The Wolf on the Hill (7 page)

“To hellions!”
Let’s hope you still feel the same way when you find out your sister has crossed over into the dark side.

Chapter Five

Mia couldn’t wait to finish her shift. Especially with Caleb here to drive her to distraction. Watching her secret lover laughing and joking with her big brother caused no end of conflicting emotions. On one hand, fear lingered that he would find out about their shenanigans, and about the trouble it could lead to with her family. But to see them getting on so well together also played a merry tune on her heartstrings.

The what-ifs ran amok, teasing her about how life could be with both men in her life. If Caleb could be the man she needed him to be, if Rory backed off just enough to let her breathe, life would be perfect. In the end, though, Caleb wouldn’t stay and her parents would never accept him anyway. For now, she would simply have to settle for the fantastic sex. That thought was incentive enough to get her through the working day.

Her shift took an unexpected turn when Naomi took a phone call a while later.

“What’s up?” Mia could see the worry etched on her face as soon as she hung up the telephone.

Naomi checked her watch for the umpteenth time. Something had clearly rattled the usually unflappable Miss Doyle. “That was Emily’s nursery. She’s complaining of a sore tummy, so I need to go pick her up. The trouble is the nursery is forty minutes away.”

“I can cover until you get back. I’m sure I can manage the afternoon rush of soup and sandwiches.” Even if the orders backed up she was sure she could sweet-talk the two men hovering around her like flies into helping.

Naomi wrinkled her nose and the offer fell flat. “I have deliveries coming I need to sign for. Even if I do go get her, what the hell am I going to do with her this afternoon?” The rubbing of her temples predicted a migraine that really would leave Mia in the lurch.

A strong independent woman, Naomi managed her role of single mother as efficiently as her position as owner of The Wild Dog. She wouldn’t relinquish control of either without a fight, and she’d made it clear in the past that she had no family to call on for help.

“Maybe we could tuck her up in the back room?” Mia didn’t relish the idea of adding clearing out the room to her list of things to do, but if they didn’t sort something out soon she would never get to spend quality time with Caleb.

“I could go and pick her up.” Rory’s bolt-from-the-blue offer shocked them all into silence. Tumbleweeds blew across the floor as they gawped at him open-mouthed. He was the last person Mia had expected to volunteer.

When no one reacted verbally, Rory’s shoulders dropped and he mumbled into his coffee, “I was only trying to help. I’m not a complete stranger to Emily, and, well, I thought you could use the time to get your deliveries organised.”

Naomi blinked furiously and opened and closed her mouth several times before she finally spoke. “Thank you, Rory. That would be great. I’ll phone ahead and let the nursery know you’re coming.”

A double-bumper surprise on top of Rory’s bombshell, to think she would even let him assume responsibility for her precious baby.

Whilst Rory looked as though he’d won the lottery, Naomi floated past Mia in some sort of daze. It amazed her how one act of kindness could melt the ice around the most hardened of hearts. And she hadn’t even had to interfere.

Caleb, too, picked up on the vibes after Rory had left with Naomi’s gratitude ringing through the premises. “If we can prise Velcro man from your side and reattach him to the boss lady, maybe we’ll get some peace.”

Mia collected the empty glasses lining the bar and winked at him. “My thoughts exactly.”

Ultimately denied Caleb as a permanent feature in her bed, she would make do with number two on her wish list—some time out from big bro so she could get jiggy without worrying about her grey wolf-shaped secret being discovered any time soon.

Now why won’t that clock go any frigging faster so I can get the hell out of here?

* * * *

Rory returned after the lunchtime feeding frenzy, but before the delivery showed up. He cut quite a figure on his entrance, a towering giant carrying a tiny infant in one arm.

Naomi appeared in an instant to fuss around Emily. “Thanks again, Rory. How is she?”

“She’s running a slight temperature and she’s a bit, er, clingy.” He attempted to extricate the chubby arms from around his neck, but she tightened her hold and buried her head in his chest. No wonder. Mia remembered how safe and protected her brother had made her feel when she was young enough to appreciate it.

