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  As he strode toward her, clearing the distance between them like it was nothing with his long, powerful legs, she could see his rich amber eyes gleaming with little flecks of yellow in the afternoon sun.

  She didn’t even have to ask. Somehow, her heart just knew he was Garrett, the owner.

  But had she hired a construction company or a roving band of male strippers?

  Suddenly, Dawn recalled a few of the reviews online for the company mentioning the hotness of the employees, but she’d thought it was a joke at the time.

  Then Garrett was right in front of her, making her five-foot-two height feel more like three-something compared to his sheer size. But as he looked down at her with kind eyes and extended a hand, Dawn could already feel her nerves starting to relax.

  “I’m Garrett. You must be Dawn.” His voice was smooth, calm. Just as he’d been on the phone.

  She took his hand, feeling her entire hand disappear in his as they shook.

  “Yes, that’s who… is me. Who I am.” She groaned inwardly at the awkwardness of her own introduction.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you in person finally.” He grinned, showing perfectly aligned white teeth, and her feet felt a little wobbly.

  Thankfully, in the short time it took to shake hands, the other two men had arrived, flanking Garrett on both sides.

  “Dawn, these are my two best workers. This is Hunter.” He motioned to the muscled Stetson model on his right. Hunter gave a winning smile and tipped the brim of his hat with his thumb and forefinger. “And this is Grayson.” The tattooed man barely managed a tense smirk that looked more like a grimace. Then he folded his arms and went back to looking as nonplussed about the whole situation as someone could possibly be.

  “Hi. It’s nice to meet all of you.” Dawn waved awkwardly. Hunter waved back. Grayson didn’t. “So is this everybody?”

  “Yup. Since this is a small project and since we’re pretty remote here, we’re best off with just the three of us. Helps us keep your costs down. That and we can do the work of ten or so guys in about half the time.”

  Garrett shifted his weight subtly back and forth as he spoke, one hand holding the clipboard and the other gesturing at the surrounding plot.

  Dawn just nodded, trying to not gawk at the hint of bulging muscle where the top button of Garrett’s flannel shirt had come undone. Instead, she focused on reminding herself what they were really here for.

  To fulfill her grandpa’s dream.

  “So how about we get to brass tacks and talk about getting this home of yours built?” Garrett was practically beaming as he motioned for her to join him, a copy of the plans on the clipboard in his hands.

  “Sounds good to me.”

  So she followed him to the center of the lot where her new home was going to be, trying to stay focused on the task at hand and not on how good his tight butt looked in those jeans.

  Chapter 2

  Her hair was flaming red. Garrett tried not to think about it as he walked the diminutive woman around the property, listening carefully as she described her thoughts and wishes for the job.

  It was the kind of red you didn’t see very often. Jewel-toned and striking, it complemented her pale, freckled skin and petite features. She wore glasses, behind which her eyes were a soft, velvety gray. She spoke in a low voice, as if she were intimidated by him and his friends.

  Then again, given the size difference, perhaps she was.

  She was tiny compared to them. Tiny even for a human.

  Now that he thought about it, this was kind of an odd place for her. A small human woman out here in the wilderness, the nearest town a good drive away.

  “So I would like the house to face this way.” She pointed in the direction of the road. “That way I can see anyone coming from town. And I want the bedroom over here.” She walked to a spot on the dirt and stopped, looking at him expectantly.

  His heart nearly skipped a beat, and he had to remind himself to act normally as he crossed over to her to confirm her request.

  “I got you,” he said. “I mean, I get the idea, not I got you. It’s—”

  “I know what you mean,” she said with a slight smile.

  “Oh good.” Garrett caught Grayson and Hunter staring at him awkwardly and flushed.

  It wasn’t like him to be uncomfortable around new people. With all of his traveling, he’d found it easy to be friendly to everyone he met.

  But every time she looked up at him with those soft gray eyes, the bear in him roared possessively. Aside from building her the perfect house, he had no idea where to go from here.

