Blind Date With A Bear (A BBW Paranormal Romance) (15 page)

His damn phone buzzed again. Tonight he would tell her. Tell her all about true mates. The exchange of marks. The heat. Everything. He couldn’t now. If he did, he’d never make it to the construction site, for days. Once he explained, once she accepted him, his bear would take control, whether the man wanted it to or not.

A whole lot of people were depending on him going to the site today. Marcum had screwed them over with the concrete mix stunt. The Council’s order for him to pay restitution was great. Quinn knew it wasn’t the end of the trouble. Marcum was too sleazy not to have something else up his sleeve. Quinn’s instincts were telling him that he needed to go. Other instincts were warning him not to leave. Paige looked like prey about to run. He caught her chin between his fingers. They tightened, forcing her to meet his gaze. “My mate. Mine. Tonight we talk.”

She opened her mouth to reply. He knew what she was going to say and stopped her with a hard kiss to her swollen lips. The woman loved telling him no. “Tonight.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

The day was interminable for Quinn. The inspector who he thought had risen straight from hell, demanded to see all of their records. The incident with the concrete mix had been anonymously reported to the city. Now, the inspector was convinced the concrete mix they’d previously used hadn’t been up to code, that the plumbers they’d hired weren’t licensed. The list of deficiencies went on and on. Marcum had gotten his wish. Blackwood Brothers Construction was royally screwed.

He was on the tenth floor with the inspector remembering the day he’d spent there with Paige and contemplating throwing the man over the edge, when Ryland and Ryker stepped out of the elevator. His brothers had left as soon as he’d arrived saying they had something to check out. They’d been very mysterious and said they’d explain if it panned out. He personally thought they didn’t want to get involved in all the red tape of the inspection. They were good guys, they just hated the administrative part of the construction business. That burden fell solely onto Quinn’s shoulders.

The brothers walked toward him, flanking a large, rotund man with a florid face. It was hot out today and the man didn’t appear to be in very good health. He was also someone Quinn had never seen before. He wor
e a hard hat and a government identification badge around his neck.

“Quinn.
” Ryland drew his attention. “I’d like for you to meet someone. This is Joseph Turner. The building inspector for the city.”

“What!” Quinn was incredulous. The man who had been busting his balls for the past three hours started to ease away.

“Oh, no you don’t.” Quinn reached out and grabbed the man by the back of his neck. He lifted him off the floor until only his toes were touching. He sputtered and coughed. Quinn ignored him. He wasn’t hurting the man—yet.

“What’s going on here?” The man Ryland had introduced as the real inspector looked between the three big, bear shifters and
the little man swinging from one tree trunk of an arm like a piñata.

“That’s what we’d like to
know.” Ryland spoke up “I finally managed to follow some of the tracks Ryker had been having so much trouble with.” He threw his twin a puzzled glance which Ryker ignored.

“And?” Quinn questioned.

“It led me to that man’s house.” Ryland nodded to the man hanging from Quinn’s arm. “The man was hired by Marcum Construction to impersonate the real inspector.”

Just the mention of Marcum was enough to set Quinn’s teeth on edge. Besides just his personal dislike of jackals in general, Marcum cut corners and built unsafe buildings. The man
was a disgrace to the building community. Quinn should have suspected something was going on long before the tracks were discovered. The red tape and surprise inspections of this building had been over-the-top since day one.

“Mr. Blackwood—”

Quinn held up his hand when the real inspector tried to speak. He indicated Ryland should continue.

“The inspector,” he pointed to the man at his side, “has been on sick leave for the past six months.”

The inspector nodded eagerly.

“So Marcum took advantage of the opportunity and hired a human to do his dirty work
.” Quinn was impressed despite himself. If Marcum had gotten one of his flunkies to take the inspector’s place, all three Blackwood brothers would have known instantly. “Damn Jackals.”

Quinn walked to the edge of the floor, the little man still dangling from his grasp. It was the same place
where he’d had the first long drink of his mate. A mate he’d had to leave in order to deal with this piece of scum. Claws sprung from his fingers and he knew his face was distorting. “Did Marcum hire you?”

