Bear waved for Jordan to follow him. They walked down the steps on the side of the house and began to stride through the woods. He had no idea what the guy wanted.
“I normally stay out of other people’s affairs, but I think you should know something.”
Jordan listened as Bear told him about Bailey, Harley, and what had happened. The longer Bear talked, the angrier Jordan became. He didn’t like the fact that his mate had fallen in love with another man, but he couldn’t get mad over something that had taken place before meeting the fireman.
But what Harley did to Bailey only told Jordan that his chances had just dropped very low for getting Bailey’s heart. The guy had been royally played and had even gone to counseling. If Jordan were a lesser man, he would walk away from the struggle he was about to face.
But he was a black panther. Patience was something he had an abundance of. He was going to have to slowly gain Bailey’s trust and help the guy get over his wound. It sounded pretty damn simple in his mind, but he knew that was far from the truth.
“And Harley hasn’t come back to Brac Village?”
Bear gave a deep chuckle. “Fuck no. Would you defy Maverick?”
Jordan had met the alpha of the local wolf pack. He could see what Bear meant. He just hoped Harley wasn’t stupid enough to return. The guy was probably somewhere else wreaking havoc on unsuspecting men. Scum like that never learned their lesson.
But Bailey was his and Jordan would kill anyone who tried to come between them. “Thanks for giving me a heads up.”
They walked back toward the house, Jordan no longer in a festive mood. “Would you be offended if I took off?”
“Not at all,” Bear said. “It was nice meeting you, Jordan.”
They shook and then Jordan let Rio know he was leaving. He wasn’t sure how he was going to befriend Bailey, but he had to try. He could tell last night in the car that his mate was hurting. He just hadn’t guessed that it was this deep.
Jordan walked out of the front door and was stunned to see that Bailey hadn’t left. He was standing by his car, cursing.
“Something wrong?”
Bailey’s head snapped up at Jordan’s voice, his sage-green eyes growing dark. He could see the man’s defenses locking into place as he stared at Jordan. “My damn car won’t start.”
Now there was something Jordan could fix. It made him inwardly smile to know that he was helping Bailey, even in this small way. He wanted to protect the man, take care of him, and shield Bailey from any more hurt.
Fixing the man’s car was a start.
“Pop the hood.” Jordan walked to the front of the car and waited while his mate reached inside and pulled the release lever. Once he had the hood secured, he called out, “Try and start it.”
Bailey did as Jordan asked, and all he heard was a clicking sound. He immediately knew what was wrong. He’d dealt with this kind of problem too many times before. “Your alternator is shot.”
Bailey stuck his head out of the car. Jordan held back the growl he wanted to emit at the sight of his mate’s bewilderment. Did the guy know how truly handsome he was? “My what?”
Jordan grinned. The man looked totally confused. His cat was encouraging Jordan to go to Bailey, to rub his scent all over the man. If only he could. Bailey would no more let Jordan rub his scent all over that sexy fireman body then he would let Jordan fuck him. Too bad. He really was a fine-looking human. “Basically, you won’t be driving this car anywhere until you bring it into the shop for me to fix.”
A veil of suspicion fell over Bailey’s handsome face. Jordan knew what the man was thinking and it pissed him off. His good humor was instantly snatched away by his mate’s wariness. He didn’t need to sabotage a damn thing in order to have more time with the firefighter. He wasn’t an underhanded man.
He let the hood drop with a resounding thud as he began to walk to his truck. “Or not,” he said. He wasn’t going to stand there and convince the human that he had nothing to do with his car not starting. Jordan was willing to help Bailey heal his broken heart, but he wasn’t about to be accused of being shady.
His life had nearly been destroyed by such accusations and Jordan wasn’t willing to travel down that fucked-up road again. He had come to Brac Village to start over.
End of story.
Bailey climbed out of his car and closed the door, his expression guarded. “Would you mind giving me a ride home?”
Keeping his appearance deceptively inscrutable, Jordan headed toward the driver’s side of his truck. “Hop in.”
From the corner of his eye, Jordan watched Bailey grab some things from his car before walking over to Jordan’s truck. Hunger, need, protectiveness, and anger over what his mate had been through vied inside of him as Bailey buckled himself in. Those emotions twisted inside of him as he started the truck.
“Thanks.” Bailey shook his head. “I don’t understand why it went out on me.”
Jordan pulled away from Bear’s cabin. “Cars need constant maintenance.”
“I guess.” Bailey turned, looking out the window. Jordan could practically feel the man pushing him away. His mate turned back to face him. “I forgot to give you directions.”
Jordan listened to Bailey tell him how to get to his mate’s home, remaining silent. He had tried to converse with his mate twice and twice he had been shut down completely. Jordan wasn’t going to be shut down a third time. Bailey could initiate things this time. That didn’t mean Jordan didn’t want to be around his mate—far from the truth. But he wasn’t a glutton for punishment.
Bailey just had no idea. Jordan wasn’t a