  She knew nothing about his world or creatures like him existing.

  Saying, “Hey, you’re my mate and I want you, and oh yeah, I’m a bear,” didn’t sound like the best idea.

  “Are you okay?” Dawn asked quietly. “I know it was a long drive and… I really do appreciate it.” She folded her arms over her generous chest as she shuffled side to side, and Garrett felt his mouth go instantly dry.

  This shouldn’t happen. He was a business owner. He was successful. He should be able to keep his wits about him. This shouldn’t even be a hard job, and yet…

  The breeze picked up through the clearing, smelling incredible. Like pines and wilderness and life.

  It reminded him of where he’d grown up as a cub, running free through the forest.

  But he shouldn’t be thinking of that now.

  “It was a long drive, but we’re used to it,” Grayson interjected.

  “Traveling is part of the fun,” Hunter said, coming up to them and putting his hands on his hips. He smiled down at Dawn, and for the first time, Garrett was tempted to punch his friend for even looking at a woman.

  Garrett couldn’t help stepping in front of Hunter in a way that was anything but subtle. “He’s right. We like coming out to new places.” He took a deep breath and relaxed slightly. “Besides, I love places like this. Wilderness. Open air. It calls to me.”

  “Something calls to you,” Grayson muttered from behind him.

  Garrett ignored his friend. “Anyway, I think I understand all of your specifications. We’ll rest tonight and then get started right away tomorrow.” He frowned as he looked over at her beat-up blue car. “What’s uh… your plan?”

  She waved a hand. “Oh, I’m not staying. I wanted to come out before the start of the project, but I’m still in the process of moving. I need to make a few arrangements, and then I’ll be staying in a hotel in Silver Lake.”

  Garrett didn’t like the thought of her staying in a hotel in a strange city with no one she knew around.

  “We’ll get it done as quickly as we can.”

  “So you think we’ll be able to stay on schedule? We won’t have problems with my budget or any requests? I know I’m asking a lot,” she said.

  Not really, considering he’d move the sun for her if it was possible.

  “Nope,” he said. “We’ve got what we need here, and it’s going to be perfect. Trust me.”

  She flushed and nodded slowly. Then smiled. “I know. I’m just a worrier. Things have been… tough lately.” There was a haunted look in her eyes for a moment that Garrett wanted to explore. “It would be nice for things to go right for once.”

  “They will,” he said firmly.

  “I believe you. Besides, I have a good feeling about you guys.” She smiled, looking at all of them.

  Garrett wanted her to only see him but knew it was unreasonable at this juncture.

  She glanced at her car. “And you’re sure you don’t have any more questions for me?”

  Will you marry me?

  “No,” Garrett said quickly, trying to stifle his unruly bear. “I think we’re all good.”

  She pushed her purse up over her shoulder and smoothed a few stray wisps of hair that had escaped her braid. “I guess I’ll leave you guys to it.”

  “All right,” Garrett said as she stepped away. “I look forward to seeing you soon.” He swallowed,
wondering why that had come out so awkward.

  She looked back at him, cocking her head for a second with a puzzled expression. Then she gave them all a smile and a vague wave and got into her car.

  The bear inside roared to go after her, but Garrett knew he’d have to be patient just a little while longer.

  He’d waited for years to find the woman who was meant for him. What was a few more days?

  “I don’t like this forest,” Grayson said, looking around them. He ran a hand over his close-shorn head and sat uneasily in the camp chair he’d set up by the fire they’d built. “There’s something weird about it.”

  They’d brought a huge trailer, as usual, and Garrett was the one cooking dinner for them, also as usual.

  He’d dumped a few cans of chili on the small outdoor grill and was enjoying the sounds of nightfall as his friends bantered back and forth.

  He didn’t think there was anything too odd about Grayson not liking an area. He disliked a lot of areas. And a lot of things. Kind of an unhappy person in general, though he had his reasons.