The man tore at the hand encircling his throat
. “Please, don’t kill me.”

Quinn shook hi
m. “I won’t if you tell me what you know.” He turned his head away as the smell of urine permeated the air. The man had pissed on himself. He couldn’t blame the human. Quinn was one angry assed bear. “Tell me!”

“Yes, yes, it was, Marcum. He wants to run you out of business.”

“Not fucking likely.”

“Quinn, you might want to put him down now. The police are on their way.” The voice belonged
Ryker. In the distance, he could hear the sirens. The twins must have phoned the police before they brought in the real inspector.

“Call the Council so they can go get Marcum. If they don’t, go get him yourse
lf.” The wolf wasn’t getting another opportunity to shut Marcum down. He turned and dropped the man onto the concrete floor. “Deal with this piece of shit.”

An hour later he was pacing inside the small construction office waiting for news of Marcum. He threw a stapler across the room. With his shifter strength behind it, it tore through the trailer’s aluminum siding with ease. At least he didn’t have to worry about hitting someone on the outside. Marcum had effectively shut down Blackwood Construction. No one was on site except him and his Dad. With the discovery of the impostor inspection, the real inspector had pulled the permits and shut Blackwood Construction down until everything could be re-inspected. Quinn had sent his crew home, promising them a paycheck until everything was clear. He wasn’t going to punish his men for something beyond their control. Hell, it was beyond his control. His brothers were on the hunt for Marcum. He couldn’t wait to get his hands on the slimy son-of-a-bitch. Not only for the trouble he’d caused on the site, but for the setbacks he’d caused in Quinn’s relationship with Paige.

“Okay, son, tell me what’s wrong.”

Quinn gave his father an angry glare then immediately regretted it. It wasn’t his father’s fault everything had landed on his shoulders at once. “Paige doesn’t believe she’s my mate.”

“I take it you told her then.”

“Yeah, this morning.”

His father’s face was solemn
. “When this morning?”

Quinn hadn’t blushed in a very long time, not since the time his other sister Molly had run to their mother complaining he’d locked himself in the bathroom and wouldn’t let her in. His mother, never one for drama, had simply crushed the doorknob and broken the lock. He’d been twelve years old and just discovering girls. That night his father had had
the talk
with him. “After.”

One of his father’s dark brows ros
e. “After breakfast?”

“You know damn well when,” Quinn muttered.

His father laughed. “Did you mark her?”

“Yeah. Twice.”

“And was this, um, the first time you—”

“Yeah, Dad.”

“And how long have you known her?”

“What the hell has that got to do with anything,” he grumbled.

“Humor me.”

“A week. I’ve known her a week.”

“Mmm.”

“Dad!” He was really reaching the end of his patience with everything and everyone.

“Well, you know there is a lot of misinformation out there about shifters even now.”

“And?”

“I once had a friend who mated with a human. She didn’t believe in true mates either. It took him some time to convince her.”

“Why, why didn’t she believe him?”

“It seemed she didn’t believe she could possibly be his true mate because he hadn’t thrown her down the first time he saw her and fucked her.”

His father’s
crude announcement left him speechless for a moment. “It’s the twenty-first century, Dad, we aren’t controlled by our animals.”

“What do you think a female shifter would have done if you’d found her and
not
carried her off to your bed as soon as you caught her scent?”

“Well, damn.”

“Exactly.”

If a male shifter didn’t immediately
acknowledge the mating heat, the female shifter would be pissed as hell and probably knock the male on his ass, for being such an ass.

“Did you feel that pull with Paige?”

Quinn spun around, fire in his eyes. “Are you doubting my claim that Paige is my true mate?”

His father didn’t respond to his anger. “No, but mating a human female is differen
t.” He paused for a moment. “What do you think would have happened if you had carried Paige off that first night?”

The reality of his situation hit him hard. He sat down with a thu
d. “I’d be right where I am now. She still wouldn’t have believed I was her true mate. She would have thought I’d just wanted a one-night stand.”

