Page 25 of Claiming Her Cougar (Shifting Pines #2)

LIAM

She wants to be friends with benefits. No dating, no relationship, just hooking up.

I don’t believe that’s what she really wants.

I’m pretty sure she wants me, and I think she wants more than hookups, but she won’t admit it.

Why agree to lunch with me twice? Why FaceTime with me when she knows I’m not what her parents want?

When she looks at me, it’s not just like she’s checking out my ass.

She sees me, and she likes me. That has to mean something.

I want more than hooking up, but for now I’ll go along with her idea and work on changing her mind.

I’m too sweaty and gross to reap the rewards of our new benefits arrangement, but I can at least get a kiss out of this. She’s flushed, and I don’t think it’s just from her workout.

“Did you go for a run?” I ask.

When she nods, I continue, “How far?”

Shrugging, she responds, “About six miles. There are trails through the woods. I set my watch for an hour and run until it goes off.”

She checks her watch. “6.2 miles. I normally do four or five miles a few times a week on the treadmill, but it’s nice out, and I wanted to be in nature. I spend too much time cooped up inside.”

Trevor had said his sister appreciated nature more than anyone else in their family.

I can’t believe I didn’t put the pieces together sooner.

They each spoke about living out in the woods and having siblings.

I assume Logan doesn’t know, or maybe he does and suggesting I come out here is his attempt to play matchmaker.

I raise my hand and place it against her soft cheek, running my thumb along her rosy skin.

I lean down and press my lips to hers, tasting and savoring in a way we didn’t before.

In Vegas, our kisses were hungry and passionate, a product of desire and desperation.

Now, we can take our time and enjoy learning the feel of each other’s lips, give each other teasing, nibbling kisses, deep kisses, playful kisses. I want all the kisses with Mallory.

Her sigh as our lips meet and the way she rises on her toes to press her lips to mine show she’s as eager to kiss me as I am her.

Her hand rests against my chest where my heart’s pounding, not just from the exertion of my skating but from the thrill of being near Mallory again.

From kissing her again. I never thought I’d have this opportunity and would have to make do with the scant memories I collected from our too-brief time together in Vegas.

Her nails scrape lightly against my chest as if her hand can’t rest, as if it needs to claw me, mark me as hers.

Her other hand grasps my bicep to pull me closer.

I wish we didn’t have the boards of the rink separating us, but maybe that’s for the best. If I could pull her body against mine and feel all her luscious curves, I don’t think I could stop at just kissing.

The sound of multiple car doors closing pulls me from the bubble our kisses have cocooned us in.

“Are you expecting anyone?” I ask, lifting my head.

“No, were you?”

The voices I hear cause me to close my eyes and groan.

“It’s my cousin. He suggested I ask Trevor. He must have seen my Bronco as he drove back from the tree lot.”

“Hello! You here, Liam?” Logan calls out as he slips through the barn doors to the rink. Daphne follows. With our mothers. Fuuccckk.

Mallory’s eyes widen when I push away from the boards, and she gets a clear view of our quartet of visitors.

“Oh, wow,” Mom says as she looks around the space. “Liam would have loved something like this when he was younger.” She hasn’t seen me yet.

“Hey,” I call out, skating over to where they’re approaching the boards, hoping to draw their attention before they notice Mallory. By his smirk, I can tell Logan’s eagle eyes have caught sight of her, but he’s not saying anything.

“Oh!” Mom cries out, seeing me on skates for the first time since my accident. Tears flood her eyes, and her chin wobbles. “Oh, Liam, I didn’t think I’d ever see you skating again. Is everything okay?”

I reach to open the gate so I can hug my mother without the boards between us. I don’t know why I’m surprised by her emotional response. She knew how much I missed skating and playing. Skating again for the first time with Trevor and Logan after Thanksgiving had me choked up.

“Yeah, all good,” I answer. “I was doing some puck handling drills.”

Mallory approaches us and nods.

I tilt my head her way. “And then Mallory came in from a run.”

“Mallory! What are you doing here?” Daphne asks in surprise.

“Hi, everyone. It’s my family’s rink. Trevor’s my younger brother.

Small world, huh?” She smiles. “Trev texted asking if his friend could use the rink, and of course I agreed. I was finishing up my run and saw the Bronco, so I peeked in to see who his friend was. Turns out it was Liam, so we were just laughing about all the connections.”

“Turns out there’s another connection, Mallory,” my Aunt Holly says. “Mike and I went to law school with your father. I knew your uncle Zack back then too, so it was a mini reunion seeing him at the farm.”

