Beautiful Creatures Series

Chapter 24: 2

Katelyn rolled out of bed around eight that morning. Nigel was already up and gone for the day. She took a quick shower and then threw on a pair of white shorts and a sleeveless black tank top with small pink flowers embroidered along the neckline. She had left her long dark hair down.

Barefoot Katelyn headed downstairs. She would have liked a coffee, but since she had no kitchen, coffee was out of the question. There was a large cooler in the living room that Nigel had filled with refrigerable items such as milk and a wire shelf with pantry items. So at least she could pour herself a bowl of cereal.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Katelyn turned around the corner and screamed when she came face to face with a large stranger in her home. Her shriek had startled him as much as he had her. “Sorry,” he said quickly. “I’m Darrell,” he introduced himself. When she did not recognize his name, he continued. “The contractor remodelling your kitchen.”

“Oh,” she sighed.

“I’m sorry to have scared you. Your husband told me on the phone last night that you would be expecting me.”

“Yes,” she said, trying to catch her breath.

Katelyn took a moment to look him over. He was quite a sight. He was tall, at least 6’2”. His short blond hair was peeking out from beneath his worn, tanned cowboy hat. The faded light blue jeans he wore did nothing to hide his long powerful legs and his amazing male attributes. Because of the summer heat, he was only wearing a light grey undershirt, which hugged his sculpted torso and showed off the well-defined toned muscles of his arms. Katelyn could see the top of an American bald eagle in flight tattooed across his pecks. On his right bicep, it looked like some sort of wild demonic wolf tearing through his flesh from the inside out as if trying to escape from within him.

His strong jaw was shadowed with light stubble. She would suspect he had not shaven in a week. It was an unkempt lazy look, but on him, it had to be the sexiest thing Katelyn had ever seen. His features were a strange combination between all men with a boyish appeal. Then there were those eyes. His eyes were… amber? Strange to see that colour twice in as many days. Still, this man was gorgeous.

“I let myself in. Your husband gave me a key so I could come and go while he was at work. He told me you would be around.”

“He’s not my husband,” why the hell had she said that? “I mean, he’s not my husband yet. We are engaged… he’s my fiancé.”

Darrell chuckled. “Yeah, I understand how engagements work,” she felt stupid. “It is Kate, right?”

“Katelyn,” she corrected him. Again, she did not understand why she had corrected him. The whole world called her Kate, Nigel, her friends, her family… but to this man, she did not want to be Kate. She wanted to be Katelyn.

“Sorry… Katelyn,” he corrected himself.

Her name rolled off his tongue in a sultry, seductive way. When he said her name, it was like they were in bed together, and he was whispering sweet nothings in her ear. It made her skin shiver with delight. It was that moment when Katelyn noticed that Darrell was holding a to-go tray with two large coffees and a brown paper bag with the logo of ‘The Chef’s Table’ on it.

The Chef’s Table was Aspin’s best restaurant. It served breakfast through dinner and did very well. Their food was the best. She knew this because her father was the night chef at this particular eatery. Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

Darrell held up the coffee first and then the bag. “I bring coffee and bagel breakfast sandwiches,” had he brought her breakfast? “I just thought, given that your kitchen is not in working order. Maybe you

might like something to drink and eat.”

That was really thoughtful of him. “You really didn’t have to,” she said with a smile.

“I was at the restaurant anyway, dropping my sister off for her shift and picking up my own and thought I would make it for two.”

She appreciated the thought, and she might have refused had he asked, but since the food was already here and he could not take it back, she decided to accept his kind offering so that he had not wasted his hard-earned money. “Thank you, Darrell.”

“It is the least I can do since I tore apart your kitchen, but I promise when I put it back together, you are going to love it,” he said with a smile that could melt ice. She could not help but smile in return. They walked through the living room and into the demolished kitchen.

Katelyn took a seat at the table where her laptop and camera were sitting. When she got home last night, she had transferred the pictures she had taken to her laptop so she could review them and upload them for sale. She placed her bare feet up on the chair next to her as she sipped her coffee and accepted the sandwich Darrell took from the bag and offered her.

As her fingers brushed him, Katelyn’s gaze lifted and met his. “You should put something on,” he said. Katelyn looked down, and her shorts and tank top thought they were maybe on the more revealing side she was covered. “Your feet,” he chuckled, “this is a construction site. Don’t want you cutting your foot on a nail or stubbing your pretty little toes,” his grin was flirtatious. Katelyn looked down at her toes and the soft pink nail polish she wore.

“I’ll keep my feet off the floor,” she promised.

“Suit yourself,” he said, taking a bite from his bagel sandwich as he walked over to his workbench.

Katelyn could not look away as she watched Darrell leave her. The man had one amazing ass. He was a young man, probably not that much older than she was. “When does the rest of your crew get here?”

“I am the crew,” he told her as he put down his sandwich and picked up his tool belt, wrapping it casually around his narrow hips.

“Isn’t this a big job for one guy?”

“No worries, Dove, I got this handled. I’m stronger than I look,” she found that hard to believe because he looked fairly strong.

“Does your boss always make you work alone?”

“I am the boss.”

“Really?”

He took a step back, removed his hat and bowed deeply as if he were meeting royalty. “Darrell Savage of Savage Construction,” he reintroduced himself playfully, then stood up and winked at her as he tossed his hat on his workbench next to him.

“I’m impressed you own your own business. You seem awfully young to be a businessman. What are you, 21… 22…?”

“Close, I’m 23,” he said with great pride. “I have been in business for myself for two years now.”

He was really young. “You are sure you know what you are doing?”

