Bearly Dated (The Enigma Shifters) Page 2

  “Great.” I shoved the paper back at Jax. “Then you don’t need me.”

  “Hold it.” Jax grabbed his arm and stopped him from walking away. “You’re not getting out of this that easily. There are two of them, remember? Savannah and Violet. Savannah hasn’t run away, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t need protection.” He slapped the damned paper on Carter’s chest. “I’m giving you this one, so deal with it. And that isn’t a request.”

  Carter narrowed his eyes at his brother, knowing full well he wasn’t doing him any favors. If Jax wanted him to take Violet, there had to be a reason.

  He grabbed the paper and looked at the dilapidated cabin again. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  The clan leader’s eyes lit up with a smirk, though the rest of his facial features remained neutral. Jax didn’t have any sense of humor to begin with, so that was about as telling as he got.

  The Raye sisters had not been in town long, and he’d yet to meet either of them. Their arrival in town had caused some talk down at The Buttered Biscuit, but that was the norm for any newcomers that blew in.

  Whether they stayed an hour or permanently, there’d be talk.

  “Carter,” his brother warned. “Just take care of it. We need her back here pronto. If their powers begin to manifest like Jami’s did, we’re going to have a real problem on our hands.”

  “Fine.” He folded the piece of paper listing the cabin’s sad details in half and shoved it into his pocket.

  However, he wasn’t giving up pizza night because some chick didn’t care about her own safety. He’d go out there and haul her back if that’s what it took. But first, he’d be stopping by Tony’s to get that extra-large pie to go.

  If she didn’t want to come willingly, maybe he could bribe her with the best damn pizza in the world. Or, worst-case scenario, they wouldn’t starve to death when that shithole of a cabin collapsed around them leaving them trapped until someone came to rescue them.

  3

  Carter stood on the deck of the small cabin in the woods, frozen in place. What he saw in front of him was so far from what he expected he couldn't get his brain to fire properly.

  There was a woman bent over in the open doorway painting the floor a brilliant blue. Although it wasn't the color that drew his attention, but the woman herself.

  From behind, he couldn't see exactly what she looked like, but the lush curves that ran from her shoulders to her hips were divine.

  The plain gray tank top hugged her back and waist in a beautiful indent that flared to round hips barely encased in cutoff denim. Seriously, those short shorts were so damned tight, they might be outlawed in some states.

  Of course, he now wanted to stand there and simply appreciate the view.

  But it was her scent, wafting through the air, that truly slayed him. His heart raced out of control as his bear roared to the surface. The addicting aroma of something so damned sweet with just a hint of spice underneath it told him one very important thing.

  Mine.

  Mate, the bear growled.

  Whatever questions he was supposed to ask were fading fast. He’d have to interrupt. Just as soon as…

  The music suddenly changed to an upbeat tempo and the woman in front of him began swinging those hips along with the music. His eyes bugged out, and he nearly swallowed his tongue.

  Either the universe had just dropped an amazing gift in his lap wrapped in a shiny new bow, or he was about to get screwed and not in a good way.

  He was also still just standing there like a jackass who didn’t know what to do and decided he was okay with that because he was definitely enjoying the view and didn't give one shit about whether it was right or wrong.

  He had no idea what he'd done to deserve such a treat, but he thanked the stars it had been his job to come out here and find out what had gotten into the newest Enigma Falls resident.

  When his brother had forced this mission on him, he’d failed to mention anything about a curvy female with black spiky hair, a cute wiggle, and absolutely no singing talent whatsoever.

  The entire drive over here, he’d stewed in annoyance and frustration that he even had to come out this far. What had the female been thinking?

  A decrepit cabin in the woods? Had she never seen a horror movie?

  However, as his body grew harder with each passing moment, his attitude did a one hundred and eighty degree turn. Maybe he didn’t need that extra-large pizza, waiting in his car, to coerce her after all.

  Not when he had something else in mind.

  First, though, he'd better make his presence known before he embarrassed himself by doing something stupid. Like asking her to get naked. Yeah, that would probably get him a kick in the junk. Something he never enjoyed.

  "Excuse me," he started. But apparently she was too focused on her work or the music to notice, as she continued to twitch her mesmerizing hips and sing along with the lyrics. And God help him if she wasn't listening to an old classic by Sir Mix A Lot that declared his baby had back.

  Understatement of the century.

  Carter groaned. Was this for real? He swung around and checked behind him to see if his brothers had followed him out here. It was just like those assholes to set him up in some sort of twisted practical joke.

  With his dick getting embarrassingly hard, he certainly needed no audience to make things worse. He shifted his stance, in the slight hope that he could ease the tight press of unforgiving denim into his skin. No such luck.

  Finally, the song ended, giving him the opportunity to declare his presence by clearing his throat.

  The woman jerked, twisting around so fast that her paintbrush went flying, headed straight for his head. Fortunately, his bear instincts were as close to the surface as his horny human half.

  He twisted his shoulders out of the way, the brush flew by his head and landed on the deck behind him with a splat, blue paint coating the natural wood.

