She planted her fists on her hips. “Did you get anything done yesterday?” she demanded.
His sheepish expression answered her.
“Oh, Tom.” She shook her head. “It’s okay to get scared and react, but once you’ve had a chance to think, you need to make the right decision.”
“Are you closing the shop?” Worry creased his face.
What? “Of course not. Why would you ask that?”
He shrugged. “I don’t think the Takhini Alpha likes computers very much.”
“What would that have to do with Bytes Unlimited?” Amy narrowed her eyes as she examined her pack member. Oh dear, she knew what was up. She didn’t even wait for his response. “No. I am not closing the shop, and it doesn’t matter whether or not Takhini likes computers. Trust me, everything is going to be fine.”
The tension drained from his shoulders. “It was just with you taking off, and then you and Sarah heading over to…” He smiled, hesitantly, but with growing confidence. “I was just being silly.”
“It’s okay, I get it. But, really, Canyon is fine. And even though there are changes coming, I promise I’ll take care of you.”
The other half of her Tweedledee and Tweedledum popped out from behind the counter, Caden’s smile shining like a beacon. “That’s good enough for me.”
Amy remained patient. “So. Is there a reason why you didn’t get the stock put out yesterday? Decided to take Sunday off instead of your usual Tuesday Wednesday?”
The two guys eyed each other before Tom spoke for them both. “Well, there was this bear. He didn’t do anything, but he sniffed around the entire store. When he left, I kind of might have locked the door and forgotten to open it again.”
“And what with us hiding in the back,” Caden confessed, “we got a little behind on our duties.”
Amy laughed, letting her amusement wash over them and soothe them. “I’m not mad at you, but I need to get some work done and I want you to promise you’ll get your work done today as well. Deal?”
They assured her loudly everything was better than fine, and Amy headed upstairs to dive into her regular morning routine.
Only everything was different. She’d been gone for a day and a half, but she couldn’t get comfortable behind her desk. It was as if her skin was one size too tight.
And opening the computer just reminded her of her plans and all the changes that had to be made in the next weeks to join the past into some sort of cohesive future.
By the time she gave up and slipped back to the shop, there was one final box to be put away. She sent the guys for coffee and got to work, her back to the door as she bent over and lined up the small components where they belonged.
A pair of strong hands slipped over her hips, and she jerked upright, smacking the back of her head into the shelf above her. The metal pulled away from the supports and tilted toward the floor, packages and boxes falling around them like techno rain.
“Do you mind not sneaking up on me?” Amy took a deep breath to continue to scold Evan, when she realized it wasn’t his scent. It wasn’t his touch on her body.
She twirled, looking up into Colin’s bright green eyes.
Oh, damn.
She opened her mouth to warn him off, but it was too late. He’d already curled himself around her, his lips warm and passionate over hers. She didn’t want to freak out and blast him, but holy moly, this was not what she wanted.
Complications? With a capital C.
It took a moment’s effort, but she got her hands on his chest and gently peeled him off.
His expression was one of complete confusion. “Did I read your signs wrong the other day? Because I don’t usually go around kissing women who have no interest in kissing me back.”
Where to start? “It’s not you—”
“—but it’s me?” Colin chuckled, dropping his hands to her hips. “Come on, now, you can do better than that.”
Amy caught his wrists and gently pulled them away. “That’s not what I was going to say. No, you didn’t read me wrong, but things have changed.”
“In two days? That seems odd.” He inched back, his smile tugging the corners of his mouth upward. “Oh. You’ve been with someone else. I guess I shouldn’t have been so patient.”
Amy hesitated. She didn’t want to blurt out what had happened, but there wasn’t much else that was logical. She wouldn’t have made a date with Colin for Monday, then taken another lover. She was trapped with the truth. “I might have run into my mate.”
Colin’s eyes widened. He looked around the shop, before leaning forward and taking a long slow sniff. He shook his head. “Still not buying it. You met your mate and yet you’re here, working, at ten a.m. the day after it happens? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong.”
He shook his blond head in denial, and dammit all if he didn’t inch forward again. “If I had discovered someone like you was my mate, there is no way she would be back at work as if nothing had happened the day after we met. So don’t try that one on me. If you aren’t interested anymore, that’s more than fine.” He moved in even closer and lowered his voice. “But if something is wrong, I’m here for you.”
Oh, brother. Just what she needed. “Honest, I’m not looking for protection. There are some things I’m working through, but it’ll be fine.”
“That’s not a denial,” he informed her. “Things I’m working through and I met my mate are not phrases that are supposed to be put in the same conversation.”
Amy checked her watch. It was nowhere near the drinking hour. “Drop it, Colin,” she warned.
He crossed his arms over his chest.
Amy tossed him a single bone. “Fine. If there’s anything I need you to do, I promise I will let you know. But in the meantime, I apologize. I forgot to call and cancel our date.”
A dangerous rumble sounded from the front of the store. Amy and Colin both twirled.
“Oh, shit.” Colin put himself between Amy and Evan, who was wearing his angry face. “Is this what you’re working through?”
“Get away from my mate,” Evan snarled. He stomped closer.
Amy grabbed Colin’s jacket, jerking him toward the back of the shop as she slipped around him to form a barrier between the two men.
“She’s the one who makes that decision,” Colin asserted firmly. “Sam, you can step aside.”
There was terror in his voice even as he insisted on standing up for her. Cute, and yet as close to a suicide note as he could write.
“Testosterone is making this entire place stink,” Amy muttered. She raised a hand toward Evan. “Stop right there. Colin was just leaving.”
Evan’s eyes were wolf wild, and his body trembled as he tensed for attack.
“Are you sure—?” Colin began again.
This time Amy snapped. “Get your ass outside, or I’ll let him eat you.”
Colin darted along the farthest aisle and headed for the door. Evan turned on the spot as the other wolf ran, a roar of possession echoing off the walls of the shop.
Amy closed the distance between the two of them and swatted him on the arm. “Don’t you ever do that again.”
Only when he turned to face her, she wasn’t talking to the human. Evan’s wolf was at the foreground, and there was nothing she could do to pull him back until he was ready.
Evan caught her against him, lifting her feet off the ground as he clutched her tight. He took her lips with a ferocious kiss, one of ownership, and damn if Amy didn’t like it.
And hate it at the same time.
She gripped the back of Evan’s head and attempted to jerk him away, but all he did in response was bite her lower lip. The resulting flash of desire pissed her off as much as it heated her blood.