by Becca Van
After that, he wouldn’t have to worry about being locked behind bars. He’d landed him and his brother in a horrible mess, but Emery was smart and would come out of this situation smelling like roses.
There was no other option because if he got caught his life would be over. Next time he’d make sure he had privacy to work without any fear of being interrupted.
* * * *
Rex scented Pixie and Shaffer before they walked in the door. The smile slid from his face when he noticed his mate’s blank expression. When he saw she was walking slowly and a little hunched over as she and his brother entered the diner, he sniffed the air and smiled with relief when he didn’t smell pain on her. Although she looked rested and young since she had no makeup on, he knew something was bothering her. She frowned as she glanced about the room, and when she noticed the other shifters watching her, she quickly lowered her gaze and blushed.
“Hey, sweetie,” Rex greeted as she and Shaffer took a seat at the table a few yards away from the counter. “How are you feeling?”
“Okay.” She met his gaze briefly before gazing at the table top when her blush deepened.
Rex swallowed down a groan when he smelled her arousal and couldn’t help eying her body over even though she was seated. His gaze zeroed in on her chest, and he had to adjust his cock as it filled with blood. Her hard, little nipples were pushing against her sweater, and he could smell the intoxicating scent of her cream. He wasn’t all surprised when Tatum came out of the kitchen and hurried out to take the seat next to their mate.
“You’re looking better,” Tatum said as he tipped her chin up with a knuckle.
“I feel better.”
“Glad to hear it, baby. I’ll bet you’re hungry. What would you like to eat?”
Pixie picked up the menu and perused it with a frown. She concentrated so hard on the damn thing, Rex wondered what was wrong. He could hear her empty belly grumbling from where he was standing and knew she had to be starving since she hadn’t eaten in over two days.
“I’ll just have some toast.”
“You need to eat more than toast, Pixie,” Tatum said. “You’ve been in Ambrose for two days and haven’t eaten anything.”
Pixie scowled at him and crossed her arms beneath her breasts.
Tatum’s gaze wandered to her breasts just like Rex’s did, and when he glanced over at Shaffer, he noticed his brother was eying her chest, too.
Pixie must have realized where they were looking because she dropped her arms and hunched her shoulders, trying to hide her body’s reaction to them. She could hide all she wanted, but a shifter’s nose would always sniff out the truth.
“Toast is fine.”
“No, it isn’t.” Tatum shoved his chair back and hurried toward the diner kitchen. Rex knew his brother was going to cook her up a heaping plate, and while Rex knew Pixie would probably kick up a stink, she would end up eating it even if Tatum had to feed her.
“What’s wrong, sugar?” Shaffer asked.
Rex was glad that Shaffer was the more sensitive of the three of them. Tatum was the main alpha of Ambrose and tended to give orders willy-nilly expecting them to be obeyed. His authoritative brother was going to have to try and curb his dominant ways, if he wanted to get on Pixie’s good side.
“What makes you think anything’s—”
Shaffer held up a finger, cutting her off. Rex grabbed some mugs, the freshly brewed coffee pot, and walked toward the table. He put the cups down and poured the coffee before taking the pot back to the warmer and heading toward his mate and brother again. He’d just taken a seat when Pixie started to answer.
“I don’t have much cash left. I need to be conservative since I need to rent a room for a couple of days.”
“You don’t need to do that,” Rex said.
“Yes, I do.” She frowned at him.
“You can stay with us, sugar.” Shaffer leaned back in his seat and picked up his coffee mug.
“I can’t and don’t want to impose on y’all.”
“You can and you will,” Tatum stated firmly as he placed a plate full of food in front of Pixie before putting the other plates down on the table. He sat down and waited for her to lift her gaze from the food. She looked so cute with her mouth gaping open and her eyes wide with shock.
“I didn’t order this.” She glared up at Tatum. He shrugged. “I can’t afford—”
“You don’t have to,” Rex cut her off. “It’s on the house.”
“Won’t your boss be upset with you giving food away?”
“Nope.” Shaffer grinned.
“How do you know—”
“We own the diner, baby.” Tatum picked up Pixie’s silverware, unwrapped the napkin, and then put the knife and fork in her hand. “Eat.”
Pixie sighed but she didn’t quibble any longer. Rex dug into his own food, watching his mate. He could have spent hours watching her eat. Her movements were feminine and economical. She cut up the sausage and bacon into bite-size pieces before putting them into her mouth and chewing, wiping her lips after each mouthful.
Rex, Shaffer, and Tatum wolfed their food down in comparison, but they were nearly three times her weight and more than double her size. They had fast metabolisms and could eat a shit load of food, and did at each meal. Luckily for them, they had plenty of money after they’d all won the lottery, otherwise they would have eaten their way through the diner profits.
Pixie sat back with a sigh after she’d only eaten a third of her meal, but from the replete sound, she’d had more than enough to fill her small belly. “How long have y’all lived here? Did you grow up in Ambrose?”
“No, we grew up on the outskirts of Goldfield, Nevada,” Rex replied after swallowing.
