrestled my mind back into submission.
I was close to losing it now, and it had nothing to do with the jabbering little magpie and everything to do with how I felt when she took my hand. Up till that point, I was somewhat amused by just how intent she was on getting the job. I had no intention of letting her sneak tactic work. I was actually just humoring her full-on chatter attack as I followed her silently.
She was determined though, and I still wanted to chuckle when I thought about the look on her face when she saw my house. Horror would be an understatement. Hell, her eyes bugged. I had to admit, finding her in my studio pissed me off enough, I wanted to yell at her until she ran, but after that, after seeing her steel herself, paste on that fake smile and bulldoze her way through me, I was more amused than I think I’ve felt in…years.
“No. Your house needs to be cleaned, Ren needs a job, and as far as I’m concerned, the problems solve one another. She’s there to work, nothing more, nothing less, and if you don’t like that, well, that’s not my problem. And no, since I’m the one paying her, you can’t fire her.” Walker growled, his Alpha voice sending chills down my spine when my own alpha animal growled.
“I don’t want her here.” I snapped, pacing my filthy living room until I almost tripped on something lying on the floor.
Cursing, I leaned down to scoop it up and flushed when I realized it was my underwear. Dirty underwear that adorable little—
No. Stop that. She isn’t adorable, and she isn’t anything, I barked silently, an unpleasant chill racing through me when I heard my bear growl and felt my left eye heat up.
I didn’t need to look into a mirror to see my left eye was now a golden brown while the right remained gray. It happened whenever my animals wanted to come forth, and no matter what, I had to make sure that didn’t happen. Not ever again.
“Caleb, listen man, I know this is hard, but do me a favor and, for once, think of someone other than yourself. Ren she needs this.” He said softly, using a tone I hadn’t heard in so long, I tensed.
We used to be friends, best friends once before everything went so wrong. I still didn’t understand half of it. What I did know is part of me still saw him as my friend, and no matter how much I didn’t want to, I also saw him as my Alpha, my leader.
“I don’t give a shit, Walker. I warned you when you called and came up with this I won’t do it. I don’t want a woman in my house, and I sure as shit don’t want that one around.”
Not after she took my hand and jolted my nearly dormant wolf back to whimpering life. It was weak still, the presence barely there, but I felt it stir when she touched me and heard the warning growl of my bear. Ren Sheppard awoke a part of me. I needed to stay dead, and she did it with one touch. There was no way in hell I was having her here, near me, and that was just that.
“Well, you need one. No offense, man, but I’ve been to your place, and I’ve smelled the smells. The place is a pigsty, it smells bad, and just because your bear’s senses aren’t as strong as our wolf’s, doesn’t mean it’s okay for you to live like that. I know it’s overwhelming, and you’re not where you need to be to tackle it all head-on, but it needs doing. Ren will do it, and in return, she gets a job. One she needs.”
“I’ll pay her not to come here,” I growled, desperation turning my voice into a rough growl of fury.
“Wouldn’t matter how much money you gave her. The job isn’t about money. It’s about keeping Ren in the pack and making sure she's safe. I have nothing else for her here, and I can’t have her in town. The pack won’t stand for it. That leaves you, Caleb.” he sighed.
“I can’t do it. The answer is no.” I panted, tossing the dirty underwear with a silent curse before I turned and stalked into the kitchen, where I opened the fridge in search of beer.
Finding nothing, I cursed again and remembered that I’d forgotten to order more groceries this afternoon after Ren left. That woman scrambled me, the chaos she left in her wake still so intense. I only looked up from my latest painting well after sunset and realized it hadn’t helped me. Usually, painting helped, calming me enough to tamp down all emotion, but today, it meant nothing and the one thing I’d come to rely on most failed me.