Page 12 of Claiming Her Cougar (Shifting Pines #2)

LIAM

Mallory turns back to the file cabinet with a huff, and Daphne winks at me. I try to hold back my grin—I think she’s trying to fix us up.

“I’ll text Logan and let him know we’re doing Chinese for dinner, and then you guys can do whatever you want while Mal and I hang out and catch up.” Daphne flashes a self-satisfied smile and returns to the main office.

“I don’t appreciate being manipulated, Liam. Don’t use my friendship with Daphne against me.” Mallory snarls as she shoves a pile of files at my chest with enough force to knock me back on my heels. I wasn’t expecting her strength. I should have.

“You were looking forward to going to the game. This way, it still works out without being awkward.”

“Oh no. It’s still awkward. Now it will be awkward with an audience. Thanks.”

I chuckle, thankful she doesn’t punch me. I feel safe in assuming she wants to. She sits on the floor to go through the bottom drawer without having to bend over. She gives a sudden yelp and rears back.

“What? Are you okay?” I squat next to her.

I barely resist the urge to pull her into my arms. To comfort her.

To protect her. I just want to hold her.

I’ll probably never get the chance to feel her soft curves against mine.

Feel her breath against my neck. Her lips against mine again.

Add it to the list of missed opportunities in my life.

“Yeah, the cricket carcass startled me. At least it’s not alive. I don’t know why I’m surprised anymore, but I always am. I hate crickets.”

“How about I go through this drawer? You tell me what to pull to take upstairs, and I’ll hand it to you to put on the cart. Do you only get crickets in the bottom drawers?”

She stands and brushes off the rear of her trousers. “The bottom two drawers or shelves. I’ve never seen them higher than that. I’ve only seen a live one twice. It’s always dead ones. I don’t know how we get them, but they creep me out.”

“Hopefully this is the last you encounter them,” I say, an attempt to reassure her. “Once the new files are upstairs, I’ll unload what remains in the bottom drawers and stack them on the desks so you can close them out.”

Mallory sighs. “You don’t have to do that. But thank you. It’s just startling. I know that even if it was alive, it wouldn’t hurt me.” She shoots me a grin. “It’s enough you rescued me once. You don’t have to keep being my hero.”

I wouldn’t mind being her hero.

Whoa, slow your roll, Morgan. You’ve had lunch with her twice.

You can’t go slaying dragons for her. Not that I’d slay a dragon.

The ones I know are nice guys. Okay, I only know one—Teagan’s cousin, Rhys.

But he’s a cool dude. Well, not cool . He’s a fire-breathing dragon.

He actually runs hot. Why am I going off on this tangent? Oh, yeah, being her hero.

“I don’t know if I want to be privy to your thoughts or if it’s a good thing I have no clue what you were just thinking about.” Mallory’s green eyes sparkle, and her cherry red lips tip up.

I quirk a half smile. “If you knew the twists and turns my mind took, you’d never give me the time of day. It was just a random thought.”

“If you say so. Okay. From that drawer, the files we’ll need are…”

Mallory leans over me so she can read the labels and calls out the files destined for upstairs.

She smells like apples. Must be her shampoo or body wash.

Apples are my favorite fruit, but I’ve never been turned on by the scent of them before.

I close my eyes and breathe deeply; my cougar wants to purr in happiness.

He must like apples too. I know he likes Mallory.

“That does it for in here,” she says. “Let’s finish loading the cart with files out there and then take them upstairs.” She grimaces. “I’m sorry. I’m being presumptuous. If you have other stuff to do, we’re fine without your help.”

I stand, appreciating Mallory’s height. The top of her head comes up to my chin.

She’d be easy to kiss without having to break my back bending to reach her.

I can’t be thinking about kissing her, especially not in the office.

Not that she wants to date me any more than I want to date her.

We’ve each admitted we want to focus on our careers for now, not date or have a relationship.

Now that she knows I’m not just a maintenance guy, that’s another strike against me.

Figures, I finally find a woman who likes me for me, and it’s my job and my family that are objectionable.

Not my old truck, not my jeans and work boots.

My last name and executive position have tanked it for me.

But does it matter what her objections are?

I mean, of course they matter, but I keep telling myself I need to focus on the team and what needs to be done to make that a success.

I don’t want to date anyone. I don’t want to be in a relationship.

