Lion Lost & Found, Paranormal Romance (Ghost Cat Shifters Book 2) (3 page)

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Heath swung his truck into a parking spot on Main Street. As he walked across the street, he turned around quickly, realizing he’d forgotten to lock it. He hit the button on his remote key and paused where he stood. The truck he drove now was shiny and black. It was similar to the one he’d had for years, albeit quite a few years younger. That truck had been totaled when he’d slid off the icy highway that cold night over a year ago. That truck had felt like an old friend because it had sat waiting for him after years away in the military. This one was too shiny, too new. He took a breath and savored the sharpness of his thoughts. After a year of living in the fog of pain and painkillers, he appreciated every moment he could think clearly. He’d had a good six months of clarity and was still grateful for every second. Turning on his heel, he strode down the sidewalk and pushed through the door of Mile High Grounds. Sophia had opened this coffee shop while he was away and it had become the hottest spot in town for coffee. He was damn proud of his sister.

He took a few steps into the café and awareness prickled over his skin. He lifted his head to find Vivi standing by the counter. With her hip leaned against it, she gestured with her hand as she spoke to Sophia. Sophia’s dark hair was pulled back on one side with a barrette. She wore charcoal gray leggings with a stretchy black mini skirt over them. Her navy raincoat hung over her shoulders. A bolt of heat shot through him, and his body tightened merely at the sight of her. He was going to have to play this cool. He might have let desire get ahead of him the other night, but he had enough sense to know he had to proceed carefully.

Vivi couldn’t just be a fling. Aside from the fact that she was Sophia’s best friend and Sophia would kill him if he treated Vivi with anything but the utmost respect, she meant too much to him. For now, he yanked on the reins of his control and walked slowly up to the counter. Tommy Dawson, one of Sophia’s employees, saw him first. “Hey man, what’ll it be today?” Tommy asked, his brown eyes crinkling at the corners with his smile.

“I’ll take straight coffee today.”

At Heath’s reply, Vivi turned, her blue eyes slamming into his. He nodded in her direction. Sophia glanced his way as well. “Hey Heath! No mocha today?”

Heath shrugged. “They’re good, but I’m not in the mood for anything sweet right now. Straight black coffee is what I need.”

“Coming right up,” Tommy said before he stepped back from the counter to get the coffee in question.

Heath found his eyes wandering to Vivi. Her jacket was unzipped, revealing the snug white t-shirt she wore. She had a penchant for those fitted cotton shirts, which drove him half out of his mind. The shirt pulled tight across her full breasts and traced the dip at her waist. Lust jolted through him, and he tore his eyes away from her. They landed on Tommy who was returning to the counter, coffee in hand. Tommy’s eyes bounced from Vivi to Heath, a glimmer of speculation in them. He slid the coffee across the counter to Heath.

Heath grabbed it and took a gulp. He tugged his wallet out and tossed a five-dollar bill on the counter. Before Sophia had a chance to say anything, he spoke up. “If you won’t ring me up, put it in the tip jar.”

 
Tommy chuckled and swiped the bill, stuffing it in the tip jar. “She won’t ring you up.”

Sophia’s mock glare flicked between them. “I get to let family have coffee on the house if I want!”

Heath shrugged. “Either way is fine with me. Coffee’s excellent.” He took another gulp and chanced a look in Vivi’s direction again. She’d turned away and was asking Sophia something.

“Did Daniel hear anything else from Roger after they searched those properties in Wyoming?”

Heath stepped closer, moving out of the way of a customer who approached the counter. A subtle hint of lavender drifted to him. The scent reminded him of how Vivi felt close against him the other night. It had only lasted mere minutes, but he’d replayed it over and over on a loop in his brain. He took another swallow of coffee and focused his mind on the moment.

“Any news from Roger?” he asked, referencing Vivi’s question. Roger was a local police officer in Painter and one of the shifters helping lead the investigation into the shifter drug smuggling network. Last fall had brought a big break in the years-long investigation when the ringleader had been uncovered. Nelson Weaver was on the lam and the police were systematically searching massive tracts of land owned by Daniel Hayes. Daniel happened to be Nelson’s long-lost nephew who’d returned to Painter and swept Sophia off her feet.

