Shifters Forever The Boxed Set Books 1 - 6 (20 page)

T
he next morning
, Kelsey woke up early though she’d been at Astra’s late, had had dinner and dessert there. Last night, when she’d arrived at the B&B, there were no other vehicles in sight. Teague had stayed gone. A pang struck at her, sadness tinged with a bit of envy and hope that no one else was with him.

She’d set her alarm for early and had gotten dressed to be ready for Mae’s visit. There was still no sign of Teague’s vehicle when she looked out the window. Wherever he’d gone, he’d stayed the night.

Kelsey looked at her phone. A text from Mae. She was on her way over.

Great. Just great.
And Teague wasn’t there. What was she supposed to tell Mae?

I rubbed one out while he was asleep in the other room?

Or
I haven’t talked to him much because I left him two years ago and he’s avoiding me now?

She paced around the room. She didn’t want Mae to think negative things about her, or that she wasn’t capable of maintaining professional business relationships. She blew an exasperated breath out.

The crunch of tires said it all. Time to face the music. She opened the door with what she hoped was her most welcoming smile.

Teague.

Looking like he’d spent the night in a bar, or... God! Who knew what.

“What the hell, Teague. Mae’s on her way. What am I supposed to tell her?”

He gave her a look like she’d gone crazy. “About what?”

“You. Me. The way you look. The way we haven’t worked together. The fact that I don’t know anything about what’s going on upstairs. I don’t even have an update for her about a B&B I’m supposed to be running.” Kelsey bit back a curse word or two she wanted to throw his way.

“Hold on. Back up. I’m doing my job. The renovations are coming along just fine. There’s nothing else to be said.”

Kelsey grabbed the porch’s banister, squeezing it tightly, ignoring the corner that dug into her palms. “Never mind.”

“Really.” Teague came closer, his body almost touching hers. He smelled like the outdoors, like... like... a man should, she had to admit to herself. “Look.” He put his hands over hers, uncurling her fingers, but not letting them go. “You’re way too upset about something there’s no reason to be upset about.”

His breath was warm, stirring the tiny hairs at her temple, tickling her skin. She wanted to close her eyes and cherish the moment, but at the same time, another part of her wanted to scream out the frustration and nerves she had over being around Teague, over holding her secrets in.

She turned away from him, but didn’t step away. She stared at the mountains, the majestic view that she’d see every day, even after he was long gone. She’d be left behind to remember that he’d been here. The beautiful view would become a cruel vista, a reminder that he’d been here once, with her. Kelsey tried not to envision herself as a lonely old woman, watching the mountains and thinking of the man and his bear she still loved.

She sighed.

It was as if she’d never be able to leave her memory of him behind, no matter where she was. Inside a part of her crumbled and died, as surely as her heart had two years ago, when she’d buried her secret deep inside.

His arms encircled her, his hands resting on her abdomen. The irony of how close his hands were to the baby she’d once carried almost pushed her over the edge.

She pulled forward to escape his hold, but was blocked by the banister. Backing up would send her further into his embrace, closer to his body.

“I’m fine.” She steeled her voice. Then she uttered the words that cost her the most. “Please let me go.”

He didn’t—not right away. Then he did suddenly. On the tail of that release, she heard Mae’s car approaching. Kelsey realized his bear must have heard it and that’s why he’d let her go. A momentary sadness coursed through her that Teague didn’t want Mae to see them so close. Then she chastised herself for wishing for something that she’d clearly pushed him away from.

A second later Mae’s car rounded the bend and came into view. She glanced back at Teague. He was slipping in through the front door.

Mae pulled up, got out, waved with one hand, and held up a beverage carrier containing three cups in the other. “Lattes. For all of us.”

Kelsey met her on the driveway and took the carrier from her. “How are you?”

“I’m great. More importantly, how are you and Teague?”

Kelsey looked at her, wondering if she meant... No, surely she didn’t mean that. She had to mean how the B&B was coming. “Great.” What else could she say?

She led the way to the kitchen, put the drinks on the table and took one out, offering it to Mae. “Thanks for this.” She raised the cup, as if she was making a toast.

Mae took the cap off and blew on the foam. “Teague up yet?”

Kelsey glanced at the door. “Yes.” Where the hell was he?

A second later Teague walked in, looking fresh and chipper, hair wet as if he’d just washed up. “Just woke up,” he said.

Mae gave Kelsey a look, like
I thought he was up?

Shit.
Kelsey smiled. “I guess I was wrong. Maybe it wasn’t him I heard.” She shrugged.
Thanks for making this look suspicious.
She gave Teague a dirty look behind Mae’s back.

Teague raised a brow, offered Kelsey a half-shrug.

“Let’s see what’s going on upstairs,” Mae said, leading the way.

Teague gestured for Kelsey to precede him. She agreed, pretending to be gracious, though she wanted to decline. She didn’t want him looking at her ass as she went up the stairs.

