Mischief in a Fur Coat (4 page)

“I, uh. Look. I don’t want to fight. I know things are tough right now. I don’t really want to argue about whose life is shittier. I just wanted to give you this,” Drew said. He held out the cloth bag to Hope, and she gingerly reached out and took it from him, still not meeting his eyes.

“I know you’ve been going a little stir-crazy lately, and I get it,” Drew continued. “You’re used to the city, to technology, to having places to go and people to see. It’s too quiet out here. Life’s too slow. You miss your computer and your graphic art. I can’t really help with all of that. Things kind of are what they are right now. But I thought maybe this would help, at least a little bit. Go on. Look at it.”

Hope did as she was told, opening the cloth bag so she could see what was in it. Her mouth hung open in surprise at what she saw. Inside the bag were several blank canvases of several different sizes, about a dozen tubes of acrylic paint, a large assortment of artist’s paintbrushes, and what appeared to be a table-top easel compactly folded down. Hope looked up at Drew, her face still registering surprise.

“Painting supplies?” she asked.

Drew nodded. “I know it’s not the same as graphic design. But since we can’t have computers out here I was hoping it might be the next best thing. At least it’s artistic. You know, a creative outlet for you.”

“Drew, no one makes physical paintings anymore except people who are incredibly wealthy. Everything’s done on computers. These canvases must have cost a fortune.”

Drew shrugged. “It’s fine. I have money saved. I don’t spend that much living out here in the boonies, you know.”

Hope ran her fingers across the edge of one of the canvases. She’d always wanted to try painting on a physical canvas, but had never been able to afford it. Now she had several of them, just waiting for her to fill them with color.

“I…I don’t know what to say. Thank you,” Hope said, her voice cracking a little with emotion. “Where did you even find these? I know the general store in the little town here doesn’t keep this kind of thing in stock.

Drew shrugged. “I went to Traverse City this morning. Took one of the gas helicopters from my secret fleet and made a trip up there.”

Hope felt her heart beating faster. Gas vehicles and aircraft were strictly prohibited, so flying one was a big risk. Drew would have been in a lot of trouble if he’d been caught. But he’d flown one, anyway, just so he could get her some overpriced art supplies.

“Drew, I don’t know what to say. You didn’t have to do that. I mean, Traverse City is so far. And that was such a dangerous trip. I can’t believe you went to all that trouble for me.”

“Well, believe it, Hope,” Drew said gruffly. Then he crossed the distance between them swiftly and planted his lips on hers. Hope took a step backward in surprise, but Drew took another step forward at the same time, so his kiss was never broken. Hope felt a surge of hot electricity going through her body, and she dropped the cloth bag as Drew pressed his body hard against hers. She could feel his strong erection through his jeans, and she shivered with delight and desire, completely shocked by how quickly this had turned into a passionate moment, but completely overcome with pleasure. This was insane, and such a bad idea on so many levels, but she didn’t have the willpower to stop him. His kiss, his arms, and his body all felt so good.

She wanted more.

But moments later, the sound of laughter and voices echoing across the meadow reached their ears. The rest of the shifters were back. This moment of privacy was over. Drew stepped backward, reached down for the cloth bag of art supplies and handed it back to Hope, then disappeared out the front door.

Hope was alone for a brief moment, once again finding herself putting her fingers to her lips where they still tingled from the electricity of Drew’s kiss.

Over the next several days, Drew forced himself to avoid Hope as much as possible. He wanted more than anything to spend time with her, but he held back because he needed her to know that the art supplies he had given her were given from the heart with no strings attached. In fact, he was mad at himself for kissing her right after he gave them to her. He hadn’t bought them to try to win her over romantically. He’d bought them for her to show her that he truly did care about her struggle to adjust to life out here in the middle of nowhere.

Sure, Drew would have loved to kiss Hope all day, every day. He’d completely given up trying to deny that to himself at this point. Sometimes her rebellious, stubborn nature made him angry, but most of the time it just turned him on. He knew she felt at least
something
for him, too. After all, he’d kissed her twice now, and she hadn’t run screaming in the other direction.

She had been spending a lot of time in the woods with her canvases and paints, which had made avoiding her easier. Drew smiled as he stepped out of the one room cabin into the bright autumn sunshine. It made him happy to know Hope was enjoying the art supplies. Maybe in a few days he would allow himself to go into the forest to check on her. If things heated up a little bit from there, well, so be it.

“Drew! Get over here!” Bash yelled out. Bash, short for Sebastian, was an Alaskan grizzly, and one of the tallest shifters in the group. At this moment, Drew could see Bash’s face with a wide grin on it, popping out of the second story window of the cabin addition.

“What’s up, buddy?” Drew asked. Before Bash could answer, Mia stuck her head out of the window, too, crowding Bash to the side in her excitement.

“We finished the addition,” Mia said. “It’s all done! Come inside and see.”