“Now, Emily. Let Mr Blake go. He has work to do.” Naomi tried to persuade her to let go, but Emily shook her dark curly head and pouted, displaying the same stubbornness as her mother.

“It’s okay. I’m off on leave at the minute. I can take her back with me until you’re finished here if you want? I think I’ve finally figured out the mechanics of the dreaded car seat.” Mia thought Naomi might faint on the spot as Rory rode in on his white charger for a second time.

Instead, she stroked Emily’s forehead and kissed her flushed cheek. “I don’t want to put you to any trouble, Rory. I’ll collect her as soon as this blasted stock arrives.”

“It’s no trouble at all. Besides, I don’t think my cling-on here is going anywhere soon.” He let go of his charge, her grip so tight she didn’t move even without his support.

“Okay, but phone me if there is any change in her.” Naomi didn’t sound one hundred per cent convinced and Mia stepped in to reassure her that she was doing the right thing.

“Don’t worry. Rory practically raised me. He’s more than capable of watching her for a few hours.” The watery look she received in return told of Naomi’s struggle with her inner control freak to believe her.

“Look, as soon as this blasted delivery comes you can take off. We’ll get one of the evening staff in early for some overtime.” This time Naomi managed a wobbly smile. It unnerved Naomi to see her so vulnerable. She prayed the lorry would turn up soon before she witnessed a complete mummy melt-down, and Mia was left holding everything together.

* * * *

The way the day had gone so far, it came as no surprise that the driver chose today to make The Dog the last stop on his round. Mia surmised that only Rory’s constant updates on Emily’s condition stopped Naomi from tearing the driver to shreds when he arrived ten minutes before the end of the shift. As it was, her glare sent him scurrying to the back of the truck to unload his cargo and make a quick getaway.

“Some of us have more important things to do than wait around until you decide to grace us with your presence.” Naomi signed off on the order with a vicious swipe of her pen that made Mia wince. She knew there was a reason that she stayed on the woman’s right side.

“I’m out of here.” Naomi tugged on her coat as she walked to the door, her relief obvious. Then she added, “I suggest you get going too before another catastrophe rears its ugly head to scupper your plans.” She threw a knowing glance in Caleb’s direction.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.” Mia practically pushed her out through the heavy doors.

“Come off it. I’m not stupid. He’s sat here all afternoon nursing soft drinks, and I don’t think he’s here for the ambience.”

At that moment Caleb slipped Mia one of his sexy grins and rendered her attempts to feign ignorance futile.

“You’re young. Go have some fun.” Sounding wise beyond her thirty or so years, Naomi left her with a friendly hug.

“For God’s sake tell me we can go now. As much as I love you, er, love being with you, I could do with getting away from here.” Caleb forced her to do a double take.

Regardless that he’d tried to cover up and had leapt like a scalded cat from his chair, she couldn’t erase the words from her memory.

‘I love you.’

Words she had never expected to hear from him. Words she didn’t know what to do with.

Fuck! Neither the air blasting around him, nor the warmth of Mia’s arms wrapped around his waist could make him forget his latest fuck-up.

‘I love you.’

He’d never said the words in his life, had never heard them, and had never known what they meant. Until now? He didn’t know.

Perhaps the old place made him more sentimental than he cared to admit, or maybe an afternoon spent watching this beautiful creature had bewitched him into saying it. To her credit she didn’t pounce on the declaration like some needy women might have. Then again, she could have resented the fact that he’d said it as much as he did.

It would take more than the short ride home on the bike to figure out what the hell it all meant. When they stopped outside his house, he had only one thing on his mind.

“I can’t wait to get you inside.” He helped her off the bike, eager to show rather than tell her how he felt about her.

“Why? What do you have planned? A candlelit dinner for two? Or a movie and takeout?” She unzipped his jacket and trailed a finger down the front of his shirt.

“Shit. I thought we could just shag. But if you’d prefer something else…”

“No. That’ll do for starters.” Giggling like a schoolgirl, Mia grabbed his hand and hurried to the house with Caleb nibbling her neck as she opened the door. She tasted sweet on his tongue, and, impatient to feast on the rest of her body, Caleb unbuttoned her shirt as they stepped inside.