  “It just smells weird,” Grayson said, folding his arms and slumping slightly with a pout.

  As a wolf, he had the best sense of smell, along with several other unique powers that came with his heritage.

  Hunter, as a cougar, was undetectable by other shifters, like most cats.

  Garrett’s main ability was strength and his sheer size when shifted. Sometimes he envied the others for their more complicated abilities.

  “I know she’s your mate, but you should have talked her out of this project,” Grayson added, accepting a bowl of chili from Garrett. “It’s not safe for a woman alone out here in the woods, far from any nearby town.”

  “It’s not my job to make decisions for her,” Garrett said.

  “Even if she’s your mate?”

  “I don’t know how wolves do it,” Hunter said. “But most of us give our females a choice over what they want to do with their lives.”

  “Most of us?” Grayson asked with a chuckle. “And what would you know about how your kind does it? From what I’ve heard, you haven’t spent any time around other cougars.”

  “I did as a child,” Hunter said. “With my cousin, Wyatt.”

  “Growing up in Montana, I know,” Grayson said, rolling his eyes.

  “Hey, don’t be mad because I still have a family I could go back to,” Hunter shot at him.

  Grayson narrowed his eyes. The disbanding of his pack while he was in the army was still a sore spot, but Garrett guessed he was getting what he deserved by attacking Hunter.

  He tended to let the two of them sort out their beef alone.

  Hunter snorted. “Oh, come on, wolfie. I didn’t mean it like that.” He left his camp chair to walk over to Grayson, who was now demonstrably pouting.

  To Grayson’s shock, Hunter walked behind his chair and wrapped his arms around Grayson’s neck, leaning his head over his shoulder playfully. “I’ll make it up to you later, in the trailer. With us three big boys around, there won’t be a lot of room…”

  Quick as a flash, Grayson whipped around and caught Hunter with a punch to the jaw, knocking him backward and sending him rolling over the grass and into a tree.

  Hunter stood, groaning, and brushed sticks off his butt, totally unhurt. He grabbed his Stetson, which had gotten knocked off, and brushed it off as well. Then he hung it on the corner of his chair and sat next to Grayson.

  “Okay, we’re even,” Hunter said, leaning back with his hands behind his head.

  Garrett couldn’t count the times Hunter had earned a punch from Grayson, but since no one actually seemed hurt by the endeavor, he didn’t plan to stop it.

  And besides, Grayson looked a bit cheered up by the event and was back to eating his chili aggressively.

  He paused for a second to look up at Garrett. “I’m going to stay at the hotel.”

  “Me, too,” Hunter said.

  Garrett laughed as the wolf cursed at Hunter and the two began arguing again, Hunter enjoying the attention of anyone he could provoke and Grayson being at least a little distracted by the fighting.

  Garrett ate his chili quietly, looking into the dancing orange flames and wondering what Dawn was up to right now.

  “So your mate,” Hunter said, setting aside his bowl. “Quite a dish.”

  Grayson grunted. “What is she, cookware? Who even talks like that anymore?”

  “I do,” Hunter said smugly, blue eyes darting over to Garrett. “So what do you think about her?”

  “Other than being obviously, aggressively jealous when Hunter tried to talk to her?” Grayson asked sarcastically.

  “So you noticed,” Hunter said.

  “Would have to be blind not to,” Grayson said. He pointed his spoon at Garrett. “You need to be careful about this. How do you know it’s her? Is she an alpha? Is she—”

  “He’s not a wolf,” Hunter said, folding his arms impatiently.

  Grayson sighed. “I know that, but we’ve never really talked about mating. We’ve talked work and some of our history, but we don’t… I mean, we haven’t talked about women.”

  Hunter exhaled wistfully as he sat back in his chair, looking up at the starry sky. “Wish she was my mate. Did you see that hair?”

  A low growl emanated from Garrett’s throat before he could stop it. He clapped a hand over his mouth.

  Hunter and Grayson both looked over at him intently.