“Wow, that’s crazy.” Mallory looks over at me. Is she thinking about how our meeting was inevitable or fate or whatever like I am?

Mom looks at the skating surface and then at Mallory. “So that isn’t ice? Your mother invented it?”

“Yeah. It’s a synthetic surface. My mom is a chemical engineer, and she developed this special polymer that’s more durable with less friction to better emulate an ice surface. We were her guinea pigs testing it out.”

“Wow. Your father is an attorney, and your mother is an engineer?—”

“And here’s me, just a paralegal,” Mallory finishes.

“What’s this ‘just a paralegal’ bullshit?” Aunt Holly asks bluntly. “All I’ve ever heard is how good you are and how eager Mike is to get you in leasing. I practice family law and without my paralegals, I’d be lost.”

Mallory blinks at my aunt.

Mom chimes in. “What I was going to say was that it’s no wonder you’re so brilliant. Will raves about you. He has since you started. You stepped up after Martha and George retired and kept the collections department going. You and Daphne.”

Daphne laughs. “Oh no. It’s all Mallory. I’m just her wing woman.”

A pretty blush climbs Mallory’s neck and spreads across her cheeks. I don’t think she hears how smart she is and how much she’s appreciated often enough. Her family has done a number on her, and I don’t like it.

Swallowing and then coughing to clear her throat, Mallory appears to be trying to control her emotions. I wish I could reach out and rub her back or hold her hand.

“You’re all too kind,” Mallory says. “I love working at Morgan and am excited to work on leasing. I enjoy contracts and leases much more than litigation. Anyway, did you get your trees? Did you get some of Aunt Carol’s hot cocoa?”

“Yes!” Mom’s practically dancing with enthusiasm. “It was so much fun! Such nice quality trees, and the activities there really make it a fun experience beyond tree hunting.”

“It is fun. I worked there when I was younger. I worked at all the farms. Another uncle has blueberries, and one has a corn maze. I haven’t been to the tree farm yet this year. I’ll have to go sometime.”

I hope I’m picking up on what she’s putting down when I suggest, “The four of us should go sometime. Are they open only on the weekends or weeknights too?”

“Oh, yes! We need to go together!” Daphne is so excited at this idea she’s practically doing a Tigger bounce.

“Starting this weekend, they’re open every night through Christmas Eve, until 9:00 p.m. on Sundays and weeknights, 11:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday.” Mallory looks at me, and I nod. I’m not sure why.

“I’m good any night,” I say. “My schedule is wide open.”

Her smile must be why I nodded. I enjoy making her happy. I want more of those smiles aimed my way.

“We’re going shopping tomorrow,” Daphne says. “We could meet for dinner and then go over.”

Mallory nods. “That works if it’s okay with the guys.” She looks to me like I’m not going to agree with anything she suggests that enables us to spend time together.

“Yeah, sounds good,” I say.

“Oh, why don’t you guys come over tonight and help decorate the tree!” Daphne suggests, doing a clappy-clappy-excited-bounce thing.

“It’s your first Christmas tree,” I remind her. “Don’t you want to be all romantic and junk with just the two of you?” I figure this is one of those romance milestones couples celebrate. I look to Logan for confirmation, and he just shrugs.

The moms have just been listening. Very unlike them. I almost forgot they were there. Aunt Holly nudges Mom and says, “Remember how we used to decorate each other’s trees before we had kids?”

Mom laughs. “Yes! You could tell when the liquor kicked in. I oversaw the tinsel and at first, I’d be very deliberate and place it strand by strand. As the eggnog kicked in, I’d start being less meticulous. By the fourth cup of Grammy Morgan’s eggnog, I’d be throwing it on the tree in big globs.”

I laugh. “You still do that!”

“I fix it once I sober up,” Mom protests with a giggle.

“Anyway,” Aunt Holly says, “decorating with couple friends is fun.”

“Oh, we’re not a couple,” Mallory rushes to say.

“Okay, dear,” Aunt Holly says with a whatever-you-say tone to her voice and a smirk.

Mallory shoots me a glance, and I just shrug.

I know Aunt Holly can smell the pheromones we’re putting off since she’s a cougar shifter like I am.

Mom and Daphne are human, so they don’t have that clue.

Logan, as a golden eagle shifter, doesn’t have a super keen sense of smell, but nothing escapes his notice.

