by Jane Jamison
When the man put his hands on her, grabbing her arm, he’d barely restrained himself. Fangs sprang out to peek over his lips. Amber filled his eyes coloring his vision. If the man touched her again, he wouldn’t be able to keep his wolf from taking over.
At last, Krystal moved away to serve another customer at the end of the bar. The man sneered, his fake smile dropping as soon as she’d turned away. Yet it wasn’t his sneer that worked a knot in Eric’s stomach. It was the evil, hungry way the man stared at Krystal, his gaze running from the back of her head and down to her nicely rounded ass.
“Hey, Eric, how are you doing?”
Eric forced his attention to Evan Grange. Although he didn’t like most vampires, Evan was different. Maybe it was because he was cousin to Tyler and Derek Mitchell, two werewolves. Or maybe it was because Evan had worked hard to get people to accept him. Whatever the reason, Eric liked the man.
“I’m fine. How’s it going on your end?” Not that he really cared. All he really wanted was to get over to Krystal.
“The boys and I are doing fine.”
“And Emeline?” Asking after a man’s mate was second nature.
“She’s recovering. After getting snake-bit then trampled by a herd of dinosaurs, she got right back up and flew to the moon.”
“That’s great.”
“Eric, what’s going on?”
He still wouldn’t have paid any attention if Evan hadn’t put his hand on his shoulder. Smothering a growl, he glanced at the vamp for a second then sought out Krystal again. “Sorry. What’d you say?”
“You’re not listening. Something’s up.”
Eric drew in a long, slow breath, steadying his nerves. “I’m not sure.”
“Does it have anything to do with Krystal, the new bartender?”
It wasn’t as though it would’ve been hard to figure out. He’d been staring at her long enough. “Yeah.”
“You boys think she’s the one, don’t you?”
Talking about his mate wasn’t easy even with his brother and cousin. Talking about her with Evan was even harder. “Yeah.”
“Then why aren’t you over there asking who that guy was?”
Evan wasn’t known for being talkative, much less giving advice. When he did, people tended to listen. “Good idea.”
Getting close to her wasn’t easy. In fact, if Evan hadn’t been standing next to him, he would’ve found it easier to just wave her over and act as though he wanted a drink. Instead, he had to push through the crowd. When he finally made it to the other side, he was relieved to find her still there.
“Krystal?”
Her head jerked up, her eyes fearful. Her gaze landed on him, slipped to the side, and then returned. A small, relieved smile came next.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Krystal lowered her gaze, busying herself with getting another bottle for the customer next to him.
“Bullshit. Can you take a break?” He’d already screwed up. Instead of calling her on her lie, he should’ve eased into his questions.
“I can’t. It’s too busy.”
“Clinton can cover.” Which wasn’t really true. Clinton was working hard and fast. Without Krystal, he’d be swamped.
“No. He can’t.” She picked up another bottle and popped the top off.
“Who was that guy, baby?” He would’ve sworn she cringed at the word baby.
“There are a lot of guys here, Eric.” She set the bottle in front of another man and scooped up his payment.
“You know who I’m talking about.” He’d lowered his voice enough to bring out a touch of his wolf’s commanding growl.
She paused, then stared at him. “He’s an old acquaintance, that’s all.”
“From Los Angeles?”
“Yes.” Back to work she went.
She was busy, yes, but she was using it to keep from looking at him. “An acquaintance? That’s all? And somehow he wound up in Fate?”
Her grip tightened on the next bottle, her knuckles turning white. “Eric, I really don’t have time to talk. I’m sorry. He’s just someone I used to know.”
“An old acquaintance you don’t like much from what I saw.”
Her blue eyes clouded and he was positive she was going to tell him a lie. “You’re right. I don’t like him much. But he’s gone now. He was just passing through.”
“How’d he know you were here?” Fate wasn’t exactly on a well-traveled road or near a highway.
