A Sinful Trap (Three Sinful Wishes 2)

“He was checking me out,” she explained.

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Cam ordered through clenched teeth.

“I didn’t mean it that way.” She muttered something under her breath about obstinate men. “He was doing his job. Making sure I didn’t have nefarious designs on you or your company.”

“Was he looking for them in your shorts? Do you think I told him to do that?”

“You tell me.” Now her hands were on her hips, drawing his gaze to the curves Davide had just had in his hands. “He says he does whatever you need him to do. He says he’s yours.”

“He is.” Satisfaction burned through most of his anger. “Which is why he should know better.”

The glimmer of approval in her eyes was encouraging and surprising. She liked that he’d claimed Davide?

“He’s also spent all morning fixing your roof,” she went on, “and used the only break he’s taken all day to help me get this ladder up the stairs so we can find out where the noise is coming from. You should thank him for being willing to go above and beyond. And for actually being good at it. If he hadn’t been, I might be more upset that you didn’t hire Celeste like I suggested.”

Davide stared at her with the same wonder Cam was feeling. Bailey had not only turned the conversation away from what he’d just found them doing, but she was defending Davide. Protecting him despite his indiscriminate behavior. She knew Cam’s business reputation, believed her job was in jeopardy, but that hadn’t stopped her from stepping in to redirect his ire.

She was exceptional.

“You’re right, of course.” He commanded himself to relax. “Davide? Those noises aren’t what we heard last night, but they’re still disturbing. Go see if you can find a reason for them while I speak to Ms. Wagner? You and I will talk later.”

Davide wasn’t happy, but he didn’t argue. They both knew better than to ignore the supernatural, and it would be safer for a shifter to investigate whatever it was than an uninformed human. He gifted Bailey with a small, encouraging smile before bounding up the ladder with a speed and grace that left the innkeeper staring in open-mouthed surprise.

His innkeeper. Who’d been close to being claimed by another less than a day after Cam found her. Her arousal and Davide’s were still thick in the air, doing nothing to tame the desire inside him.

He was starting to believe some of the stories might be true. A night exhausting his willing and energetic lover had barely taken the edge off. If anything, he wanted more. He wanted her.

Only human. Wasn’t that the saying? She was…and he wasn’t.

He’d straddled both worlds more successfully than most, but doing so had made him less trusting of humanity. They were unpredictable creatures with short life spans and an excess of fear. That fear and their survival instincts revealed a deviance and cruelty in them that none of his kind could match. He didn’t believe Bailey was capable of that, but she was human, and Cam’s wasn’t the only life he had to consider with her as his mate.

This morning, he’d made a phone call to an alpha from a small pack of foxes he was on good terms with, confirming what he now suspected. His wolf wouldn’t allow him to avoid her and move on. He’d either have to seduce her into accepting his mark, or put his life in her hands with a ritual only she could perform to release him.

He didn’t want to believe the old fox, because either option required a level of trust they barely had time to earn.

And if she could accept the mark? What about Davide?

He’d obviously decided to take matters into his own hands. Cam wouldn’t know why until he confronted him.

“Your silence is making me nervous,” Bailey said to some spot over his shoulder. “I know it won’t matter, but I am sorry.”

“For what?”

“For what?” She stared at him in astonishment. “For what, he says. I swear, I will never understand rich people for as long as I live. I’m talking about Davide. Your Davide. I don’t know what kind of kinky swinger’s train you two are riding, but what happened just now was unprofessional. And while we’re on the subject, I thought you were planning to take my hiring advice because I knew the locals and the area.”

“I am.” He was feeling the beginnings of a headache. Was she apologizing or attacking him? “The only person I didn’t hire off your list was Celeste, because, despite her resume and your glowing recommendation, I knew it would be a big job and I already had someone in mind.”

“Davide.”

“Aaron,” he corrected sharply. “I’m not sure if you met him. He’s the one actually working on the roof instead of getting in your pants.”