Beauty Dates the Beast(21)

“Two years,” I offered.

“—you still treat her like she’s a kid. You like being needed, and you like being the one to get her out of a scrape. But it’s all taken care of now, so you don’t know what to do with yourself.”

I rolled my eyes at his psychoanalysis. “That’s not true. I’m happy that she’s fine, but I’m still worried about her even if she’s not.”

“She’s as safe as can be with Ramsey. Don’t you worry about her one bit.”

Easier said than done.

He touched the underside of my chin. “You do know what this means, right?”

“What’s that?” I said warily.

“It means you and I can relax here and do whatever we want … which means you can make me pancakes.”

“Nice try.”

He didn’t seem deterred. Beau grinned and flipped over my hand, then began to press kisses at the soft flesh of my wrist, moving up my arm with each subsequent one. “You forget that I have the heat to worry about, Miss Bathsheba. I need my strength.”

“Well, I hope your hand is ready.”

He winked at me, slow and sultry. “I hope yours is, too.”

“That’s not what I meant. I can resist you, you know.” Though it was going to be difficult as hell if it was just me and him in a romantic cabin away from the world.

He chuckled. “But can I resist you? For two whole days? When you sit here on my lap and look good enough to eat?”

I shoved away from him. “Flatterer.”

He let me go, but I felt his eyes on me as I stood and paced across the room. “My sweet Bathsheba, didn’t anyone ever tell you that the more that the prey runs, the more the hunter desires it? A cat loves nothing more than a good chase.”

“So what am I supposed to do? Fall at your feet with my legs wide open? Would that make you run away?”

His eyes sparked with interest. “We could try it.”

I threw a couch cushion at his head.





Chapter Nine





Even though Beau was good company, I was unable to relax. Beau didn’t realize that Ramsey was the enemy, too, but because I knew it, I remained on edge. Beau puttered around the house whistling as he checked the windows and doors and did a few other things that I questioned. For one, he sprinkled each windowsill with holy water.



I offered to help him, but as soon as I tried to do anything, he’d growl for me to sit down and relax.

And then he’d disappear, off to take a shower.

Confused at his actions, bored with having nothing to do, I used his cell phone since the battery on mine was low and I didn’t have the charger. I called the office to check up on things and put out a few small “fires” that had arisen between badly scheduled dates and an audit.

Naturally, the girls in the office were curious about what was going on, and I didn’t have a whole lot to tell them.

One guessed, of course. “There’s a man, isn’t there?” Ryder said over the phone, a speculative hint in her sweet, perky voice.

“There’s no man,” I said, but my voice squeaked.

She laughed with delight. “Girl, it’s about time. I had money in the pool that you were heading for a nunnery.”

“Pool?” I echoed, not following her line of thought.

“Betting on when you’d get laid.”

My jaw dropped a little. “You guys have an office pool? On me?”

“We did.” She sounded disgruntled. “Sara just won it. She had you pegged for thirty.”

I couldn’t believe they were taking bets on when I’d have sex. What was even more incredible was that the closest bet was five years off … and from my own sister. Irritated, I made up some quick excuse and got off the phone, Ryder’s cheerful laugh ringing in my ears.

Beau strolled by just then, his mouth curved in a smile. He’d probably heard every word of the conversation. I scowled at him and flounced up from the couch, causing his book to fall onto the floor.

I bent to pick up the book, and when I turned around he had disappeared again. A minute later, I heard the shower start once more. I frowned, puzzled by his abrupt disappearance. That was odd.

Something like … me? And the heat due tomorrow?

I blushed, thinking of how I’d bent over and how that had sent him running. I’d have to be more careful. With that in mind, I settled in on one end of the couch and flipped through Beau’s novel. A few minutes later, I froze when I heard a door open across the house. Careful not to make a sound, I shut the book and stood. From the other end of the house I could still hear the shower going.

Nervous, I edged to the kitchen, my first thought to head for the knives.

The intruder, however, was already in the kitchen.

It was a small brunette—petite and curvy, with short, curly hair and a huge rack. Freckles dotted her nose and she had the greenest eyes I’d ever seen. She was gorgeous, dressed in a low-cut top, tight jeans, and sandals. A heavy perfume wafted around her.

She looked at me with a hint of disgust, her nostrils flaring in a way that I’d learned to associate with shifters. Her lip curled. “Who are you?”

I stiffened at her rude tone. “Who the hell are you?”

She took a step toward me and her perfume became overpowering. I wanted to hold my nostrils shut. “I’m Arabella, and I live here.” She held out her hand, displaying her keys. “That’s why I have these.”

She lived here? All my bravado died as I stared at the keys.

But if she lived here … then … something wasn’t adding up.

Either she was lying to me, or Beau was. I didn’t like the ugly look on her face and decided to stick with the devil I knew. “That’s funny, because I could have sworn that I was living here with your boyfriend, not you.”

Arabella’s lip curled. “Men are cheating whores. I’m not surprised that he decided to get himself another piece of tail, though I am surprised he decided to slum it with a human.”

Nice. I crossed my arms over my chest. “Lovely to meet you, too.”

She ignored me and shoved past, stalking into the living room. I followed behind her, determined to keep up a cheerful demeanor, even if I had to resist the urge to punch something. She glanced at my clothing—Beau’s clothing—and her lip curled a little more. “I want you out of my house.”

“Much as I would love to humor you,” I said, moving to the far side of the couch to put space between us, “I’m afraid I can’t.”

For one, I didn’t even know where we were. For two, I wasn’t budging until I knew where my sister was.

That answer didn’t suit her. She snarled and stalked back to me, grabbing me by the arm. Her claws cut into my upper arm.

I jerked away as she dug into my flesh. “Hey! Back off!”

To my surprise, she did. A confused look crossed her face and she retracted her claws, then sniffed her fingertips, staring at me.

She must not like human stink. Too damn bad.

“Bathsheba is not going anywhere,” Beau said and I turned to see him standing in the doorway dripping with water, a towel low on his hips. The look on his face was utterly furious. “What are you doing here, Bella?”

She had a cute nickname? My dislike of her increased.

Arabella put her hands on her hips. “I live here, remember?”

“No,” Beau said calmly, pushing his wet hair back. “You lived here six months ago. Then you disappeared and left me a note telling me that we were through. I haven’t seen you since.”

If that was true, I felt a little better. I tried to hide the smile cracking my face.

Arabella sent me an arch look. “Well, I figured it was our weekend. With Savannah’s heat and all.” She shrugged. “People in town told me that you were forced to shack up with a human. I thought I’d come over and save you from the indignity.”

Well, wasn’t she just all sweetness and light.

“No indignity at all,” Beau said with a smile and moved to my side. “I like Bathsheba, human or not.”

They made it sound like I was diseased. Human cooties. “Gee, thanks,” I said and tried to slip away.

Beau’s arm went around my waist and he pulled me in front of him, anchoring me in his embrace. He pressed a kiss to my hair and I felt him inhale its scent. His thumb grazed underneath my borrowed T-shirt, brushing against my skin in an almost ticklish motion that made me want to shiver.

Arabella noticed all of this, her pretty face growing ugly with dislike. “You and I had an understanding, Beau—”

“No,” he said, interrupting her. “We had a relationship. Once. Now I have one with Bathsheba.”

Her hateful gaze fixed on me. “So you’re picking this lump of a human over me?”