Lion Lost & Found, Paranormal Romance (Ghost Cat Shifters Book 2) (5 page)

Once he turned onto Main Street, he swung into the parking lot at the bank. Mile High Grounds was across the street. He glanced over while he walked to the bank entrance. He saw the swing of Vivi’s long dark hair as she pushed through the door. His body tightened.
Holy hell.
All he had to do was see her—from across the street for crying out loud—and it was like a switch flipped on inside of him.

***

Vivi sipped on her coffee while she entered numbers into her monthly accounting system. She had an accountant who helped her with taxes, but she managed the monthly billing on her own. She was spending the late afternoon at Mile High Grounds, her preferred place for working on this part of her business. When she reached the last row, she clicked the icon for the number to calculate. She’d see whether her monthly payments balanced out with her expenses and left enough to cover the bills. After a few seconds, she breathed a sigh of relief. She’d have more than enough to cover her bills this month and some to set aside for winter expenses.

“Hey there,” Sophia said as she slid into the chair across from Vivi with a mug of coffee in hand. “Tommy’s prepping a sandwich for you. How’s the accounting going?”

Vivi hit the save button and glanced up at Sophia. Sophia shared Heath’s almost black hair and green eyes. Sophia had been Vivi’s best friend for as long as she could remember. They’d both been born and raised in Painter and had attended pre-school together.

“It’s done and the numbers look good. Enough to get me through the month.” Vivi paused for another swallow of coffee. “How’d you guess I was starving?”

Sophia grinned. “Because you usually don’t bother with lunch. I told Tommy to make you the red pepper and hummus sandwich.”

Vivi’s stomach growled, prompting a giggle from Sophia. “Clearly, I need to eat,” Vivi said with a wry grin. She closed up the accounting program and tucked her laptop away in its bag. “How are things going out at the farmhouse?”

“Busy, busy. Daniel’s out there everyday. He wants to have everything ready for us to move in before winter.” Sophia traced the edge of her coffee mug and chewed her lip. “I’m going to miss living a few houses down the street from you,” she said softly.

Vivi angled her head to the side. “Hey, don’t tell me you’re worrying about that. You’ll be a ten minute drive away.”

Sophia took a gulp of coffee and leaned back in her chair. “I know it’s only ten minutes, but…”

Vivi cut her off. “But nothing! Sure, it’s great having you right down the street, but we’ll see each other just as much. You’re going to love that giant yard! I’ll come help you plant flowers whenever you want.”

Sophia held Vivi’s gaze for a long moment. “I know, I know. I’m being silly.”

“No you’re not. I’ll miss having you so close, but this is a good change. You and Daniel are going to love being out at the farmhouse.”

Sophia took a breath, her shoulders relaxing when she let it out. “There are only two things I’ll miss—stopping by your place on the way to work and walking to work. Other than that, I can’t wait.” A slow smile spread across her face.

Vivi lifted her coffee mug in toast. She felt a little ping in her chest. She was so happy Sophia found Daniel, but occasionally it illuminated what she didn’t have in her life—namely a man who adored her and was beyond ready to dive into sharing their life together. She mentally shook her thoughts away. At that moment, Tommy approached the table with two plates.

“Sandwiches for both of you,” he said, setting the plates down with a flourish. “Need anything else?”

Vivi glanced down at the generous sandwich on Sophia’s fresh baked multigrain bread. She shook her head. “Nope. This is perfect.”

Tommy leaned against the wall by their table. “I was telling Soph that we’d organize a moving crew for her. You in?” he asked, his warm brown eyes on Vivi.

“Of course! But you’d better make sure to round up lots of your young guy friends. I’m a hard worker, but I’m not tall and strong like you.”

Tommy chuckled. “Already on it. I told the guys from my basketball pick up games we’d give ‘em food and coffee for the day. They’re all in.”

The bell jingled over the door, and Tommy pushed away from the wall. “Holler if you need anything else.”

Sophia waved him off. “Don’t worry about us. Thanks Tommy!”

Vivi dug into her sandwich. After a few minutes, she glanced down at her almost empty plate and sighed. “Oh man, that was so good.”

Sophia finished chewing the last bite of her sandwich. “I’ll vouch for Tommy’s sandwiches, but everything tastes better when you’re starving.” She pushed back her chair and held her hand out for Vivi’s plate. “I’ll get us some fresh coffee. Want a pastry for dessert?”

