Chapter 24

 

For two days Kelsey climbed through the files and records in the office. She’d taken several pages of notes, had ideas and questions. The problem was she couldn’t bring herself to call Beth or Ed, and wasn’t ready to talk to Gage just yet either.

Hiding in her room each morning, she waited until Gage went to the shop before going down. She wasn’t being cowardly, just needed time and space to figure things out. The feelings, or desires, she had for Gage had changed, yet hadn’t at the same time. It left her with her emotions whirling around in circles inside her. One minute she would be humming quietly to herself as she read through the files and the next, she was in tears, or worse, mad at nothing. What she needed to figure out was why, before she threw herself in his path again.

One part she knew, as best as she could was that he had gone against his own instinct and let her grow up. For that, she was glad and owed him a certain degree of gratitude. Now, if she could just get through this change without incident, she’d be a lot happier. She knew she was ready for a man in her life, but when she thought of it along the terms of only one man forever, she wasn’t that sure. None of her relationships had ever gone to a place of intimacy, a few times she’d come close, but there was always something missing so she stopped it there. Her roommate from school thought it was great she was still a virgin. Kelsey didn’t feel like it was great to be a twenty-three-year-old virgin at all. To her it meant something was wrong with her, and that she couldn’t seem to have a normal relationship.

Pushing away from the desk, she went over to the window and opened it. It was hot with very little air moving, but she still needed the fresh air. Keeping to herself was good, it gave her time to think things through. The problem was she was stuck, thinking over and over to the point of driving herself crazy. The only time she’d seen any of the guys since Blair had been here was when one of them went past the window. No one had come in, so she figured they were just keeping an eye on things, as Gage told her they would be.

She didn’t even want to think about the organization that was taking female shifters. No one had given her details on the family that was responsible for her parents’ deaths, but she saw the way Noah was, and knew he was a mess because of them. That was all the information she really needed to know.

Sighing, she turned from the window and headed to the door, needing to be outside. The air was muggy as she stepped out onto the porch. Running her hands through her hair, she debated on going back in and pull it up, only to decide down would be better, and she wouldn’t get sunburned. Going down the steps she looked at the path across the yard that led to the ledge overlooking the lake. Her first thought was to go and get a bit of exercise, but the tone Gage used when he spoke about Devin’s warning came back to her.

Spinning on her heels, she went toward the shop. Whether she wanted to speak to anyone or not, she wasn’t foolish enough to put herself at risk by wandering off alone. Hopefully they weren’t too busy today. Maybe Cooper or Blair had a bit of time to go for a walk with her.

By the time arrived at the shop, she had a thin sheen of sweat covering her. Normally she didn’t mind the hot weather, but today it felt heavier than normal.

As she hit the gate leading to the side yard, she noticed Blair and Jake working on a broken track on an earth mover. They had their shirts off and Kelsey paused to admire that for a moment. She didn’t know if it was because of what they were, but well-formed muscles bunched as the two men pried at the dirt packed into the machine trying to clean it to work on it. If she wasn’t so overwhelmed with other things in her life, she could have happily gawked at them for much longer. There was something sexy about sweaty, muscular men that she was pretty sure any female appreciated.

She was still a few feet away when both of them turned and looked right at her. A part of her wanted to believe it was coincidence, but the look on their faces told her otherwise. They had smelled her. Taking a deep breath, she smiled like it didn’t bother her. “So much makes sense now.” Tucking her hands into the pockets of her shorts, she looked at the rig like it interested her. “I could never sneak up any of you, now I know why.”

Jake smiled to that, “Maybe you just walk heavy.”

Blair chuckled, “Yeah, that’s it.” She noticed he looked at her denim shorts and worked his way slowly down her legs. “What’s up, sweetie?” He looked back at her face, not giving away what he was thinking.

Kelsey tried to inhale without making it obvious to see if she could scent them like they did her. She didn’t smell anything out of the ordinary. “I wanted to go for a walk to the lake lookout, but Gage told me about you guys keeping an eye out,” she shrugged, “so I thought I’d see if someone wants to go with me.”

Wiping the sweat off his forehead, Jake looked at the track hanging under the heavy machine. “We’re going to be at this a while.” He gave her a sympathetic look, “Gotta get it done today.” He looked uncomfortable, trying to not look at her, but looking at her at the same time.

Shrugging, Kelsey smiled briefly. “That’s okay.” She looked at the shop. “Is Coop busy?”

Blair pulled a rag from his back pocket and wiped off his face. “He’s on a pickup with Noah.” He jerked his head toward the open bay doors. “I think Gary is waiting on parts though.”

Biting her lip, she considered her options. She’d never been close to Gary, but then again, the man wasn’t exactly the social type. She nodded. “I’ll go see if he wants to.” Turning she took a few steps in that direction when a strange feeling went up her spine. It wasn’t an eerie one, just one of awareness. She glanced over her shoulder to see both men standing rock still watching her. “You guys should put your shirts on; you’re going to get sunburned.” It was a lie, they were both tanned dark already, but it made them aware they were staring and both jolted and turned back to the task they needed to finish.

Shaking her head, she went over to the bay. Was it weird she knew they were looking at her? Rolling her eyes at the thought she realized that was just silly, anyone could sense things like that, couldn’t they? Stepping into the shade of the shop, she looked around and didn’t see anyone. Pausing, she listened and heard voices coming from the office.

When she stepped through the door, both men straightened up and turned to look at her. Might as well have bells tied around my neck. Gary looked startled, where as Gage had a look of concern on his face. “Is everything okay?” He stepped away from the desk.

Giving him a puzzled look, she nodded. “Fine.”

He exhaled, “You looked stressed.”

She raised both eyebrows at him. “No, I’ve just noticed I can’t sneak up on anyone today.”

Gary flushed slightly and looked back down at the desk.

Grinning, Gage rubbed his jaw, “Did you need to sneak up on someone?”

Shaking her head, she crossed her arms over her chest and ignored how they stuck to each other. “No. I wanted to go to the lake lookout, just to stretch my legs but I didn’t think it would be a good idea to go…”

“Alone.” Gage finished for her. He looked at Gary for a moment, who stood there rod straight and looking down at the desk for no particular reason. Clearing his throat, he glanced at the door. “Jake and Blair should…”

She shook her head, “They’re beating the hell out of the earth mover trying to get at the links.”

“Noah and Cooper…”

“Aren’t back yet,” she raised her eyebrows and looked from him to Gary.

With his jaw set, he gave a brief shake of his head confirming what she thought, Gary wasn’t comfortable being near her.

Exhaling loudly, she shrugged. “I can wait until later.” Not giving him a chance to say anything else, she went back out into the shop.

“Kels.”

She stopped and turned back to watch Gage come up behind her.

“I can go with you,” he said it quietly, hesitating slightly.

“I’m just feeling cooped up today; it’s probably just the heat.” She avoided looking at his eyes, doing an internal assessment about how she felt being near him. It was still there, it being that overwhelmed feeling she’d always had around him. “I’ll just turn up the air conditioning or something; I don’t want to bother…”

“Our bodies run at higher temperatures, so hot days feel worse to us. You’ll get used to it.”

Looking up at him, she studied the patient look in his eyes, remembering what he’d done for years without her knowing. “Is that it?”

He nodded. “Feeling cooped up is something that will happen more often now. You’re going to want to be outside.”

Rubbing clammy hands over her arms, she looked down at the floor. “Yeah, I’ve been noticing that for about a year now.”