Surrounded by Woods
Read Surrounded by Woods Online
Authors: Mandy Harbin
Surrounded By Woods
Copyright © July 2011, Mandy
Harbin
Cover art by For the Muse Designs © July 2011
Amira Press
Charlotte
,
NC
www.amirapress.com
ISBN:
978-1-937394-00-4
No part of this e-book may be reproduced or shared by any electronic or mechanical means, including but not limited to printing, file sharing, and e-mail, without prior written permission from Amira Press.
Dedication
To Jimmy and my mom, Helen, for taking
the time to read my stories and provide feedback that I could
actually use, and to my kids for giving me time to write them.
Chapter One
“You can’t be serious, Bill.” Mikaela Patterson pleaded with the senior partner of her law firm. “Mr. Woods is your client, and I’m already behind. I can’t fly out to
Texas
for two weeks.”
What she really wanted to do was crawl in a hole and die. She’d walked in on her fiancé eating his secretary’s pussy in his office last month. Joel was such an asshole, but she never saw it. Until then. Amazing how seeing something like that opened one’s eyes.
Mikaela called off the wedding, but she hadn’t told anyone at her office yet. She was a strong career woman and admitting what happened would make her look like a chump. Would she love to get away for two weeks? Absolutely. She would love nothing more than to spend two weeks in Cabo sandwiched between a cold margarita and a hot Miguel, licking her relationship wounds. Being thrown in the middle of her boss’s work, a vacation did not make.
“I’m sorry, Mikaela. I have to be in
Washington
, and Mr. Woods is one of our biggest clients.”
She groaned and crossed her arms.
“It’ll be a cakewalk. Just go over the changes to his estate and draw up new papers.”
“Why can’t Sullivan or Smith handle it?”
“Sullivan is in the middle of that multimillion dollar lawsuit, and Smith is going with me.”
She scrambled. “What about the newbie, Krista?”
“First of all, I’m not sending someone new to handle matters on one of our biggest clients. Second, she’s single. Mr. Woods has specially requested that I send someone taken.”
“I-I’m not married.” She definitely was not that.
“But you’re engaged.”
She wasn’t that either. Not anymore, but she sure as hell wasn’t ready to admit it. She needed to try another angle. “I’m a corporate attorney, Bill. I don’t do estates.”
“You do now. That is, if you want to make partner.”
That was a low blow. Bill knew she brought this firm in millions of dollars each quarter. That alone warranted a partnership. But he was her boss, and she knew how to play the corporate game. And play it she would. She had no other choice. “Fine. I’ll fly out tomorrow.”
“Now was that so hard?” Bill smirked. “Take comfortable clothes. You’ll be staying on his land with his family.”
“Why?” she asked slowly, feeling her blood pressure spike.
“They own thousands of acres of timberland, and it’ll be too cumbersome to get you in and out of the property each day. It’s much easier this way.”
Two weeks surrounded by woods. If they didn’t have electricity and indoor plumbing, she would be staying in a hotel regardless of how long it took to get on and off the property. Why the hell hadn’t she just booked that trip to Cabo like she wanted to last month?
* * * *
Mikaela tripped over her stilettos as she dragged her suitcases into the back of the truck she’d rented. Bill had informed her that Mr. Woods would have her picked up at the airport, but something told her she didn’t want to be stranded on his property with no escape route. She’d secure her own transportation, thank you very much. Assuming the terrain would be too rough for a car, she opted for the biggest truck the rental company had. It was enormous, but it should be able to get her in and out of the woods with ease.
After hours of traveling down the highway, she finally came to the small town that her navigation system refused to acknowledge. She found the turn off with the directions Bill had given to her before she left and felt relieved to know she wasn’t really lost. No wonder Bill said she’d be staying on the property. The last hotel she passed was at least sixty miles back. With her next turn, she encountered a massive gate. She stared at it a minute, looking for some intercom to request entrance. Not seeing anything of the sort, she started to get out of the truck, but then the gate opened. Shrugging, she shut the door and drove through. At least the road was still paved. A lingering sign of civilization. She doubted it would continue to be that way for long.
* * * *
Josh watched the truck ease down the road and knew it contained the woman. Thomas had warned Josh and his brothers about her, about the fact that she’d be here to do some legal work instead of his regular attorney. That only meant one thing—she was taken. His father never allowed an untaken woman on the property because he knew it was too dangerous with four unmated sons. Josh being the eldest and most presumptuous of Thomas’s sons.
