A Hippogriff for Christmas - Zoe Chant Page 0,21

taking it from him. As she did so, her gloved fingers brushed against the bare skin of his arm – and even through the material, she could feel that same shiver of electricity pass between them, just as it had done back at the bakery.

Pins and needles shot up her arm – except, unlike pins and needles, this feeling was warm and pleasant, like a surge of hot adrenaline and anticipation, racing through her body and settling low in her belly…

Coughing, she stepped back away from him, lowering her head to let her hair fall over her face.

What was I just saying about letting my imagination run away with me?!

Before Beau could notice her discomfort – well, hopefully, anyway – Annie turned on her heel, just in time to see Mr. Johnstone heading back out of the shop.

“All done then?” he asked as he reached them. “That’s some nice work – not even Jimmy makes such clean cuts.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out some folded bills. “How much d’you think I owe you, then?”

“That won’t be necessary,” Beau said quickly, after the slightest pause. Annie glanced back at him, and – was that a blush she saw on the perfect arches of his high cheekbones?

Great, now I’m seeing things.

Mr. Johnstone shook his head. “I can’t be having a man working for me for free,” he insisted. “You work, you get paid. That’s what I believe.”

“I understand that,” Beau said. “But I couldn’t take your money for helping you out of a tight spot. And it is Christmas, after all.”

Mr. Johnstone frowned, but Beau’s voice had been completely firm. It was clear he meant what he said.

“I can’t talk you out of this, can I?”

“No, sir,” Beau replied.

“Well, fine,” Mr. Johnstone said. “If you really won’t take my money, then the least I can do is let you have the tree for free.”

“Are you sure?” Annie asked. “I wouldn’t want to take it for nothing –”

“It’s not nothing, after the help you’ve been to me today,” Mr. Johnstone said. “Like I said, the tree is the least I can do for you.”

Annie glanced at Beau, to see what he thought of the deal. He nodded.

“All right, accepted,” Annie said, feeling a strange lightness in her heart. “I really appreciate it.”

“Pleasure’s all mine,” Mr. Johnstone said, as Beau turned away to pick up the ax and hacksaw from where he left them. After watching him a moment, Mr. Johnstone turned to Annie and said, “Actually, there is one more thing you can do for me, Miss Shaw.”

Annie swallowed. “What’s that?”

“Have a merry Christmas,” Mr. Johnstone said.

Chapter 6

She feels it too. Our mate knows what she is to us. She knows she is our mate.

Beau did his best not to shake his head as his hippogriff impatiently rustled its wings and stamped its back feet, its insistence filling his mind. If he didn’t get a hold of it, he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop it from taking over his mind – or his mouth – and blurting out the truth to Annie.

Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad, he thought for a moment as he glanced across at her in the driver’s seat of her car, her eyes focused on the road, before he quickly pushed the thought aside.

No, it would. I have no way of knowing how she’d react. And if I can’t win her heart without her knowing I’m a shifter and she’s my mate, then I don’t deserve her in the first place.

Things worked differently for humans. He knew he couldn’t just waltz into her life, announce that he was her mate, and expect her to understand what that meant – the bond that it created between them.

As a human, Annie would need to see that he was worthy of her before he told her what he was – what they were.

And Beau was determined to show her.

I will prove myself to her before I say a word about the mated bond, he told his hippogriff. He wasn’t at all certain the creature understood what he meant from the way it tossed its head and stared at him belligerently with its eagle’s eyes, but Beau couldn’t help that. It would just have to deal with it.

Nonetheless, Beau knew what he’d sensed in Annie during that moment they’d been standing close to each other when she’d taken the tiny Christmas tree from him. Maybe she could sense it. Maybe she did know.

Well – he guessed he had three