“I have been around the block. I have been working as a labourer for other companies since I was 16, and before that, I would help my father with household projects. Believe me. I know what I’m doing. I even built my own house.”

“You did?” She was impressed.

“From the ground up.”

“You must be good with your hands,” Katelyn instantly blushed when her words made him chuckle.

“Yes, in more ways than one.”

Katelyn tried to fight the smirk that claimed her face. She turned her face to her laptop and turned it on. She set to work going over her pictures while Darrell worked. Every once and a while, she would look up to see him busy. It looked like he was building custom cabinetry. It was interesting to see him work. He certainly looked like he knew what he was doing.

Around lunch, Darrell removed his toolbelt and picked up his hat, placing it back on his head. “I’m taking a lunch break,” he informed her. “Going to swing through a drive-thru and pick up a burger,” he said, coming to the table. “Can I pick you up to anything?” He offered. Darrell placed one hand on the table and the other on the back of her chair, then leaned over Katelyn’s shoulder to get a better look at the picture she had up on the screen. The picture of the unusual wolves she had come upon in the woods last night. “Look at that. How did you get this picture?”

“I’m a wildlife photographer,” Katelyn explained. “I was in the woods last night when I came across this wolf,” she said, bringing up the next picture of the lone tanned wolf. “Look at it. It was the biggest wolf I have ever seen,” she studied the picture. “And those eyes… its eyes kind of look like yours,” she said curiously as she looked into his eyes, his face so close to hers. “You know I have never seen eyes like yours until now.”

“Get used to it, Dove. There are a few of us around here,” he stood up tall and headed for the door. “So was that a yes on the burger?”

“Yeah, oh,” She jumped out of her chair, “Hold up lunch is on me,” she offered. “Just let me grab my wallet. She said as she rushed across the bare wood subfloor heading for her purse in the living room. As she moved quickly, she paid no heed to where she stepped and then a sharp pain in the bottom of her foot made her cry out and stumbled, falling against the wall.

With lightning speed, Darrell was at her side. He swept Katelyn into his arms, getting her off her feet. He carried her back to the table and sat her down on the tabletop. Then he pulled up a chair and sat down in front of her. His hand closed around her ankle as he lifted her foot up for better viewing. He ran his hands over her foot, and his touch somehow made the nail sticking out of her foot hurt less.

“I told you this would happen,” he teased. “I’ll remove it,” he told her. “This may hurt,” he said as he took hold of the nail head. “1… 2… 3..,” he pulled the nail out quickly, and Katelyn yelped in pain. “Easy,” Darrell stood up and fetched a clean shop rag. He then returned to his seat and took her foot in his lap. Gently he washed away the blood. Then he tied the long blue rag around her foot to keep it from getting dirty while walking through the house. “Now, what do you say you tell me where I can find your shoes, and I’ll go get them, then we can avoid further incident.”

Katelyn could not help but notice Darrell had not released her foot as he looked up into her eyes. It was strange, the moment was intense, and there was sexual tension in the room that was so pliable she could mould it into anything she wished. She had not been this attracted to anyone, not even Nigel. Whatever this was between Katelyn and Darrell was indescribable. A part of her felt bad for having these feelings, but another part of her really wanted to kiss this man and see where it led.

“By the door,” she barely managed as she cleared her throat. Darrell stood up and headed for the front door. He was gone only a moment when he returned and offered her the running shoes he had brought her. She thanked him and then pulled her shoes on. It was difficult with the bandaged foot. She would have to search the house for proper bandages. She might even have to go to the pharmacy in Aspen. “You know what. I’m going to go into town to pick up a few things. How about I pick up some lunch. Gives you some time to work.”

“Ok, I’ll start by sweeping the floor,” he grinned.

“Good idea,” she giggled. “I’ll be back in an hour,” Katelyn collected her purse and then she left on her errands.

***

Darrell walked to the window and watched as Katelyn got in her car and then pulled out of the driveway. Once he was sure she was gone, he rushed over to the laptop and looked at the picture of himself. Why had he not smelt her in the woods last night? He could not believe he was so careless and allowed a human to photograph him.

These pictures could absolutely not get out. Most mortals did not understand what they saw when they saw a Lycanthrope in their animal form, but to a trained Lycanthrope hunter, this was like painting a giant target on his back. If a hunter saw this picture, they would come looking for him, and they would find the pack. Back when it was just him and Charlotte, they could just pack up and move to avoid hunters, but with a pack, the size as the one in Feral, relocating was difficult. They had roots here.

Darrell felt bad about what he had to do. Katelyn seemed like a very nice woman, but his responsibility was to the others. His loyalty was to the pack, and when it came down to the brass tax of things protecting the pack took precedence over everything else. Darrell sat down and began to delete all the pictures. He deleted all the files, and then he deleted the pictures off the backup flash drive and the camera’s memory chip. Once he was certain every picture was deleted, he then clicked on the trash icon and emptied the trash, making it impossible for Katelyn to retrieve them. Sure, maybe a good tech nerd or a hacker could retrieve them, but frankly, as nice as Katelyn was, Darrell doubted very much. She was that tech-savvy.

Now he had to make it look like a computer malfunction, or he would be fired from this job. Unfortunately, Darrell was not so good with computers himself. He started hitting random buttons until

the computer froze up, and a black code window popped up and flashed the words “Critical Error,” that ought to do it. She would blame the loss on her computer crashing. The pictures were corrupted and irretrievable.

It was too bad he liked Katelyn, and he got the feeling she liked him. He hated to do this to her, but he had no choice. He could not allow her to keep that picture of him. It was just that simple.