Authors: Mary Lou George
He regretted that Holly Seaton had to be a player, but his gut told him that destiny was in play. Meeting her in the grocery store was one thing. That put him on his guard, but finding her tonight had hammered the point home. Stryker couldn’t let anything happen to her. He’d have to protect her. Instinctively he knew that she would have gotten involved whether he liked it or not. Now the only way to keep her safe was to work with her. If she resisted his interference he’d have to insist. A part of him almost felt sorry for her. Of course as his bloodmate, she had no choice, but at least Stryker knew the rules. Poor Holly had no idea what she was getting into. Her life would be turned upside down. Her fate had been sealed the moment he’d caught his first whiff of her.
* * * *
The next morning, Holly woke feeling refreshed. She looked around to see if she’d drawn anything in the night and was relieved to see that she hadn’t. She couldn’t remember a single one of her dreams. That was probably a good thing.
In all the excitement, Holly and Avery hadn’t had the chance to really talk about Holly’s book idea about the civilization under the lake. She’d mentioned it to Avery who seemed intrigued by the idea, but lately they’d had other things to talk about. Things like precognitive drawings, bloody murder and Stryker Cain.
Just the thought of the man had Holly blushing. She wasn’t a complete innocent when it came to men. In the past, with Avery’s help she’d managed to slip away from her father’s watchful eye a few times. In fact, she considered herself one of the lucky ones. Her romantic relationships hadn’t left her with any baggage. But not a single man in her past had made her feel what Stryker made her feel with a single glance. It was a strange almost primal thing. The yearning didn’t originate in her mind or even her heart. It seemed to come from her life force…her flesh, her bones, her blood. It was part of her and she was just beginning to get acquainted with it. It scared and thrilled her all at the same time.
Today she was going to the source. She’d be treading on Stryker Cain’s turf. Would it make a difference? Would her feelings intensify when surrounded by his things? Holly had no idea how to answer her own questions, but one thing was certain, she was in for a rough morning if she didn’t stop dwelling on the man.
She drank a cup of black coffee and ate a muffin. Her father’s new cook was a wonderful baker. Holly licked the tip of a finger and used it to gather up every last crumb from her plate. She considered having another one, but ignored the impulse.
Next Holly did what she always did. She picked up a pencil and started to sketch. This time her drawing wasn’t automatic, but she felt that in a way her hand wasn’t her own as it flowed over the paper with a mind of its own. She drew a likeness of Stryker leaning against the counter in Irene’s kitchen. That’s how they’d found him last night, or rather how he’d surprised them last night.
She knew she could draw. Her technique was flawless, but that confidence wasn’t enough to make her an artist, to make her a success. Any artist needed that special something, that gift. Her drawings for Avery’s stories had more than just technique. They had heart. And so did this quick drawing of Stryker. She’d captured him beyond his physical likeness. She’d captured his indulgent humor, his unshakable confidence and a little of the danger he represented.
“That’s good,” Avery said, looking over her shoulder and smelling of clean laundry.
Holly had heard her come in and knew she’d find her way to where Holly sat examining the sketch.
Avery took a seat, sipped her coffee and said, “You’ve nailed him.” She giggled. “That pun was entirely intentional by the way.”
Holly smiled. “I thought you were swimming with the kids all day today.”
“Stephen’s just fixing them breakfast. So I slipped out to check on you. A phone call wouldn’t have been enough. Even
you
can fudge over the phone. I had to see your face.” She narrowed her eyes. “You’re not thinking of backing out of going to his place today, are you?”
Holly rested her head in the palm of her hand and propped it up with her elbow. “No. I’m definitely going. I’m just trying not to waste my whole morning thinking about him.”
Avery looked down at the drawing and said, “Yeah? How’s that going for you?”
They both started to laugh.
Avery said, “What’s wrong with thinking about him? Of course you’re thinking of him. He’s the kind of man women think about. Hell, Irene O’Neill was old enough to be his grandmother and I’d bet
she
thought of him.”
“Poor Irene is dead,” Holly said bluntly.
Avery refused to be ashamed of her comment. “Yeah, well, when it comes to that man I’m not sure death is enough.”
“You’re nuts. You know that, don’t you?” Holly appreciated her friend’s attempt to cheer her.
“Yeah, but I know what I’m talking about.”
“Better than most people.” They exchanged a knowing look. No words were necessary.
Avery’s romance with her husband Stephen was the stuff that made best selling novels best selling novels. They hadn’t liked each other at first, but they’d wanted each other with a passion that promised to become legendary. That unmistakable desire made things very interesting until finally they actually communicated with each other and stopped playing games. In the end, they found themselves very much in love. Nobody was more surprised than Avery. Finally she stopped fighting him and her feelings for him. Holly had been relieved, because Stephen was the only man she’d ever met who was worthy of her friend. Theirs was a marriage to be envied.
With a generosity of spirit that came from true love, they’d made Holly part of the family. She loved Jessica, Aaron and Connor like she would her own children which was a good thing as Holly figured it. She had never felt a desperate need to procreate. She often joked that her biological clock was unplugged and flashing
. Because of Avery, she had a family, children who loved her, children to love. She was content…at least up until now…up until she’d walked into the super market and straight into Stryker Cain’s arms.