Vivi handed over her plate. “Definitely. How about you get that and I’ll take care of the coffee?” She stood and snagged both of their empty coffee mugs.

Sophia shrugged and headed to the counter, slipping behind and disappearing into the back room. Vivi followed her and paused in front of the counter. Tommy glanced over. “Refills?” he asked.

At her nod, he reached for the two coffee mugs and quickly filled them from the house coffee pot. “Hang on, let me add espresso shots,” he said as he stepped behind the espresso machine.

The bell jangled over the door again, and Vivi reflexively glanced over her shoulder to see Heath walking in. Awareness pinged in her center. She couldn’t keep her eyes off of him as he walked through the coffee shop. He wore a battered denim jacket and faded jeans with brown leather work boots. He pulled his sunglasses off and tucked them in his jacket pocket. Vivi’s breath hitched when his eyes caught hers. Her mind spun back to the other night when he’d stayed for dinner. He’d been a model dinner guest. The standards were different when it came to dinner with an enthusiastic seven year old whose curiosity was never ending. He’d been patient and gracious with Julianna’s endless questions through dinner and helped with clean up afterwards. Vivi’s body had hummed the entire time. It was the kind of evening she wished she could have more often. Not just the part where Heath’s mere presence made her body spin like a top, but the part where she wasn’t quite so alone in her little world, where someone else was there for the mundane parts of life.

When it came time for him to go, she’d walked him to the door and he’d slayed her with another one of his kisses. Kisses she was coming to consider a risk to her very being because not only did they send her body into a tailspin of longing, but they made her heart hope for things she didn’t know if she could ever have with Heath.

For a few seconds, Vivi forgot where they were. Locked in Heath’s green gaze, flutters amassed in her belly.

“Here you go,” Tommy said, his voice cutting through her daze.
 

The sound of the coffee mugs sliding across the counter nudged her a little further into awareness. She tore her eyes from Heath and turned back to the counter. She wrapped her hands around the mugs and lifted her eyes to find Tommy watching her with a barely perceptible grin. “What?” she asked.

His eyes glanced past her shoulder where she knew Heath was approaching. “If you were hoping no one would notice, you might as well forget that,” he said, his grin expanding.

She could feel the heat spread up her neck and battled to gather her composure. With a gulp of air, she shook her head sharply and glared at Tommy who only chuckled in return. She wished she wasn’t so obvious, but Heath brought everything inside of her right to the surface.

Heath reached the counter.
 
“Hey there, how’s it going?” he asked generally, his eyes bouncing between her and Tommy.

Before Vivi had a chance to reply, Sophia pushed through the swinging door from the back area with two plates in hand. “Hey Heath!”

Heath glanced her way. “Hey Soph. Came for a quick coffee.”

“What’ll it be?” Tommy asked.

“Shot in the dark. To go,” Heath replied. “I’ve got a meeting over at the bank in a few.”

“Got it.” Tommy turned away and quickly prepped Heath’s coffee.

Vivi stood there, frozen in place, her hands curled around the two mugs of coffee. Sophia was asking Heath questions about the work on the farmhouse. Only a few minutes passed before Tommy handed over Heath’s coffee and Heath turned to leave. Just before he walked away from the counter, his eyes caught hers. For a second, she thought he was going to say something, but he merely nodded. She watched him walk away, the longing to touch him so strong, she gripped the coffee mugs a little tighter.

Sophia’s voice came over her shoulder. “I heated up two cinnamon rolls for us. I know it’s not breakfast, but they’re your favorite.”

Vivi mentally shook herself and turned back from the door. “Cinnamon rolls are perfect, especially with coffee,” she said, forcing her attention off of Heath and back to the moment at hand.

She followed Sophia back to their table in the corner. She nibbled on the cinnamon roll, which was near perfection—soft, flaky and buttery with the perfect balance of sugar and cinnamon. After several quiet moments, Sophia cleared her throat. Vivi whipped her gaze up to find Sophia watching her. Sophia knew her better than anyone. Vivi knew she’d notice something might be up. She shifted in her seat and took another bite of her cinnamon roll.

“Okay, I’ll just ask. What’s up with you and Heath?”

