by E A Price
The Reindeer’s St. Patrick’s Surprise
By E A Price
Copyright ©2018 by Elizabeth Ann Price
All rights reserved. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author.
Disclaimer
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. No reindeer were hurt in the making of this novella, though a few were mildly inconvenienced.
Table of Contents
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Epilogue
One
Harlan slammed his glass on the bar.
“Hit me,” he slurred.
The bartender gave him a pained, sympathetic look. “Sir, don’t you think…”
“No. Leave the bottle.”
Harlan sloshed some of the amber liquid into his glass. Shifters didn’t get drunk particularly easily, but he was doing his darnedest to try. This was not a day he wanted to remember clearly. His inner reindeer concurred.
Harlan was a reindeer shifter and youngest son of the alpha of the largest herd in Chicago. Today was also supposed to be his wedding day. He was supposed to be getting married to the niece of the alpha of a rival herd. There was some whole big mating agreement, but Harlan didn’t care about any of the politics. He just wanted Corinne.
He had been kind of a wild bull at college, or at least before he was kicked out of a couple of colleges for his wild partying – he was a St. Patrick’s Day legend – but that changed when he met Corinne. Slowly and surely he fell head over heels for her and was certain he wanted to marry her, to make her his mate. His ex-girlfriends were probably gobsmacked – they probably felt like they’d been smacked in the gob – to learn he was ready to settle down, but Corinne, his sweet, charming reindeer, had him bewitched. He even put up with the irritating and lengthy negotiations between their two herds to come to a mating agreement. He wanted nothing more than to be with Corinne. Or at least, he had wanted nothing more than to be with Corinne, until the truth was revealed two hours ago.
Harlan blew out a long breath as his older brother Branch lowered himself into the seat next to him. He placed a hand on Harlan’s shoulder and let out a soft grunt.
“All of her herd are gone,” rumbled Branch.
Harlan let out a non-committal sound and poured another drink. “You want one?” he offered.
“No.”
“Is mom pissed?”
He winced as he thought of his poor mother. His usually sweet mother hadn’t been very enamored by Corinne but had put aside personal feelings because she was nothing but supportive of her children. She had even taken it upon herself to arrange their exceedingly lavish wedding, kowtowing to Corinne’s extravagant wishes. Like life-sized ice sculptures in the shape of reindeer. He couldn’t imagine his mother would be thrilled. Though it was probably nothing compared to the rage his father, and alpha, felt at that moment.
“More worried about you.”
“Dad?”
“Same. He’s currently considering challenging Corinne’s alpha to a death match. Mom and Uncle Clay are trying to calm him down. They don’t blame you.”
“They should,” he groaned dropping his head onto the bar.
Freaking hell – he blamed himself! Who else could he blame? He fell hook, line, and sinker for Corinne and now his herd would pay for it. She used him to get close to him, to find out what his more prosperous herd was doing, and then at the last moment, her herd sniped them and landed a huge deal his father had been putting together for over a year. It was a deal to buy a large number of resorts. His father had been pulling together capital and securing loans to get the deal off the ground. So many herd mates had been working hard on it, and now, it was kaput.
“None of us were careful about what we said around her. We were all fooled.”
“Dushnt mek mu fill burr.”
“What?”
Harlan lifted his head off the bar. “Doesn’t make me feel better. I was a complete and utter sap.”
The deal was supposed to have gone through yesterday. They only really found out what happened early that morning, and when they realized, Harlan quickly called the wedding off. Corinne had skipped out on him before he could confront her, though her alpha had happily gloated on her behalf.
He rubbed his forehead. Why Corinne had let it get so far, he had no idea. Surely she was never planning on marrying him before he called it off – made him wonder why she bothered to fork out for such an expensive gown. It was expensive too – and she made her own alpha pay for it. Though it was small fry in comparison to how much they would make from the deal they managed to land.
“It’s going to be okay,” murmured Branch in a surprisingly tender way. “You will get past this.”
His brother was a decent reindeer through and through, but not known for being sensitive or keen to talk about delicate matters. Showed how worried he was about Harlan.
“I’m never getting married,” grumbled Harlan.
“You don’t…”
“No!” he growled. “I mean it.” Harlan rose to his feet, only weaving slightly, and he slammed his fist onto the bar, leaving a fist-shaped dent. “I. Am. Never. Getting. Married!”
*
Eight years later
Harlan growled as consciousness reared its ugly head. It had been a while since he drank like that. The last time had to be when Corinne was last in town. When they were supposed to get married…
But she was back, and Harlan was trying to forget that fact with copious amounts of alcohol. Plus, the night before had been St. Patrick’s Day, so he may have overindulged just a little. There had been the engagement party for his uncle’s former sister-in-law, and there had been the female... Ah, yes, the dark chocolate-haired female who smelled like magnolia. The beautiful scent still lingered, teasing his senses.