“Yep.” His father just smile
d. “And what do you think she wants you to do?”

“Toss her over my shoulder?”

“Yep.” Another annoying grin from his parent.

“I’m fucked.”

“Yep.”

“So what do I do?”

“Your bear will do what’s right. When the time is right.”

Quinn wasn’t so certain. His bear had been after him to carry Paige off since day one. And he, the man, had dismissed the animal, wanting to give Paige time. Wanting to make her feel cherished and loved. Had he waited too long? And why the hell were women so damn confusing?

The annoying ringtone from
Jungle Book
that Ryland had programmed on his phone sounded from his desk. A two year old was more mature than his brother sometimes. He pitied the woman his brother finally mated. She’d have to possess the patience of a saint to put up with his shenanigans. Ryker’s would have to have a will of steel to stand up to him. Quinn considered himself a very dominant man, but Ryker was off the charts.

Two year olds, mates. Quinn’s mind turned to Paige, a subject that hadn’t been far from his thoughts in days. He wanted her, right now, right this very minute. In his arms. He wanted her bent over the desk with his cock buried so deep inside he touched her womb. A womb he wanted filled with his child. As usual, any thought of Paige made his cock swell with desire.

He picked up his phone. “What?” He wasn’t sure he could take any more bad news at the moment. As it was, he was stuck on site waiting for the inspector to file his report. Everything, and he meant everything, that had been approved during the last month had to be reapproved. That meant ripping up concrete on the top floors and ripping out plumbing on some of the bottom levels.

“
Ryker found something.” His brother didn’t have to say anything else. Quinn stripped and shifted. One way or the other he was going to put a stop to this. So he could go claim his mate.

Paige’s presentation went better than she’d expected considering her mind was full of questions. Why had Quinn insisted on calling her his mate? She knew it wasn’t true. If they had been mates, she would have been in his bed that very first night. Was he already regretting getting involved with her? She’d known it wouldn’t last, but she’d thought she’d have longer with him.

Deb waved to her as she passed her cubicle. All the engineers were located on the same floor. It was the company’s way of promoting creativity. Paige
personally thought it was their cheap ass way of not renting a building with real offices and real walls.

She sat down in her chair gratefully, even if she flinched from the contact. It was a pleasant flinch, though, she thought, smiling. It reminded her of the time she’d had with Quinn last night. Quickly putting away the items she had used during her presentation, she logged into her email. At the very top of her inbox was a message from Quinn. She frowne
d. Had she given him her email? She didn’t think so. Then she remembered all the company’s emails were the same. First name dot last name. It wouldn’t have been hard for Quinn to have discovered hers. With her heart pounding, she opened it.

Lunch again at construction site? Don’t say no. Met me at noon. Top floor.

Paige’s body got all tingly when she remembered what they’d done last time. Humming softly to herself, she finished answering her emails. For the first time today, she could concentrate on her work.

It was raining hard by the time Paige reached the construction site a little before noon. Parking her car, she got out, opening a large umbrella. She didn’t want to look like a drowned rat when she saw Quinn. Running her free hand down the side of her linen dress pants, she smoothed the wrinkles. She’d dressed for the presentation this morning, not an afternoon delight rendezvous.

As she walked to the elevator, she was surprised by the lack of
activity. The last time she’d been here the air had rung with the sound of jackhammers and heavy machinery. Now it was silent, almost too silent. She was nervous as hell. She hadn’t had time to talk to Deb and ask questions. What did being mates mean? Was it the same as true mates? She didn’t think so. Both he and Deb had been casually mentioning mates and mating since the blind date. No doubt, he was trying to find a nice way to tell her he’d like to have a relationship, but when his mate appeared, he’d be out of there like a bat out of hell, something Paige already knew.

Her happiness at meeting Quinn for lunch faded the closer she got to the elevator. Maybe he was just going to tell her now, get it over with before he invested too much time in her. If she wasn’t agreeable to a non-committed relationship he could walk away sooner rather than later. Relationship was a stretch, a non-committed booty call, maybe.