Drew was grinning now, too. “Completely done?” he asked, making big strides toward the building. Bash and Mia disappeared from the window, and Drew started walking toward them. The front of the cabin boasted a giant porch, with enough room for the whole group to hang out. The inside of the cabin was all bedrooms, and stairs led to the second floor where five more bedrooms were located. Each clan member would have his or her own room. Since there was a kitchen and living room area in the original cabin, there had been no need to add one on to the addition.

“What do you think?” Bash asked. “It’s simple, but there’s a lot of space.”

Mia nodded. “I’m excited to have my own room. It’s going to be easier to sleep now that I won’t have to listen to the two of you snoring all night.”

Drew laughed. “Hey now, Bash is the one who snores. Don’t blame his faults on me.”

Bash rolled his eyes, and Mia just laughed.

“Well, regardless of who’s responsible for the snoring, it’s going to be nice to be rid of it,” she said.

Drew ran his hands along the side of the wall, relishing the smooth feeling of the strong wood. “This building is awesome,” he said. “All of you have put so much time and effort into this. You should really be proud of yourselves.”

Mia beamed, but Bash shrugged. “Yeah, well, what else were we going to do with our time?” he asked. “There’s not much else to do out here.”

“Oh, come on. You just have to be creative,” Mia said. “You’ve let your brain rot away with technology for too long. There’s always fun to be had, if you look hard enough for it.”

“The first round of fun we should have is a proper barbeque,” Drew said. “My old clan treated barbeques as practically sacred, but we haven’t had any since you all arrived. I think it’s high time to celebrate, now that the cabin is done. Next time I go to town I’ll pick up supplies.”

“Yes!” Mia said. “I love barbeques. Make sure you get some beer. I know it’s not easy to haul all that stuff from town, but, seriously: you can’t have a proper barbeque without beer.”

Drew laughed. “Fair enough. I’ll do my best. It takes a lot of beer to keep nine bears happy, though. Where is everyone else, by the way?”

“They all went hiking again. They wanted a break from working on the cabin. But there wasn’t much left to do, anyway,” Bash said.

“Well, everyone except your girlfriend went hiking,” Mia said. “Hope went to paint again. It’s pretty much all she does these days.”

Drew raised an eyebrow. “She’s not my girlfriend,” he said. “Just because I bought her a bunch of art supplies doesn’t mean we’re a thing.”

Mia laughed. “Okay, if you say so. But if you really want to act like you’re not into her then you should stop looking at her like a puppy dog in love. It’s so obvious.”

Bash laughed, and Drew scowled.

“Whatever,” Drew said, starting to head for the door of the cabin. “We’re just friends.”

But the sound of Bash and Mia’s laughter followed him as he walked across the meadow. He hadn’t realized he’d been so transparent with his feelings for Hope. He hadn’t even been spending that much time around her, so how could everyone have already picked up on the fact that he was pining over her? Drew’s frown deepened. He really needed to get better about keeping his expression neutral.

He walked into the forest, grateful for the cover the trees provided. He felt a little more undercover here, like he could think without everyone trying to see into his brain. Without really thinking about it, his footsteps started heading toward the waterfall. He knew Hope would be there. It was her favorite spot, and the view made for some great artistic inspiration.

Drew hadn’t actually seen any of Hope’s paintings yet. He knew she had already filled a few of the canvases he’d given her, but she hadn’t offered to show him and he hadn’t wanted to push. Art was such a personal thing, after all. And he wasn’t sure exactly how personal things were going to get between the two of them.

As he walked toward the waterfall, he mulled over everything in his mind. He’d spent the last several years of his life going for what he wanted and not giving a shit what anyone else thought of him. His clan, and his family in particular, had often tried to convince him to leave his cabin in Michigan and come back to reality. But he’d been perfectly happy out here. Why would he leave? What was there to go back to in the real world that was so much better? Computers could never win out over sunshine and fresh air. And, besides, now his shifter friends were happy that he had spent so much time living off the grid. He was saving their lives, and his access to the black market of gas powered vehicles had proven useful when computerized hovercars were too risky to use.

But now, for perhaps the first time in his life, Drew was really holding back from going after something he wanted. He wanted Hope, but things were so complicated. They were living in such close quarters that things would get really awkward really quickly if she rejected him. Drew had always been confident around women, but he’d never been interested in a shifter woman before.

He had to admit, although he
was
pretty badass, it was hard to measure up to the giants that shifter men were. Drew was tall and muscular by human standards. But would Hope think that was enough? Would she want to be with someone who couldn’t shift into a bear to protect her if the need arose?

Drew kicked a nearby tree trunk in frustration. He was nearly to the waterfall, and he still had no plan for what he was going to say. He almost turned around, but he forced himself to keep going. If there was one thing he’d learned about himself over the years, it was that he could never get rid of an idea once it had lodged itself deep in his mind. And the idea of Hope and him together had been eating at him for a while. If he didn’t at least try to talk to her, he was going to drive himself crazy. Besides, what kind of man backed down from talking to a woman who filled him with desire? Drew wasn’t a coward. He was a strong man, and he was going to talk to Hope. If she rejected him then he would take it like a man.

