Page 19 of Misbehaving With Minotaurs (Haven Ever After #8)

CHAPTER TEN

MANORIN

T easing Catherine is half the fun of pursuing Catherine.

I gave her just enough last night to stoke the flames, and not nearly enough to sate her.

I half expected her to barge back into my room in the middle of the night and demand what she wants.

Her scent was fully burnt pie by the time I kicked her out of my room.

I’d have given in to her if she’d come to me later that night.

I’m a simple male, after all.

Instead, I slept like shit, woke up at three and hit the stadium gym again.

Then I showered and worked on a plan for the exhibition game.

I even called a couple of monsters from the academy team back home and asked them to come to town for the game, folks I know won’t run to Evenia to tell her what I’m doin’ in Ever.

Not that it won’t come out eventually. I just don’t need little birdies whispering in my boss’s ear.

This morning, Arkan’s busy, so Catherine’s promised to give me a tour of the infrastructure expansion plans. I won’t relocate without knowing if what they’re building will accommodate increased traffic. I’m going to be distracted by her, but if I know her, she’ll get me back for last night.

I’m standing in front of Fleur when she saunters up the street wearing thigh-hugging jeans and a dark gray wrap shirt that accentuates her stunning figure.

That’s part one of her teasing. She knows I fucking love jeans and a simple top.

Stick a cowboy hat on her, and I’d be fucking done, getting indecent in the middle of Main Street.

“I wouldn’t have taken you for much of a flower lover,” she says, tossing her hair over her shoulder, gray eyes flashing. Her lips are painted the palest of pinks, accentuating how plump the bottom one is. It’s slightly swollen from last night’s play.

I push off the brick wall and slip both hands into my pockets, looking my fill of her before I answer.

When our eyes meet, hers are full of a powerful challenge.

She’s so much smaller than me, and so terrifyingly mighty at the same time.

If she wanted to unleash that power to beguile on me, she could wrap me up right here and turn me into a mindless, need-filled male, content only to obey her command.

I love that.

“I liked your suggestion of being more direct with the part-time players that I have no desire to press them into full-time service. I met Ohken here this morning and had that chat with him. He’s a great skyball player, but as he’s mentioned several times, he wants more time with Wren, not less.”

Catherine nods slowly. “Did he say anything else?”

I smile and offer her my arm. “Just that you’re right—this would be an ideal conversation to have with everyone else.

It definitely seemed to unblock something with him.

He was much more excited about changes to the program after I made it clear that I don’t want him as a player.

” I smile at her as we head toward the end of the street where the new construction is slated to start next month.

“He loved your exhibition game idea too. You’ve got a real knack with monsters, Cath. ”

She winks up at me. “It’s sort of in the nature, you know?”

“Don’t discredit yourself,” I say quietly. “While some of that’s in your nature, I’ve met dozens of succubi in my lifetime, and there’s never been one who read others as well as you.”

Her lips curl into a smile, but she says nothing, walking quietly next to me.

When we reach the movie theater, she halts, pointing at the empty grassy area across the street.

“That entire area between the last building and Town Hall was always meant to be our next expansion area. It was originally designed to connect to the road leading to Hel Motel, so there’d be a nice little feather-shaped area where we could expand with another road and more businesses.

Doing so would put Town Hall smack in the middle of Ever, and, honestly, that was always the plan for growth. ”

I stare at the empty space for a while, considering what else will have to change with Ever growing busier.

Sucking at my teeth, I glance around the downtown area.

The reality is that Downtown Ever is pretty small, all things considered, and it’s not immediately clear that Shifter Hollow has another sort of downtown closer to the portal station.

Even then, it’s a solid quarter-hour walk along Sycamore Street, and there aren’t even any signs letting folks know where to go.

All of that will have to change.

“What about public transportation since the Ever portal station’s quite a ways from downtown?”

She sighs. “That one’s harder. I was always in favor of something cute and homey-feeling like a streetcar.

That feels very Ever to me, but nobody else has ever agreed with that plan.