  “What the hell? Are you trying to scare me half to death?” She clutched at her chest for a moment before she spied the mess and groaned. "Oh no. I do not want a blue deck. I mean, who in their right mind would buy a house if the deck were painted that bold a color?" She scrambled to her feet and brushed past him, giving him a whiff of something even more delicious than her in those shorts.

  She smelled sweet like peach cobbler and vanilla ice cream on a warm summer day, but with that little something extra. Carter closed his eyes for a moment and catalogued each unique scent.

  She probably used a peaches and cream shampoo on her hair, and something coconutty on her skin. But with the sheen of perspiration on the back of her neck as she worked, everything got enhanced.

  Claim her.

  His bear wasn’t behaving reasonably, but the rest of him wasn’t much better.

  He was definitely being a perv as he imagined his tongue running along that sweet curve between her shoulder and neck as she laid in bed, writhing.

  He needed to get his thoughts together, or this little interview was not going to go well at all.

  And dammit to hell, now he wanted peach cobbler, and The Buttered Biscuit would be closed by the time he got back to town.

  “I assume you’re here about the job.”

  Carter jerked at her voice and reopened his eyes. She had finished scrubbing at the paint and rejoined him by the door. Albeit with a smudge of the blue stuff on her left cheek.

  “Job?” he asked. He wasn’t sure where this was going, but he definitely wanted to find out. What kind of job was this woman offering, and how did he apply?

  “Yeah, the handyman position. The guy at the hardware store said he was going to send someone by that he recommended. I'm Violet, by the way.”

  She thrust her hand in front of him and he took it, knowing full well that touching her was going to change everything. And it did. The electric jolt that sizzled across his skin poked at the bear, who nearly stood up and growled. Would it be too much if he asked to bury his nose in that curve of h
er neck?

  Deciding it definitely was, for now, he held her hand a moment longer than necessary and introduced himself. “Carter Stone.”

  "Well, Mr. Stone. This is it." She pulled free from his grasp and swept her arm in the direction of the cabin behind them. “I know it’s small and a little rundown, but it’s kind of cute with a whole lot of potential.”

  Luckily, her outrageous description for this place was enough to pull him out of his head and into a conversation that had nothing to do with asking her for inappropriate things.

  “Cute?” That was about the last word he’d use to describe this nightmare.

  She shrugged. “If you look past all the little things it needs—yeah. My job, of course, is to make it cuter, so I can sell it for a nice profit. Which is where you come in.”

  “Sell it?” he asked, still barely able to comprehend that she had actual plans for this place that didn’t include tearing it down and rebuilding from scratch. Now she wanted to sell? He'd been under the impression she just bought the place. He was going to have to talk to Jax about the quality of information he was getting these days.

  “Yep,” she nodded. “It's what I do. I find rough little diamonds like this that just need a bit of spit and polish to look good again, and I fix them up. Then I sell them for more than I paid. Then, I move on, and rinse and repeat.”

  He stared at her for a few seconds until his brain finally caught up with the rest of him. “Ohhhh, you're one of those flipper people. Like on television.”

  She drew her brows together and looked at him like he might be touched or something. “Yes. Although let me tell you, it’s not nearly as glamorous as those shows make it out to be. Flipping houses is hard work and requires impeccable timing. I’m sure there are others in the area. It’s become big business all across the nation.”

  He shrugged. Construction wasn't exactly his business so he didn't keep up with all the details, but there were a few guys in town that did remodeling for people when they needed to upgrade. “A few, maybe. I don't really keep track of them, though.”

  “But you have experience with home renovation? I tried to be as specific as possible with the guy at the hardware store. This is kind of a small job for a general contractor, but it will go a lot quicker and easier if I have some help.”

  Oh he definitely wanted to help her. Although maybe not in the same way she pictured. He hated to tell her, but this place was beyond a little fixing up.

  “I am a fixer of sorts, but more like a jack of all trades. A little of this, and a little of that,” he said. Which was true. He was good with his hands, and the clan used him to fix all kinds of things. And situations. People, places, etc.

  Although lately he'd been more of a referee than a fixer. With the increasing population in Enigma, there were too many strangers coming through that could upset the delicate balance of clan privacy.

  Or spilling of the tea, as his mother would say. She liked to keep things simple— everything with her was an -ism of one sort or another.

  Still, he had a job in this town, and he liked to think he did it well. Keep the peace, maintain the secrets, and keep it real. All while keeping a level head.

  “Oh good. What about electricity then? Are you licensed for that?”

  He hesitated before answering. Now was his opportunity to let her know she'd mistaken him for someone else. To drag this out could backfire.

  Except his bear was threatening him with serious harm if he did anything that meant they wouldn’t stay in her presence. So, he weighed his options. Tell her he was from the Sheriff’s office, sent here to drag her back to her sister’s place, or go along with the handyman scenario and spend the next however many days working alongside her on this decidedly not cute cabin so he could keep an eye on her for himself and in private.

  “I'm qualified for whatever you need. What did you have in mind?” Apparently his mouth made the decision for him, whether he agreed with it or not.

  “Perfect. I think I need a new electrical panel. The one currently here is ancient. I think I read something online about that model being known to cause fires.”