Drew held his head high as he walked out of the forest and into the clearing were the waterfall rushed noisily. As he suspected, Hope was there with her art supplies spread out. She had her back to him as she carefully studied the waterfall and made gentle brushstrokes back and forth across her canvas. Drew paused for a few moments to admire her. She wore a hoodie, but it was slightly fitted so it still showed off the delicious curves of her body. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun, with stray wisps dancing around her head every time the wind blew. Drew bit his bottom lip and let out a low whistle. She was beautiful, even from this angle where he couldn’t see her face. He couldn’t see much of the canvas from here either, but he could tell that Hope was covering the blank spaces on it with a beautiful mixture of blues and greens.

Taking a deep breath, he started walking toward her. Then he plopped down in the grass next to her with a smile.

“Hey you,” he said. “Watcha painting?”

Hope jumped a bit, and paused with her paintbrush poised in mid air. Her cheeks turned bright pink, and she quickly turned the canvas away from Drew. “Nothing. Just playing around. Nothing serious.”

Drew’s smile deepened. “Aw, come on, now. That didn’t look like ‘nothing’ to me. Let me see.”

Hope stubbornly shook her head and crossed her arms. “No way. Don’t think that just because you bought me these paints that you have the right to see whatever I paint.”

“Humph,” Drew said, making a gesture like he was sticking a knife through his heart. “I tried so hard to be thoughtful and I get a cold shoulder in return.”

Hope rolled her eyes at him. “You’re a big boy. I’m sure you can handle it.”

Drew smiled, then lowered his voice to a deep, husky tone. “Well, if I can’t see your painting, then can I at least kiss you? I don’t want my hike out to the falls to be a complete waste, you know.”

Drew watched as Hope froze. She didn’t answer him, and her eyes had taken on a deer in headlights look. But as he ever so slowly leaned in closer, she didn’t pull away. So he went for it, and put his lips on hers.

The sensation was even more amazing than it had been the first few times he kissed her. Her lips were so soft and warm, and as soon as his skin made contact with hers, he felt a rush of heat shooting through his body. His skin tingled and every hair on his body stood on end. She was electric, and he couldn’t get enough. He slipped his tongue past her lips and began massaging her tongue with it. She didn’t resist, and even started to melt into his kiss. The heat between their bodies was palpable, filling the air so intensely that Drew almost expected to hear the grass sizzling underneath them.

Time stood still. It had been so long since Drew felt this way, completely wrapped up in another human being. But here he was, losing himself to Hope. He reached up his hand to stroke her face, never opening his eyes. He just wanted to enjoy the sensation of having her in his arms.

But then, she pulled back, and the moment broke. Drew slowly let out his breath and opened his eyes, looking at Hope with searching eyes. She looked uncertain and frightened.

“Drew? What are we doing here?” she asked.

Drew smiled. “Kissin’, I reckon.”

Hope cracked a smile, but then her face grew serious again. “Well, obviously we’re kissing. But I mean, what’s going on between us. We’ve gone from pretty much hating each other and yelling at each other every chance we get to kissing every chance we get. And we’ve never said a word to each other about it. Don’t you think that’s a little… weird?”

“No,” Drew said with a grin. “You deserved to be yelled at for going into town. But I’m over it. And you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Why wouldn’t I want to kiss you every chance I get? Makes perfect sense to me.”

Hope blushed and looked down at her hands. She thought for a few moments and then looked back up at Drew. “This is a bad idea, you know? We’re in really close quarters. Everyone is going to realize there’s something happening between us and tease us for it mercilessly.”

“Yeah, well, I hate to tell you this but it’s probably a little too late to avoid the teasing.”

Hope’s eyebrows shot up. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“When I was on the way out here to see you, Bash and Mia were teasing me about you. They said I’m way too obvious with the way I look at you.”

Hope let out a long sigh. “Great,” she said. “If they’re asking you that means it won’t be long before they ask me, too.”

“And?” Drew prodded. “What will you tell them?”

Hope gave Drew a funny look. “What should I tell them?” she asked. “That you like to steal kisses from me every chance you get, but you haven’t actually asked me out? That you buy me an amazing gift and then all but disappear for the next several days? Which, by the way, is somewhat impressive considering what close quarters we’re all living in.”

Drew chuckled. “Okay, okay. Fair enough. I know I’ve been pretty quiet. I wanted to give you space to enjoy your new art supplies without feeling like you owed me anything for it.”

Hope actually laughed out loud at this. “Well, Drew, let me set the record straight right now. I appreciate the gift, but I’m definitely not the type of girl who will ever feel like she owes a man something just because of a gift.”

Drew smiled. “I knew I liked your spirit,” he said. “So now that we’ve gotten that straightened out, I’ll just tell you straight out: I like you. I’m falling for you. I can’t stop thinking about you. I would kiss you all the damn time if you let me, regardless of who was watching. I’m not sure exactly how to ask you out on date, since we’re stuck in the forest. But I’d like you to be my girlfriend, Hope. I know I’m not a bear, but I’m strong and fiercely protective. I can’t get you out of my head. I want you. I need you. I dream about you. I don’t know what else to say, except that my whole heart is yours, if you want it.”