Page 23 of The Alpha Option
Cassidy glanced around for the closest weapon. Where had the broom gone? “Thinking.”
“Think faster.”
“Speed of light.”
“Faster still.”
“Tesseract?”
The moose snorted. A big and totally amused sound, and Cassidy paused.
Where had she heard that exact noise recently? She narrowed her gaze, glaring at the beast with suspicion.
When he snapped his head away from her, staring up at the ceiling like a naughty child caught with their hand in the cookie jar, she knew.
Without a doubt, and without fear, she stepped forward and stuck her finger in the moose’s face before Steph’s underwear had stopped swinging. “You are in trouble, buster.”
“Uh, Cass? What’re you doing?” Steph asked quietly. “Moose, big. Us, small.Baaaaadmove, antagonizing the wildlife.”
“He’s not wildlife,” Cassidy insisted. Considered. “Okay, he is sort of wildlife, but notwildwildlife. Hey, buddy. I thought we had a deal. You’re not supposed to hang out on my porch.”
Behind her, a deep masculine chuckle sounded. “Marvin. Scratching your butt on the doorframe again?”
Cassidy whirled, ignoring her bestie and the moose who was now confirmed to be her freeloading resident nudist.
She expected to see Jace, but what she got was an eyeful of oversizedGQlawyer type. Military-short dark hair, well-trimmed beard and mustache, and an impeccable suit she knew cost more than her car. The same midnight-blue eyes as Jace, but the expression was a lot more serious and intense.
“This… You…Marvin?” In the background, Stephanie was having conniptions.
Cassidy turned back in time to see Steph snatch a pair of shorts from Marvin’s right antler.
Somehow the moose managed to look…sheepish.
“Everything under control in here?” That sexy deep voice again.
Drat. Cassidy shook her head even as she turned back to face the stranger in the door. “I’m usually more on the ball than this. Hello. Welcome to Timberwolf Lodge. Can I help you?”
“Maybe.”
The lawyer watched with a raised brow as Stephanie jerked her clothes free one piece at a time, dropping them with soft curses in a pile at Marvin’s moose feet. Hooves. Whatever.
Cassidy’s life was so weird these days.
“We’re not open yet,” she began, but he lifted a hand to stop her.
“I know. My aunt informed me of her plans before she left. I’m the one who drew up the legal papers for the lottery. We met online when you signed them. Delaney Vezina.”
She shook the hand he stretched out to her. “Nice to meet you in person.”
He held her fingers a moment longer than he should have, his gaze dropping over her in an assessing way that didn’t quite offend. Too much appreciation in his eyes?
When he did let her go, his expression lightened slightly, lips turning up in an approving smile. “I’m a little surprised Marvin here didn’t upset you more.”
Voice smooth like decadent chocolate. Good grief, Delaney really was a handsome man.
Wait—Washe a man? Or more?
“Marvin was worse in his other form,” Stephanie informed Delaney haughtily. She planted her hands on the moose’s butt and pushed him toward the door. “Cabin 7, bucko. I see your hairy ass, moose or otherwise, outside our door again, and I will shave you bald. No—I’ll wax you. Brazilian everything.Everywhere.”
