Claimed (The Lair of the Wolven #1) by J.R. Ward

“Maybe meet in the middle and streak in the pink. That way you only curse on your off hours?”

“Yeah, but what if I only curse during work?”

“This conversation is above my pay grade.”

“As long as you keep ripping up your checks, technically everything is.” Candy leaned on the jamb and did a tsk-tsk. “I emptied your trash and found the pieces.”

“They were still in the envelope.”

“Ah, so I was right. FYI, don’t confess before you know how much the other party knows—oh, hello, Daniel. She’s right in here, and I’ll leave you two to your docks and ropes. Inside joke, too hard to explain. She has a ten o’clock coming, by the way. Toodles.”

As Candy took off, Lydia put her head in her hands. “Hi,” she said without looking up.

“Hey.” There was a pause. “So it looks like you got an office upgrade.”

“It’s not permanent. I’m just here for the computer—”

“Are you okay?”

I think I might be getting fired, she answered to herself.

“Of course,” she said. “How was your weekend?”

“Uneventful. And by that, I mean my motorcycle is still running. You?”

“Nothing special.” Assuming she was living a true-crime documentary. “I thought you and I could get the map of the preserve out and I could show you where the bridges are that need to be fixed. We can do that before my meeting?”

Because if she was going to get canned, she could at least make sure the hikers were safe.

Some of the hikers, that was.



Daniel stepped into the office and frowned at the woman behind the desk. As her proper name drifted through his consciousness, he tried to keep her as just “woman.” It didn’t work. Then again, it hadn’t worked over the weekend, either.

For so many reasons.

“Lydia, are you okay?” he asked again.

“Absolutely.” She gave him a passing smile and picked up something off the corner of the desk. “So here’s the map.”

As she flattened the folds, he watched her hair fall forward. She hadn’t pulled it back this morning and he liked the way the dull overhead light somehow brought out its various colors.

“So there’s the main trail that goes around the bowl, as we call it.” Her finger traced a brown line marked with intermittent yellow stars in an arc around the lake. “Although there are smaller trails spidering all over our western face, we really have to keep after this main one—particularly where it’s intersected by the two rivers that flow down from the summit, as well as the big branching stream that splits off here.” She tapped the map in various places. “The three bridges are marked as you can see and they all need some shoring up. We’ve got loose boards, and some rot on the handrails. I also want you to assess the structural integrity of the supports? When it comes to repairing them, I know there’s some lumber in the shed—and if you could use what we have first, that would be great, even if it doesn’t look perfect. We’re kind of into pinching pennies around here—”

“You look like hell. You didn’t sleep last night, did you.”

Lydia glanced up sharply. “I … ah, of course I did. Like a baby.”

“So what’d the other guy look like?”

She shook her head as if he were speaking in a foreign language. “I’m sorry, what?”

“In that bar fight you won. That has to be the explanation for those dark circles.”

She laughed in a short burst that didn’t fool him. “Oh, my opponent faced complete ruination. Busted nose. Lost a tooth or two. They had to stitch him up.”

“Good, I like a woman who can fight with her hands.” As Lydia’s eyes flared, he tacked on, “It means they take care of themselves. Drifter, remember? Less to protect, less complications I have.”

“Now there’s an online profile full of character recommendation.” She smiled a little more honestly. “Can we get back to the bridges?”

“Sure. You were telling me about how you want to use what we have first?”

“Yup, that’d be great if you can.” She pushed her hair out of her face. “And then there are other places that need to be addressed. Some of the inclines have steps that need to be cleared and their rope tethers will have to be tested. But the bridges are the first thing.”

“When does the traffic on the trails start building?”

“Soon. The spring rains will keep some of them away, and then we have black fly season.”

“That’s a thing?”

“They’re the size of donkeys around here. They’ve been known to carry small children off the mountain.”

“Really. And I thought that was just an Internet hoax.”

“Oh, my God.” She put her hand over her heart. “I think you made a funny.”

“Did I?” He smiled slowly. “You know, I was giving it a shot.”

“You’re coming along. By the end of your time here, your middle name will be Henny Youngman.”

“Who’s that?”

“The master of the one-liner. Look him up.” She got serious. “Do you have Mace?”

“What for?”