“Thanks for a terrific evening.” Before he could stop her, she leaned forward and kissed him full on the mouth. Then she scrambled quickly out of the car, out of his reach, and closed the door.
His mouth felt branded by hers, and he wanted more, much more.
Ralph chuckled. “Guess you have something stuck in your throat again.”
“Listen, Ralph, old buddy. You’d growl, too, if you—”
“Yeah, I know, Aidan. You get major points for not going up there.”
“Mmm.” Aidan kept his eye on her window until he saw the light go on. Then his phone rang and he immediately answered. “What?”
“Just wanted you to know that everything’s fine. Good night, Aidan.”
“Good night, Emma.” He disconnected the phone and closed his eyes. “Drop me off in the park, Ralph. And step on it.”
Ralph quickly navigated into traffic. “The park’s risky. Let me take you north to the estate.”
“No. Can’t afford the time.” Aidan gritted his teeth and fought the shift that was coming whether he wanted it to or not. “I want to make sure the guys are working on that e-mail trace.”
“You’re the boss.” Ralph wove in and out of traffic.
As they neared the park, Aidan began pulling off his clothes. “If I run for a while, I should be able to shift back in an hour or so. Wait for me.”
“Will do.” Ralph drove into Central Park and cruised along slowly. “How’s this?”
“Good. Not much light. Give me three minutes to finish shifting, and then come around and open the door for me.”
“All right.” Ralph didn’t sound happy about it, but he would do what Aidan asked.
In exactly three minutes, the back door of the town car opened. Aidan leaped out and began to run, his paws scattering the remnants of snow left on the ground. He would run until he was exhausted. Maybe then he wouldn’t want Emma with the fierceness only an alpha male could feel toward a woman who’d awakened his instinct to mate.
Chapter 4
Doug called at eight, waking Emma from a hot dream that involved Aidan and a grassy knoll. Aidan was licking up drops of the coffee martini he’d poured all over her naked body and she was ... delirious.
She would have loved to find out what happened after that, and now she’d never know. She must have sounded as annoyed as she felt, because Doug immediately became contrite.
“Bad turnout last night, huh?”
“No. Why would you think that?”
His tone changed. “Because you’re in a crappy mood.”
“You woke me up, Doug. I haven’t had coffee yet.”
“Woke you up? It’s past eight.”
Barely. Emma rolled her eyes. Doug kept regular hours and had never quite adjusted to the fact she didn’t. “I slept in.”
“Did you and your mom stay out late last night, then?”
“No, Mom had to leave right after the signing, so I went for a drink with one of my fans.” There, she’d said it. She hadn’t exactly told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, but she’d thrown out a piece of information that was correct as far as it went.
“I’ll bet you made her evening, too. See, if I’d gone, you wouldn’t have felt free to do that, and I’m sure you girls had a great time sipping umbrella drinks and talking about sexy werewolves.”
If Doug had called at nine, after Emma had brewed herself some coffee and consumed a cup or two, she might not have reacted so adversely to that patronizing remark. But he’d called at eight, when she was involved in a most excellent dream of passion and sexual adventure with a man who made her current boyfriend look like a dweeb. She was at least a quart low on caffeine, and come to think of it, her boyfriend was a dweeb.
“You know what, Doug? I just decided we should take a break from each other.”
“What?”
“A break. A hiatus. A sabbatical. It’s perfect timing because you’re heading into tax season and I’m leaving on a book tour Friday morning.”
“Emma, don’t do this. I know you wanted me to show up last night, but the meeting was important. A couple of members are thinking of giving me their corporate business, and that would be huge.”
“This isn’t about last night.” And it really wasn’t. It was about this morning. Well, it might be about last night, but not in the way he thought. She might not be able to have Aidan Wallace, but she could start looking around for someone who was more exciting than Doug.
Because of her heavy writing schedule, she’d allowed herself to settle for someone who was near at hand, even if he did virtually nothing for her sexually. That wasn’t fair to her, and it wasn’t fair to Doug.