Nelson had been using his family’s old logging properties as waypoints and storage locations for the smuggling network. Mountain lion shifters were sadly ideal to smuggle drugs because they could cover a lot of ground and no one would ever suspect them. Nelson had turned sour and bitter after the death of his other nephew, Daniel’s brother. That death echoed through Painter because it had put shifters at risk. Daniel’s brother, at the young age of ten, had shifted in a public park and been shot. His family fled Painter under a cloud of pain and shame. Nelson turned to drink and drugs and somewhere along the way decided he could make good money by organizing shifters to smuggle drugs.

Aside from the obvious reasons any community would want to put a stop to drug smuggling, Painter had held the secret existence of shifters close for centuries. With shifters involved in drug smuggling, the entire community was at risk. Any involvement in illegal activities shook the foundation of shifter secrecy. Painter was one of many shifter communities and sadly, the shifter smuggling network had spread its tentacles all the way across the country. Other areas had successfully quashed it, but it had been like chasing ghosts in Painter. Only when they discovered Nelson’s role and how he’d used his family’s logging properties, which were spread far and wide in the West and into the edges of the Midwest, did the shifter community finally feel like they had a chance to wipe the network out. Nelson had disappeared after a fight in the woods a few months ago.

Sophia looked toward Heath with a shrug. “Not much. Daniel said all Roger had to offer was they’d searched several more areas and turned up no sign of Nelson. They’ve found more storage locations on almost every property and torn them down. Problem is those old logging properties are massive. They’re fanning out, but if they want to truly cover every inch, they need to use air support. That would draw attention we don’t want.”

“Yeah, it’s not like we can say we’re searching for a mountain lion and a man. If he’s in the woods and moving, he’s most likely in lion form,” Heath added. He shook his head and sighed, leaning his hip against the counter. “They will find him. It’s just matter of how long it takes. No matter what, Nelson can only dodge for so long. I stopped by to see Roger last week, and he mentioned they’ve alerted the police in every shifter community. There’s no way for him to hide out too long anywhere.”

Vivi finally looked over at Heath. She twisted the elastic cord on her raincoat around her index finger. “I keep trying to remember that. I’m just worried they’ll eventually stop looking.”

“Vivi, they’re not going to stop looking,” Sophia said with a shake of her head.

“Maybe, maybe not. It’s already been a few months since Nelson took off and everyone’s getting complacent. I hear all the gossip at Quinn’s. Not many shifters are worried about it anymore.”

“The police are committed, so I’m pretty sure they’ll keep looking. If they don’t, we will,” Heath said.

Vivi’s blue eyes swung to his. She held his gaze for a long moment before she released the elastic cord she’d wound tightly around her finger. “Right,” she said softly.

Chapter 3

A few days later, Vivi carefully set the peony plant in the hole she’d prepared in the flowerbed. After sifting soil over it, she added mulch and watered it. She stood up and knocked the loose soil off of her work gloves. After taking a step back, she surveyed the work she’d done. She’d mulched and planted flowerbeds surrounding the house. These were her favorite jobs because she loved flowers and enjoyed when customers gave her free rein to be artistic with them. It would be another year or two before the flowers would settle and show enough growth to fill the area.

She turned away and gathered her tools, setting them in the wheelbarrow. A while later, she walked up the stairs to her back porch and plunked down in a chair by a small round table. She spent a lot of time out here when the weather was nice. The porch looked out over her backyard, which bloomed throughout the summer in staggered phases. She kicked off her dusty boots and stretched her legs. Jax leapt up onto the railing and walked across to the table beside Vivi.

“Hey Jax!” She held out her hand, and Jax promptly rubbed his head against it, his purr a loud rumble.

At the sound of a squirrel scurrying up a tree nearby, Jax lifted his head. Vivi stood. “Wishful thinking,” she commented to Jax.

She brushed past him, stroking her hand over his back, and headed straight for a hot shower. When she walked back through the living room into the kitchen, rubbing her hair with a towel, she heard the sound of a car pulling up in her driveway. She walked to the window and looked outside. Heath was climbing out of his black truck. Her heart stuttered and then lunged forward. Heat raced through her. Somehow, she didn’t quite know how, she’d been managing to keep thoughts of their kiss at bay. It was almost too much to think about. Every time her thoughts bumped against the memory, she shied away.

She wondered why he was here, but she didn’t have much time to obsess about it. He jogged up the steps to the back porch. She met him at the door where Jax was twining himself around Heath’s ankles. His eyes crinkled at the corners with a slow smile when she opened the screen door. “I don’t recall you having a cat.”

