Using his finger to swipe to the next photo on the touchscreen, he glanced at her as she watched his profile. Giving a sly smile, he then pointed to another image on the screen.
“This one is hot. I think I might want to blow this up and put it in my office as a marketing tool.” He licked his lips as he continued to stare at the computer.
Pris instantly knew what caused that smile on her face as the photographer snapped those series of pictures. Lake was standing off to the side after he had gathered the men away from their staring, and she was looking into his eyes from across the room. He was protecting her at that moment, admiring her talent, and she was falling for the man who had treated her like an obese idiot at dinner a few days ago. She couldn’t figure out what made him so black and white but had come to the determination she wasn’t going to ask just yet.
Everyone had a bad day. She’d known many clients who’d turned into ogres when things didn’t work out the way they wanted, so she knew some people didn’t handle pressure well. He had explained this campaign had been buried in issues and conflicts. She was an expert at understanding how deadlines could create monsters out of the kindest people.
She liked who this Lake was, and it was at the moment when the flash went off. She’d decided she wanted to give him another chance and let the past be in the past.
“I had great material to work with.” She smiled at him.
Lake stood up and took his computer to his desk. “I think we have a good handle on the ones that will be best to use. Now it’s time to eat. I hope you don’t mind, but I ordered half meat lovers and half Hawaiian. It should be here any minute.” As he sat back down, she noticed he positioned himself closer to her and angled his body, so he was facing her. Replicating his invitation, she too adjusted herself, so she was facing him, staring into his golden eyes.
“A man who knows how to satisfy everyone. I’m impressed.”
“You did a fantastic job at the photoshoot. You’re just the image we need for this line. Your beauty and confidence are sure to sell it for us. I’m deeply impressed and grateful.” Lake tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears with a soft touch.
“Thank you, I had a lot of fun, and the money will be put to good use for the children’s hospital.” Pris blushed from his attention and needed to regain focus before she threw herself on his lap and begged for a kiss. That wasn’t who she was. She was normally shy and slow to invest her heart, but Lake had stolen her attention from the moment he walked into the restaurant.
Lake slowly leaned forward as if asking her permission to give her a kiss. Words escaped her at that moment so she did the only thing she could, she met him halfway and placed a feather-light kiss on his lips. As she was moving back, he wrapped his arms around her and brought her to his chest, taking her mouth with so much passion, it left her breathless.
His tongue traced her lips, begging for entrance into her mouth. She obeyed his request. She wrapped her hands around him, with her fingers twirling around the mass of curls at the base of his neck. He continued to taste her and pulled her onto his lap. Breaking only when they needed a breath, she closed her eyes and sighed.
“Wow, I think I could get used to your gratitude.” She whispered.
“That was more than gratitude, love. That was the passion you stir in me, and there’s more there when you are ready.” Lake’s voice was a mixture of growl and showed the internal struggle he was having to keep in control of something.
Holy fuck. Gerri Wilder was right. Lake was the man for her. Maybe they’d had a rough start, but the way he was treating her now was enough to make her want to see where this could go. He could go psycho on you again. As he leaned in for another kiss, a loud knock on the office door made her jump. Sighing, Lake pulled back and started to stand. “I’ll assume dinner has arrived.”
Once they had both eaten, Lake started to gather the leftovers and trash. “This was fun. We should do this again.”
“Is that your way of offering me another photoshoot or a date?” Pris was pushing herself to step outside her comfort zone when it came to flirting.
“Well, I would love to…” Lake was interrupted by the buzz of his cell phone. He reached over the desk and took it so he could look at the caller ID. “Excuse me, I have to take this, it’s my brother.”
Lake turned his back to her and moved across the room to the windows. Pris could hear short clips of Lake’s side of the conversation. It was clear that he was being drawn into another situation, and it was getting late. She needed to get home.
“Sorry about that,” Lake said as he pocketed his cell phone and opened his laptop again. “I guess the family got worried when I wasn’t home tonight, and he wanted to see if I was ok and still at work.” After pushing some keys, he closed it and stood up. “The money for the photoshoot has been wired to your account.”
“Thank you, and no need to apologize, it’s nice to have people care and notice when you aren’t home, but I do need to head out. I have had a lovely time, and thank you for letting me help pick the pictures. It feels nice to be this involved.” Pris reached for her purse as Lake grabbed her arm.
“I have another favor to ask you. I have to go buy thirty gifts for the kids tomorrow. Could you come with me and help?”
The grin on his lips made her heart flutter and her knees go weak.
“Sure, I need to purchase the toys for the children’s hospital as well. We can mark two things off our holiday to-do list.” She smiled and turned to the door. “Just text me what time and where to meet you. Thank you again, Lake. I had a wonderful evening.”
Lake took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles. “The pleasure has been all mine, and if you’re willing, I would love to pick you up tomorrow.” He slipped a card with his personal information into the front pocket of her handbag. “Just text me your address. Good night, Priscilla.”
Chapter Seven
“Look at this doll. Isn’t she precious?” Pris was playing with the doll’s hair as she showed it to Lake.
