CougarHeat by Marisa Chenery Read Free Book Online Page A

And I’ll start back at the company, though stuck behind a desk for hours
at a time in the corporate world no longer holds any appeal.”
    His mother stepped out of his
embrace and smiled. “Thank you. It means so much to me.”
    “I know, Mom. I should go and
unload my truck.” He’d only taken one step when his mother stopped him again.
    “Oh, before I forget, your father
has had it arranged for the entire family group to come together tomorrow night
to be shown you have once more taken your place.”
    “Tomorrow night? Is it necessary to
be so soon?”
    “Your father will have to put in an
appearance to make it all official. He’s afraid he won’t be strong enough if we
hold it off any longer than that. Once it’s done, no one will be able to
dispute your claim.”
    “All right. I’m going to unload my
pickup, then settle in.”
    “Okay. We can talk more later.”
    Taylor nodded, then continued on
down the stairs. Now he had to call Aspen and tell her he had to cancel their
date for tomorrow night. And there was no way he could bring her to this family
gathering. As a human, she’d stick out like a sore thumb. Questions would be
raised as to why she was with him. If she were a cougar shifter, no one would
bat an eye.
    He headed outside to his truck.
Already his father was interfering with his life. Taylor would call Aspen and
set up another date with her. And there was no way he’d cancel that one, no
matter what his dad had planned for him. Taylor wasn’t going to let Aspen go
because she was human and wouldn’t fit in with his family. He would make the
relationship they’d started on the trip to Anchorage work, even if he had to
step on some toes to do it.
    After lugging the few boxes and
extra-large suitcase out of the bed of his pickup and up to his room, Taylor
closed himself inside it. He gazed around the space. Blaise was right. It was
exactly the same as when he’d left it, thinking he’d never return.
    He walked over to the large walk-in
closet and found all the clothes he’d left behind undisturbed. Taylor shook his
head at the number of suits that hung there. At one time it’d been second
nature for him to wear one. The thought of putting one on made him feel
uncomfortable. It wasn’t a part of who he was. Not now.
    But he would have to be now that
he’d agreed to step in and take his dad’s place in the family company. And it
meant being cooped up in a high-rise office building doing mounds of paperwork
and sitting in seemingly endless meetings. Taylor would much prefer working
with horses and looking after a piece of property, the job he’d left behind in
Juneau. At least his family home had a stable of its own, though much larger
than the one he’d once worked in.
    Not in the mood to unpack, Taylor
sat on the king-size bed and pulled his cell phone out of his front jeans
pocket. He might as well get the call to Aspen over and done with. He wasn’t
looking forward to it.
    He brought up Aspen’s number in his
contacts list and touched the screen to send the call. She answered after the
fourth ring.
    “Hello?”
    “Hi, Aspen. It’s me, Taylor.”
    “I didn’t expect to hear from you
until tomorrow. Do you miss me already?” she asked with a laugh.
    “I do.” And he really did. Just
hearing her voice over the phone made some of the tension between his shoulder
blades loosen. “Which makes this hard. I have to cancel our date tomorrow.
There’s a family obligation I can’t get out of, nor have it switched for
another time. I do want to see you again. Can we make it for two evenings from
now?”
    “Of course, and I completely
understand. How’s your dad?”
    “Not good. If he wasn’t that bad I
would have blown off this thing tomorrow night.”
    “Don’t worry about it. You do what
you have to do, though I’ll miss you.”
    Taylor smiled, even though Aspen
couldn’t see him. “And I you. I promise to make this up to you.”
    “Hmm, that isn’t a bad