by Jessie Lane
Chapter Six
“He’s heerrrrrreeee.”
Nikki’s back went ramrod straight at the creepy sounding statement from Olaf.
Looking over, she found the twins peeking out one of the living room windows. A chill went up her spine, but it wasn’t because she knew that the declaration meant Cruz was back to talk to her again.
“How many times do I have to ask you boys to stop trying to imitate the eerie kids in horror movies?”
Even though they weren’t supposed to watch anything above the PG rating, the obnoxious little brats had been sneaking scary movies into their room. Every day, she went into the twins’ room after they left for school and found a different movie hidden somewhere. What was worse, all the movies had kids as the main actors. At this rate, Nikki was going to avoid cornfields, pet cemeteries, and seemingly angelic looking orphans for the rest of her life.
The thing was, Nikki didn’t know if she should be more concerned about her two little brothers becoming deranged serial killers or if they were already kleptomaniacs, because she had absolutely no idea where they were getting all of these damn movies!
Flustered over both her brothers’ peculiar new habits and Cruz’s arrival, Nikki snapped, “Get away from that window, or I’m going to throw you both out of it!”
The boys turned their heads as one to look at her.
“We’re on the ground floor,” Olaf said.
“So if you throw us out, it won’t hurt us,” Erik continued.
And then, together, they both said, “But it would give us an excuse to rat you out to Mom.”
Holy shit! No wonder women went psycho with butcher knives in those scary flicks! If the twins didn’t stop that shit, she might go psycho.
Keeping her face as blank as possible so as to not let the little shits know how much they had unnerved her, Nikki calmly replied, “Have you checked your candy stash lately, boys? That chocolate bar I took from your new hiding spot was really good.”
Olaf’s and Erik’s eyes practically bugged out of their heads before they ran out of the living room so fast they nearly knocked her over.
As she used her crutches to steady herself, Nikki couldn’t even bring herself to be mad at the brats for almost making her fall. The small stumble was worth the opportunity to mess with their little heads. They might be way more devious than your average ten-year-old, but she loved reminding them that she was two steps ahead of them at all times.
Turning away from the twins retreating up the stairs, Nikki made her way to the front door, bracing herself on one crutch to open it. Once it swung open, she propped herself up against the doorframe and watched Cruz finish walking up her driveway. He had a bouquet of flowers in his hand, and Nikki bit her bottom lip so she wouldn’t smile like a loon.
Once he made it to the doorway, he held the flowers up to her in offering. “Saw these on my way here and thought of you.”
Looking down, she took in the gorgeous red daisies. “How did they remind you of me?” she asked curiously.
“Beautiful but bold, just like you.”
Nikki blurted, “Damn, that wasn’t even cheesy this time.” Mortified she had let that slip out, she slapped her hand over her mouth. Her cheeks felt warm, and she was sure she was blushing as red as the damn daisies.
Cruz laughed, leaning forward and giving her a kiss on the forehead. “What do you want to do today?”
Pulling her hand from her mouth, Nikki motioned to her broken foot. “Unfortunately, I’m limited in date options, so I thought perhaps we could stay here… get to know each other over a board game? My family has about twenty of them, so you can have your pick.”
“Twenty?” Cruz asked in surprise.
Nikki shrugged. “We’re big on family time.”
The answer made him smile. “Sounds good. Lead the way.”
Nikki steadied herself on her crutches before she led Cruz into the living room. She heard him shut the door behind him, but she wasn’t scared to be alone with him. After all, they weren’t really alone. Papa Ái was upstairs in his room, fully aware she was having company over, and he was free to come down and join them if he wanted to. Ivar was pouting in his room on the ground floor because he thought this date meant Nikki was going to get married and have babies, a belief that was spurred on and encouraged by their grandfather’s blathering about her needing a good husband. And as if that weren’t bad enough, her whole family was here today, hovering in case they felt the need to rescue Nikki from the big bad wolf, literally.
Realistically, she knew Cruz could hurt her if he wanted to. Not just because she had a broken foot or because he was a man easily two times her size, but also because she knew he had extraordinary strength from being a shifter. Strangely, she wasn’t afraid of him, though, or being here with him. It was as if the instinctual side of her knew he wouldn’t hurt her.
That didn’t mean she still wasn’t nervous.
Settling down on one end of the couch, she waved her arm to the bookshelves on either side of their television. “Pick a game, any game you want. Five bucks says I can spank you.”
The millisecond the words were out of her mouth, Nikki realized just how bad they really sounded.
Cruz smirked at her. “Sweetheart, you can spank me anytime you want, but it’s a quid pro quo thing. So, if you get to spank me, I get to spank you later.” He winked at her as her blush grew and then turned to face the shelves of games.
It didn’t take him long to pick one. He grabbed a box and set it on the coffee table in front of her. Battleship.
Looking across the table, she gave Cruz a cocky grin. “You are so going down, buster.”
The sexy man laughed hard, and it took her a second to realize she had done it again. Giving herself a good face palm, Nikki tried to recompose herself.
Cruz shot that newfound composure to hell when he looked at her with heated eyes and said, “Quid pro quo, pretty girl.”