“Thank you,” Mallory says, “but I really just want to stay home tonight.” She softens her rejection with a smile. “It’s been a long week, and we’ll be going shopping tomorrow and to the farm tomorrow night, so I need tonight to recharge.”

“I’m not being a third wheel, so I’m out,” I say.

“Maybe we can see it tomorrow before we go to the farm?” Mallory suggests. She’s good at being tactful. I tend to be too blunt.

“That’s a good idea, I guess,” Daphne concedes. “Speaking of letting you recharge…we should probably head out. Sorry to have just dropped in randomly. We didn’t realize this was your rink. I can’t get over how small of a world it is!”

We all chuckle. For once, I’m grateful that this world is small and there are all these connections and ties between me and Mallory.

“I know Mike still talks with your dad, Mallory,” Aunt Holly says. “I’m surprised they never made the connection.”

Mallory giggles. “I’m not surprised. With the way Dad laser focuses on things, random connections like that wouldn’t occur to him.”

Aunt Holly winks. “Sounds like Robert hasn’t changed then.

His hyper-focus was legendary in law school.

We used to try to break his concentration when he was reading case law, and it was impossible.

The only thing that would do it was your mother walking into the library.

It was like radar. She’d walk in, and suddenly she was the focus of his attention. ”

“Really? That’s so sweet. I never think about them back in college or dating. They’re just Mom and Dad.” I love the soft expression Mallory’s face has, and I hope to inspire that look one day.

“Well, we should go,” Aunt Holly says. She’s my favorite aunt. “Great seeing you, Mallory. You’ll be at the company party on Friday?”

“I will. Looking forward to it. Are ugly sweaters really okay?”

“More than okay. We encourage them!” Mom bounces on her toes. What is it with everyone being all bouncy today? First Daphne and now Mom. Maybe it’s a human thing? “Are you going to wear one? We have a contest.”

“Maybe. Still thinking about it.” Mallory grins. She has a mischievous twinkle in her eye that I can’t wait to get to the bottom of. Can’t wait to get to her bottom.

Okay, Liam, stop that train of thought before your thoughts become evident to everyone.

I feel Liam Jr. stirring, and without the cold of an ice rink to help keep things tame or a cup to keep things contained down there, we’re going to have a situation.

I fidget and glide away to snag a puck, hoping being in motion will disguise things.

Skating with the start of a hard-on isn’t that comfortable, but neither is having an erection in front of your mother. Lesser of two evils and all that.

I feel Logan’s gaze follow me as I skate and, when I glance his way, his smirk tells me he knows exactly why I started skating. Jerk.

“Liam, I’ll leave your keys under the front seat?” Mom asks. “I borrowed his truck to carry the trees,” she tells Mallory.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” I weave my way through cones with the puck on my stick. The concentration it takes is helping resolve my issue south of the equator.

From the corner of my eye, I see Mom wrap Mallory in a hug.

Mallory is several inches taller, so she bends a bit to accept it and hugs her back.

I’m glad my mother likes Mallory. She couldn’t stand Tiffany, the last real girlfriend I had back when I was in college.

She was polite to her, but she wasn’t warm.

Nothing like how she’s been with Mallory since the moment they met.

She never said anything, but I think she blames Tiffany for my accident.

If she hadn’t insisted I come home to take her to that party, we wouldn’t have been on the road—but that’s not fair to her.

The accident wasn’t her fault. It was my choice to come home to appease her.

But we can blame her for dumping me when it was obvious I’d no longer be a hockey star.

With maturity and experience, I know now I never loved her, but back then, it was just another loss I suffered, and it hurt like hell.

Thank goodness she dumped me. I shudder to think what life would be like being shackled to her. The thought of missing out on Mallory is so distressing, I rub a hand over the ache in my heart.

I wave goodbye as they leave, and Mallory graciously walks them out.

I continue to skate my drill under her appreciative gaze.

After shooting the puck into the net, I reenact my old goal celly of gliding on one knee and pumping my fist to make her giggle.

It’s a sweet sound, and I skate over to where she’s standing, hoping to resume what we were doing before my family popped in.

“He shoots, he scores!” she says with a grin.

I wink. “That’s what I’m hoping for.”

“I may be able to help make that happen,” she purrs. “Do you have a change of clothes?”

“Yeah. In my car.”

“Good. I need a shower after my run. Care to join me?”

All the skating drills in the world couldn’t distract Liam Jr. from that invitation.

“Hell yes,” I growl. “Let me get these skates off.”