“I think we need to get that as well. Did you get everything you needed? “ He pushed the cart towards the front of the store.
“I think we bought them out. It was so nice of you to include me in your shopping, but you really didn’t have to come to pick me up. I could have met you here and saved you a trip.”
“And miss a chance to spend more time with you, no way.” He gave her a sexy smile that made her entire body shudder. Holy...hot...tamale. She’d never met a man with that ability before.
After all the items had been purchased, Lake informed the cashier that a couple of men would be coming by to pick up the items for the hospital and would deliver them for Pris. He also asked her to double the order and put it on his card.
Priscilla placed a hand over her heart as her eyes welled up in tears. “Lake, that is so nice of you, but you don’t have to do that.”
“Maybe, but I believe every child deserves to spend Christmas with joy and new toys. I really want to do it.”
Words couldn’t come without the risk of being followed by tears. With a simple nod and smile, Priscilla grabbed a few of Lake’s bags and walked with him to the sidewalk. She noticed he stopped and stood there, looking around.
“Is there a problem? Did we forget something?” she asked
“Well, yes, I lost my car. I guess I was so excited to get started on the holiday shopping with you. I didn’t pay attention to where I parked.” A blush slowly made its way up his cheeks. “But don’t worry, when I bought my Mercedes a few years ago, the salesman told me about the app that would help me find my car if it was stolen or lost.” He pulled out his phone again and drew up the app called Find My Car. Once he pressed a code number in, headlights started to flash off and on to their left.
“Bingo, we found the car.” Lake chuckled and popped the lid of the trunk. Priscilla noticed as she put her bags in the back that he kept several changes of clothes and a heavy coat along with thick fur-lined boots. Look
ing at his physical condition, it wouldn’t be unheard of that he was an outdoor activity kind of guy.
Lake took her hand as he shut the trunk and walked her to the passenger door. “As long as we’re together, you’ll never touch the car door handle again. I want to make sure you never doubt how cherished you are when you’re with me.”
He kissed the back of her hand just like he had done in his office the previous day, then guided her into the seat. When he reached across her to seatbelt her in, Priscilla decided that she may have to put a limit on how cherished she wanted to be, but this had been such a wonderful day she wasn’t going to ruin it now.
Pulling out onto the road, he held his hand out to her. She looked at him and smiled before placing her hand in his. He put their joined hands on his leg, and she could feel the muscles in his thighs. Images of what he could do to her with those legs caused her to start getting hot. Needing a change of thought, she mentioned how nice his car was.
“Thank you, I splurged on myself and got this, but I haven’t had the need to change cars since. Now my younger brother Lyle gets a new car every time his warranty ends. Sometimes every for months. This week he has a red sports car that’s too small for my tastes.”
Rain began to splatter on the windshield. Lake reached over and turned on the wipers, and Priscilla noticed the corded muscles that ran along his forearm.
“Want to go back to my place, and you can help me wrap these gifts while I cook us a simple dinner? It’s the least I can do to thank you for tying all of the bows.” Lake laughed. “I’m all thumbs when it comes to ribbons.”
Heat filled her as she thought about how talented he must be with those hands, and she wasn’t ready for their day to be over. She wanted more kisses, more touches, and it had been a very long time since a man made her dinner.
“Sure, I’d love that.”
Kissing her fingers, he continued to drive until he pulled up into the driveway of a beautiful home. It was simple but reflected his personality and style. He popped the trunk again, and she helped him carry in the packages to a spacious front room. It wasn’t an open style home, giving privacy to the back bedrooms. The living room was well furnished and provided a very homey feel.
“Just set those down there, and I’ll go get dinner started. Relax. If you want a drink, the bar’s over there.” Lake instructed and gave her a gentle, sweet kiss. Just as he entered the kitchen, she heard his landline phone begin ringing. Again she heard parts of his side of the conversation and could tell he wasn’t happy with the interruption nor the reason for the call.
“I understand. Let me handle a few things, and I’ll be right over. No, you were right to call me. I just wished I could get some personal time without a crisis.”
She turned to see Lake walk toward her with his arms open. “God, I hate to do this, but…”
“But business calls, and you need to go put out another fire,” she said as she ran her hand through his hair.
“Yeah, something like that, the community has a crisis, and it demands I go to the conference hall and, as you said, put out the fire.” He kissed her again and pulled her close to him. “Do you want to wait here? It shouldn’t take too long.”
“No, I’m going to call an Uber and head home. I’m sure you’ll impress me with your bow manipulation, and I need to get a few things done in my apartment before work this week.” Standing on her tiptoes, she kissed him again, and his erection pressed into her stomach. “Go get ’em, tiger.”
Laughing out loud, he kissed her nose and hugged her tight. “You have no idea, but you aren’t getting an Uber. I’ll drive you home on my way to the meeting. And you aren’t getting out of bow duty. Tomorrow?”
With a nod, she leaned in to give him another kiss, but this time he didn’t have to wait for her to open her mouth. He dove in. The kiss was hot, erotic and filled her heart with hope and joy.
Chapter Eight
Lake opened the door to the room where he and the elders met to discuss town issues and financials. He wasn’t very cheerful with their interruption of his time with his mate.