~~~
Damn, she’s pretty when she blushes.
Cruz watched his mate as she concentrated on her game board. Nikki got the cutest little furrow between her eyebrows while she set up the ships on her board. He already had his ships in place and was anxiously waiting for her to finish. Not that he wanted to play the board game that badly, but because he was spending time with her any way he could.
Looking up, Nikki asked, “Ready?”
He gave her a nod. “You go first.”
“D-4?”
Cruz checked his board. “Miss.”
“Dammit,” his mate mumbled.
“H-9?” Cruz shot back.
Nikki’s left eye twitched. “Hit.”
He watched as she marked the spot.
“A-10?”
He checked his board again. “Miss. H-8?”
This time, she gave him a cheeky smile. “Miss. J-2?”
“Hit,” he told her, secretly loving the way the news made her face light up.
They spent the next fifteen minutes volleying back positions until his mate not so gracefully threw her board at his head. Cruz managed to duck in time, but he couldn’t help laughing at her.
“Sore loser, huh?”
Nikki stuck her tongue out at him, but the twinkle in her eye told Cruz that it was all for show. She was playful; he liked that.
“Does this mean we’re done playing Battleship?” He stood up and collected her board and pegs from the floor. Cruz wasn’t quite sure what affliction her youngest brother had, but he didn’t want to take the chance of the boy slipping on a piece and falling.
After boxing up the Battleship boards, he turned to see Nikki giving him a calculating look.
“How about a game of Monopoly?” she asked.
“Feeling a little cutthroat now?”
“I wouldn’t say cutthroat.” With narrowed eyes, she added, “I do think some quid pro quo is in order, though, so grab that Monopoly board and prepare to go to jail … a lot.”
“But I don’t look good in orange.
”
Nikki laughed. “Neither do I. That’s how I ended up with a green cast.”
Getting settled on the floor in front of the coffee table in front of her, he took out the game board. “Is green your favorite color, then?”
She shook her head. “No, yellow is.”
“Why yellow?”
Nikki shrugged. “I guess because it’s a happy color. What about you? What’s your favorite color?”
It was Cruz’s turn to shrug now. “Never had one really.”
Glancing up at his mate, he got a little lost in her eyes. There was something about them that made him feel as though he could stare into them forever and never get enough.
Without thinking, he found himself murmuring, “I’m really liking the color blue these days, though.”
Another sweet blush spread across her cheeks, and Cruz couldn’t help thinking that he might end up liking the pink color, too, as long as he got to see her wearing it just like that.
Chapter Seven
Two weeks later…
If he had superpowers, Cruz probably would have burned a hole through the door to the front of the bar as he stood there, waiting. Nikki was supposed to be there any minute, and he couldn’t wait to see her again. Somehow, he had sweet talked her into spending time with him every day, even if it was only for thirty minutes. That might not seem like long enough to other people trying to start a relationship with someone, but he was so grateful to have those thirty minutes that he couldn’t care less.
The bell over the door jingled as it opened, and the aroma of lavender and vanilla hit him. Rushing forward, he grabbed the door to hold it open so she could walk through with no problem. She was still in that hideous green cast that her youngest brother liked to call her Hulk foot, plus using crutches.
Giving him a sweet smile, Nikki mouthed the words “thank you” as she came through the door. Then Cruz led her to a tall table over in the corner where he could stand there with her while he still stood guard, doing his job as a bouncer.
Wrapping his hands around her waist, he picked her up and placed her in the chair, not wanting her to hurt herself trying to do it herself. Then he propped her crutches against the table next to her.
Leaning down, he whispered in her ear, “I’ll get you something to drink, pretty girl.” He kissed her on the forehead before walking over to the bar.
It was hard not to let his lips linger on her skin. They had been taking things slowly, so Cruz had spent fourteen days getting to know his mate and hadn’t even kissed her yet. That was okay. The more he got to know Nikki, the more he saw that she was worth waiting for.
As he ordered her a Shirley Temple with extra cherries, he stood and watched her while she scanned the patrons of The Thirsty Wolfe. There was a big smile on her face, and she seemed happy to be out of the house. Cruz had learned that his mate was always taking care of someone else: her grandfather due to Alzheimer’s, her little brother Ivar with his spina bifida, doing the laundry for entire family, plus cooking their meals and such. What it all boiled down to was Nikki’s family needed her, and she had stepped up to help them. In the process, she took on the role of caring for everyone else, but sometimes, they forgot that Nikki needed to be taken care of, too. The woman was selfless. Possibly one of the most giving people he had met in his entire life.
Both the man and the wolf in him wanted to be the one to take care of her. He understood her need to take care of her family, but he hoped she would allow him to return the favor.
The bartender set her drink by his hand, and Cruz took it over to her table, setting it down in front of her.
“How was your day?”
She snorted. “Papa Ái decided today that Ivar should go on a raid with him. It took me half an hour to convince him that the realtor showing the house next to us and her prospective buyers weren’t Saxons invading. It got a little hairy when he slipped out of the house when I was in the kitchen, but at least he didn’t find where my parents hid the sword or Thor’s hammer this time. All he had was his wooden shield. Gave the people over there quite the fright, but I don’t think they’re going to press charges. Thank God.”
