Page 14 of Claiming Her Cougar (Shifting Pines #2)

MALLORY

I love the change Logan’s brought not just to Daphne’s life, but to their home as well.

When I’ve hung out here with her before, it was like entering a time capsule from when her grandmother owned the house.

Daphne kept most of the furniture and knickknacks the same as her grandmother had it.

Daphne inhabited the home she inherited, but she wasn’t living in it.

Logan stayed here between trips as a travel photographer, but he hadn’t really made a mark on the home, either.

Now that they’re a couple, his place in her life and home is more apparent.

There are pictures from his travels on the walls that weren’t there a few weeks ago.

They’ve ripped up the old carpet to show off the beautiful hardwood floors underneath.

Brighter colors are splashed around with throw pillows and a patterned area rug under the coffee table.

It looks like somewhere a couple in their twenties live.

The Christmas lights and inflatables bring joy to the exterior, and it looks like they’re decorating the bay window in the living room.

“What are you putting in the window?” I ask.

“We have a collection of ceramic houses that Gran and I used to put in the window. I didn’t bother the last few years, but this year, we’re setting them up again,” Daphne says.

“Did you show her the addition to the village, Logan?” Liam asks.

Logan glares at his cousin. I guess he didn’t show her.

“Is the food being delivered, or were one of you going to pick it up?” I try to change the subject.

“Delivered,” Daphne states. “What did you do, Logan?”

Well, I tried.

“I may have gotten a new building for the village, Sunshine,” Logan says with a charming grin.

My heart melts when he calls her Sunshine. I’ve never had a pet name from a boyfriend. I get called Mal sometimes, but that’s not cute or sweet. That’s just being too lazy to say a couple extra syllables.

“If you got a strip club for my Christmas village, I will hurt you, Logan Morris,” Daphne promises.

“Ooh, stripper elves dancing on a candy cane pole!” I bounce on my toes in excitement at the thought. “That would be so awesome!”

“Marry me,” Liam says.

I know he’s joking, but my heart skips a beat at his words. I wish. Wait. No, I don’t. No marriage. Casual, Mallory. Remember, you want casual.

Daphne and Logan look at me, her in horror, him in admiration.

Logan takes his phone out of his pocket. “I didn’t get a strip club for the Christmas village, but I really want one now.”

“You better not be googling a paint-your-own-ceramics shop, Logan,” Daphne warns.

“That sounds fun. Let me know if you find one,” I say.

“There’s one across from the Municipal Complex,” he informs me.

“Text me the link, please?” My phone buzzes in my pocket. “Thanks!”

Logan leaves and comes back carrying a box.

Daphne opens it and pulls out a ceramic Home Depot store for their Christmas village. I love it. Apparently, Daphne does too because she’s clapping and bouncing, and appears to be about two seconds from squeeing.

A car pulls in the driveway, and the driver grabs a collection of bags before hustling to the door. Logan is there waiting, ready to accept our food.

“Where do you want to sit?” Daphne asks. “Island, table, living room?”

“I’m good with living room,” Liam says. “That good with you, Mallory?”

“Yeah, that works,” I say.

“What do you want to drink, Mallory?” Logan asks after he sets the bags on the coffee table. He hands Liam a beer.

“Diet Pepsi, please.”

We end up sharing our entrees. Taking bites from Liam’s beef and broccoli feels so personal. Couples share food. When we shared lunch today, it felt like we were maybe building something. Now I know the only thing I should be building is a wall around my heart.

“We’ve done lunch and dinner together,” I blurt out. “All that’s left is breakfast.” I wish I could call back my words because it sounds way more suggestive than I meant it to.

“I just mean to…to complete the set. I…I wasn’t propositioning you,” I stammer. Where’s a sinkhole opening beneath you when you need it? I’m probably as red as the Christmas lights lining Daphne’s roofline.

Liam laughs kindly. “I know what you meant. I’d be happy to have breakfast with you in whatever context.” He winks.

It’s a mix of playful and flirtatious, and I wish I could just plant a kiss on his full lips and remind myself if his well-groomed brown beard is soft or scratchy. I don’t remember from Vegas, and that makes me sad. I was so caught up in the moment and the thrill of it, I didn’t note the details.

Stop it, Mallory. You can’t be thinking those kinds of thoughts about a man you can’t have.

You work with him. He’s the son of your boss, the nephew of your supervisor, the cousin of your good friend’s boyfriend, and probably your future boss if he takes over for his father one day.

In no way is getting involved with this man a good idea, and fantasizing about him is an even worse one.

Liam turns to Logan and Daphne, who are sitting on the living room floor across from us, around the coffee table. “We ran into each other at Francisco’s and had lunch together the other day and then again today. Now we’re having dinner. All that’s left is breakfast.”

“Uh-huh.” Daphne looks at us wide-eyed. I don’t know what she’s thinking, but she needs to stop.

“So, Daphne, you said you had stuff you wanted to talk about, but not in the office. That’s why I’m here. What’s up?” Yeah, it’s tacky to ask in front of the guys, but I need to get out of the hot seat somehow.

