Eggie took another bite of the Boston Cream and asked after he swallowed, “You really like living in San Francisco then?”
“Yes.”
Shit. He was going to have to move to San Francisco, wasn’t he? Eggie hated big cities. Hated the thought of living in them even more. He liked the freedom he found in Smithtown being among his own. But “his own” now included his brothers’ mates. And he could see that being a problem for Darla.
“But I could live anywhere,” she added after another bite of her pecan pie. “I’ve made some great friends in San Francisco. Met all sorts of interesting people. But you can meet all sorts of interesting people anywhere if you’re willing to look.”
“So you want to end up somewhere with lots of different kinds of people around?”
“Sure.” She leaned over and took a bit of his pie with her fork.
Okay, so maybe he could convince her to live in a smaller city. Like Raleigh or Atlanta. Maybe even someplace in Texas where Eggie had cousins who tolerated him well enough. Yeah. That could work.
“Then again—”
Oh, Lord.
“—I liked France a lot.”
“France?”
“Uh-huh. Italy, Spain, and Germany, too. Went there to study under some amazing pastry chefs. You ever been to France or Italy?”
“Yeah.” Of course, he’d only been there to track down and kill rich hunters using shifters as wild game, but there was no need to share that detail.
“Did you like it?”
Eggie shrugged. “Eh.”
She laughed. “Yeah, I don’t exactly see you on the Champs-Élysées at a café sipping wine.”
“I can go anywhere I’ve a need to.”
For some reason that made her smile and hold out her plate, offering him some of her pecan pie.
He took a forkful. “So you want to live in Europe?”
“Sure.” She grabbed another small plate, this time taking a slice of the lemon meringue. “Then again—”
“All right,” Eggie cut in, starting to get fed up. “If you had to choose—big city? Small city? Small town?”
She looked off, thought a moment, then replied with a grin, “Any of those!”
Sighing, Eggie picked up the plate of chocolate cream pie and focused on that.
“Today’s Saturday, right?” Darla asked while she put the empty plates and forks in Eggie’s hands.
“Will be in another ten minutes.”
“Hmmm.”
“Why?”
She carefully folded the old sheet, making sure not to get any crumbs on the bed. “I think there’s a big outdoor concert today. A few great bands.”
“Where?”
“Some mountains.”
He closed his eyes, took a moment. “Could you be a little more specific, darlin’?”
“Ummm . . . big mountains?”
Eggie stared down at her, his bright eyes narrowing a bit. Then he carefully placed the plates down on the dresser. Giggling, Darla backed up. “Eggie . . .”
“Come here.”
“No.”
“Darla—”
Darla squealed and ran, still holding that stupid sheet, but she didn’t even make it to the stairs. Eggie swept her up in his arms and easily carried her back to his bedroom, while she wiggled and laughed and weakly tried to get away from him.
He pulled the sheet from her hands and tossed it to the floor.
“Careful!” she squeaked. “You’ll get crumbs on the floor.”
“So?”
“Eggie Smith! I’m not going to spend all day cleaning up this house.”
“Okay.”
“It’s not okay. You leave crumbs lying around, you’ll attract vermin. I’m not staying in a house with vermin.”
“But we can hunt ’em when we’re bored. Like little treats.”
Darla began to respond to that disgusting suggestion when Eggie suddenly placed her feet on the bed. He turned her around to face him, his hands resting on her hips. “So you want to go to this music thing?”
“Some good bands.”
“You should be staying put here. Where it’s safe.”
“Why? Whoever attacked me attacked me in North Carolina. Why would they come to Tennessee?”
“Because that’s what people who come after people do.”
“Even wolves eventually give up on an elk if it keeps moving.” She put her arms around his shoulders, crossing them at the wrists, and smiled down at him. “Besides, it’ll be fun.”
“I don’t have fun.”
Darla giggled. “It seemed like you were having fun with me not too long ago.” She kissed his cheek and whispered, “Want to have some more fun?”
“Yes, but—”
“Why is there a but to that? There shouldn’t be a but to that.”
“You’re probably a bit sore, is all. You should rest or somethin’.”
Darla kissed Eggie again. She really enjoyed kissing him. “You’re just the nicest, sweetest man in the whole wide world, Egbert Ray Smith.”
“And you’re the only person who’s ever said that to me.”
“They just don’t understand you.”
“And you do?”
“Of course!”
“And you like me anyway?”
“Very much.” She placed her hands on his cheeks. “Can’t you tell?”
“Wanted to be sure.”
“You can be sure.” She smoothed her hands down his neck, his shoulders.
“Stop looking at me like that, Darla Mae.”
“What way?”
He smirked. “You know what way. And we should go to sleep.”
“I’m not sleepy.”
“Darla Mae.”
It meant a lot to her that he never wanted to hurt her, but she was a She-wolf with needs. “How about we play inappropriate touching?”
“Inappropriate what?”
Darla dragged her hands down Eggie’s chest. “Let me show you . . .”
CHAPTER NINE
Darla woke up in a great mood. It was a beautiful summer day, she had the most handsome wolf she’d ever met asleep beside her, and she’d just had the most amazing night of her life. All was wonderful.
