Page 11 of Claiming Her Cougar (Shifting Pines #2)

MALLORY

Oh boy. Lunch with Liam went better than I expected.

He’s funny and sweet. Goodness knows he’s hot.

I already know all those muscles he has aren’t just for show.

I flush, remembering him pounding into me against that wall in Vegas.

He supported my weight like I was a feather.

Neither of us wants to date, so maybe we could just do a casual thing.

It’s not like he’s a guy I can take home to my parents.

He’s a cougar shifter and a maintenance guy.

I’m not a snob, but if my parents have a hard time with me being a paralegal, I doubt they’re going to be impressed with me dating someone who changes light bulbs and makes sure signs are properly placed as a career.

I know I promised Valerie not to date a coworker, but we are in completely different departments.

The situation is nothing like hers. A guy from the operations department isn’t going to impact my job in the legal department.

I take my purse up to the new office. They’ve delivered our computers, so I sit down and log in to make sure there isn’t anything pressing to deal with.

Daphne returns from lunch as I’m logging out.

We need the files up here so we can do the few new things that Miller, the attorney we work with on collection matters, has dictated, so I tell her I’m going back downstairs to finish loading the carts.

“I’ll come with you. There isn’t anything to do up here until we have the files. We could each take a different section of shelves and load a cart,” she suggests.

I rise and grab my phone. “Sounds good.”

We take the stairs down to the lobby. We’re crossing to the door for our former area when the elevator dings, and the doors open to reveal Will and Mike.

“Were your computers set up okay?” Mike asks as they step out.

Daphne nods. “Yep, all good. Going to finish loading the carts to get the files upstairs and get back to work.”

“Hey, Liam, I didn’t know you’d be by today,” Will says, looking over my shoulder.

“Hey, Dad, yeah, I finished checking out the AC site. Figured I’d help with moving the files if they needed me,” Liam answers.

Dad? Dad? Why the fuck is Liam calling Will “ Dad” ? I struggle to keep my face expressionless, but I feel the blood drain from it. I hope no one notices.

“Oh, hi, Liam,” Daphne says. “We’re not going to turn down muscles. Have you officially met Mallory? I know you rescued her, but I didn’t know if you knew each other.”

Well, the blood is rushing back to my cheeks now with Daphne’s reminder that this man has seen me using the toilet. My boss’s son. I’m betting he’s not just a maintenance man. His job title must include more than changing light bulbs.

Liam looks at me. I can’t read the expression in his blue eyes, but they aren’t the light blue they were during lunch. They’re darker, like the sky before a summer storm.

“We’ve met. Hi, Mallory.”

“H—hi, Liam,” I choke out.

He gives me a brief smile, but it’s more guarded than the grins he flashed me at lunch.

I wonder if he realizes our relationship has just changed.

Not that it was a relationship. It was a lunch…

and hot sex six months ago. But not a relationship.

Not even a hint of one. Nope. I guess I came out ahead since I was going to buy lunch next time, and now there won’t be a next time.

My heart aches at the thought of there not being a next time.

I’m sure it’s just the garlic knots. It’s heartburn, not heartbreak.

I’ll buy him a pretzel at the game tomorrow night.

Wait. The game. How can we go now? It was one thing when I thought I was going with a random coworker, but I know Liam isn’t just a coworker now.

I don’t know his title, but it’s somewhere above mine. I hate it when my sister is right.

“Have a good lunch,” I say to Will and Mike, then turn to the file room. I need to get away and regroup. I swipe my badge to enter the room and go into the back area, snagging a file cart as I walk by. Daphne can work in the main space. I realize my miscalculation when Liam follows me in.

This room feels way too small with Liam’s oversized presence.

I didn’t realize how tall and broad he was until we were in this space together.

I recognize he’s not trying to intimidate me with his size.

My brothers are both tall, powerful men, and even though they’re wolf shifters, they’re big teddy bears.

I’m not intimidated, but I am so aware of him.

I can smell him. I don’t know if it's cologne, his soap, or just him, but I smell pine trees, sunshine, and a hint of sea air. The heat coming off his body is making me sweat. I crack open a window to get some cool air coming in. I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths to try to clear my head. When I open my eyes, I find Liam’s eyes trained on my chest. I cross my arms.

Liam closes the distance between us, stopping a mere two feet away.

My head is spinning from his nearness. It’s like I’m getting drunk on pheromones or something.

His blue eyes are no longer cloudy. They’re bright blue, and I swear they’re flashing.

Oh no, it was the fluorescent bulb overhead flickering before burning out.