“That’s Jax. Julianna found him at the park wandering around crying when he was a kitten. She carried him home in her backpack.” Vivi shrugged. “That was six months ago. He’s still a kitten really.”

Heath glanced down at Jax who was batting at the end of the shoelace on Heath’s boot. His low chuckle sent a shiver up her spine. “Right.” His green gaze caught hers. “Can I come in?”

Her breath was shallow as she nodded. She tried to shove away the questions shouting in her mind.
Why is he here? What does he want?
She was a silly muddled mess, and all over him simply stopping by her house. Several beats passed. Heath angled his head to the side. “So, uh, should I go?”

“Oh. Oh no! Come on in,” she said, her words rapid and jerky. She stepped back from the door and held it open. Jax dashed inside. Heath followed at a more leisurely pace. Vivi let the door fall closed and stepped over to the counter. She’d known Heath for her entire life, yet she had no idea how to act right now. He’d been to her house many times, although usually with Sophia. In fact, she couldn’t think of a single time he’d stopped by on his own. She curled her hands around the edge of the counter and looked over at him.

He stood by the kitchen table. Jax was standing on the chair by his hip, rubbing his head against Heath’s hand. As usual, Jax’s purr was audible throughout the room. Heath looked up. The corner of his mouth lifted in a smile. “He’s got a helluva a purr.”

His comment eased the tension knotting inside of her, and a soft laugh escaped. “He sure does. He sleeps with Julianna, and he purrs so loud, I can’t believe she sleeps through it.”

“How’s Julianna?”

“She’s good. She likes her new teacher this year, which is a relief because she didn’t do too well with her first grade teacher.”

“No? She’s so easy going. Hard to imagine that.”

“She’s easy going, but she’s got a stubborn streak. That ran right into a teacher who didn’t have much patience with Julianna. I was busy running interference between her and the school. Last year was a learning experience for both of us. She got through first grade, and I learned how to argue with the school.” Vivi shook her head with a rueful grin. “I thought I was done with school when I graduated. Nobody tells you it starts all over once you have your own kid.”

Heath grinned. “You never did mind kicking up a fuss. You’re an amazing mother. You’ll handle it just fine, no matter what comes Julianna’s way.”

She flushed and looked away from his eyes. “I do my best, but it’s harder than I ever guessed.” She managed a breath and lifted her gaze again.

“I bet it is.” His grin faded, and his voice was gruff. He stroked Jax once more and took three long strides across the room to stop a few feet in front of her.

Her heart gave a hard kick, and her breath hitched in her throat. He wore a gray cotton jersey shirt with the fabric faded and soft, hugging his muscled chest and abs. A decade in the Marine Special Forces had honed his body. Even after a year that had left him physically battered after his car accident, he still emanated pure strength and masculinity. Now it was tempered and hardened from what he’d been through. She knew he’d fought plenty of battles during his time in the military, but she thought the personal battle he’d endured this past year had honed him physically and mentally in a way nothing ever had before.

He cleared his throat. “So, uh, we haven’t had a chance to talk again since the other night.”

Somehow, she didn’t quite know how, she managed to nod even though her pulse was galloping along and she could barely get a full breath of air. After several taut seconds ticked by, Heath cleared his throat again. She could feel the heat crawl up her neck and into her cheeks.

She dredged up her words. “I, uh, don’t really know what to say.” She was instantly annoyed with herself. He’d always flustered her, but before he’d kissed her, she’d managed to hold herself together. She liked to think of herself as a strong woman, one who didn’t fall apart inside just because of a man. But Heath had this strange effect on her where she felt vulnerable and strong at once, tossed and turned in the tide of wishes, dreams, hopes…and pure lust.

Heath nodded, his eyes locked on her. He remained still for several long seconds before he moved decisively. In one step, he was suddenly a whisper away from her. He lifted a hand and brushed a damp curl away from her face, tucking it behind her ear. Her skin prickled in the wake of his touch. He angled his head, his eyes darkening. He appeared to be giving her the chance to say something. The air grew thick with desire. Barely able to hear over the thundering of her heart with her belly clenching, she waited. He fit his mouth over hers. A shock of pleasure scored her the second his lips met hers. He traced her lips with his tongue before he swept inside at her gasp. His tongue stroked against hers, while he slid a hand into her hair, cupping the nape of her neck and angling her head to the side.