“How did you end up in Ambrose?”
“We served in the military for ten years. We’d made good friends while serving, and since we had nothing left in Goldfield, we all decided to live close by,” Shaffer explained.
“You don’t have any parents?” Pixie frowned.
“No,” Rex answered. “Our folks died while we were serving our country. The house caught fire, and since they were asleep, they died of smoke inhalation.”
“I’m sorry.”
Rex nodded.
“What about you?” Tatum asked. “Do you have any family in Denver, Colorado?”
“No,” Pixie answered. “My mom died from complications giving birth to me. I don’t know who my father is.”
“You grew up in the system?” Shaffer asked.
“Yeah.”
“Shit! That must have been hard.” Rex frowned.
“Sometimes, but I got through it. The second I turned eighteen I left.”
“What did you do in Denver?” Tatum shoved another forkful of food in his mouth.
“I was an administrative assistant at a hospital.”
“Did you like your job?” Shaffer sipped his coffee before shoving his empty plate aside and grabbing Pixie’s plate, before digging in as if he hadn’t just finished his own meal.
“Yes.”
Rex frowned with concern when the sadness filled Pixie’s eyes and she blinked quickly as if trying to stave off tears. He was about to ask her what was wrong, but she began talking before he could.
“Does it hurt?” she asked as she gazed at Tatum before glancing about the room.
Rex made sure none of the other shifters were staring at their mate before turning his gaze back to Pixie.
“Does what hurt?” Tatum asked.
“Changing into a lion?” she whispered her question.
“Not really,” Tatum answered. “You don’t need to whisper, baby. All the men in here are also shifters and can hear everything you say. The only time we’d be worried about people overhearing was if there were any humans about, but we’d let you know to be careful.”
“How can you tell?”
“Tell what?” Shaffer crossed his arms over his chest.
Rex bit his cheek when Pixie eyed Shaffer�
“We have an amazing sense of smell.” Rex tapped his nose.
“We also have enhanced eyesight. We’re faster and stronger than any human on earth and we heal rapidly,” Shaffer said.
“How did you all get…to be shifters? Did someone bite you and change you?”
Rex nearly fell off his chair when Tatum threw his head back and laughed loudly. Shaffer gaped at their older brother with shock. When Rex glanced about the room he noticed all the other shifters were stupefied to see their usually serious, hard-ass, unofficial leader busting a gut. Rex couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Tatum looking so happy and carefree. It had to have been long before they’d joined the marines.
“What’s so funny?” Pixie huffed out a frustrated breath.
“I’m not laughing at you, baby. It’s just all those myths and legends are just that. We can’t change a human being into what we are by biting them. We were born this way,” Tatum explained.
“Oh. Okay. What sort of shifters live in Ambrose?”
“You already know about Broden, but just in case you’ve forgotten, he and his brothers, Archer and Airen, are Kodiak bears. Emmy’s mates, Declan, Brooks, and Jett, are polar bears. Zayn, Karter, and Jace Strike are wolf shifters. Jayson, Jenson, and Jordan Cannon are panthers. I could go on, but you’ll only end up confused trying to keep everyone straight in your mind.” Tatum clasped Pixie’s hand in his.
Rex wondered if she was going to pull away and tensed. He didn’t realize he was holding his breath until his lungs began to hurt. He exhaled and inhaled quietly, secretly pleased that Pixie was asking questions and becoming more comfortable with them.
“Emmy has three men?” Pixie looked shocked.
“Yes. Is that a problem?” Rex asked.
Pixie scowled at him. “No, I don’t have a problem with that. I can’t believe you think I would. I don’t care how other people live their lives as long as everyone agrees and is happy.”
Rex cursed under his breath. He hadn’t meant to piss his mate off, but that was exactly what he’d done. He just needed to make sure she wasn’t a judgmental person since she was his and his brothers’ mates, which they hadn’t even told her about yet. He glanced at his brothers, wondering if it was time to come clean about everything. Thankfully, Tatum knew him well and gave a slight shake of his head. He just hoped when it came time to tell her, she’d come to care for them as much as they had her, and she would decide to hang around.
He wasn’t sure if he or his lion could deal with life if Pixie didn’t want anything to do with them.
“Are there any jobs going in town?”
Rex sighed with relief, glad that his mate wasn’t the type of person to hold a grudge.
“We’re hiring,” Tatum answered.
Pixie glanced about the diner and then met Tatum’s gaze again. “Really?”
Tatum crossed his arms over his chest, leaned back in his seat, and locked eyes with her. “Yes, really.”
“Doing what?” she asked. “I’m not much of a cook.”
“We have a lot of office work that needs to be done.” Rex bit his lip when she eyed him suspiciously.
“You’re making that up.”
“No, I’m not. You can see for yourself if you want.”
She drained the last of her coffee, stood, and reached for one of the dirty plates.
Rex snatched the dish from her hand as he rose. “You’re not doing anything until Broden gives you the all clear. I’m sure he said you weren’t to do anything strenuous for a couple of weeks.”
“Carrying a few plates isn’t strenuous,” she replied stubbornly.
