Page 21 of Into the Lion's Den (Secrets of the Northland Shifters)

I smiled wider. If she didn’t want to give me her whole ugly truth right now, I could deal with that. We had time. “The website? I looked at it.”

“And?” She took the ice pack away from her cheek and held it in her lap.

The new design was still simple, but once it was published, it would be a definite step up from what we had.

Sarah had included the original photo of the lodge and the Celtic-knot motif Dad had used, but she’d added stock photography of the woodlands and a lake.

“It’s a good draft,” I said, “but what’s with theWeddingstab?”

“It’s a placeholder for now.”

“I told you. We don’t do weddings.”

“You mean youhaven’tdone weddings. It’s always a good idea to stay open to new possibilities.”

I had to admit, I liked her philosophy. But that was no excuse for doing exactly what I’d told her not to do.

“Seriously,” she said. “You have to explain your issue with the whole thing. Is it all the expensive frills for a one-day spectacle? Are you more in the let’s-run-off-to-Vegas-on-the-cheap camp?”

“I’m not inanycamp. Marriage is a farce.”

“Wow.” She sat back in her chair and slow-blinked those big gray eyes. “That’s cynical.”

“Enough of this,” I said, feeling irritated. “We can talk about the website later.”

“Fine. I got to get back to work anyway. Your fishing opener is coming up, and I have a few ideas.”

“Again. We don’t need new ideas. These men come every year. They expect things to be a certain way.”

“Oh, I know,” she said. “I won’t do anything to rattle them.”

She stood at the same time I did, and our bodies grazed against each other as we both reached our full height.

“Andyou?” I asked, looking down at her upturned face.

“Me?”

“You were rattled when you arrived yesterday, and I can still see it. I know you’re running from something, and I also know you’ll fight your way out of any corner you find yourself trapped in.”

“How do you know all that?” she asked, and I could feel her nipples hardening against my chest.

“I’m a good judge of character. And I want you to understand mine too. Whatever it is, no one will hurt you here. You’re under my protection.”

“Under your…”

“I take care of what’s mine.”

She bit down on her bottom lip, then let it go. “And I’m…yours?”

“You’re my employee,” I said, as if that was all I’d meant by it. “As long as you’re here, you’re under my care. Can you handle that?”

She nodded slowly, but then ducked her head and scurried out the door.

“And there’s theflight,” I murmured, chuckling to myself. I looked forward to seeing more of that, because wide berths were over. I always did enjoy the chase.

9

SARAH

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