“Do you need to go change that?” I point up at the burned-out bulb.

Such a bitchy thing to say, I know, but I need room to breathe, to think, and I can’t do that while he’s so close to me.

My fingers itch to trace the line of his jaw and read the stubble like it’s a sonnet written in braille.

I keep my arms firmly crossed over my chest.

“I didn’t realize until lunch that you didn’t know who I am. I didn’t know how to tell you. I decided to tell you tomorrow night on the way to the game,” Liam says.

“Wait until I’m stuck in a vehicle with you to tell me something major like, hey, I’m the son of your boss?”

He at least has the grace to blush at my whisper-shout. I start a playlist on my phone in hopes it disguises our conversation.

My country love song playlist starts. Bzz. Wrong answer. I switch it to my “Men are Scumbags” playlist and smile. Okay, really, it’s my girl power playlist, but it’s multipurpose.

I lean against the file cabinet I should be emptying and cross my arms over my chest again. Liam glances down again. I hope he enjoys the view because he has no chance of anything else now.

“What do you really do for the company?” I ask. “You’re not a maintenance man.”

“Well, I kinda am. My title is Vice President of Operations, so part of my job is making sure things are running smoothly. If necessary, I change light bulbs and empty trash cans.”

I roll my eyes. I just can’t with him right now. I turn and open the top drawer and start pulling out files.

“If you’re going to be here, you may as well be useful.

I’m going to pull our working files first. You can put them on the cart.

Once we pull all of them, they’ll go upstairs.

” I load him up, wondering how many he’ll accept before he unloads them.

Will he be stubborn and try to prove how strong he is, or will he be logical and accept fewer files at a time so he’s able to load them on the cart without dumping them?

I’m begrudgingly impressed when he goes with logic.

We work in silence for a couple minutes, songs about telling Earl goodbye and boots under beds providing the soundtrack to our efforts.

“I’m sorry,” he says softly. “I wasn’t trying to deceive you. I’m used to everyone here knowing who I am, and since you work with Daphne, I just assumed you knew.”

“Well, we never exchanged last names, so I guess it’s fair.” I wipe my hand on my trousers and stick it out. “Mallory Carter.”

His large hand engulfs mine, and a wave of memory washes over me—the way his hands brought pleasure to my body that night months ago. Why do we have to work together?

“Liam Morgan. Officially I’m William James Morgan III, but I’ve always gone by Liam.”

“Nice to meet you, Liam. You have a nice name.” I pull my hand from his reluctantly.

“Thanks. Sometimes it would be a lot easier if it was something different.” He rolls his eyes and sighs.

“I know I’m not a Kennedy or whatever, but people in certain circles hear the Morgan name and expect things.

Makes it hard to meet people. It was nice realizing you liked me without knowing who I am. ”

It’s my turn to sigh. “I’m sorry. You seem like a nice man.”

“Do you still want to go to the game tomorrow night?”

“I don’t know…”

“Hey, Daphne!” Liam calls out.

She pokes her head in and takes out her earbud. “What?”

“Were you and Logan going to the Flyers game tomorrow night?” he asks.

“Yeah,” she replies. “Are you? Ooh, did you want to go, Mallory? We’re sitting in the Morgan Development box. Free food and drinks. You could ride with us and stay over if you wanted so you don’t have to schlep home after.”

“We could all ride together,” Liam suggests.

I shoot him a glance. I know he’s making it difficult for me to bow out and explain to Daphne why I don’t want to go.

“Let’s talk about it tonight, okay?” I try to change the subject, hoping Daphne will go back to her shelves and not notice the tension between me and Liam.

The less she sees us together, the better.

I don’t want her trying to play matchmaker or asking questions about why I’m always so tense around him.

“What’s happening tonight?” Liam asks with faux innocence. If it wouldn’t be an HR issue, I swear I’d punch him. I satisfy myself by shooting him a ’Why are you being so nosy?’ look.

“Mallory is coming over after work for dinner and to hang out. We have stuff to talk about. I think Logan was going to see about hanging out with you,” Daphne says.

Oh, crap. Liam and Logan are cousins. That didn’t occur to me. Well, this just got more awkward.

Liam pulls out his phone to check for a text from his cousin. “Haven’t heard from him yet. What were you having for dinner?”

Oh no. He better not be inviting himself over.

“Chinese,” Daphne answers. “I can order extra if you guys want to join us.”

Sweet, naive Daphne. She walked right into that. I huff out a deep breath as I turn back to the file cabinet and start pulling more files to hand to Liam.

I enjoyed lunch, but I’m betting dinner won’t be as comfortable.