“Caleb?”

“Hmm?” He slid his hands under the satin cups of her bra and took her weighty globes in his hands.

“Caleb, I think someone’s been here.” The panicky tone ripped him from his erotic travels and opened his eyes to the fresh horror.

“What the fuck?” Plaster and paint lay in chunks at their feet, the interior walls of his house peppered with holes. It looked as though they’d had a run-in with a sledgehammer.

The mood well and truly ruined, he left Mia to fix her clothes. “Stay here in case there’s anyone still inside.”

He moved with caution to investigate but the house was as empty as he’d left it that morning. Only now with added ventilation.

“Oh God. Caleb.” Mia’s anguished wail followed him down the hall, ignoring his warning. He didn’t waste his breath scolding her. This woman’s forceful will was one of the many things he loved about her. Liked. Liked about her.

She walked through the house after him, trailing her fingers across every ding and dent in their path as if touching the evidence to make sure it was real. He couldn’t quite believe it himself. The doors he and Rory had hung only yesterday were battered and smashed with whatever weapon had also smashed up the bathroom. The sink where he’d washed only hours ago now lay smashed—shards of white porcelain scattered on the floor.

“Who would do this? Why would they do this?” Mia wandered into the bedroom where fresh graffiti stained the walls. The elusive ninja vandal had cleverly improvised with yesterday’s leftover paint and thrown it aimlessly round the room. The white gloss smeared her fingertip as she reached out to touch it.

“I have no idea.” The knot in his stomach pulled tighter with every new discovery. Not only at the personal trauma of finding his home ransacked for a second time, but also in despair of all the hard work lost.

Where he could pass off the first spate as a random act, this latest episode was a direct personal attack on him. Surely, apart from Mia’s parents, he hadn’t been in town long enough to piss off anyone to this extent? The very idea of Gayle Blake storming through the house in a ball gown wreaking havoc with a sledgehammer managed to lift his dark mood a fraction.

“I didn’t lock the front door.” It didn’t explain the vendetta against him, or his sink, but some of the responsibility rested on his shoulders. By accepting that, he hoped to take away some of the worry clouding the brilliance of her blue eyes.

“What will you do?” Poor Mia looked heartbroken on his behalf.

“What can I do, except start again from scratch? And start locking that bloody front door.” The daunting prospect of his workload took second place to his growing paranoia. How far would this stalker go to get at him?

Caleb’s calmness bothered Mia, as if having people smash up his shit was an everyday occurrence for him. Maybe it was.
What do I really know about him?
She hadn’t bothered to find out anything about him beyond his considerable talents in the bedroom. For all she knew, he could be involved in all manner of dodgy dealings with the sort of people who liked to express themselves through the medium of a sledgehammer.

A shudder ripped through her at the thought of Caleb at the mercy of this hammer-wielding maniac. Forgetting her earlier plea for independence, Mia’s first instinct about the whole situation was to run to her big brother for help. “You need to report this to the police.”

Caleb’s emphatic “No” did nothing to ease her fears or suspicions.

“Why on earth not?”

He lifted the upturned tin of paint from the floor and began to mop up the spillage with a rag, making no attempt to preserve the scene. “Look, I don’t want any trouble. Even if someone is literally intent on bringing it to my door. Right now, that shitty offer I got for the place doesn’t seem so bad. I could add a ‘sold as seen’ clause and get the fuck out of here.”

He dumped the paint-sodden rag in the bin with excessive force. Perhaps Mr Cool wasn’t entirely as laid-back as she’d first thought. But she didn’t want him to wave the white flag and run away. If he did, he might never come back.

“We should go see Rory.” He could talk some sense into Caleb. Mia had her own selfish reasons for not wanting Caleb to leave, but her brother wouldn’t let the sheer injustice of the situation pass without a fight either.

“Can we leave your fucking brother out of this just for once?” Caleb punched the door, adding to the structural woes of the property, before he stomped off.

“Hey!” Mia took off after him, pissed off by the completely unnecessary act. She grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around with a surprising show of strength. “Take it out on the people who deserve it.”