“He came in by chance and saw me.” She shrugged, yet the gesture was stiff. “That’s it.” A frown darted between her eyes. “It doesn’t matter, Eric. I’ll talk to you later, okay? Right now, I need to concentrate on work.”
As much as he disliked the idea, he sensed she wasn’t telling him everything. Every inch of him, every bit of his inner wolf wanted to grab her and shake her, to demand she tell him what was going on. Instead, he gritted his teeth and kept silent as she took another customer’s order.
I wish I’d cornered the guy before he left.
Maybe I still can.
Pushing through the crowd at the bar, he hurried toward the front door. The night air hit him as he pushed the doors wide and strode into the parking lot. Shadows lengthened from the overhead lights cutting across the many cars parked in the lot. Shifting just enough to bring out his sensitive eyesight, he searched, hoping his luck would be good.
There he is.
He practically ran to catch up with the man. “Hey, you.”
The man whipped around, his eyes wide, a suspicious expression darkening his already shadowed face. “Who are you?”
“I’m a friend of Krystal’s.” The less information he gave, the better. “And the same question back at you. Who are you?”
He hated the guy’s cocky smirk. If only he could shift and wipe it off his face.
“I’m a very close friend of hers.” The smirk widened. “Actually, I’m more than a friend.”
“Yeah? She’s never mentioned you.” The man made his skin crawl.
“You know how she is. Tightlipped. I’m Denny Shipley, her boyfriend.”
Eric stared at Denny’s outstretched hand, too stunned to move. “Her boyfriend? Bullshit.”
Denny lowered his hand, but the smirk stayed in full force. “Believe what you want, but why else would I come all the way from Los Angeles to this hick town?”
“Again, she never mentioned you.” His gut flipped over. The idea of a creep like that touching her made him want to hurl.
“That’s strange, considering you’re a friend. Doesn’t matter, though. She’ll be coming back home with me soon enough.” His pretended concern was nauseating. “Wait. She didn’t tell you that, either, huh?”
“That’s bullshit, too. She would’ve told me. Even if she hadn’t, the news would’ve gotten around town by now.” He wanted to bite off his tongue for saying anything, much less playing along with the guy’s lies. He had to be lying. If he wasn’t… “I saw her. She didn’t look like she was happy to see you.”
That got the man’s attention.
“We’re going through a rough patch like a lot of couples do from time to time. You know how it is. We break up, but we always get back together. We can’t stay away from each other.” His dark eyes glistened with animosity.
“I’m calling bullshit a third time.”
“I don’t know why I’m doing this, but here. Take a look.” Denny pulled his wallet out of his back pocket, flipped it open, and eased a photograph out. He held it up, giving Eric a good look. “That’s us back when she was working at the strip club. That’s how we met, you know. Oh, sure, I was one just one of her customers at first, but I was the one she fell in love with.”
Eric was certain he was going to hurl now. Or shift and tear Denny’s head off. Somehow, he managed to keep from doing either one. Instead, he squinted and stared at the photo. Krystal sat on Denny’s lap. She was wearing a very skimpy bikini that didn’t leave much to the imagination. Neo
n lights as well as other people, some of the women topless, were in the background. He wanted to believe the photo was fake, but couldn’t.
It’s real. That’s our Krystal.
“Have a nice night, man.”
What could he do but let him walk away? As much as Eric wanted to pounce on Denny, he couldn’t. What if he was telling him the truth? Did Krystal and Denny really have a relationship? He hadn’t believed Denny, but the photo had thrown him. She’d looked happy enough. Had she and Denny been together? Were they going to be together again?
He wasn’t sure how long he stood there. Long enough to see Denny get into a car and drive off. Long enough for Dane and Curt to come looking for him.
“What are you doing out here?” Dane took a swig from his bottle of beer.
“Yeah, man. I thought we were going to stick around until Krystal got off work?” Curt followed Eric’s gaze down the row of the parking lot. “What’s going on?”