But then my thoughts drift to Mallory and a clear desire to be with her.

Does my heart know something my head doesn’t? Is my cougar trying to tell me something? Is my cock trying to get some action? All the above?

What was so simple in Vegas is infinitely more complicated in New Jersey.

I wish she’d give me a chance. I like her.

Not just because she’s fricking gorgeous but because she’s smart and funny.

I wish we had spoken more in Vegas instead of just hooking up.

I had planned to go someplace quieter where we could talk and get to know each other some more, maybe agree to stay in touch.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get that chance.

It looks like I have Daphne willing to play matchmaker though, and I’ll gladly accept her help.

Maybe if we hang out together enough, Mallory will start seeing me differently.

Our good friends are dating, so we’ll run into each other sometimes.

My travel schedule will mess things up, but this time of year, my trips are shorter and not as frequent, so maybe that will help her miss me a bit.

We’ll see how dinner goes tonight. Hopefully, Mallory agrees to go to the game so we can hang out.

I doubt we’ll have lunch together anymore.

I push the file cart into the main area and fish my phone out of my pocket to shoot a text to my cousin.

Me: Having Chinese at your house tonight.

Logan: You are? I think Daphne is having her friend over.

Me: Mallory. I know.

Logan: Is there something going on?

Me: Hopefully we’re all going to the game tomorrow night.

Logan: Uh-huh. Pick up beer.

Me: Okay.

Daphne’s phone chimes. I assume it’s a text from Logan. Judging by her smirk, he’s telling her about our exchange. Whatever.

“Do you get crickets in here too?” I ask Mallory, looking around the main office. We really need to get a pest management company in here and figure out what’s going on.

“Sometimes.”

“Okay, I’ll do the bottom shelves again, and you take the upper shelves. I’ll read off the names?”

“That works. Thank you for helping us.”

The three of us work well together, and after filling the carts twice, we get all the files upstairs where they belong. I leave Daphne and Mallory to do the organizing and go down to Dad’s office.

“Hi, Allison.”

Dad’s assistant smiles and waves. “Hey, Liam.”

“Is he available?”

“I think he’s getting coffee.”

“Are you looking for me?” Dad calls out.

“Yeah. Checking in before I head out,” I reply.

“Okay, come on in.”

I follow him into his office, closing the door behind me. He raises his brow at that but doesn’t say anything as he takes a seat behind his desk.

I sit in a chair in front of his desk.

“Daphne and Mallory have moved their current files upstairs.”

“That’s good,” Dad says. “It’ll be nice having them up there.”

“Did you know they have crickets down there?” I don’t know why that bothers me so much, but it angers me they had to deal with bugs, especially when it scares them. No one should have to work where they’re afraid.

“Liam, what is going on?” Dad leans forward and rests his forearms on his desk, lacing his fingers together.

“We have employees dealing with mice and crickets, and that’s unacceptable!”

“Yes, it is, and we’re handling it. I wasn’t aware of the situation until recently, or I would have done something. This isn’t about a mouse or crickets. I repeat, what is going on?”

“I…I don’t know.” How do I explain all this to him and not sound ungrateful?

“Is it the time of year?” Dad asks.

“What?” I look at my watch to check the date. Oh.

“I know the first couple of years, you would get anxious as the anniversary approached. So would your mother. The past few years have seemed better for both of you.”

He’s talking about the car accident that took my hockey dream away. It’s been eight years today.

Teagan, Jake, and I were on our way home from college for the weekend.

We had just been home the weekend before for Thanksgiving, but my girlfriend at the time wanted me to take her to a party since I had a rare Friday night free, and I wanted to make Tiffany happy.

Our university was only ninety minutes away, so coming home wasn’t a big deal.

I was driving my truck down a rural stretch of highway when a farmer driving a tractor-trailer full of whatever pulled out from a side street without looking and slammed into my driver’s side, seriously injuring me and Teagan, who was sitting behind me.

Jake was uninjured, other than some bruising from his seatbelt.

Thank goodness he was okay. He was able to get us out before the engine fire did more than give me a couple of superficial burns on my leg.

Teagan and I both recovered but my injuries ended my hockey career.

“No, I didn’t even realize the date.” I shrug. “Nothing’s going on. Is the box full tomorrow night? Daphne and Mallory were planning on going. Me and Logan. I’m assuming you and Uncle Mike.”