Sticky from sweat and, well . . . other things, Darla eased out of bed and went to the bathroom. She showered, brushed her teeth, and came back to the bedroom. Eggie was awake now, staring up at the ceiling.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothin’.”
“You sure?”
“Yep.”
She accepted what he said and dug out some clean clothes from the bag her sisters had left for her. He wasn’t a man she wanted to push unnecessarily. He’d tolerate it, but he shouldn’t have to.
“How about breakfast?” she asked.
“I should take you out somewhere.”
“Why? I have what we need for a yummy breakfast.”
“I should have taken you to dinner last night. Bought ya flowers. Maybe some chocolates.”
“We had pie.”
She heard him grunt while she slipped on her sandals. Stretching across the bed, she rested her head on his chest and looked up at him.
“Last night was absolutely perfect. The best night of my life. We had each other and pie. Didn’t need anything else.” She patted his chest with her hand. “Don’t let my worldly nature fool you. I’m just a small-town girl at heart.”
Finally Eggie smiled and she saw the bit of stress he’d been feeling slip away from his face.
“You still up for this all day concert thing that’s somewhere in the mountains?” he asked.
“As a matter of fact . . . I am. It’s a beautiful day. We should go out and experience it.”
He grunted, slowly sat up. “Then let me get in the shower.”
“And I’ll make us breakfast.” She started to move away but Eggie caught her hand, held it.
His thumb brushed over her knuckles before he finally stated, “I’m really liking you, D
arla Mae.”
Her heart soared at his words but she tamped that down quickly. It was never a good idea to jump up and down and clap your hands together when a man told you that sort of thing. It was even more of a bad idea when it was a wolf.
So, when she was calm enough, she smiled and said, “I really like you, too!”
Startled those words had come out, Darla slapped her hand over her mouth. Darn it!
“I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Why not?”
“I was supposed to say something cute and enticing.”
“It was cute and enticing.”
“No, no.” She covered her face, mortified. “I’m supposed to entice you to keep your interest. That’s what my sisters would have done.”
“Your sisters hate me.”
“Yeah, but I am trying to keep your interest.” She shrugged and just went ahead and admitted, “I don’t want you to get bored.”
Eggie leaned over until he could look into her face. “Darla. I’m canine. I don’t get bored when something is as entertaining as you are. Besides,” he added. “Pie.”
Darla laughed, and kissed him. And when she pulled away, Eggie’s hand slipped behind the back of her neck and brought her toward him again. Their kiss went on and on, and she loved every second of it, but when he started to bring her down to the bed again, she pulled away from him and gave a shake of her head. “Oh, no you don’t, Eggie Ray Smith. We’re going out. You promised.”
She heard him give a little growl and stand up. Darla forced herself not to stare—even though she wanted to. Lord, the man was just so dang perfect.
“I won’t be long,” he said, heading to the bathroom. She noticed he was rubbing his already returning beard.
“Eggie?”
“Huh?”
“You don’t have to shave if you don’t want to.”
He stopped at the bathroom door and looked at her. “You sure?”
Darla shrugged. “I like your beard. I like you without it. Doesn’t matter to me as long as you’re comfortable. And if you’re on vacation, I want you comfortable.”
“Is that an order?”
“Since that’s all you Marines seem to be able to handle.” She winked at him and skipped down the steps. She was heading to the kitchen when she stopped by the living room. Eggie’s four brothers were sitting on his couch, eating cereal and watching “Super Friends” cartoons on Eggie’s color TV.
“What are y’all doing?” she asked and, like zebras at a watering hole, they all looked at her at the same time. They all looked so similar and yet Eggie was still the most handsome as far as Darla was concerned.
“Eating,” Bubba Ray answered.
“My sisters don’t feed you?”
“They’re not talking to us.”
“Why?”
The brothers all looked at each other, debating how much to tell her, she knew.
“I’m waiting,” Darla pushed.
Bubba Ray put down his cereal and walked over to Darla. “They’re mad because we didn’t go with them last night to help you escape.”
Darla frowned. “Escape?”
“They started calling you Patty Hearst,” Nicky Ray volunteered with a laugh.
“Shut. Up,” Bubba Ray barked at the youngest brother. He looked back at Darla, shrugged. “They never went through with the plan because they didn’t want to deal with Eggie without us.”
“Oh, really?”
“Don’t be mad, Darla. They’re just worried about you. They didn’t mean nothin’ by it.”
Darla doubted that but she asked, “Why didn’t you?”
“Why didn’t I what?”
“Try to rescue me?”
“I guess because you didn’t look like you needed to be rescued.”
“And even Bubba wasn’t about to fight Eggie,” Benji tossed in.
“Well, remember what happened when Nicky tried to take that deer antler from him?” Frankie Ray asked.
While the Smith boys laughed—well, except for Bubba Ray, who just looked disgusted—Darla walked in front of the TV and stood there with her arms crossed over her chest. She glared down at the brothers until their laughter slowly died and they eventually focused on the coffee table she’d picked out for Eggie.