“Emma, let’s have lunch today. We’ll talk it out. I promise to come to the next book signing you have here in town.”
“I’m not free for lunch, and I mean it, Doug. I don’t think either of us is invested in this relationship the way we should be. Let’s take a step back. After tax season is over, if we decide to continue seeing each other, we can talk about what we each want in a partner.” Unfortunately for Doug, she now wanted muscles on her man.
“You don’t want to see me until after April fifteenth? That’s impossible.”
“Why?”
“We have to review your tax picture.”
She almost laughed but caught herself before she did. Laughing would be mean. The fact remained that he was more worried about her 1040 than their future as a couple. “Doug, you’ve been doing my taxes for five years. I don’t think we need to review them in person.”
“It’s better if we do.”
“You could be right.” Privately she thought Doug liked using the sessions to parade his knowledge and pass out what he considered gold-plated advice. He got to be the authority and the big cheese during those meetings. She’d never enjoyed them much.
“Then let’s set up a time.”
“Let’s not.” She hoped he wouldn’t screw up her taxes on purpose, but she didn’t think he would stoop that low. “We can communicate by e-mail. Have a great tax season. I truly wish you the best.”
“Wait. You can’t just do this.”
“It’s for the best. Good-bye, Doug.” Then she disconnected the call. When he immediately called back, she didn’t answer. She did, however, listen to the message he left.
Emma, is it that time of the month?
Yep, he was a dweeb.
Aidan and his team had spent several hours on the e-mail trace, and then he had managed to grab some sleep at home. Now he was headed back to the Wallace building in lower Manhattan to report his findings to his father. Ralph picked him up, as usual.
Technically Aidan should have been exhausted, but the challenge of this case and his concern for Emma kept his adrenaline pumping. A good run always helped, too. His recreational romp through Central Park had been without incident.
Few people with any sense wandered around in there late at night anyway. Anyone at the park at that hour likely wouldn’t be the kind of person who ran to the police for any reason, let alone because he or she’d seen a large brown-and-silver wolf loping through the trees.
Still, it had been a risk. Anything that called attention to the pack constituted a risk. Yet he’d been forced to do something that would allow him to work off his sexual tension so he could shift back into human form. Once he’d felt that beginning to happen, he’d bounded back to the town car so that he could use the privacy of the backseat to shift and then dress in the clothes he’d left there.
The sun was shining brightly the next morning when Ralph pulled up in front of the fifty-story building that housed Wallace Enterprises on the top two floors. “Want me to wait for you?”
“That’s okay. I’m thinking you could use some time off. If I need a ride anywhere, I’ll get one of Dad’s drivers.”
Ralph smiled. “Thanks. I’ll take you up on that. Maybe Fran and I will have lunch uptown and go to a matinee.”
“Good idea. Have fun. I’ll be
in touch tomorrow.” As Aidan entered the tall building and headed for the elevator bank, he realized he envied his driver, who’d been married to Fran for almost thirty years. They still loved each other, still enjoyed simple things like lunch and a movie. Aside from the fact they were both werewolves, they lived a fairly typical middle-class life.
Most of the time Aidan was happy about his privileged position in the Wallace empire. But a less privileged position would mean he’d be free to mate for love and not political expedience. He might look forward to a marriage like Ralph and Fran’s.
He still wouldn’t be able to choose a human like Emma, though. Sex with humans was common,but marriages were almost unheard of. A Were would never be able to keep his or her wolf status a secret from a spouse, so the spouse had to be trusted with the sensitive knowledge that a werewolf community existed. Understandably, that made the rest of the pack extremely nervous.
Because of Aidan’s strong attraction to Emma, one that was mate-worthy, he’d have to steer clear of her, and he would, right after he fixed the current problem. Stepping out of the elevator, he walked across thick green-and-brown patterned carpet. Weres preferred something that reminded them of grass and the spongy texture of the forest floor.