Richard, the shifter pack alpha, always wanted to put a monorail system in that went back and forth between Shifter Hollow and downtown, but we weren’t growing enough to ask HQ for that sort of investment. ”

She glances up at me, irritation evident in the scrunch of her brows. “We could potentially fully fund it as a town, but it would be better if we could use some of HQ’s funding programs for infrastructure growth.”

“And parking?” I wave at the street. “Every time I’ve walked down here, there’ve only been a handful of open spaces.”

Her smile is wry. “It didn’t used to be like that prior to the Grand Portal Station.

But, yes, parking is an issue. There’s always been a plan to add parking behind the shops on either side, but I honestly don’t know if that’s enough.

” She jerks her head toward the other end of the street.

“The stadium has that giant field, and that’s sufficient for game traffic.

But as for general tourism, that’s harder. ”

I look around. “Are these conversations moving fast, Cath? Because I’ve seen other havens struggle with this. Even Hearth Headquarters has faced its share of growing pains. Parking’s a bitch there and getting worse all the time. Of course, being nestled against the mountain range is limiting…”

She nods, stepping closer to me. “They’re happening, but they need to be happening more quickly.

Thankfully, Arkan’s on top of it. Morgan and Abemet have started to get more involved too.

Mor’s very interested in the growth plan, Abemet used to be an architect, and I think they’ve been talking with Valentina, who lives here.

Since she’s Evenia’s Chief Haven Planner, she’s an excellent resource.

” Cath winks. “Speaking of your boss, are you sure it’s not Evenia who’s the limiting factor at HQ? ”

I bark out a laugh. “She’s unfriendly but effective. I’ll give her that. Arkan’s pushing hard for this expansion, but what’s an actual timeline look like?”

Her tinkling laugh fills me with joy. “He first brought this up about two weeks ago, and he’s already got plans for us to review at the leadership meeting next week.

Between you and me, I know he’s already seeking quotes from construction companies in other havens for the new streets.

Ohken and the other trolls can help us with the buildings, but the streets are best done by someone more familiar with infrastructure needs. ”

I pull her toward the far side of the movie theater. “Let’s walk. I want to see how much space there is for parking. I’ve got some ideas, but I need a better visual.”

An hour later, we’ve walked all over downtown and along the space where the new street will go, once it’s officially approved.

Downtown’s got a couple cutesy stores, the things a town doesn’t have to have but make it feel nice—the flower shop, a candy shop, an ice cream store.

There’s Ohken’s General Store and a couple restaurants, but not much else on Main.

I feel pretty okay overall, but parking’s still likely to be an issue.

It’s my opinion that the entire footprint of the haven will need to expand.

There’s a lot of pretty forest spread throughout, and we don’t necessarily want to lose that, either.

Nobody wants to live in the middle of a parking lot.

Eventually, Catherine’s stomach grumbles, so I insist we stop at Herschel’s Fine Dining—noting that it’s one of only two restaurants in downtown Ever, the Galloping Green Bean being the other.

That’ll have to change. Pine Gulch has more restaurants than that and half as many citizens. Of course, Gulchers are foodies.

Herschel himself leads us to a gorgeous little table set in the back away from the main dining area. “My second-best spot.” He winks as he sets the menus down.

Half an hour later, Cath looks sated and full, dragging a piece of crusty French bread through the last dregs of marinara.

“I like seeing you this way,” I muse as I swirl whiskey in an etched crystal glass. “Full. Happy. Smiling.”

That pretty blush I’m such a fan of appears, pinkening her high cheekbones.

“It’s hard not to be happy with such excellent company.”

I lean over the table onto my forearms, holding my glass between my hands. “Talk to me about your plans, Cath. You love Ever and the Annabelle. You’re not going anywhere. Do I have that right?”

She sits back in her chair, clasping her hands in her lap.

“Truly, I love it here; I’ve told you that.

You’d have to blast me out of this haven with dynamite.

Even then, I’d only go kicking and screaming.

