Second Chance Mates (7 page)

What was she supposed to do? Hide in
the office then sneak up to bed in her own house? Or did they
expect her to go sit with them in the living room like that was
totally normal? Her, Cade, and his big tiger friend.

Clara closed her eyes at the thought of
Luke. Throughout dinner she had felt him contemplating her and she
couldn't help being curious what he thought of her. Did Cade talk
about her to him? Was she what Luke expected? Maybe he thought she
was horrible. Or indecisive. Or maybe he thought she was some silly
female who could be bossed around? She huffed at that.

Except Luke didn't seem to harbor any
hostile thoughts towards her. Actually, he'd seemed kind of nice.
Plus he'd offered her company and help, not to jump her bones. Her
eyes widened as she flopped onto the desk chair. It seemed like she
was thinking nothing but sex thoughts ever since she'd seen the two
of them. Her wolf had practically insisted jumping
them
before she passed out.

She missed sex. Missed the intimacy,
the feel of skin on skin, the way it made her feel. She and Colton
had enjoyed a wild and varied sex life, just the two of them
though, just another thing that had crashed to a halt when she lost
him. She closed her eyes for a moment trying to remember his touch,
how he felt when they were together, limbs wrapped around each
other, making love; hot, sweaty, frantic sex; quickies in the
shower and out in the open. He was her first and only and it had
been wonderful.

She wondered what Luke would be like in
bed. She was sure he would be a take control type who could deliver
one orgasm after another as his powerful muscled body moved above
her, or below, or, decadently, behind. He probably knew a thousand
ways to lick with that tiger tongue.

"Stop it." She slapped a palm against
her forehead. "Bad, bad, Clara." She must be sex starved. That was
it. She was way too young to be living such a drought, that was for
sure. Maybe if she just got... "Aarrgh!" She thumped the pillow in
her arms. She would not think about sex with Luke. Or
Cade.

Damnit! Now she was thinking about
Cade's lithe body sliding against hers, the feel of his powerful
body covering her...then inside her, filling her and driving her
wild.

She made a frustrated noise and pouted.
It wasn't them, she told herself. It wasn't Cade and Luke. It was
the situation...and she missed Colton. Of course she was. It was as
simple as that. Unbidden, the thought slipped into her head...and
they were both fine,
fine
, looking men and she was a
red-blooded female with a pulse who could look all she liked. It
wasn't a betrayal to look after all.

And there it was, the problem that
always stared her in the face.

How could she ever move on, when ever
step away from Colton felt like a betrayal? How could she possibly
live again? Love again? How could she even
think
about
letting another man take her husband’s place?

But she could live. She could try,
couldn’t she?

For starters, she couldn't do any kind
of living holed up in the office. Wrenching the door open, she
stomped noisily from the little room. In the kitchen, she tugged
open the refrigerator and after getting over her surprise that
they'd stocked it full of fresh produce, she found the half bottle
of wine left over from a family visit and poured herself a glass.
Then she begrudgingly grabbed two bottles of beer for the men who,
from the sneak peeks she took through the doorway, showed no signs
of leaving. If anything, they were perfectly comfortable parked in
front of her television. Luke had kicked off his shoes, his long
legs stretched in front of him. And Cade? Cade had his socked feet
on her coffee table, each foot resting on a coaster. She held back
a laugh at the absurdity of it.

Stomping through she dumped the bottles
on the table without a word, making sure they were on top of
coasters because Colton hated ring marks, not that he could
complain but she stuck to their rule anyway. Refusing to sit
between them on the couch, she dropped onto the armchair and
ignored them. Well, except for a quick little look from the corner
of her eye.

Luke glanced over, a smile on his full
lips and took a bottle, and her heart melted a little.
He has
beautiful lips.

As if they'd planned it, Cade
immediately passed the TV remote before picking up his beer, but
just as she made to change the channel, she had an attack of the
meanies.

They'd driven a long, long way. It was
only polite to let them have a drink and watch a game, especially
as they made dinner and cleaned up. They could bunk on the floor
and go in the morning. Maybe she would make them breakfast, just
this once.

Actually, maybe it would just be nice
knowing she wasn't the only one under this roof tonight. Already
she felt a little less alone.

Chapter Six

Clara yawned widely and indiscreetly as
she woke. First she pushed her arms above her head, clasped her
hands together and stretched, then she pointed her toes and
stretched her legs too. With a roll of her head, she looked towards
the bright sliver of light peeking through her curtains and
blinked. It was far too bright for early morning.

Turning her head to the nightstand, she
gaped at the time. How had she slept until mid-morning? And what
was that rhythmic racket coming from somewhere below her?
Tap,
tap, tap
. Pause.
Tap, tap, tap
. Then what sounded like a
male voice swearing. What the heck were her two unwelcome house
guests doing now?

Whatever it was, it didn't make her
want to leap out of bed and go storming downstairs in a
rage.

Strange as it was to admit, she'd slept
better than she had in months and all she could put it down to was
that it was comforting to have the two big men in her house. She
didn't have to worry about finding one of her laborers poking about
the property where he shouldn't be—not that she had any workers
anymore—or the panic she always felt on hearing the developer's
truck bump along the gravel driveway, ready for another
voice-raised round of why she should sell her property when she
didn't want to.

"I'm turning soft," she muttered to
herself. "I'm a big girl. I don't need anybody." Except she did.
She did need people, only she'd shut herself off for so long that
she didn't know how to ask for help anymore.

Still, curiosity niggled at her. What
were they doing?