The elders were there, along with the treasurer of the pride and his brother. No one looked very happy. As he took a seat at the conference table, he wondered what was wrong. What had happened?
“Welcome, Lake,” one of the female elders said. “Thank you for coming on such short notice.”
“As the alpha, it’s part of my job to be available when you call.” His statement raised the brows of a few of the elders. Granted, he was irritated at not being with his mate, but the others didn’t know about her. This was nobody’s fault.
He was bothered that his brother had been roped into attending also. His brother should be able to do what he wanted during his free time. Not stuck in boring meetings.
“What’s going on?” he asked to keep the conversation moving.
The same female elder spoke again. “It seems our accountant has found a discrepancy in the books.”
Lake thought back for anything he may have forgotten to turn in. He sometimes forgot to turn in expense receipts for dinners and other minor purchases. He didn’t think he missed any this quarter.
“What kind of discrepancy?” he frowned. “Whatever it is, I’m sure we can find the source.”
“It seems we are missing $250,000 from the expense account,” The bookkeeper said.
Lake choked on his tongue. “$250,000?” He slapped his chest. “How the hell did that happen?”
“That’s what we are looking into,” another elder replied softly.
“We definitely need to get to the bottom of this.” Lake watched his brother run his fingers through his hair, combing it straight back in the style he wore. In the mornings, Lake didn’t care enough to put goop in his strands and style them. He let it dry naturally into curls. That was about the only way to tell him and his twin apart.
Lake could tell this situation bothered Lyle. He really wanted his brother to be free of this problem. What Lake wouldn’t do to switch positions with him. But he was born first, the alpha heir, and it was his duty.
The accountant broke into his thoughts. She cleared her throat. “It appears that last night you logged on and wrote an invoice and paid $1000 to a person named Priscilla Bryant.”
“Yes,” he said. “She’s the model in our campaign ad, and I was paying her for her work. I’m pretty sure I entered it into the system correctly.”
“Yes, that part is fine,” the accountant replied. “Ten minutes after that, you logged on again and transferred the quarter-million dollars into an account outside the bank.”
His brows drew down, eyes narrowing. “No, I did not,” he emphasized.” Why would I do something like that?”
“That is the question we are asking you, Alpha,” the female elder answered.
Anger rolled through his chest. Someone was messing with them, and he would get to the bottom of it. “I would like to see the bank transaction.” He turned to the accountant. If he had to, he would spend all night figuring out who had done this and where the money had gone. The elders all nodded and left the room. Beside him, Lyle pulled up a chair.
“Lyle,” Lake held up a hand, “Why don’t you go on out of here and not worry about this. Enjoy your holiday. Are you going to Gerry’s party?”
Lyle stood, shoving his chair back. “No, I’ll be home all day and night watching reruns.” Lyle hurried out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Dammit, Lake hated it when his brother was upset. He would do something about it tomorrow. Tonight he had some investigating to do.
* * *
Lyle spun out of the parking lot of the building they’d had the meeting in. He hated his fucking brother. Always the important one. Always the one to shine. Never giving him a chance. The pathetic younger brother.
Why had his brother always treated him like a second-class cat? Did Lake think he was stupid, or did his brother just not trust him? Fucking tears burned the back of his eyes. He blinked rapidly, washing a
way all emotion. He’d become good at that through the years, pretending he didn’t care that he wasn’t wanted. It wasn’t an easy feat with tigers who could smell every emotion.
He sped his red sports car through the town, running a red light. He raced out to the countryside, pounding on the steering wheel over and over. After calming, he pulled over to the side of the road, realizing that his ploy had worked. The only thing the accountant would find was Lake’s login ID to the bank account and the transfer out.
Getting his brother’s financial logon information was a bit trickier, but with his phone, Lyle had secretly recorded Lake entering his code. His brother was framed better than any picture in his home.
With Lake banished, that should take care of the company and the pride. Now he had to find a way to get rid of the damn mate again.
Reaching the city limit line for the neighboring town, Lyle made a few turns then saw what he wanted. He pulled up and stopped in front of three ladies clad in garments that barely covered their asses despite the cold weather. He adjusted his hard cock in his pants.
“Hello, beautiful ladies,” he called out as he lowered the passenger window. “Would any of you like a ride?”
Of course, they knew what he was talking about. One of the females approached the car, shaking everything she had.
“Maybe,” she said, her voice low and throaty, “What’s your gear shifter look like?” Lyle unbuttoned his pants to reveal the head of his cock sticking up well beyond the waistline of his Speedo style underwear. When he looked up, all three were at the car door, staring wide-eyed.
Lyle didn’t know how they did it, but the female trio had crammed into his car. This was going to be a good night.
Chapter Nine
Hearing Priscilla knock on his front door was like Christmas morning to Lake. The feel of her in his home made him happy for the first time...like he was complete. Opening the front door, he was greeted by his beautiful mate, wearing a Santa hat and holding three rolls of colorful children’s wrapping paper.
Scrooged Over: Paranormal Dating Agency Page 4