” She laughs at that last visual. “What about you? What’ll you do if this job doesn’t work out? ”

I’ve been thinking about this a lot in the last day or so. I consider how much to share with her, since technically she’s on the committee deciding whether to offer me the job or not.

Eventually, I sit back in my chair and level her with a serious look. “I’ll go back to my current role for a bit, but it’s always been my heart’s desire to get home to Pine Gulch at some point.”

Some unnamed emotion flits through her gorgeous gray eyes.

I’d bank on disappointment, but I’m not really sure, so I shrug.

“I don’t know if or when it’ll ever happen.

I’d love to coach the Punishers, but I’d have to murder Rip Shorthorn to get him outta that job, so I don’t see it happening.

Well, ever. It’s long been my dream job, but the chances of it happening are basically zero, so I’ve never made a plan assuming a place for me back home.

I’ll stick around at HQ until something else pops up, if this doesn’t work out. ”

Catherine nods, but it’s slow and thoughtful.

Suddenly, I’m regretting sharing that much with her.

I cock my head to the side. “I’m sorry, Cath, maybe I shouldn’t have said that much. I don’t want it to seem like I’m not thrilled for this opportunity, because I am, absolutely.”

“I get it.” She smiles, although it looks forced to me. “The way Ever feels to me is probably the way Pine Gulch feels to you. Like you’re where you belong.”

I’m too wary to nod in agreement, so I take a sip of my whiskey instead .

Herschel shows up with the bill then, so I slap down my credit card and change the subject.

When we leave, I nod toward Ohken’s General Store. “Can we pop over there for sandpaper? Annabelle’s shutters need a little love.”

Catherine looks up at me in surprise, her gaze softening. “I’ve had a can of paint out there for a while but she never lets me mess with the shutters. I’m not sure why because as you can see, they need to be painted.”

I chuckle. “She waggled them at me this morning, so I’ll tackle that for you.”

Cath falls silent as we enter the General Store. I make quick work of grabbing a packet of sandpaper and a fresh gallon of stark white paint.

When Catherine’s said nothing by the time we get back to the inn, I glance at her. “You okay?”

She sighs as she looks up at the Annabelle, who waves her front doors open and shut at us. I think Catherine will say something, but she falls silent and shakes her head.

I jerk my head toward the front door. “Got something for you inside, Cath.”

When we enter the check-in area to find a gigantic floral arrangement at the front desk, Catherine rushes over to it and I set the sandpaper and paint down just inside the door.

Smirking, I lean against the wall left of the desk while she takes the card and reads it. Her smile’s huge when she looks up at me, stroking the beautiful pink and red arrangement. “You sneak, you did this while you were at Fleur, didn’t you? Ohken knows all of my favorites.”

I reach out and tuck a stray gray wave behind her ear, staring deeply into her eyes. “I had multiple reasons for visiting Fleur today, one of those being the flowers. Enjoy them, Sunshine.” I glance up. “And sweet Annabelle. I had him match your siding, darlin’. ”

Annabelle lets out a series of delighted squeaks.

Catherine leans into my touch, although her lashes flutter against her cheeks. Placing one of her hands over mine, she nuzzles into my palm. But just as quickly, she steps back and straightens, snapping up walls around herself as a guest emerges from the dining room and passes us to go upstairs.

I should have kept my damn mouth shut at lunch. If I was a betting man, I’d guess Catherine’s thinking about how I said I’d love to have the chance to move home. Why the fuck did I admit that? It’s never happening, and I tried to make that clear, but it seems like she’s thinking about it.

A name flashes over my comm watch, interrupting the explanation I’m about to dive into.

Bishop Rygold.

“Fuck,” I manage, eyes flicking to Catherine’s. “I’ve got to take this.”

She nods. “Of course. See you later, Manorin.”

Back to my full name. That won’t do. I far prefer a moaned “Nor” falling from her lips.

I head for the stairs, and the minute I answer Bishop, he starts barking about my nephew again.

By the time I get him settled with an update on my plan to come home, Catherine’s nowhere to be seen.