“We may have to rethink choosing Krystal as our mate.” He’d barely gotten the words out before he spun around and stalked toward his pickup.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Curt caught up to him.
“We’ve already chosen her. She’s our mate. What’s gotten into you?” Dane flung his bottle away, landing it in a nearby garbage can.
“She worked at a strip joint.”
“Where? In Los Angeles?” asked Curt.
“So what if she did? I don’t give a damn what she used to do,” added Dane.
“I don’t either.” That wasn’t what had bothered him about the photo.
“Then there’s something else.” Dane grabbed his arm, turning him around to face him. Anger and confusion scrunched his features into a hard mask. “Spit it out.”
“She already has a man.” He jerked his arm away.
“What? Who?” Curt had continued to chase after him.
“Her boyfriend showed up. He said they’re not together right now, but that they will be. Said that they break up and get back together all the time.”
Curt dropped back. “Fuck. You’ve got to be shitting me.”
“I wish I was.” Flinging open the driver’s door, he pulled himself into the cab and turned over the key. “Get in or find your own way home.”
Chapter Four
Krystal froze, coming to a standstill on the sidewalk. She would’ve sworn her heart stopped.
What’s he still doing here?
She’d been foolish to think that Denny would listen to her and go back to Los Angeles. Still, she’d hoped. Had, in fact, talked herself into believing he would. The past few days had been difficult enough when none of the men had contacted her. They hadn’t phoned her and they hadn’t come into the Wolf’s Den even during her off hours.
Denny plastered on his shit-eating grin. Oh, how she’d come to loathe that grin.
“Hi, baby.”
She clenched her teeth, doing her best not to scream when he hooked his arm in hers. “Don’t call me that. And get your fucking hands off me.”
“Aw, come on, Krystal. You wouldn’t want to make a scene in front of all your new friends, now would you?” He tightened his hold on her. “Not unless you want them to know all about your time in the big city.”
She did her best to adopt a serene expression. Pearl Witten, another resident she hoped to meet soon, strolled by with two men on either side of her swollen belly. She looked like she was about to have the baby at any minute. What would she do if she ran into Stella or Arizona? She couldn’t just smile and pass them by. She’d have to introduce Denny to them. Scanning the other side of the street, she was relieved not to see anyone she knew.
What if one of the men saw her with Denny? How would she explain it?
“Why are you doing this to me?”
“Doing what to you? Getting together with the woman I love?”
He’d told her the same thing so many times before. “Denny, we’ve talked about this. I don’t love you. I’ll never love you. Please, leave me alone.”
“No way, baby. We’re meant to be together. The sooner you realize that, the faster we’ll start our wonderful new life together.”
She couldn’t stand it any longer. If she made a scene, then so be it. “Leave me the hell alone! I hate you, Denny Shipley. Get the hell away from me!”
She caused a scene all right. Several people stopped and stared. Even Pearl and her men turned around to see what was happening.
“Are you all right?”
Thank God.
She pivoted around to find Drake Hardwick, the only real law in town, studying them. “Drake.”
“Are you okay? Is this guy bothering you?” Drake pushed back his cowboy hat, his eyes intent on Denny, bits of amber coloring them.
“Baby, remember what we were talking about.”
It wasn’t a question. Denny was threatening her. And God help her, but it worked. “Uh, no. I was…upset, but I’m fine now.”
“Are you sure?”
Could he tell she was lying? “Yes. I’m fine.” She put on the biggest smile she could and directed it at Denny. “Wow, it was really nice of you to come and visit me, but I’m sure you need to get going. You wouldn’t want to be late getting back to Atlanta to catch your flight.”
Please go.
“Don’t worry, Krystal. I think I might be hanging around for a while.”
She could feel Drake’s questioning appraisal of the situation. “Oh. Well, like I said, it was great seeing you, but I need to get going.” Leaving Drake and Denny together was a risk, but one she had to take. “You take care, okay?”