“Oh, yeah! I forgot about that. I picked up a little present for you. I’ll give it to you after we’re done eating.”

“You didn’t have to get me anything!” I protest.

“Hush. I saw it and thought you’d like it. As for what I wanted to talk about… Liam, you’re here as a friend, not as a VP of Morgan Development.”

“Okay,” Liam agrees.

“Before I left for France, I spoke with Will about cutting back my hours. I didn’t know at the time that our department was closing, Mallory.

” Daphne’s brown eyes meet mine. “Will knew they were closing collections, so that wasn’t a big deal.

We got talking about the tours we did and how I minored in marketing in college. ”

I nod to show I’m following.

“Long story short, we’re going to test drive doing and posting video tours of nearby centers along with some of the local sights to see if they create interest, and maybe do some more cross-promotion with area attractions.

Once they close collections, provided these practice promos don’t bomb, I’m going to shift to the marketing department and do tours at centers around the country. ”

“Wow, that’s great! But does that mean we aren’t going to share an office soon?

” I’m so happy for Daphne. She started doing recorded tours and posting them online to achieve her childhood dream of being a tour guide.

But I enjoy sharing an office with her. I was excited to get out of our dungeon downstairs and enjoy our windows with the view of the woods.

I don’t want to share that with someone else.

Daphne frowns slightly. “I don’t know. I’ll hopefully be traveling, so I won’t be in the office all the time. I don’t know if they’ll let me keep that desk or not.” She shrugs. “We have a few months to figure it out.”

Liam looks at me. “You worked on the tours Daphne posted?”

“Yeah,” I say.

“I couldn’t have done them without her!” Daphne reaches out to squeeze my arm, her brown eyes shining with gratitude. “She was my tourist that I spoke to, so I didn’t look like a crazy woman talking to myself. And she brought the wine when I uploaded them. She’s my emotional support buddy.”

Logan stands and starts clearing our plates. We’ve made a big dent in the meal, an impressive feat considering how huge the portions were. The restaurant must be used to feeding shifters.

Daphne rises as well. “Let me get your present, Mallory!”

Liam and I remain seated at the coffee table. He swipes a finger along the edge of the coffee table right in front of me. I’m unable to suppress the shiver that runs through me when I imagine that finger running down my arm. Up my leg. Along my breast.

“I know a cute breakfast place on Route 9,” Liam says.

“What?” I hope it’s not obvious how distracted I am by the turn my thoughts took.

“Somewhere to have breakfast after I come back so we can complete our meal set.”

“We’re not going out for breakfast.” I’m picking at the colorful throw rug nervously. I pull my knees up to my chest and wrap my other arm around my shins. Let the wall building begin. I slant a glance at him and quickly refocus on the rug.

“Okay, then we can cook it together. I’m good at eggs. Do you have a waffle iron, or would you rather have pancakes?” He asks like my answer matters.

I can’t imagine a situation where we’d be cooking breakfast together. Okay, that’s a lie. I can imagine half a dozen mornings spent cooking breakfast together. They’re all after nights we spent doing all sorts of hot and naughty things.

It’s been way too long since I’ve had sex. Our encounter in Vegas was the last time. I’m just horny. I’d be reacting like this to any attractive man. It’s not a Liam-specific reaction. Please, don’t let it be a Liam-specific reaction because it will remain unsatisfied.

“Here you go! I hope you like it because I can’t return it,” Daphne says with a laugh, setting a small box in front of me and settling across the coffee table again.

“Hey, where’s my present? You wouldn’t have gotten to France without me,” Liam whines.

“Really?” I ask.

“Really. I drove her to the Newark Airport so she’d get to Paris early in the morning. Good thing I did because Logan had tickets to fly home that afternoon. If she flew out of Philly, she would have landed right as he took off, and they’d still be on separate continents. I’m a hero.”

Rolling my eyes, I pick up the small white cardboard box and open the lid. I grab a thin gold cord and pull out an intricately designed model wooden house. It’s small, just about three inches square, but the detail is incredible. So many precise cuts in the thinnest natural wood. It’s lovely.

“Oh, Daphne, I love it. It’s so intricate and delicate!”

“Yay! I was hoping you’d like it. There was a stall at one of the Christmas markets in Strasbourg full of them, and I know how you love houses, so I thought you’d like a little model of the style of building we saw in Strasbourg.

The town is full of old timber buildings.

You can feel the history. Here.” She hands me a little battery-operated tea light. “Put that in the house.”

As I do so, Liam gets up and turns off the ceiling fan light so the living room is darker. I gasp at the warm, golden glow shining in the house.

I hold it up so I can appreciate it. “It’s beautiful.”

“Yeah, beautiful,” Liam agrees.

I glance up at him. He’s looking at me, not the house. I look at Daphne and find her looking at Liam with a matchmaking gleam in her eye and a small smirk. Oh no.

I put the house on the table and walk on my knees over to Daphne’s side of the coffee table to thank her.

“Not going to happen,” I whisper in her ear as I hug her.

“We’ll see,” is her whispered response.