Chapter 7
By
, the sun had reached its zenith and Holly was forced to turn on the air conditioning in her car. She’d dressed with the heat in mind and that included the heat Stryker tended to generate inside her. She wore a white sundress that she knew complemented her golden tan and her gentle curves. After about five minutes, she turned off the air conditioning and opened her sun roof. She much preferred the fresh clean Muskoka air, unconditioned.
He’d given her excellent directions to his home and she had no problem finding his laneway. She pulled her car to a stop before turning down his drive. Taking a moment, she made a vain attempt to calm her nerves. Part of her wanted to put the car into reverse and get the hell out of there, but Holly ignored that part and pushed on. Her heart pounded as his house came into view.
She liked it on sight. He’d made a beautiful home out of the huge old two story farmhouse. There were changes like an obviously new barn, but not a single one of his upgrades interfered with the charm of the place. The man himself sat on the porch steps, as casual as you please, throwing a ball for a yellow lab who brought it back to him over and over again. The dog dropped the saliva-soaked projectile at her master’s feet and barked. Stryker stood up when Holly brought her car to a stop. She hadn’t seen him move, but before she could reach for the door handle, he was opening it for her.
He offered her his hand and helped her out of the car. It was a sweet gentlemanly gesture and smiling up at him, Holly placed her hand in his. His touch was cool and familiar, but it still made her heart skip a beat, then pound faster. It felt like he took her heart in his hand, touched it then gave it back to her forever changed.
She could think of nothing to say. Coming to her rescue, he covered the silence.
“You’re right on time.” With all encompassing expertise, his eyes swept down to her sandals and her painted pink toes, then back up. “You look beautiful.”
She peered up at him and said the first thing that came to mind. “So do you.”
He laughed and guided her toward his front door. The dog gamboled up to them with the tennis ball in her mouth. Stryker bent and took the ball from her.
“Holly, this is Polly.” He laughed at the rhyme.
“That sounds ridiculous,” she said.
He nodded. “It does, doesn’t it?” He threw the ball and Polly went running after it. “Come on, I’ll show you around.”
The inside of the house was decorated with simple taste. Holly didn’t want to think that he lacked imagination, but she could see many opportunities he’d missed. Opportunities and little things that could make the place more homey. Being thoroughly human, she couldn’t help but rejoice that it lacked the feminine touch. A chilling thought occurred to her. She stopped and looked up at him. Games were not Holly’s forte and she wasn’t prepared to start playing at this late stage.
“Are you married?” She blurted her fear out loud and braced herself for the all important answer.
He turned and looked at her seriously. “No, are you?”
She smiled and barely managed not to breathe an audible sigh of relief. “No.”
“For the record, Holly, I’m single. I’ve never been married, nor have I ever considered the possibility of getting married. I am not a monk, but I’ve never taken advantage of or hurt a sexual partner in my entire life.” He paused then added, “Oh, and I’m straight.”
She laughed, almost giddy now. “Wow. That’s a lot of information to take in at one time.”
“I have faith in you,” he said. Taking her hand in his, he pulled her with him.
Holly liked the second level of the house as well and appreciated the decisions he’d made regarding updates, but what she liked best was the feeling of his hand holding hers. She felt awkward and fell silent when he showed her his bedroom. The huge four poster sat in the middle of the room like an emperor granting an audience to his subjects.
Wow, the things we could do in that bed
. She couldn’t look at Stryker, but she couldn’t look at the bed either because it inspired all kinds of fantasies in her well endowed imagination. With careful deliberation, she studied the ceiling. She even made some lame comment about the light fixture he’d chosen.
Determined, she pushed her fantasies aside for the moment, promising herself that she’d pull them out and visit them again later at her leisure, maybe while standing in line at the bank. Now that would raise some eyebrows. Holly smiled at the thought. Her smile made Stryker look at her in confusion, but he said nothing.
She walked out of the bedroom without saying a word and blindly headed toward what she thought was another room. Stryker came up behind her and opened the door. She almost stepped inside a linen closet.
He said, “You seem interested in this particular room of the house. I guess most women look for the closets and storage capacity in every home. Let me assure you that I’ve plenty of that.” Smirking, he moved to a guest room.
This time Holly didn’t even step over the threshold, but simply glanced at it from her position in the doorway, unwilling to tempt the fates.
He said, “There are two other bedrooms like this one.”
She nodded. “That’s a lot of room for just one man.”
“Yeah, I guess it is, but someday perhaps I’ll have house guests.”
“Do you have a large family?” She snagged this conversational gambit in desperation.
He shrugged. “Let’s put it this way, I have a large extended family.”
“That must be nice.” She’d never had aunts and uncles or cousins. Both her parents had been only children. Holly had no one but her immediate family and her chosen one, Avery, Stephen, Jessica, Aaron and Connor.
As if reading her mind, he said, “It is nice to be surrounded by people who care for you. I could tell that Avery is your family by choice, if not by blood.”
She smiled. “You put that exactly the way I would have.”