Plants abounded here in the lobby. Aidan glanced at the giant flat-screen running videos similar to his that featured trees and waterfalls. Visitors thought the Wallaces were eco-conscious, and they certainly were that. But the decor was a matter of personal sanity more than a statement about conservation. Being surrounded by images of nature soothed his father and any other members of the pack who felt overwhelmed by the noise of the city.
From the lobby Aidan moved through the open double doors leading to the receptionist’s office.
Gabrielle, a thirty-five-year-old Were who’d moved to New York from the San Francisco pack, looked up from her computer as he arrived. A redhead in human form, she transformed into a russet she-wolf. She was stunning either way, and had caught the eye of several members of the Wallace pack. But she’d recently ended a relationship in San Francisco and wasn’t interested.
“He’s expecting you, Aidan. Go on in.”
“Thanks.” In a detached sort of way, he noticed that he wasn’t interested in flirting with her, either. When she’d taken the job, he’d thought they might enjoy a no-strings-attached affair, but she hadn’t been ready for that. He’d continued to be friendly in hopes that she’d change her mind. But after an evening with Emma, he realized he didn’t care whether Gabrielle changed her mind. At some point, he’d have to rid himself of what was becoming an obsession with the lovely Ms. Gavin, but he couldn’t expect to do it until he’d finished the business at hand.
Opening the hand-carved door into his father’s office, he allowed his eyes to adjust to the dim light. Howard Wallace didn’t appreciate the floor-to-ceiling windows that graced nearly every Manhattan office of any size and importance, including this one. He didn’t give a damn about the skyline, but he liked being up here, away from the traffic noise.
The office was scented with evergreens and peat moss because they were here in abundance in various planters around the room. Foliage covered the windows so that only a few rays of sunlight penetrated through the dense array of greenery. Aidan loved the feel of his dad’s office and had used many of the design elements in his own apartment.
His own office was on the floor below this one, but his team used it more than he did. His job kept him on the move, which he happened to like.
Howard rose from his massive, yet rustic-looking, desk and came around it to embrace his son. A barrelchested man in his late fifties, Howard still had all his hair, although it was snow-white. The pack alpha was a sight to behold when he transformed into a magnificent creature with snow-white fur. His striking appearance was legendary in the Were community.
Howard stood back to look at his son with obvious fondness. “What do you have for me, Aidan?”
Aidan knew that benevolence could change to stern censure under certain conditions. He hoped that wouldn’t happen today. “A delicate situation, I’m afraid.”
“Let’s sit.” Howard gestured toward a group of black leather chairs circling a low table in the corner of his office. “Do you want something to drink? Anything to eat?”
Aidan tried to remember when he’d done either. The few sips of a coffee martini might be the extent of it since an early dinner the night before. But he knew that his father’s two-floor suite of offices included a kitchen and a world-class chef. And at the mention of food, Aidan discovered he was starving. “A roast beef sandwich would hit the spot.”
“Say no more.” Howard crossed to his desk and picked up the phone. Moments later he returned to the circle of chairs and took a seat next to Aidan. “Gabrielle will see to it.”
“Thanks, Dad.” Now that Aidan had admitted to his hunger, he felt the contractions of his very empty stomach.
Howard shook his head. “I notice you’re still in the habit of working straight through without eating. I admire the single-mindedness, but it’s not good for your health. Your mother would raise a bigger ruckus than I, so be glad it’s me who’s telling you this.”
“I’ll try to do better.”
“Good. If you pass out in the middle of an assignment, you won’t be doing anyone any favors.” Howard settled back in his chair. “Now tell me about Emma Gavin.”
For one unsettling moment, Aidan thought his father had guessed Aidan’s secret yearning for the talented Ms. Gavin. He took a deep breath and told himself that was crazy. Roarke wouldn’t have said anything, and nobody else knew besides Sylvester. Sylvester wasn’t a snitch, either.
“Our initial suspicions were wrong,” Aidan said. “She not only has no inside source—she doesn’t believe that werewolves exist.”