Tension knotted in Vivi’s stomach. She didn’t know how to reconcile her long-dormant feelings for Heath flaring to life and the fact she’d hidden them from her best friend. It was all just rather inconvenient Heath happened to be Sophia’s brother. She grabbed her coffee and took a gulp. “What do you mean?”

Sophia gave her a long look and then rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine. I was trying to give you a chance, but I’m not blind. The last few months, whenever I see you two near each other, it’s kind of obvious there’s a thing. I wasn’t going to say anything, but now it’s
waaaay
obvious. If you’re worried you can’t talk to me about it because he’s my brother, well that’s just dumb. I’m not some overprotective sister. If something happens, you can skip the details, but other than that…” she paused and shrugged “…you don’t need to hide anything from me.”

The knot of tension eased, and Vivi took a slow breath. “I wasn’t trying to hide anything, not on purpose. I just didn’t know how to talk to you about it, and I don’t even know what’s happening.” She set her coffee down and ran a hand through her hair, sifting through the stands and twirling a lock around her finger.

Sophia reached across the table and squeezed Vivi’s free hand. “How about you stop trying to have an answer right away?”

“But…”

Sophia shook her head. “Look, I know you, you’re going to spin circles in your brain if you try to make answers happen right now. All I’ll say is this: take it one day at a time. You can tell me whatever you want, but I know that look in your eyes. You’re about to wind yourself up.”

Vivi smiled ruefully. “I know. It’s not like much has happened, so don’t go making it more than it is. It’s just…” Her heart squeezed, almost painfully, as she considered the place Heath occupied in her heart. So much for moving on from him all those years ago. It was only easy as long as he was nowhere nearby. She glanced over at Sophia who was grinning. “What’s so funny?”

Sophia shrugged. “If you ask me, you and Heath would be perfect together. Plus, it’s fun to see you get a little rattled.”

“Hey, no fair!”

“Oh right. You had all kinds of advice about how I should relax and let myself believe in possibilities when I met Daniel. Why don’t you take your own advice?”

The light mirth that had started to swirl inside dissipated. “Because it’s Heath. Things could get pretty damn awkward if things don’t work out. That’s a big ‘if’ by the way. If anything is happening, if we try to do something about it. If, if, if.”

What Vivi didn’t say aloud was that she didn’t know how to allow herself to believe in possibilities. It wasn’t just her heart that she risked, but Julianna’s. It was hard enough to remember almost every day that she’d been too blind to see Chris for who he was. She couldn’t dare run the risk of hoping for Heath to be the father Julianna had never had. She’d flung her heart on the line for Chris to watch him carelessly discard it. He’d claimed his cat couldn’t tolerate being tied down in any way to anyone. That belief wasn’t uncommon among male shifters. While she’d never heard Heath declare it, she wasn’t so sure she could let herself believe in possibilities when there was a damn good possibility she might set herself up for a replay of allowing herself to be vulnerable, only to discover it wasn’t worth it.

Chapter 5

Heath set his toolbox inside the back of his truck before closing the cap. He leaned against the truck and waited for Daniel. They’d spent the last few hours replacing some of the windows on the upper floor of the farmhouse. Daniel was putting his tools away in the garage and then they were heading out to do some scouting on the far side of town. Heath glanced around the yard. Sophia had clearly been at work on the flowerbeds running along the edge of the wraparound porch as fresh mulch was evident and the lingering weeds were gone. Sunlight fell in bars through the trees, dusting the grass in gold. It was early afternoon and the air held the lingering warmth from a warm autumn day. Leaves fluttered to the ground when a gust blew through the valley.

Heath leaned his head against the truck and closed his eyes, savoring the quiet. His mind immediately conjured Vivi. He’d promised himself he’d try to go slow, but his lion had other thoughts on that. After dinner when Julianna went to bed, he’d had to keep a firm grip on the need racing through him. The only thing that held him back was the knowledge he couldn’t blow this because Vivi was too important. The sound of gravel crunching brought his eyes open again.

Daniel stopped a few feet in front of Heath. “Ready?”

Heath pushed away from his truck. “Let’s go. Ride with me?”

A few minutes later, he was driving along the winding highway through the mountains. “You’re gonna have to tell me where to go,” he commented to Daniel. “I’ve been out this way plenty, but I’m not familiar with your grandparents’ old logging properties.”