Tatum stood, grasped her ponytail in his hand, and gently tugged her gaze up to his. “You will be following Broden’s orders to the letter, baby. And next time you wash your hair, use the hair dryer. I don’t want you getting sick by having damp hair out in the cold.”
“Bossy britches,” Pixie mumbled.
Tatum tapped her on the nose. “That’s right. I am. You’d better get used to it really quick.”
Rex chuckled when she glared at Tatum.
Shaffer snorted and then tried to cover the sound with a cough.
As he followed his mate and brothers toward the office in the back of the diner, he prayed that Pixie got so used to them, she’d never want to leave, let alone think about it.
Chapter Six
“Oh. My. God.” Pixie gazed about the paper-strewn office. “This place is a mess.” She’d thought that Tatum had been making up excuses to hire her when he’d said they needed someone working in the office, just so she could earn some money after she’d told them she was broke. Obviously, he’d been telling the truth. “How can you work like this?” She waved a hand around. There were boxes and boxes of files and receipts piled up in one corner of the room. The desk was covered with so much stuff she couldn’t see the table top. Luckily, it looked like they had an up-to-date computer, and if they had good software, she could enter all their expenses and profits into the system.
“Told you so,” Tatum muttered.
“How do you know what you need to order or who you’ve paid or owe money to?” she asked.
“We pay as we order,” Shaffer answered from where he was leaning against the wall watching her.
“How do you know you get everything you pay for? Do you check over everything you have coming in against your order sheets?”
“We don’t have time to do all of that. We have tourists coming through on a regular basis now that the hotel/motel has a five-star rating,” Rex explained.
“There aren’t that many people in here today.” Pixie frowned.
“Tonight will be another story. The hotel is booked out so anyone else coming to town will end up eating here.”
“We’ve been inundated for the last month. We even get people coming over the border to eat here.”
“Who does all your cooking?” Pixie asked.
“I do,” Tatum began, “but Rex and Shaffer help out, too.”
“Lunch was delicious. How did y’all learn to cook?”
“Our mom taught us,” Shaffer answered. “She figured since we ate so much we needed to learn how to cook so we’d never go hungry.”
“She sounds like she was a smart woman.”
“She was.” Rex nodded.
“So, what do you think, baby? Can you handle cleaning all of this up?” Tatum asked.
“Yes, but it’s going to take a while.”
“Take as long as you need, Pixie.” Shaffer shoved away from the wall.
Tatum moved closer to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She was tempted to lean into his big, muscular body and soak up his heat, but she was worried if she did, she’d never be able to stand on her own two legs again.
She was drawn to all three King brothers. They had her body responding in ways it never had before, not even with her ex, and she wasn’t sure what to do about it. Hopefully, if she continued to ignore it, she would get over her infatuation.
Am I infatuated? Or is there something else going on here? Am I attracted to them because they can change into lions? She mentally shook her head. That had nothing to do with anything. At least she didn’t think it did.
Tatum, Rex, and Shaffer were all ruggedly handsome men with bodies any woman would drool over. She’d thought she’d been immune to the opposite sex after her fiasco of a relationship with her ex. It looked like she was wrong.
They were so freaking tall, they towered over her diminutive height, but instead of making her feel like a little kid, she felt feminine and sexy when she was near them. And they turned her on no end. What was it about the way they smelled that had her arousal rearing its head after years of ignoring the opposite sex?
“What are you thinking about?” Rex asked.
Pixie shrugged. There was no way in hell she was telling them where her thoughts had been.
Tatum cupped her cheek with his large hand. When she felt the callouses, she grasped his wrist and tugged his hand down so she could look at it. It was so big it was the size of both her hands put together and that just seemed to amp her attraction up even more. She shivered as a frisson of heat raced up her spine. Pixie ran the tip of her finger over the top of Tatum’s palm just beneath his fingers. The skin was rough just like an animal’s paw would be.
“Does the roughness offend you, baby?” Tatum asked.
When she met his gaze and saw caution in his eyes, she realized this big, dominant man was feeling uncertain. She hated seeing that look and quickly answered, “No. Why would you think that?”
“Because we’re different,” Shaffer replied.
“What’s that got to do with anything?” Pixie frowned. Did they think she was prejudiced just because someone wasn’t the same as her?
Shaffer shrugged and glanced away.
She drew in a deep breath to try and circumvent her anger. Pixie realized she didn’t have the right to be angry at all. These men weren’t just human beings. They could change into animals and probably hadn’t had much chance to deal with the opposite sex. That didn’t mean she thought they’d been celibate, but she didn’t think they’d told anyone outside their tight-knit circle what they really were. No wonder they were all feeling so vulnerable.
“Let me put you all straight. I don’t care that you have rough patches on your palms or can turn into lions. I don’t care what the color of your skin is. I don’t care if, who, or what you worship. I don’t care if you are gay or bisexual. I take a person as they are, and as long as they are kind and don’t hurt anyone just to get their kicks, I don’t care how anyone else lives their life. Is that clear enough for y’all?”
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