Page 37 of Claiming Her Cougar (Shifting Pines #2)

LIAM

This is my first time waking up next to Mallory, and I hope it won’t be the only time.

I’m propped on my elbow, head resting on my palm, watching her sleep.

She’s curled on her side, facing me, her hands tucked under her cheek.

I can count the freckles scattered over her nose—twenty-three.

I’d love to wake her by kissing each and every freckle, especially the one on the tip of her nose.

It’s adorable. Maybe she sensed my thoughts because her long lashes flutter and her sleepy green eyes look into mine.

“Good morning,” she murmurs, a slow, sexy smile forming on her lips.

“Good morning,” I respond, a matching smile spreading on my face. “Do you want room service for breakfast, or would you prefer to get something after we shower?”

“What time is it? Checkout is at eleven.”

“We’re good,” I assure her. We are. I already arranged for the charge for the room and food to be put on my account, and checkout is whenever we want to leave. Being best friends with the owner has its perks.

“Where would we go? I take breakfast seriously.”

I enjoy learning that about her.

“Go Fork Yourself?” I suggest a mom-and-pop place near my house that’s legendary for their omelets and pancakes. And rude service. That’s what happens when badger shifters are the proprietors.

“Oh, yeah. I haven’t been there in forever.

” Mallory stretches and winces slightly.

We were busy last night. After our sandwiches, we went another round that included some creative use of the frosting on the chocolate cake she’d ordered for dessert.

Then we had to shower and finally had time to do everything we’d wanted to do when her mother interrupted us.

The shower was fun, but I loved being in a bed and having all night to savor her body.

“You okay?” I ask. We were very energetic. I hope I didn’t accidentally hurt her.

She gives me a wink and a grin. “Yeah, I’m good. Very good. My muscles aren’t used to that kind of workout.”

I lean down and kiss her. I can’t help it. I could kiss her all day long, but her stomach growls, signaling that it’s time to find my girl some food.

“I’m happy to help you with this new fitness regime. Consider me your personal trainer. But first, I guess I’m your nutritionist.” I throw back the covers and get up from the bed. I don’t miss the way her eyes sweep over my naked figure.

“Nice flex there, stud. Subtle.” Mallory rolls her eyes as she teases me. She grabs a T-shirt off a nearby chair and pulls it over her head before she gets out of bed. I don’t know why she’s being shy now. I’ve seen, touched, kissed just about every inch of her body in the past fifteen hours.

“What’s your plan for today?” I ask.

“Nothing too exciting. Laundry, play with my nephews, avoid awkward questions about where I was last night, read. The usual. What about you?”

My gaze follows her as she goes into the bathroom and closes the door behind her.

“Have breakfast with you,” I say, pulling on my clothes. “I need to go over some reports and figures for the pier project.”

She opens the door and motions toward me with her toothbrush. “The pier is going well? No nasty surprises from the inspections?”

She brushes her teeth, and I lean against the doorframe, watching her.

“No surprises. We did a ton of inspections beforehand because we knew this was going to be an extensive project. We usually build our outlet centers from the ground up. They aren’t rehabs like this.”

She nods, showing she’s listening.

“Plus, it’s a pier, so the ocean and all that must be considered.

It’s going to be a mammoth undertaking, but it’s exciting.

We’ve been working on it behind-the-scenes for a while, so a lot of planning and designing has already been done.

Our plan was to move quickly once the property came up for sale.

We have crews lined up to start the structural work it needs. ”

“I can’t wait to see how it all comes together. It’s an eighteen-month timeline? There’s a lot to do in that time.”

She doesn’t know the half of it. When it’s done, it’s going to be so much more than another shopping center. It’s going to be a destination for fun and the home of my dreams for the future.

We finish dressing and gather our overnight bags. I took care of the express checkout, so we don’t need to go to the desk. Mallory still thinks she’s paid for our night. I’ll explain it if she ever asks about it.