His reindeer chuffed at him, and he breathed in, and as his hangover started to ebb, he realized something. One, he wasn’t in his own bed, and two he wasn’t alone.
He turned over and found an abundance of dark brown hair poured over the pillow next to him. It was her – the intoxicating dark-haired female, sleeping peacefully beside him in what appeared to be nothing more than a thin, green t-shirt. The scent of her arousal, and of their lovemaking lingered. He was surprised, though not upset by this – who in their right mind would be upset to wake up beside her? He just hadn’t expected she would want him. Her lips said ‘get lost’ while her eyes said ‘read my lips.’
Harlan rubbed his forehead. Hopefully, the memories of the previous night would become clearer as his hangover relented.
Something metallic rubbed over his head. He looked at his hand, staring as he realized he was wearing a ring – not just any ring – a wedding ring.
Why would
he… His eyes darted over to her hand, resting lightly on the bed. Yep, sure enough, there was a wedding ring on her finger, and he knew she wasn’t married. Or at least, she hadn’t been married until the previous evening…
The image of a priest flashed before his eyes.
Ho-lee shit!
Two
Two weeks ago
“Ooh, look at this one,” marveled Heather. “Two PhDs, published author, tennis champion – I’ll bet his sperm is fantastic. Seriously, I’ll bet he has super swimmers.”
Temp gave a pained smile as the nurse on reception looked at them over her reading glasses censoriously.
“First time in a sperm bank,” quipped Temp.
The nurse pursed her lips in a ‘couldn’t give a shit’ way. “Umm hmmm.” She returned to her Better Homes and Gardens magazine.
Temp tried to glare at Heather into lowering her voice, and when that didn’t work, she tried shushing her. When that still didn’t work, she just gave up and risked the disapproval of the middle-aged nurse. When Temp got her sperm, she’d never have to come back. Hopefully, anyway.
“Ooh,” cooed Heather in what was definitely an outside voice. “This one is actually a licensed dive instructor. Stands to reason he would have good swimmers.”
Temp sighed. “I regret asking you to come with me for moral support.”
Heather beamed at her as she flicked through the catalog of potential sperm donors. Temp tried to tamp down her misgivings. She was not chickening out now. She had been thinking about this for a long time – since her last ill-fated foray into the dating world – and she had come to the conclusion that she was not going to meet Mr. Right, but she wanted a baby while still young enough to bend over without letting out an ‘ooh’ noise. The noise happened to everyone, but she wanted a baby before she was at the ‘ooh’ stage of her life, and if she waited for a relationship, that would never happen.
Heather frowned. “There are no prices here.”
“It all costs the same.” The same extortionate amount.
“Really?”
Temp gave her a wry look. “Yes, there’s no bargain bucket for sperm.”
The nurse let out a humph and Heather ignored her. Heather generally ignored everyone.
Heather smirked. “Interesting mental image. So how much is it?”
Temp told her, and Heather balked. “You’re kidding? That’s how much sperm costs? That’s ridiculous considering how many men are desperate to give it away!”
“Heather, hush,” chided Temp softly.
One of the advisors, Janine, came out to greet them and ushered them into an office. Temp had spoken to her on her first visit, and the woman spoke about price and procedure as well as suggesting she talk it over with someone first, and to make sure this was definitely for her. Temp had thought about it, and she chose her best friend, Heather to talk it over with – Heather simply said go for it. Heather had a ‘balls to the wall’ approach to life. Heather was the reason they always got back stage at every rock concert they attended. She was also the reason they had been arrested for stalking when they tried to scale the wall of her favorite soap opera star’s house. Turned out it wasn’t his house anyway, though Heather regretted nothing.
Janine gave them both a warm smile. “So, have you two made any decisions?”
Heather waggled her eyebrows and Temp said, “We’re just friends, she’s here for support.”
Janine nodded. “Have you thought this through? Are you sure you wish to go through with this?”
Temp inhaled. “Yes, I do.”
She’d tried the adoption route, but they wanted to give babies to couples and not those who worked such long hours – though she would definitely cut back when the baby was born. Maybe she was concerned about her baby not having a father, but then, her family started out as normal with a loving mom and dad, and now they were all practically strangers. Her mom decided their family wasn’t for her and promptly left them both to move to Florida and hook up with a car mechanic. She then had Temp’s half-sister, Mira and promptly left both of them a few years later
Besides, Heather would be very supportive – she always was about everything, and that’s why Temp loved her. While Heather may not have a maternal bone in her body, she would support Temp in any way she could. Mira was supportive too, but Mira wouldn’t wholeheartedly support her scheme. She would try and talk her into looking for a guy. She would trot out lots of useless platitudes about there being a perfect someone for everybody. Yawn. Temp hadn’t believed anything that banal since she was six. Mira had also been super sappy since hooking up with her boyfriend Branch Connors. Mira was so in love that she wanted everyone else to be in love and in a relationship too. But it wasn’t going to happen. That was fine for Mira, but Temp was not Mira.