  “Well, that settles it,” Hunter said. “Okay, big guy, we’ll help you get her.”

  “And keep our hands off,” Grayson said. “Right, Hunter?” His tone was stern, and Hunter nodded, putting his hands up.

  “I know, I know. Hey, I don’t mess around when it comes to my friends.”

  “That’s all you do,” Grayson spat at him.

  “Right, but I mean not in that way,” Hunter said, looking at Garrett. “Your mate is safe with me. Any woman is, for the most part. I haven’t met one yet who made me want to settle down, and if I wasn’t going to settle, I never thought it was fair to start up with one.”

  “And I never thought about it because I was in the military,” Grayson said pensively, stirring the fire with a long stick he’d found. “I guess I just thought maybe things would work out with one of the females in the pack when I got back. I didn’t even have one in mind.”

  “And I’ve just been working,” Garrett said. “Hoping to build something amazing so I could take care of the right woman when she came along.”

  “So there you are,” Hunter said. “Our closet romantic.”

  Garrett scratched his beard. “I suppose so.” He frowned. “Do women like beards?”

  “You’ll have to ask her,” Grayson said flatly.

  “I could do it for you,” Hunter said.

  “No,” Garrett said sharply. “If anyone talks to her, it’s going to be me.”

  “So what, you’re going to ask her out? How does that work?” Grayson shifted in his seat. “If bears typically mate with humans, how do you explain the shifter thing?”

  “I don’t know yet,” Garrett said. “I’m just hoping everything will work out.”

  Hunter smiled over at him reassuringly, putting out a cheesy thumbs-up. “We got your back, man. We’ll start by building her the most kickass house possible so she can’t help but wonder, ‘Who is this mysterious, sexy builder? I have to know more.’ And then we’ll take it from there.”

  “That was inane,” Grayson said. “But the thought is accurate.” He pulled a piece of wood out of his pocket, along with a knife, and Garrett knew the wolf would be carving something by firelight for the rest of the night.

  “Seriously,” Hunter said, looking over at Garrett. “It’s going to be fine.”

  Garrett smiled back at him as he relaxed in his chair to enjoy the night. “I know.”

  Their little group might not be perfect, but they were family. And with the challenges ahead of him, he was glad to have his family by his sid
e.

  Chapter 3

  A few days later, Dawn was on her way back to the site, driving a moving van that contained everything she was bringing with her and towing her small blue car behind it.

  It felt odd leaving her old place, her apartment where she’d lived close enough to help take care of her grandpa in his last days.

  Her heart ached momentarily as she drove up the road and the plot of land he’d left her came into view. At least the trees surrounding it did.

  It was so big and wide and beautiful out here, so much more space than what she was used to, so much fresh air.

  She’d said her good-byes, but there weren’t many of them because her neighbors were mostly acquaintances, and her friends online in her book groups would still be able to talk to her.

  But she was looking forward to a new life in a new place where she might be encouraged to get out there more.

  See new things, meet new people.

  And oh God, she was going to see Garrett again.

  She’d tried not to think of him, after their awkward first meeting. Sure, he was tall, handsome, and rugged in exactly the way she liked, with the kind of short, manly beard she just wanted to rub her face on. But he was her contractor, nothing more. His kindness, his smiles, his ability to pay acute attention to her were all part of the job he was doing.

  Make the customer happy at all costs.

  At least that’s what she thought it was. Why else a man like that would be paying that much attention to her, she didn’t know.

  Yet there was this electric little spark of anticipation as she turned and drove up to the job site, and it was more than just seeing where they were at in building her house.

  It was at least a little bit about seeing him again.

  She gasped as she saw the perfectly cleared ground and solid concrete foundation in front of her. Framing was already going up as well, and she could see the vague shape of the walls of her house standing in front of her.

  There were tools, machinery, and materials everywhere, and amongst the busy scene… men.

  Oh geez, was this a construction site or a male revue at Las Vegas?