T
eague couldn’t help himself
. He checked out Kelsey’s ass and had the best thoughts ever. His cock strained, his bear rumbled, and Teague smiled inwardly.

He didn’t know what the hell Kelsey’s dirty look had been about a few moments ago, but he was going to enjoy his last few days around her even if she wasn’t a willing participant.

Mae led the way, oohing and aahing about the changes he’d put into place. She and Kelsey checked out every corner, every room, and every wall. Kelsey ran downstairs and returned with fabric samples, pictures of furniture, and all kinds of other shit that Teague wasn’t remotely interested in.

He stood back and watched her face light up as she described the rooms and her plans for them.

Mae nodded approvingly, and every now and then looked up at Teague with a smile on her face. There was something behind that smile, like it was the smile of a Cheshire cat. Something was on Mae’s mind. That didn’t surprise Teague. He’d always known Mae was a planner. He didn’t want to say
manipulative
, because she never did anything to harm anyone, but she always had a game plan.

Kelsey was waving to the walls, not even aware of the picture of sexuality that she made. Her hips curved just right, those jeans hugging her body, displaying the ass he’d come to love so much.

Onion ass
, he used to tell her. Ass so good it’d make a man cry. Her hips hourglassed out, reminding him of the way she used to straddle him while he held her hips, letting her ride reverse, helping her pump her body onto his shaft repeatedly.

Fuck.

He turned toward the window to hide the tent he was pitching. He’d better quit this train of thought before Kelsey and Mae noticed.

He’d be embarrassed if Mae saw. He knew Kelsey would be pissed.

He tried to think of other things. God knows he did, but behind him, Kelsey’s voice, excited about the B&B’s changes, wasn’t helping.

At all. Damn it.

“Teague?” Mae’s voice. “Teague?”

He swallowed the lump in his throat. “Yeah?” He touched the sill, acted as if he was checking the work on it.

“What do you think? How much longer? I’m not trying to rush you; it’s just that we need to schedule delivery for all this stuff that Kelsey’s got on order. Kelsey, when is the delivery supposed to happen? And the interior designer? When is she supposed to be here?”

“I haven’t made plans for Marti yet. I told her I’d call her on Monday to solidify.” Kelsey looked at Teague, as if she was hoping he’d have an answer.

He did. Boy, did he ever. “Schedule it for delivery in four days. I’ll be done.” He’d work 24-hour days if he had to, to meet that deadline, though the last thing he wanted was to be done. Then he wouldn’t have a reason to stay. Judging from Kelsey’s responses, she wouldn’t give him a reason to stay. Tanner came to his mind. Yeah, he knew what Tanner would do. But that wasn’t how Teague operated.

“So how do you two know each other?” Mae said.

Teague snapped his head her way. He noticed Kelsey did the same. Why the hell was Mae asking that? He’d told Mae when he arrived in the valley that he knew Kelsey from college.

Mae wasn’t looking at him, though; she was staring right at Kelsey. Why was Mae putting her on the spot like that? Kelsey had paled, her eyes wide, dark saucers in a sea of white.

He and his bear became aggravated, protective of Kelsey. He stepped forward a long stride, then another, until he was next to Kelsey. She still hadn’t said a word.

“I know her from when she was in college,” he said. “That’s all.”

A look of pain crossed Kelsey’s face.

T
he way Teague
said he knew her from college, and
that’s all
cut Kelsey. It tore her heart in two.
That’s all.

The words reverberated in her mind, repeating over and over.

I guess that was all.

And now it was pretty much over. She should cut him from her heart. She’d have to learn how to unlove him.

She pushed the emotions away, as far back as she could, so that she could concentrate on today’s business. Then she’d go off somewhere alone and deal with it.

“...and the tunnels?” Mae was asking Teague. She turned to Kelsey. “I suppose you should know, since you’ll be here full time. There’s a series of tunnels that lead out from parts of the building. They go to different locations, the forest, Grant’s land, and so on. I’m not entirely sure as I haven’t been in them. No one uses them, but I didn’t want them found by outsiders.” Mae smiled a mysterious smile. “You never know when one of us will need one. They’re designated in the real set of blueprints.”

“Where are these blueprints?”

“Teague has a copy.” Mae looked at Teague.

He nodded. “The entrances and the tunnels are still intact,” he responded, his unreadable gaze on Kelsey.

Kelsey wasn’t going to talk to him. She wasn’t going to let him see how much he’d hurt her. She turned to Mae. “Could I see them, just in case?”

“I need to see them again. It’s been ages,” Mae added.

“Sure.” Teague turned toward the door. “Be right back with the blueprints.”

“Actually, could you show them to us? It’s much better than looking at them on paper.” Mae took a sip of her latte. “I know there are tricks to opening the entrances.”

After he’d retrieved the blueprints, Teague took Kelsey and Mae on a quick walk through the B&B. He showed them where the tunnels appeared on the blueprints, then took them to each one in turn.

