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If she continued to see Howard

Chapter Thirteen

The next ht and early, Howard parked his SUV behind Elsa’s rental car in front of the gatehouse He’d gone into town to pick up a few dozen donuts, and he’d planned on surprising Elsa with the fro lot, he’d suratehouse

Shanna was doing her best to help with his courting Last night, she’d left a detailed list with hiood excuse to drop by thiswith a brown envelope containing Shanna’s list, then strode toward the house

The front door was slightly ajar, so he nudged it open with his foot "Hello?"

Alastair peered out an open doorway near the end of the foyer His eyes narrowed "Ah, Howard Come on in"

"I have breakfast" He lifted the box as he crossed the foyer "And a note from Shanna"

"Excellent"

Howard followed Alastair into what appeared to be the old kitchen A quick glance around told him the room would need a massive amount of work It was devoid of all modern appliances and, sadly, also devoid of Elsa

He set the donut box and envelope on an old scarred table "Shanna sent a list of things she wanted She said you’d gone over "

"I understand" Alastair pulled tater bottles from an ice chest on the floor and handed one to Howard "I’ll take a look"

Howard sat carefully in an old rickety chair by the table It groaned under his weight While he sipped so to detect where in the house Elsa lanced at Alastair, as studying the list, frowning He wasn’t behaving in his usual cheerful, char way

Alastair nodded "Yes, this all sounds fa a second master bedrooloomy to me" He set the list down on the table "Shewith theel in the cellar"

Howard nodded, although he knew Shanna and Ro the basement

Alastair helped himself to a donut "Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to inspect the cellar yet The old wooden staircase is half rotted away, and the only other access point is outside, the old coal chute Oskar will bring a ladder when he comes this afternoon, so we’ll have a look then"

"Sounds good" Howard drank more water "So is Elsa around?"

Alastair shot him an annoyed look "You’ll have to conduct all your business s with ain"

Howard’s mouth dropped open

Alastair scowled at hiht, but I don’t appreciate you scaring the hell out of her She’s a nice - "

"What?"

"She looked dreadful thisBlack circles under her eyes She wouldn’t say what had upset her, but it was obvious she hadn’t slept a wink"

"She - she’s upset?"

Alastair gulped down some water "So what happened? Did you make a pass at her?"

"I - "

"I’m not blind, you know I could tell you tere attracted to each other, and quite frankly, I was delighted for Ellie She’s a lovely woman and deserves to be happy - "

"I didn’t hurt her" Howard gritted his teeth "I would never hurt her"

"Well" Alastair eyed him suspiciously "I’ll have to take your word on that But for now, I expect you to honor her wishes and stay away froht?"

Alastair lifted a brow "She’ll be here later with Oskar and the crew In other words, she will be surrounded by a group of brawny construction workers who consider her their darling little sister"

Howard’s inner bear growled at the ier to Elsa?

He rose to his feet "I would never harm her And I will honor her wishes You have my word"

Alastair nodded "Good" He extended a hand "No hard feelings, ol’ chap Let’s continue to ell together"

Howard shook his hand, then strode from the house

A few minutes later, he found himself parked in front of the motel in Cranville He’d been in such a daze that he couldn’t reazed at her door Room number five Even here, he could detect a hint of her lovely scent What had happened to ht before? Kissed her too hard?

He replayed the scene in hisYes, he’d kissed her with passion, but she had kissed hihtened by hih his hair What the hell had upset her? Had she experienced a delayed reaction to being teleported? If that was freaking her out, then hoould she ever handle the truth about hiet the chance to tell her She ain

Despair sla hiainst his defenses, de release It needed to run, needed to destroy a poor tree with a few ferocious swipes, needed to shred and devour a helpless ani on his brow as he tightened his control on the beast Charging around town as a grizzly bear would not help his cause What he needed noas a new strategy

He retrieved a pen and slove compartment so he could write Elsa a note

WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED? he scrawled, then realized all caps looked like he was yelling at her He ripped that page off and tried again

Elsa, I’m sorry I jumped your bones

To hell with that He wasn’t sorry at all He tore that page off

My dearest Elsa:

I heard you didn’t sleep well, and I was concerned What could be upsetting you, sweetheart? Why are you so afraid? I never took you for a COWARD!

He ripped that page off Daer creep in

"Holy crap," he e left on the pad

He took a deep breath Fourth down and ten No pressure here

Dear Elsa,

I was sorry to et a chance

He looked it over Not too bad He wrote down his cell phone nuned it simply with his name It would have to do He folded it up and wrote her name on it, then took it inside the er to pass it on to her

With one last glance at her door, he returned to his SUV, then drove back to the school Instead of going inside, he jogged to the nearby woods, stripped, and let the bear free

He roared his frustration, ripped his claws through a tree trunk, then ran through the forest Hehis territory<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>