Surrounded by Woods by Mandy Harbin Read Free Book Online Page A

last night had turned out differently. Rather than fighting with her, he should’ve taken off her clothes and carried her to his bed. Knowing if he had to do it over again he still wouldn’t allow himself to give in to his desire didn’t help this little fantasy he had going on. He needed to not think about what was under that robe.
    Josh heard her greet everyone as she sat down. He lifted his head to reciprocate the greeting, but didn’t meet her eyes. When he looked back at his plate, he realized he still had his fork in his hand. His lion self chastised him, and he dropped his fork, it clinking loudly as it hit the plate. The reaction was purely an animal instinct, even though in the wild both male and female lions hunted on their own. But since he was a shifter, his animal demanded its female to eat first. He understood this characteristic from watching his parents; his mother typically did the hunting and brought the kill to his father. Since she’d make the kill, she’d eat first. So from their first dinner, Josh couldn’t bring himself to eat before Mikaela. His lion wanted to claim her as his mate, and Josh knew that he couldn’t. He felt like acknowledging her status at mealtime was a pitiful compromise, but it was the best he could do. Hopefully, she’d never ask why Josh did that. Once she picked up her fork and started eating, Josh retrieved his fork and continued.
    “Did you find your way around okay last night, Mikaela?” Thomas asked.
    She cleared her throat and nodded. “Sure did. And Josh was kind enough to stay up to make sure I made it back.” What? Josh’s eyes flashed to her, and she looked at him. “Thanks. I don’t think I said that last night. I’d had a couple of drinks.” She shrugged with a giggle as she looked back at her plate.
    What was going on? She was acting like last night didn’t happen. She might’ve had a buzz, maybe, but she wasn’t drunk enough to forget. “It was no big deal,” Josh responded just as casually, taking another bite.
    “I was thinking I could observe you all today,” she said, looking at everyone. “You know, take a tour of the estate, see the type of work you do, the equipment you use. It’d give me a better understanding of your industry in case there are other legal matters I need to consider before leaving.” Another bite.
    “I think that’s an excellent idea, Mikaela,” Thomas said. “I need Josh to help me with some things, so Jack can show you around.”
    You better keep your fucking hands off her, Jack! Josh warned.
    Don’t worry, big brother. I wouldn’t do anything you wouldn’t do.
    “Great. That is, unless you want to make it a group effort and let everyone show me the ropes? Well, except for you and Josh since you’ll be busy.” She looked at Josh with the same casual expression she used when she looked at Thomas.
    “Er, sure. The rest of the guys can help.”
    Hot damn!
    I’m not fucking playing, Rob. And before you squeal with excitement, the warning includes you too, Toby. Not a fucking finger—or paw—on her!
    “Unless I’ll be interrupting your work by having everyone show me around. I don’t want to cause problems.”
    “It won’t be a problem, Mikaela. In fact, it’d probably be more informative if we all join you. Josh and I can meet up after your tour.”
    Josh hoped his sigh of relief wasn’t too noticeable. He didn’t want one brother alone with her, much less all of them. He knew his father well enough to know he didn’t need to meet with Josh about anything. But his little plan to keep him away from her backfired when she suggested the tour be a group effort. No matter how much his dad hated Josh’s reaction to Mikaela, he was smart enough not to trust the rest of his sons alone with her either. At least now he could keep an eye on them and her.
    After Mikaela dressed, the tour commenced. They spent three hours going over the grounds on ATVs, showing her the types of trees they planted and what