A Catamount Christmas

Chapter 3

3

Dane pulled up at his office and turned to Chloe in the passenger seat. He’d dropped Shana off at Phoebe’s house a few minutes earlier. Chloe had been quiet on the drive down from the trail. Weariness edged her features. Her mossy green eyes met his, and she smiled hesitantly. “Is this your office?”

“Yup. I’d like to get a better look at your ankle as soon as possible.” He climbed out of the truck and went around to her side. She’d already started to get out. “I can tell you’re not the best patient,” he said with a chuckle.

She grinned in reply, her eyes lighting up. He could look in her eyes all day and never tire of it. They were soothing and electrifying at once.

“I’m terrible at resting, but I’ll try to be good,” she said, brushing a few loose tendrils of hair out of her eyes.

Before she could argue, he lifted her out of the car, adjusted her in his arms and carried her inside.

“Dane! You don’t have to carry me everywhere. I can lean on your arm and hobble in.”

“Not until I get a look at your ankle when I have some decent light. I’m confident it’ll be okay, but we need it to be more stable.” He refrained from telling her he loved having an excuse to touch her and that the feel of her lush curves in his arms was heaven.

A while later, she walked out beside him, only partly resting her weight on his arm. He’d put an air brace on her ankle and thoroughly cleaned the scrapes on her leg. She was going to be fine, but it would be a few weeks at least before she could put her full weight on her ankle. He fervently hoped she’d stay in Catamount long enough for him to persuade her... Persuade her to do what? Have you lost your mind? Your lion thinks he’s found his mate, but don’t be stupid. You’re a shifter, and she has no clue. None. Slow down and be rational about this.

Dane’s internal conversation was a reflection of who and what he was—half human and half mountain lion. His human side was the voice of reason while his lion side was driven by primal instinct. And he wanted Chloe…fiercely. He’d tried to talk her into staying with him, but she seemed too hesitant, so he’d improvised and made arrangements for her to stay at a local inn. She’d agreed to lunch with him after she checked in and tolerated him lugging her backpack into the room for her.

A while later, he walked slowly at her side into The Trailhead Café, a local favorite. The café served a mix of diner basics with creative, healthy fare. It was housed in an old-style diner building with shiny stainless, polished steel on the outside and a bright red roof. Inside the café had a counter with an exposed kitchen and booths lining the walls. The walls were plastered with photos of through-hikers of the Appalachian Trail and faded newspaper photos of mountain lions. Many, but not all, of the locals knew the mountain lions weren’t a myth. The locals who knew the truth protected the shifters by perpetuating the myth for tourists.

Dane contemplated how and when he could reveal himself to Chloe. This was something he’d never needed to do. The women he’d been involved with before were either shifters themselves, or women who knew what shifters were and weren’t intimidated. He couldn’t know if she’d be frightened or disgusted. Or worse, not believe him at all. He could easily show her the truth, but he didn’t want to shift into a wild animal without her at least being partially open to the concept. Mountain lion shifters had mated with humans over centuries. He knew it was entirely possible and yet there were plenty of obstacles. The first being how and when to reveal himself. He didn’t want to contemplate what it would mean if she refused to accept him as he was. For now, he wanted to enjoy lunch with her. Not long after they were seated, Jake came in and walked straight to their table.

“Hey, saw your truck outside,” Jake said by way of greeting. His eyes were puzzled when he glanced at Chloe.

“Hey Jake, this is Chloe. Ran into her last night when I was out looking for Shana. She’s a through-hiker, but as you can see, she sprained her ankle. She’ll be in town for a little bit.” He had more questions than he could count about Chloe, realizing he’d just given Jake almost all of the information he had about her. Against all reason, he was convinced she was the woman for him and yet he knew next to nothing about her.

Chloe smiled politely at Jake. She’d showered and changed at the hotel while he waited outside. Her honey blonde hair fell in loose waves around her shoulders, her green eyes bright. She stuck her booted foot out from under the table. “Dane bandaged my ankle and put a brace on it today. I won’t be able to finish the trail, but there’s not much I can do about that.”

Jake’s eyes held a glimpse of heat. Dane’s cat bristled inside. Jake must have sensed it because he shuttered his eyes and looked back at Dane. With a barely perceptible wink, he asked, “Any news?”

Dane shook his head. “Nope. Found Shana this morning. She’d gone to one of her favorite spots last night.” He paused as he considered how to explain Shana’s situation to Chloe and elected to hew as close to the truth as he could.

“Shana’s husband died in a car accident the other day. She loves to hike, but I got worried yesterday when she wasn’t back by afternoon. That’s why I went looking for her and ended up finding you,” Dane said, looking to Chloe.

“Oh I’m so sorry!” Chloe replied, her hand coming to her chest. “I thought she looked sad today, but I had no idea. Obviously.”

“Of course not,” Dane said. He glanced back to Jake. “Any news on your end?”

Jake shrugged. “Not much. I’ll let you know if I hear anything. How’s Shana?”

