Unexpected Mates

“I’m glad it all turned out okay,” she said quietly.

“Speaking of Sam, that’s him over there,” Ty said, nodding to the big barn.

A huge redheaded man, almost as big as Ty, was carrying a large bag of feed over his shoulder as he headed to the barn. He saw them and nodded, lips curved up in a grin. Parker raised a hand in a wave as Ty nodded back at him.

She was instantly relieved when Sam didn’t look as if he was going to come over. She was doing so well, holding her own with Ty, and even managing to resemble a normal person with Chase, but her reaction to Garret last night had proven that her social skills were still sadly lacking. And selfishly, she didn’t want anything, or anyone, to interrupt the flow she was managing with Ty.

Ty turned away from the fence, motioning for her to walk with him, and Parker hurried to follow before Sam changed his mind and headed over. She snuck a peek at Ty, wondering if he was moving them because he wanted to be alone with her as much as she wanted to be alone with him. It wasn’t likely, but it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility either, she supposed.

“You never did tell me why you were watching Franny,” Ty said.

“Oh! So I was thinking,” Parker began excitedly, “that I really could build that website for Red Moon. That way I wouldn’t be fibbing to Chase or anyone else about why I’m here.”

Ty sent her a surprised look, putting his palm to the small of her back to guide her around some rocks on the ground. “I told Chase yesterday, actually. I’m not sure what we’d even do with a website.”

Suppressing a shiver at his touch, Parker gestured wildly with her hands as she spoke. “Advertise! A website would get the farm’s name out there and potentially bring in more customers. I don’t know a lot about farming, but I’m sure you sell your crops and animals and such. Red Moon would have a larger reach, and if you hit the right target audience, the benefits could be a boon financially.”

Ty shook his head as he rubbed his jaw. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything about building a website”

“Luckily, I do. It’s not really something I do, but I built my own, and it’s pretty successful. I know what I’m doing. I have my camera with me and I can take some photos for the graphics. I just need you to talk me through everything you offer here. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“What about running it? Who will do that? It sounds like a full time job, and I don’t have time to do that. I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”

Parker waved a hand. “Oh, I can do that. It’s not really a full time job, especially in the beginning. You need to build up

the website traffic before you spend a whole lot of time at it. Getting it designed and up and running is the hard part at first.”

Ty halted and Parker turned to him in question. He had that intense look on his face, and his eyes had darkened. “You’ll be here to run it, Parker?”

Her breath stalled in her chest. The look in his eyes said he wanted her to be, but… “I mean, yeah. For a while, at least. And you know, I don’t have to physically be here to run the website.” Parker watched him closely, and noticed that his face dropped slightly as he looked at the ground, shielding his eyes from her. Testing out a theory, she said, “I can always take new pictures of things when I visit with the baby.”

Ty’s gaze snapped back up to meet hers, black eyes narrowed as he glared at her. She absently wondered if the color change was from his shifter nature or if they’d do that anyway. “Fuck, Parker. Are you going to make me say it so soon? I don’t want you to go home, okay?”

Parker’s heart stopped in her chest and then began beating again in a furious rhythm. Those words, coming out of his sculpted mouth… They were potent. The experiment on the whole had been a bust, though. She still didn’t know if he wanted her to stay because of the baby or because he wanted her. Or both. She figured it had been stupid to try to find out, especially this soon, but she hadn’t been able to stop herself from trying. His ‘pull her close and then push her away’ actions were confusing, and she wanted to be on clearer ground.

She couldn’t ignore the other truth, though. She wanted him, just as much as she wanted to know where they stood.

She watched as he lifted his hand to touch her, before he clenched his fist and drop it back to his side. Parker squeezed her eyes shut in frustration for a moment before looking at him as he spoke again.

“This website? It would require a lot of time at your laptop, right?”

Parker cracked a genuine smile. “You mean keep me out of trouble? Sitting in a chair, not doing much of anything, like a pregnant lady should?”

Ty chuckled, his eyes returning to their chocolate color as his smile reached them. “That’s basically what I’m asking.”

“Yes, I’m sure it will keep me out of trouble. It’ll keep me busy, at least.”

Ty hesitated for a moment, searching her eyes. “And give us one more reason to spend time together,” he said softly, almost to himself. “Okay, Parker. Go for it. I have to get back to work. I’m not done with my morning rounds yet. Just, promise me, if you start taking pictures this morning, you won’t go scaling walls or toting bricks around, alright?”

She smiled at that. “I promise not to perform super hero-like acts while I’m photographing.”

“Good,” he replied with one last lingering glance before he turned and headed away.

Parker fanned herself as she watched him. He looked just as good going as he did coming. She just wished she could figure him out and know for sure what he wanted.

Chapter Nine

Ty walked toward the house from the fields, moving slow, trying to clear his head. His head hadn’t been in his work all morning, even before his run in with Parker; after that, he’d been good for nothing. She was all he could think about.