*
“Jeez.”
Harlan grunted in annoyance as he found Branch and his mate making out on Branch’s desk. Okay, so he had just walked into the office without knocking – but Branch knew he always did that. The least his brother could do was lock the door. Though Harlan might just worry about what was going on and put his shoulder to it – breaking an innocent door and still getting an eyeful.
Branch growled in annoyance while Mira giggled and wiped a smudge of lipstick off his cheek. They were apparently taking things slowly, though the two appeared to be joined at the lips.
“Hey, sunshine,” said Harlan, beaming at Mira because he knew it pissed off his older, grumpier brother.
Sure enough, his brother’s growl deepened.
“Hello, Harlan,” replied Mira sweetly.
Harlan grinned and once again considered that the perpetually sweet human was far too good for his grouchy brother. Then, after he thought it, he voiced the opinion, and his brother’s eyes flashed to the black of his beast and Mira placed a hand on his chest to stop him from lunging at Harlan.
“Don’t tease him,” admonished Mira with a playful pout.
Harlan chuckled as Branch glared at him.
“Now, I have to get back to work – lots of sandwiches to deliver.” She held up a finger as Branch opened his mouth to say something. “No, I don’t need help carrying the basket. No, I don’t need an escort for my route. Last time you sent Tank with me, he terrified my customers so much no one would buy anything.”
Tank was one of the larger members of the herd and one of his brother’s enforcers. Since their father died, his brother was now the alpha of the herd, and it seemed that soon, Mira would be his mate and female alpha.
“You sold all the sandwiches,” muttered Branch grumpily.
“No, you bought all of them so that I wouldn’t get into trouble.”
Branch waved his hand. “Same difference.”
“Not at all, now I really do have to go. See you tonight?” she asked hopefully.
Harlan rolled his eyes. As if his brother would let her alone even for one evening.
“Of course,” rumbled Branch.
He tried to grab Mira, but she danced out of his grasp. “Nuh-uh, you start that again, and I’ll never get out of here.”
“Humph.”
Mira blew him a kiss. “Tonight, honey.” She winked at Harlan, tossed him a sandwich and was on her way.
Branch snapped out of his dopey daze to scowl at Harlan. “What do you want?”
“You wanted me actually,” said Harlan.
Though he would happily go away and eat his sandwich. Mira always remembered his favorite and the damn thing was calling ‘eat me.’ Well, it had been at least an hour since second breakfast. As a shifter, he ate lots and often.
Branch leaned back in his chair and gave Harlan his alpha stare – superior and domineering to the extreme.
“How're things with your little twinkie? What’s her name? Kelly? Kristy?”
Harlan’s lips twitched in amusement. “Twinkie?”
Not a word he would have expected to come out of his brother’s mouth. Well, he might have expected an actual Twinkie to go in �
� a whole box at a time maybe. He assumed his brother was actually talking about his most recent girlfriend, Amanda, who was kind of flaky and self-absorbed and acted like a sixteen-year-old daddy’s girl rather than a twenty-one-year-old woman. He wasn’t sure twinkie was accurate. Though, she had recently maxed out all six of the credit cards her father paid for - she bought cars for all her best friends. She got rid of money as if it had a bad smell.
Branch huffed. “We’ve been spending time with Mira’s sister – some of the things she says sticks.”
“I would hardly say Amanda is a twinkie – she’s only a few years younger than Mira.”
Branch narrowed his eyes. “Mira’s not a twinkie.”
Harlan arched an eyebrow. “We’ve decided to part ways.”
His brother grunted. “You got bored of her.”
“I was not bored,” he said without any heat. “We just decided we would be better off focusing on other things.”
He decided he would rather focus on anything other than a woman who enjoyed trying to sneak herself, and forty of her closest friends, into his house in the middle of the night in order to make lime jello in his pool. The chlorine reacted badly to the jello – a few people needed their stomachs pumped. To say nothing about what it did to his filter.
He managed to throw one of his friends at her – she was cute and bubbly, and just looking for a good time with a rich guy who was happy to whisk her away to Bora Bora at the drop of a hat, and who also didn’t mind jello in his pool.
Since his ill-fated attempt at marriage, he hadn’t dated seriously. He had enjoyed dalliances, with exciting women who just wanted to have fun, but recently, he hadn’t found them particularly satisfying. Not that he was about to admit that. Since Branch found Mira, their mother started making noises about Harlan settling down and giving her grandkids, and that was not going to happen.
His brother, his alpha, was going to mate; he was planning on settling down. It wasn’t official yet, but it would be soon. Harlan saw the way he looked at Mira; it was only a matter of time before there was a herd of mini-Branch’s running around.
Branch gave him an uncertain look and then growled softly. “Mal tells me that Corinne is back in town.”