“So I’m just a bone your brother’s playin’ with?” she asked.
“No, ma’am,” the three brothers muttered while Bubba turned away, but not before she could see his smile.
“That’s good. I don’t think my daddy and brothers would appreciate that particular characterization of me.”
Frankie looked up at her. “Character-what?”
Good Lord. These wolves are the feared Smith boys?
Because it seemed only Eggie and Bubba actually got the brains and the brawn. “Why don’t y’all clean those bowls while I make ya some pancakes and bacon.”
“Yes’m.”
Darla watched them get up and walk out of the room. She stepped beside Bubba and he put his arm around her shoulders. He was a much friendlier wolf when his brothers weren’t around to witness it.
“If my sisters were so dang worried about me,” Darla wanted to know, “why didn’t they just call? I would have answered.”
“Eggie ain’t got no phone. He don’t like ’em.”
“Oh?” She’d never noticed, but she’d been . . . distracted. “Why not?”
“We don’t know. And none of us are brave enough to ask him.”
He winked at her and Darla asked, “You going to make an honest mate of my sister, Bubba Ray?”
“She won’t let me. Your sister is mean, Darla Mae.”
“Yeah,” she admitted, “but I’m sure that’s what you love about her.”
Eggie walked into his kitchen and found his brothers eating his food, which his She-wolf had fixed for them. Something he found unacceptable.
“Breakfast is ready,” Darla said to him with that smile.
“Do you have any food left?” he growled, glowering down at his brothers. As usual, only Bubba held his gaze, the big-headed bastard smirking a little. The others went right back to their food, shoveling it in like they expected lion males to come out of the woods and steal it at any second.
Darla put his food down and tapped his chair.
“Did you eat?” he asked once he stood in front of her.
“I did. I just need to clean the kitchen and then we can go.”
“No. Go get your stuff together. My brothers will clean the kitchen.”
“I’m not cleaning your—” Nicky Ray began, but Eggie barked and snarled at his brother until the bastard lowered his head and went back to eating.
“We’ll take care of it,” Bubba said. “You go on, Darla. Have yourself a lovely day.”
“Y’all are just so sweet.” She stroked Eggie’s hand with the tips of her fingers. “I won’t be long,” she murmured.
“Take your time.”
He waited until Darla had gone upstairs before he focused on his idiot kin, and made everything clear in terms they could easily understand.
“I could skin ya, have you deboned, and buried in less than an hour. It’s in the trainin’. So don’t y’all cross me when it comes to Darla Mae.”
The two eldest hunkered down more over their food, the youngest nearly choked on his pancake, but Bubba Ray leaned back in his chair and noted, “I guess this means you love her.”
But Eggie wasn’t about to get into discussing any of that with his kin. “Just don’t get in my way, and I won’t have to kill any of ya. I hate upsettin’ Momma and all.”
CHAPTER TEN
Since Eggie didn’t have a phone at his house, they’d called from the road. Eggie didn’t know who Darla had called, but whoever it was, they’d told her exactly where to find that outdoor concert. It was near the Smoky Mountains at a big park, and was an event run by Darla’s friends. Friends Eggie didn’t know, but he didn’t really care. Because in the end, the music had turned out not to be bad at all, Darla w
as happy, and it was the perfect place to meet with his team.
Eggie had been working with the team for three years now. McMartin was their team leader; Taschen a jackal with excellent bomb-making skills; Lloyd a leopard who could blend in anywhere and was amazing at recon; and Eggie, who was really good at killing stuff.
When Eggie had gone on vacation, so had Taschen and Lloyd, but McMartin had called his teammates back in to help them figure out what had happened on Smith territory. True, as Marines, they weren’t supposed to do this kind of work on American soil but this was personal and they were helping out a fellow Marine.
While the roadies and stage crew were setting up for the next band, Eggie took Darla’s hand and led her away from the stage.
As they walked, Darla said, “Stop glaring at everyone, Eggie Ray.”
“I’m not. I’m only glaring at the men staring at your legs.” She had on denim cutoffs, a tight Jimi Hendrix shirt, and no shoes. Her long hair was loose around her shoulders and she looked as happy and comfortable as any woman could. But Eggie could see what he was guessing Darla couldn’t. The type of people who had come to this concert. Some of them were just average good ol’ local boys who’d only be a problem if they drank too much ’shine in this heat, some out-of-towners looking for a good time . . . and some others. It was the “others” that Eggie kept his eyes on.
Darla leaned into Eggie, her fingers intertwined with his. Unlike her sisters, whom Eggie had watched off and on over the past few years with his brothers, Darla was openly affectionate. She held his hand, put her arm around his waist, hugged if she felt in the mood. And, to Eggie’s great surprise, he liked it. He liked that she not only felt comfortable touching him whenever she wanted, but that she seemed proud to be with him. Proud to claim him as her own.
Eggie stopped and slowly turned his head, scanning the crowd. It took a moment, but he caught sight of McMartin first. The bear nodded at him and Eggie nodded back.
“Who’s that?” Darla asked.
“A friend of mine.”
“A Marine?”
“Yep.”
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