  While that wouldn’t surprise him, he definitely didn't like the sound of it. If there was a chance his future mate was going to be staying here for any length of time, it was his job to make sure the place was safe for her.

  Wait. Was he really ready to accept that? A mate? Where normally he liked to think on things before making a decision, this one had solidified immediately.

  He might need a plan to make it happen, but for now he would do what it took to learn everything about her, and then when she understood, he would claim her for good.

  He smiled at her as she nibbled on the corner of her bottom lip. If she needed help with that he'd be more than happy to oblige.

  If the smarter half of his brain was a person standing next to him it would have slapped him on the back of the head for that idiotic thought. Apparently, his thought process was still firmly lodged in the fact he still sported a half-hard dick and it wasn't going away.

  “Why don't I take a look at that, and you can tell me what else you need.”

  Please say sex.

  Carter inwardly sighed. Yep. This was turning out to be one crazy ass day.

  He followed Violet around to the back door and took in the surroundings.

  From the road, the plain brown cabin looked like nothing but a shack. But back here… This was the money shot, and the only explanation for why anyone would purchase this dump.

  They were less than fifty yards to the river, but sitting up high enough from the bank that the odds of flooding were low. Which might be the best damn thing about this place.

  Well, if you didn’t count the stunning view. Lush green trees as far as the eye could see, and while there were other cabins close by, they were all hidden by vegetation. The mountains loomed in the distance, adding yet another visual layer to the space, making him start to see more and more of the appeal.

  The river flowed at a decent speed, and he found the rushing noise of the water over rocks rather soothing. Maybe if the overgrowth between the cabin and the river got cut back, and she carved out a spot for a deck and a nice fire-pit…

  He shook his head to cut off his thoughts. It was one thing for her to get fanciful thoughts in her head about this place, and another for him to go there.

  He had a decent apartment just down the street from police headquarters that made his life easy. It was small, without anything to wax poetic over, but he wasn’t that kind of guy. He didn’t care where he lived, as long as it kept him dry, warm, and it allowed him to watch sports.

  He didn’t need a riverfront cabin that meant he could catch fish from his backyard. Or a thickly wooded spot for his bear to roam with the cool dirt underneath his massive paws, after which he could enjoy a splash in the water.

  Goddammit!

  He turned away from the river and followed Violet through the back door that led directly into a small living area. The room was empty except for a wood stove in the corner. Typical for these cabins out here. They'd been built back in the sixties and were used mostly by hunters.

  They were small enough not to need central heating. As long as you had wood to last through the winter, you kept plenty warm. And this close to the water, it took no more than a few fans to stay cool in the usually hot summers.

  He imagined a super comfy couch in here, Violet curled up on it, wrapped in a blanket in front of a roaring fire and his body wrapped around hers. It would be fun to spend a winter out here with her. Summer too, if she kept wearing those short shorts that gave him tantalizing glimpses of a nice round butt cheek every time she took a step.

  "Electric panel is in the kitchen. Fortunately, I haven't started painting the floor in here, so you can still access it. I've got to rip these old cabinets out of here and replace them with something a little more modern before I can even think about dealing with these floors."

  "Why not just replace the floor
s? That tile you're painting has seen better days."

  "Oh my God, ain't that the truth." She laughed. "I thought about it. But the fact that this cabin sits in a flood zone makes me nervous about investing too much into something that might need regular replacing. So I did some research and if I just paint them, I can save myself a ton of work and cash, while still making them look great."

  Her enthusiasm for the project made her light up. Her eyes were bright and her cheeks flushed. Which of course made him think of other ways he could make her body flush. But first, he needed to get his hands on her. Carter nearly groaned. He really was pathetic. Not to mention inappropriate.

  She pointed to the panel, and he reluctantly turned away from her. Fortunately, he recognized that piece of shit panel right off. "Yep, you definitely need to replace that. It definitely can’t take the kind of power draw that comes from modern appliances."

  "You can tell without even looking at it?" she sounded doubtful.

  "Yeah. I helped out a friend who owned a cabin kind of like this one on the other side of the river. Had the exact same panel. I think the same contractor built all of these around the same time, and he didn't have a reputation for quality builds. I hope you're ready for this project, ‘cause it could be a doozy. There’s probably a lot of crap hiding underneath the surface.”

  “It wouldn't be the first time I bit off more than I could chew.” She scratched at some blue paint stuck to her skin.

  He didn't like the vibe of worry that now emanated from her. He preferred the wide smile she'd greeted him with when she told him her name.

  “Violet.” He stepped a little closer, careful not to invade her private space so as not to spook her. “I can help you.”

  “Thanks,” she said, looking up at him with only a half-smile on her face. “I've only been out here a week, and I already really like this place. I think it's going to be special.”

  A week? And his brother had just now gotten to sending someone out here. What the hell?

  Did she really have no idea that being out here unprotected was not a good idea or was she just that stubborn? Drago had to have warned her…or not. Carter never knew what to expect from him. He followed no one’s rules but his own and there wasn’t a damned thing anyone could do about it.