Howard’s gray eyes narrowed. “Are you absolutely sure of this?”
“Yes.” He’d thought about it some more. If Emma had any idea that werewolves were real, she would have sensed the changes happening to him last night in the backseat of the town car. When humans believed that werewolves were a reality, it was as if they’d broken a secret code. If she’d known that code, she could have identified him easily.
“So we don’t have a problem, after all.”
“Not quite true.”
Gabrielle knocked on the office door, and Howard invited her in. She brought a tray containing a fragrant sandwich and a bottle of Aidan’s favorite mineral water. He was touched that she’d noticed such a small thing.
As she set the tray on the circular coffee table, she leaned down far enough to provide a glimpse of cleavage while glancing at Aidan from under her lashes. Damn, now she was ready to flirt with him, when his hormonal urges were all focused on a certain author of werewolf fiction.
“Thanks so much, Gabrielle.” He smiled at her.
“Anytime.” Her voice held that low, throaty quality that telegraphed sexual interest. “Anything else, Mr. Wallace?”
Howard looked at Aidan. “Anything missing, son?”
“Nope.” Aidan unfolded the cloth napkin and laid it over his lap. “This is great.”
“Then I guess we’re good, Gabrielle. Hold my calls until Aidan leaves, okay?”
“Of course.” With one last sultry glance in Aidan’s direction, she left the office.
Howard blew out a breath. “I think she’s coming out of hibernation. Just for the record, I don’t care what happens between you two so long as it doesn’t disrupt her work. And it goes without saying that she’s not an acceptable mate for you, so it would have to be a temporary thing.”
“I know that.”
“Still, I can’t expect you to be celibate, for God’s sake, so go ahead, but don’t mess up my office routine, please. Gabrielle’s been reliable so far, and I’d hate for that to change.”
“Dad, I’m not interested in Gabrielle.” Aidan picked up half of the sandwich. “Right now I have work to do. My team pulled an all-nighter, and we found out a
lot. Someone from the Chicago pack has contacted Emma and wants to show her what a real werewolf is like.”
Howard nearly came out of his chair. “The hell you say! Leland’s bunch? I’ll call him right now.”
“I wouldn’t do that, Dad. It’s Leland’s son, Theo.”
“Oh, dear God.” Howard scrubbed a hand over his face. “That changes everything.”
“I figured it would.”
“Theo Henderson has delivered trouble to Leland’s doorstep for all his nineteen years. Everyone sees it but Leland. He insists Theo’s high-strung and he’ll grow out of it. Leland never did believe that Theo was the one who broke into the zoo, drugged a couple of wolves, and dressed them in Armani.”
“I didn’t hear about that.” Aidan put down his sandwich, no longer hungry. Once every hundred years or so a Were came along who chafed against the rule of concealment. These militant Weres advocated full disclosure followed by complete domination of all humans. “Do you think Theo has visions of a werewolf revolution of some kind?”
“I hope for all our sakes he’s just a mixed-up kid. How Leland could have raised two such different Weres is beyond me. Nadia’s a credit to the community, but Theo seems determined to make problems.”
“Has he done anything else I should know about?”
“At Halloween he always insisted on dressing as a werewolf, and he’s mouthed off a few times about how he resents not being able to shift whenever he feels like it. He’s risked getting caught more than once.”
Aidan couldn’t fault Theo on that score, after his own inappropriate shift last night. But if Theo was doing it intentionally, that put him in a different category. “This isn’t sounding good.”
“No, but Leland wouldn’t believe Theo’s headed down revolutionary road, and I don’t want to be the one to suggest it to him, considering that I have high hopes that Nadia will become your mate someday. You’d make a stunning pair.”
Aidan ignored the weight of responsibility that settled over him with that statement. He recognized that Nadia was attractive. In her human form, she was tall with long dark hair that reached halfway down her back. In wolf form, she was glossy black with gray eyes. At the moment, the only eyes he cared to gaze into were blue.
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