Before Denny could answer, she spun around and rushed across the road. A few people spoke to her, but she didn’t answer. Instead, she concentrated on keeping the tears from falling.
* * * *
Shit. Eric was right. That must be her boyfriend.
Dane stepped off the sidewalk and into the alley. The last thing he wanted to do was to let her see him. If she called him over to meet the man who’d come to take her home, he’d shit a brick. Right after he punched the guy’s lights out.
Denny Shipley.
That’s what Eric had said his name was.
Denny entwined his arm in hers, sending a rush of jealousy through him.
Don’t fucking touch her, asshole.
Yet he didn’t have the right to tell her what to do. Not yet anyway.
He watched, keeping to the shadows cast by the morning sun. If she kissed him, he’d tear his own heart out. No, he wouldn’t. If she kissed him, she’d be tearing it out.
She and Denny walked along the street. Although she let him hold her arm, her walk was stiff. They continued going on their way, passing by Pearl and her men. He closed his eyes and wished it away. Yet when he opened them again, they were still together.
He couldn’t stand to watch another second. His wolf growled, urging him to attack the man who would take his mate, but somehow he held it down. Even in Fate, a werewolf had to have restraint. Instead, he backed up farther into the shadows, then turned on his heel. If he didn’t get away fast enough, even the strong restraint he had wouldn’t be enough.
* * * *
“This is nice.” Krystal took a sip of her tea and kept her smile in place as best she could. After running into Denny for the second time, the last thing she’d wanted to do was meet Arizona at the local café. But friendships took time and work to develop and maintain and she valued her newly-forming friendship with Arizona and Stella. “We should do this every day.”
“If only. But I don’t think I could get away. We’ve had two guests this week. I know that doesn’t sound like much, but they’ve been a handful,” said Stella.
“More than that Holland jerk?” asked Arizona. One of the guests at the B & B had been causing Stella problems.
“Well, no. But messier. A lot messier.” Stella took a sip of her drink. “Some guy from Los Angeles.”
Krystal’s breath hitched in her throat. Hoping they hadn’
t seen her surprise, she shifted her gaze to the sidewalk outside the café.
He’s still in town. Damn.
“In fact, Krystal, he said he knows you. Denny Shipley is his name.” Stella lifted her eyebrows in question.
Krystal studied her food, still fighting to recover her composure. “He’s just an acquaintance. I barely know him.”
“Really? Stacy said she saw you two together.” Arizona dipped her head, trying to get Krystal to look up. “She said it looked like you knew him pretty well.”
“Stacy doesn’t know what she’s talking about.” She hadn’t meant to sound harsh, but she couldn’t stand talking about Denny.
Her friends exchanged a telling glance. They knew she was holding back information. But would they try to get it out of her?
What would she do is she saw Denny again? And why hadn’t Curt and his cousins called her yet? She sighed as softly as she could and changed the subject. “So how’s it going with you and the Lennox brothers?”
“The Lennox brothers. It sounds like a singing duo.” Arizona studied Stella as she ate another French fry, but Stella remained conspicuously quiet. “But yeah. Tell us. What’s going on?”
Arizona shot Krystal a look. Stella had suddenly zoned out. Krystal just shrugged, unwilling to push her friend. How was she supposed to know what was going on with Stella when she could barely concentrate on the conversation? Instead, her mind kept jumping between the men she missed more than she could say to the man she hated most in the world.
“Earth to Stella.”
Stella blinked, her eyes focusing again “Oh. Um, nothing much.”
Talk about them. If you don’t, they’re bound to ask about the Hill brothers and Curt.
“That’s not what I hear. I heard from Stacy at the beauty shop that you’ve been seen riding around in their pickup and even headed out to their ranch.”
“Like you said, you can’t believe everything Stacy says,” answered Stella.
“She’s not the only one saying so.” Arizona sopped up another fry.
There was something different about Arizona today. She seemed…lighter. More content in her own skin. She studied Stella. The same could be said for her, too. What did they have going on that she didn’t?