Whether the woman was taken or not didn’t really matter to Josh’s libido, though. She was still a woman, and it’d been a while since he’d gotten laid. It was too dangerous for the Woods men to just pick up a woman, so they often went without. Since it was a rare occasion to have a woman on the property, everything about her presence was amplified. Without even seeing her, he could sense her. His feline senses first and foremost alerted him to the fact that she wore too much perfume. He’d have to cure her of that before she left; there was nothing sweeter than a woman’s natural scent.
Trying to hone in on her unique essence, he took another whiff and growled when he succeeded. His feral side fought to take charge, so he shook his head to clear it of the prime scent he inhaled, trying to forget the knowledge he’d just gained. She was ovulating, and he’d never smelled anything so potent, so intoxicating. He had to fight his instinct to stalk and mount her. He wanted nothing more in this moment than to claim her right now. Right fucking now! Feeling his control slipping, relief washed through him remembering she was taken. If she wasn’t taken, he knew there’d be no way to stop himself from claiming her.
Since she was already taken, his humanity would prevail. It was a curse to his kind. A mountain lion shifter. His family was the only ones he knew of in the area, so they had to maintain their distance to ensure their protection and others’ safety.
Needing to stay focused, Josh raced back toward his brothers, but one last thought nagged at him.
If she looked anything like she smelled, he was in trouble.
Chapter Two
“Ah, Ms. Patterson. Please come in,” Mr. Woods offered as Mikaela entered his office. Okay, so it wasn’t Cabo, but the property was not as rustic as she’d feared. Although it was designed with the rustic feel, it was really anything but. The main residence was at least five thousand square feet with smaller cabins in the main clearing. The road was paved all the way to the house, which seemed to have every amenity available. “I have instructed Jeffery to take your bags to your room.”
She walked forward, hand extended. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Woods.”
He shook her hand. “Please call me Thomas.”
“Then you must call me Mikaela.” She smiled as she pulled her hand away.
“All right, Mikaela. I appreciate you coming here in Bill’s place. I hope it wasn’t too much of an inconvenience. I’m sure you’re a busy woman.”
“Oh, it was no trouble at all.” No need to tell him about her little fit in Bill’s office. She was a professional, so she really did know how to act like one when she needed to.
The door to his office swung open, and she turned to see who entered.
Who is that?
The man was hot! Not at all like the men she’d dated; she typically dated clean-cut professionals like her ex-CPA jackass of an ex-fiancé. But this man was huge and scruffy with tanned skin and brown hair. He looked like a lumberjack.
Lumberjack?
Where’d that come from?
Must be because she was stuck in the middle of a forest. But he was definitely smoking hot. Just looking at him made her knees shake with possibilities. She realized she was still staring—well, ogling—so she jerked her attention back to Thomas.
“Is there a problem, Josh?”
Josh’s eyes flashed to Mikaela and then away before answering. But the moment his eyes landed on her, she could feel heat rushing through her. “Yeah, the tractor stalled out on the south ridge. I can’t get Jack on the radio.”
“Not good.” Thomas turned toward Mikaela. “Mikaela, this is my eldest son, Joshua Woods. Josh, this is Bill’s associate, Mikaela Patterson.”
Josh stared at her, a smile playing at the corners of his lips. It took her half a second too long to whip into her attorney persona, but she kept her cringing internal at her lack of quick wit. She stepped over and shook his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
His hands were calloused, and his eyes were as green as the forest that surrounded them. First she likened him to a lumberjack and then to the forest. This place was really messing with her head.
“Likewise, Mikaela. Can I call you Mikaela?” His thumb brushed the back of her hand as he shook it, not letting go.
“Um, of course.”
Don’t stare at his chest!
She pulled her hand away and turned back to Thomas.
“I’m sorry, Mikaela, we’ll have to cut this meeting short, but I’m sure you want to get settled in anyway. I need to go see what’s going on with
Jackson
; he’s one of my other sons. You can meet them all at dinner. Jeffery will come get you when it’s ready. In the meantime, Josh will show you around.” He faced his son. “And make sure you show her respect,” he mumbled as he stepped out of the office.
* * * *
Josh cocked his head to the side and nodded to his father as he stepped out, then turned his attention to the babe in the room. “This way.” He took her arm without further words. If he spoke, he’d have to look at her. If he looked at her, he’d…he couldn’t think about what he’d do. He could barely contain his thoughts.