Dane sighed. “I think she hasn’t really absorbed it yet. I’m worried about her, but she’s not talking much right now. She asked me to take her to Phoebe’s, so that’s where she is right now. She doesn’t want to go home. Says it will just make her think of Callen. I’m heading over to her house tomorrow to get some things packed for her. Do you want to meet me there? I could use a little help.” He hoped to do some searching on Callen’s computer and see what he could find. Jake was a computer programmer. With Jake’s help, he’d get further than he would on his own. He’d known Callen was trying to confirm the rumors about mountain lion shifters in the Midwest, but Callen tended to play his cards close. Dane couldn’t shake the feeling that someone had set out to kill Callen. Shana shared his concern, but she didn’t have it in her right now to look into it. She was in shock and grieving.

Jake nodded. “You got it. Just give me a call.” Jake turned to Chloe. “Nice to meet you. Hope you enjoy your stay here.” With that, he turned and left.

Once their food was ordered, Dane looked across the table at Chloe. “So what made you decide to hike the Appalachian Trail?”

Chloe tilted her head and remained quiet for a moment. “Not to sound corny, but I needed to challenge myself. My dad used to take me hiking all the time when I was a kid. He died a few years back, and when life…happened, I decided a good, long hike might help me get back on track.”

Chloe’s eyes clouded while she spoke. He sensed there was far more to the story. “Life happened?”

Chloe bit her lip, making Dane desperately want to kiss her again. He forced himself to stay focused. She sighed and shrugged. “I’ve told half the hikers I met on the trail my story, no reason not to tell you.” She looked up with a tired smile. “It’s funny on the trail. Everyone has a story of why they’re hiking over two thousand miles and usually it’s something that has nothing to do with hiking. For me, I thought I did everything right up until a year ago. I was the good girl—straight A student, graduated from high school and then college with honors, got engaged to my college sweetheart and so on.” She paused and took a sip of water, bitterness followed by sadness flashing through her eyes. “I found out my fiancée had been screwing around on me the whole time we were dating. It was kind of an accident that I even found out. I used to manage a clothing store and a woman he was dating on the side shopped there. Anyway, she showed me a picture on her phone—of her boyfriend who happened to be my fiancée. She had no idea who I was.”

A fierce, primal flash of anger raced through him. He had to beat back the cat in him, which rose to the surface when he was angry. He schooled his expression to calm and glanced out the window for a moment, needing to gather himself. Reined in, he turned back to her. “Chloe, I can’t believe you had to go through that…”

Chloe shook her head quickly. “It’s okay. It was awful, but I’m glad I found out before we got married. I was just kind of going along in life. I thought if I did everything I was supposed to, I would be happy. Even before that, I wasn’t. So yeah, it sucked and it hurt like hell. But in the end, it was for the best. I’d gotten a business degree and was bored out of my mind trying a run a store where I had no say in what we sold. I quit, took my savings and planned this hike. Here I am,” she said with a grin.

Dane wanted to find her former fiancée and punch him. How could anyone not realize how amazing she was? But then, he supposed perhaps he should thank the guy. If he hadn’t been such an i***t, Dane might never have met Chloe. “And so now that you’ve hiked all the way to Maine, what’s next?”

Chloe grinned sheepishly and glanced up as their waiter approached the table. After the waiter set their sandwiches down in front of them and filled their drinks, Dane waited while Chloe took a bite of her sandwich. “Oh wow, this is so good!”

Dane chuckled. “Yeah, the Trailhead knows how to make a good sandwich.”

Chloe nodded vigorously. “I mean, this is gourmet—in the middle of Maine.” She’d ordered a Portobello mushroom sandwich with sundried tomatoes and a spicy aioli spread.

“Maine’s got amazing food. Have you been to Portland?”

Chloe shook her head as she took another bite of her sandwich.

“Portland’s the ‘new’ New York City when it comes to restaurants. Big on the whole fresh, organic, locally sourced kinds of food. It’s not too far from here. We could head down for a day or two,” Dane said with a smile, realizing that might be a perfect way to have a few days to himself with Chloe.

Chloe took another few bites as she nodded before finally pausing for a breath.

“So back to you, what were you planning to do when you finished the trail?” Dane asked.

Chloe shrugged. “That’s the thing, I purposefully didn’t make any plans. I’ve always been a planner. I planned every step of my life up until I broke up with Tom. Look where it got me? In a job that bored me silly about to marry a man who’d spent most of our relationship with other women on the side.”

“So you’re almost done with the trail, you sprained your ankle and the snow’s about to fly any day now?”

Chloe nodded and grinned. “I guess so. I have some savings left. Being a planner, I had a nice little bundle saved up. Hiking is pretty cheap, so I’ve spent hardly anything. For now, I’m planning to enjoy lunch with you and see what happens next.”

Dane looked across the table at her, his eyes locking onto hers. Heat sizzled between them. He didn’t want to scare her, but he wanted her more than he’d ever wanted anyone. He’d found her and wasn’t planning to let go. The wheels in his mind turned as he contemplated how to convince her Catamount was the perfect place for her…and that she was meant to be his mate. The human half of his brain kicked in. Seriously? Your cat thinks this is meant to be, but that’s all primal instinct and testosterone. Slow down. You don’t even know if she can accept who you are. Let’s take this one step at a time.

Dane forced his eyes away again, following the path of a leaf twisting on the breeze as it drifted to the ground. Right, one step at a time. Easier said than done when l**t streaked through him every second he was with her.