He ran a hand over her hair, doing what he could to soothe her frazzled nerves. “You sure you don’t want some alcohol in that drink?” he joked.
“If I start drinking now, I may never stop. Enough about me. How was your day?”
Cruz kept half his attention on the bar, always on guard, and not just because it was his job. His mate was here now, and the need to protect her was … Well, the word strong didn’t seem to do it justice. “I’m just glad I get to see you today, pretty girl.”
Nikki nudged him with her shoulder. “You’re one of the sweetest guys I’ve ever met, you know that?”
He couldn’t help barking a laugh at that statement. “Somehow, I never imagined you would say that after the way we met,” he teased.
Giving him a big grin, she replied, “I guess first impressions aren’t always the most important. Besides, everyone has their faults. Mine is that I’m related to an entire tribe of crazy people, and I love every minute of it. Besides the first day, I haven’t been able to figure out what your faults are. Help a girl out? You can’t possibly be perfect at everything.”
Although he knew she was teasing, Cruz couldn’t help flinching at her words. He was far from perfect. The powers that be knew he still blamed himself half the time for Lindsey’s and Laura’s deaths. It had made him feel as if he couldn’t protect his family. Would Nikki think that of him if she knew the truth of his past?
“Hey.” His mate smoothed her hand down the side of his face. “What’s wrong, Cruz? Did I say something to upset you?”
Looking around, he took in the many people surrounding them. This hadn’t exactly been how he wanted to tell his mate about the family he had lost, but it seemed as though fate once again had different plans.
Grabbing her hand with his own, he pulled it from his face and placed it on the table in front of them. Then he smoothed his thumb over her knuckles, memorizing the satin feel of her skin as he built up the courage he needed to bare his soul.
“No one is perfect, baby. I’m far from it. I don’t know if you would say I have a fault, but I do have a past, one that I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you about.”
“You’re starting to scare me, Cruz.”
Taking another quick look around the bar, seeing everything was fine, he brought his face closer to Nikki’s and lowered his voice so only she would hear what he had to say. “I was mated once before.”
Nikki gasped in surprise, and her eyes widened in pure shock. “But I thought you told me you only got one mate!” Her voice was almost shrill with worry, and Cruz cringed at her outrage.
Holding his finger up to her lips to stop her, he continued, “I told you that shifters only get one true mate. Lindsey wasn’t my true mate. We grew up together, and she was my childhood sweetheart. We loved each other so much that we decided we wanted to get mated without looking for our true mates. It was pretty unconventional for our pack, but our families supported us.”
His mate’s lips moved against his finger as she asked the question he dreaded most, “Where is Lindsey now, Cruz?”
That familiar knife of pain slashed through his heart. This time, though, it didn’t make him want to curl up and die. It hurt like hell, but it was the sort of pain he finally felt he could survive, all because of the beautiful woman in front of him and the second chance she meant to his life.
Not knowing how to tell her the truth without just giving it to her straight, Cruz explained the best he could. “She was in a car accident with our little girl Laura. A semi-truck hit them, and they both died instantly. At least, that’s what the medics told me. They promised me the girls didn’t feel any pain at all. It was quick.”
It was hard to say the words … to see the way Nikki’s eyes clouded over with pain for him. She had to be the first person he wasn’t mad at for feeling sorry f
or him, but that didn’t mean he liked it, either.
“You lost a child and a wife?” Her whispered words sounded tortured.
Feeling a huge lump of emotion choking him, Cruz nodded, unable to answer with words.
“How long ago, Cruz?”
It took him a minute or so to force the words out. “Five years.”
He braced himself for her pity, tried to steel himself so he wouldn’t resent her for the common reaction to someone finding out what had happened to his family. Only, it didn’t come. Instead, the words she spoke next battered down every emotional steel wall he had just tried to put up.
“How you must hate me …”
Shocked by her response, Cruz’s attention snapped back to her face. He opened his mouth to speak, but she stopped him with her fingers over his lips.
“No, don’t say anything. I just need a second, and I’ll go, but how you must hate me. I’m so sorry, Cruz. There you were, moving on with your life, and then I come along and kicked in these instincts you can’t help feeling because I’m your true mate, probably making you feel emotions you never wanted to feel again after … after losing your family. All because some sort of supernatural chemistry tells your wolf we’re meant to be together. I would hate someone, too, if they made me feel things like that when I didn’t want to feel them.” Nikki’s eyes glassed over, and a tear slipped down her cheek. “I hope you know I would never hurt you like that intentionally. I can leave tonight, and if you never come to see me again, Cruz, I swear I understand. I don’t want to try to replace your mate and child, so I’ll just go now.”
Nikki tried to frantically slip off her chair while grabbing her crutches, but she stumbled in her haste and fell into him. That was fine with Cruz.
As he wrapped his arms around her small frame, the wolf in him was desperately trying to claw its way out, needing to make an appearance and do something to show their mate that he wasn’t sorry he had met her at all. She was everything to them now. They would always love Lindsey and Laura, but Nikki was his breath of life.