I open the door to our room and allow Mallory to step out first when I hear, “Mallory!” called out from down the hall.

The voice is familiar, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.

I go to peek when Mallory grabs the door handle and pulls it shut behind her, leaving me in the room and damn near taking my nose off.

“Janet, imagine seeing you here!” Mallory’s voice in the hallway is muffled by the thick door. “How was your holiday?” Her voice is softer now, more difficult to hear. She must have walked away from the door.

Janet is the biggest gossip at Morgan Development.

She works in the leasing department, and she’s…

adequate at her job. I can understand why Mallory wouldn’t want her to see us together, leaving a hotel room.

We hadn’t made plans other than breakfast. We were going to get our cars from the valet and drive to breakfast separately.

I take out my phone and shoot her a text.

Me: Waiting a couple minutes to leave the room. I’ll meet you at the Fork. Drive safely.

Mallory sends me back the thumbs-up emoji.

I hate having to sneak around and hide our relationship or friends with benefits or whatever this is.

Okay, I know Mallory calls it friends with benefits, but to me, it’s so much more.

Shifters know when they’ve found their mate.

Last night confirmed she was mine. My cougar longed to sink its teeth into her, to mark her, claim her as ours.

I appeased us both with a small nip. Even though Mallory doesn’t shift, she knows about claiming.

I heard her gasp, and I know it wasn’t only from the pleasure I was giving her.

She’s mine, and I’m hers. Now to get her to see it too.

I peek to make sure the coast is clear when I leave the room a few minutes later. I’m waiting for the valet to bring the Bronco around when I get a text from Logan.

Logan: Apparently we’re meeting Mallory for breakfast at Go Fork Yourself, and I’m supposed to invite you. So…want to join us?

Me: Yeah, see you in thirty.

I get in my truck and tell my phone to call Mallory.

“Hello?”

“Hi. Logan and Daphne are joining us for breakfast?” I ask.

“Hey. I thought you were calling to cancel.” She sighs. “Yeah, I invited them. I figured if they were there, it wouldn’t look odd that we were out together. Logan’s your cousin, and Daphne’s my friend, so it makes sense we do stuff together.”

She’s quiet, and I can picture her chewing on her bottom lip. I love kissing that lip.

“Is that okay?” she asks.

“Yeah, it’s fine. Just making sure you still wanted to do breakfast,” I say. Do breakfast, be with me, be my mate…but we’ll start with breakfast.

“I’m starving. I’m having breakfast. Whether you’re there or not is up to you.”

Ouch. I get on the highway out of Atlantic City and head toward the mainland.

“Mallory, are you okay?”

“Ugh. I’m sorry, Liam. I’m just freaking out because of Janet. You know she’s such a gossip, and I’m not sure she even cares about the truth. She’ll be telling people about me being there, and who knows who she’ll say I was there with.”

“Does she know you were there with someone?” I don’t care personally if she says I was there with Mallory, but I know she doesn’t want it out there, so for that reason alone, I care.

“I told her I was there to get away from the full house with my family visiting, but I don’t think she believed me. But even if that was the truth, she’d twist it to make it seem like I was there with a lover.”

“Well, try not to worry about it. If she spreads shit at the office, HR can step in.”

“No! Then it just lends credence to her tales.”

“Okay,” I say slowly, drawing out the word. “So, you’re just going to stress over this?”

“Pretty much. And stress eat.”

I laugh. “As long as you have a plan.”

Mallory laughs too, so that’s a win. “I’m pulling in at the Fork. I’ll go in and get us a table. Did you want me to order anything for you?”

“Coffee and OJ, please.”

“Okay. See you soon.”

She hangs up.

If we just didn’t worry about keeping whatever this is we have a secret, then Janet or anyone else wouldn’t have anything to talk about.

But that’s a topic to tackle another day.

Now that we’ve finally gotten started, I’m not going to risk Mallory changing her mind.

I’ll do what it takes to convince her to be more than my friend with benefits. I’m going to convince her to be mine.