Rolling out of bed, she quickly took
care of her bathroom needs and pulled on denim shorts and a loose
sleeveless top, a concession to the growing heat, and padded
downstairs, following the noise into the living room. There, her
doors were folded back and for a moment she just stood there,
drinking in the sight of the two shirtless men bent over her deck,
hammering the wood into place.

Cade, she'd seen shirtless countless
times but his body had certainly developed and filled out nicely
over the past couple of years. He'd always been tall and broad, but
on the slighter side. Now his body was buff and muscled, his jeans
slung low so she could just see the waistband of his boxers. His
back shimmered with sweat and she had the urge to grab the tube of
suntan lotion from the basket by the doors and rub it in with her
own hands.

A hot flash ran through her at the
thought of running her hands over him and she gulped.

And next to him...what a sight to
behold. Taller and broader, his head bent so that his shaggy blonde
hair curled over his forehead and slightly damp at the nape, a
couple of nails protruding from his lips was her Luke.

There her wolf went again, putting a
proprietary claim on the man. She watched as Luke took a nail from
his lips, positioned it and hammered it into place. Just for kicks
she watched a while longer, taking in his shoulder muscles that
lowered into thick biceps and sinewy forearms. His jeans were slung
just as low as Cade's and as he leaned back and stretched, his eyes
closed to the sun, she took in muscled abs that descended into a v
that disappeared to places she had a brief moment of wondering
about. With the top snap undone, Clara was fairly certain he hadn't
bothered with boxers at all, a realization that made her breath
hitch and her wolf yip in excitement.

She turned away quickly before they
could see her staring at them, probably with a slack jaw, and
walked into the kitchen.

So, they were hot. So what? For the
second time in two days, Clara had to remind herself that she
did
have a pulse. It didn't mean
she
wanted to claim
them, unlike her wolf who was fairly dripping at the jaw with the
idea.

Peeking out from the open kitchen
doorway she kept her eyes firmly off their delectable bodies and
onto her deck. A smile sprang to her lips when she realized they'd
finished more than half of it while she slept in

How nice of them
.
She
shook her head. No, it was exactly what they should be doing, given
that they'd barged into her home and refused to leave. Well, now
that she thought of it, it wasn't like she'd really insisted. It
was probably the pasta coma Luke's cooking had put her into. It had
made her placid. Or maybe it was the two glasses of wine she'd
imbibed before stomping off to bed and slamming her bedroom
door.

It's because they're your mates
,
her pesky wolf whispered,
it's because they've come to claim
you
.

"Oh shut up," she said out loud, and
grabbed cans of pop from the refrigerator. Keeping them hydrated
was the least she could do seeing as they were finishing her odd
jobs. On second thoughts, maybe she should feed them too. She
grabbed a handful of apples, courtesy of their kitchen-stocking
too, and made her way outside, coughing politely when she reached
the deck.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," said Cade,
looking up and grinning at her before he finished hammering another
nail home. "Thought we'd save you twenty years of labor and get
this thing finished."

"I appreciate it,” she said
sincerely.

Luke got to his feet and held out a
hand to her, a hand she took without hesitation. "Step out. See how
it feels," he said, the low timbre of his voice sending shivers
through her despite the heat.

Setting the drinks and apples on the
floor, Clara stepped out. His fingers tightened around hers and he
didn't let go even when her feet were flat on the smooth deck. For
that matter neither did she. It felt so nice holding a male hand.
Another rush of indecision passed through her. "I can't believe you
guys did all this," she said, sweeping a hand through the
air.

"Least we could do," said Luke, his
thumb stroking hers.

She resisted the urge to say 'Yes, it
is', because, really, her mother had not brought her up to be so
snippy and it was pretty thoughtful of them to take on a job that
she'd been struggling with alone. Being determined wasn’t always
the best replacement for brute strength and another pair of
hands.

"Well, thank you."

"Those for us?" Luke nodded at the
pop.

"Uh yeah, I thought you were hot, uh,
that is, getting hot out here," she said, stumbling over her
words.

"Thanks." Luke let go of her hand and
she almost snatched it back before he reached for the cans, passing
one to Cade who took it, tapped the top and pulled the ring,
raising it to her in a thanks before drinking.

"Oh, you're getting sunburned," she
said, catching the light red patch blooming on Luke's shoulder.
"Didn't you put any sun lotion on?" She stepped back inside, and
rummaged in the wicker basket by the door, pulling out the lotion
she always kept there and passed it to him. "Sunburn is a
bitch."

"Well, now," said Luke, turning the
bottle over and looking at it. "I can't reach my back so well." He
passed it back to her. "You'll have to do it."

"I, uh..." Clara felt her face growing
hot. Looking and remembering she had a pulse was one thing. Running
her lotion-creamy hands all over his body was quite another. She
gulped as Luke turned around and sat down, running a hand over the
light red patch and grimacing. She gazed down at the muscled back
presented to her, and darted a quick glance at Cade who'd taken
that moment to stretch out flat on his back, his chest turned to
the sun.
Typical wolf
. He was just like her, finding a warm
sunspot to stretch out in, even in his human form. And by the end
of the morning, she realized, she would have the whole deck to
stretch out on. The thought warmed her as much as the son
did.

Then she looked down and realized she
was caught.

She could toss Cade the lotion and tell
him to sort his friend out, or she could get on and do it herself
and get a finished deck. Pronto. That decided it. With a sigh that
she hoped they took to be annoyance rather than a reflection of the
butterflies in her belly, she snapped open the top and squirted the
lotion into her hand, kneeling behind the big tiger.

If seeing him the day before was enough
to cause her to faint, and inhaling his scent through the evening
was intoxicating enough, then she could only describe the moment
her hands made contact with his hard flesh as
electrifying
.