“No electricity,” he let them know. “So if you decide to go exploring, take a flashlight.”

He was showing them the tunnel beneath the staircase when cell phone rang, jarring the silence in the room, echoing off the tunnel’s dark walls. He looked at the screen.

Jealousy pricked at Kelsey. She pushed it away, though it kept trying to return.

“Tanner,” Teague said.

“Take it. Kelsey and I will talk shop for a few.” Mae led Kelsey out of the room while Teague answered the phone.

“He’s almost done. I get the feeling there’s an issue with his being here.”

“No. it’s not that. It’s... difficult to explain.”

Mae nods. “You’d be surprised by the things I understand, but I won’t pressure you for any answers.”

“Why did you bring him here, from so far away?” That question didn’t even begin to tap the flow of questions Kelsey wanted to ask, but it was a good start.

“He was the right man for the job. No other one would do.” Mae’s voice brooked no argument.

Now he was going to be gone in a few days, after throwing her life and her heart back into turmoil.

M
ae asked
Kelsey and Teague to go to lunch. Kelsey begged off, claiming a stomach thing. Teague gave her a look, then Mae and Teague left together, in separate vehicles.

Kelsey sat at the kitchen table, staring at the blueprints, sipping the now cold latte. Her hands shook and she knew it was because she was close to a breaking point with her emotions about Teague. She hadn’t expected everything to come back so strongly. The love they’d shared, the depth of her feelings for him hadn’t lessened over time. At all. Damn.

She pored over the blueprints, staring at the tunnel entrances that were marked with red.

Screw it. She was going to go into the tunnels and check them out.

Which one of the three to pick? After a minute of thinking, she picked the one under the stairway leading to the second floor. She ran to her bedroom, put some hiking boots and jeans on, then went to the utility room, where she picked up a flashlight. As she went back through the kitchen, she grabbed a granola bar, then another, and two bottled waters, threw them all in a little backpack, and stopped in front of the entrance.

With the flashlight in one hand, and ready for an adventure that would get her mind off of Teague, she took a deep breath and opened the entrance, slipped inside, and closed the door behind her.

Pitch black and total silence surrounded her. She flipped the switch on the flashlight.

Nothing.

What the hell?

She tapped it against her thigh, then flicked the switch once more. A flickering light came on. She tapped it even harder against her thigh.

Ouch. That hurt, dammit.

The batteries shifted with a rattle. The light became brighter, though. That was good.

Stupid me. Should’ve checked it before I got into the tunnel.

She took a step down the tunnel, casting the light on the walls. Whoever had dug the tunnel out had done more than a rudimentary job. It was wide enough for two or three people to walk through, shoulder to shoulder, and more than tall enough for an extremely tall man. More than eight feet tall, if she had to take a guess. The walls weren’t reinforced with anything manmade, but there was no doubt of their sturdiness.

She started down the tunnel. It wasn’t a straight shot, with many twists and turns, and a few alcoves. She checked each alcove out, looking for other tunnels that would feed into this one. There were none. She paused every few feet to listen for any sign of where the tunnel might lead to. She listened for cars, for running water, for any sounds of civilization.

There were none.

Maybe it led all the way to the mountains. A rush of excitement surged through her. Who knew how long it had been since anyone had been down here. She was the first one in a long time. She was rediscovering something special.

T
eague pushed his chair back
. “That was good, Mae. Thanks.” He’d ordered the easiest, quickest thing to prepare from the menu and had eaten it with as much speed as good manners allowed. He put his napkin on the plate and took out his wallet.

He wanted to get back to Kelsey. He needed to talk to her. He wasn’t going to leave town without talking this out. He wanted answers, and she was going to provide them, one way or another.

“I’m buying. It’s a tax deduction, you know,” Mae said. “What’s your rush?”

“I want to get back to the B&B.”

“Don’t you believe in a day off, or are you in that much of a rush to leave town? I’m hoping not. I think Grant was hoping that you’d stay around at least long enough to attend the wedding. He’s short on groomsmen.” She narrowed her eyes. “Or is it not the B&B you’re getting back to?”

He shrugged. Mae was hitting too close to home. “What do you mean?”

“You. Kelsey.”

“I just need to get back.”

“I’m not ignorant, Teague. And I do have connections in the shifter world. I don’t mean just here in Bear Canyon Valley, you know.”

“What’s that mean?”

“You and Kelsey have a history.”

“I’ve already told you that. So what’s the point of this conversation?” He tried not to sound abrupt, but he was frustrated with Tanner for giving him shit about letting Kelsey go, with Kelsey for not being communicative, and mostly with himself for not pushing her.

Mae looked at him and shook her head. “Go ahead, go. Figure out what you want.”

It wasn’t what
he
wanted that needed figuring out. Screw this. It was time Kelsey did some talking, and Teague wasn’t going to take no for an answer.