by Zoe Chant
Paul’s eyes immediately lit on Grey. “Hey,” he said to Matt. “I found him.”
Matt saw Grey and smiled. “I’ve been looking for you. And today I ran into my buddy Paul here, who was looking for you, too. So we went around town trying to find you, and then we decided to take a break and get some lunch. And what do you know, here you are!”
Ali frowned. What did Matt want with Grey?
Maybe he wanted to sit down with him and have a talk about what it was like to lie to women.
Paul and Matt sauntered over to Grey's table.
Grey set his coffee cup aside. "Hello, Finch. Parker."
"Landin," said Paul. "I heard something about you."
"Oh yeah? What's that?" Grey moved slightly. Ali could tell that he was getting ready to get up quickly, without being trapped by the booth.
"I heard you went home with my baby sister and didn't treat her so good," Paul said.
Grey's eyes immediately went to Ali.
She didn't want to get involved in this. She didn't even want to see whatever was about to happen.
But she didn't want Grey to think she'd sicced her brother on him, either.
"Stop it, Paul," she said, loudly and clearly. "I didn't tell you to make any trouble. You're not doing me any favors."
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rhonda poke her head out of the office down the hall. Great. Now on top of everything else, her boss would be pissed at her for bringing trouble into the place.
Matt hadn’t said anything yet. Why would he be here with Paul? He didn’t care what anyone did to Ali.
"Ali," Paul was saying, "I know you don't take care of yourself so well. You gotta stop getting yourself in trouble, but until then, maybe the guys who get you in trouble need a lesson, too."
"Just go away, Paul," she said wearily, with no hope of being listened to.
Grey raised his eyebrows. "The lady asked you to go away."
Matt laughed.
Grey transferred his gaze to him. Matt rocked back on his heels a little, like he’d felt a physical blow.
But Matt rallied quickly and stepped forward. "Listen, kitty cat, I don’t care what she said, we’re not going away until you man up and fight."
Grey stood up abruptly, rattling his coffee cup on the table. "You listen to me. I don't hold for that sort of bullshit.”
Grey turned to Paul. “You think you're protecting your sister?” He pointed at her. “She just told you what she wants, and it's not what you're doing. If you want to fight me, I’m more than happy to fight. But don't pretend it's on her behalf. You’re not listening to a word she says."
Ali wondered what he was doing. He didn't need to be considerate about her feelings anymore. Was he trying to win her back?
Matt sneered at Grey. “You too scared to fight us? Trying to make excuses?”
“Being a man means respecting women enough to listen to them.”
Matt laughed. “You listen to women? Kitty cat, no wonder you’re nothing but a pussy.”
“Look, Ali doesn’t always choose guys who are good for her,” Paul interrupted, glancing at Matt. “We just want to make sure you don’t bother her again.”
Grey looked at Paul. “You think you know what’s best for the lady better than she does?”
Matt broke in, probably sensing that they were getting further from actually fighting. “Ali Parker ain't no lady. But that doesn’t mean a little kitty cat can mess with anyone in this town. I’ve been wanting to drive you out for a long time, now.”
Grey stepped right up to Matt and pointed at him, almost poking him in the chest. "Watch your mouth. ‘Ali Parker ain't no lady’? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"It means she gets herself in trouble with assholes like you!" Paul glared at Grey. "That's my sister you're talking about."
"That's your sister he's talking about!" Grey turned on Paul. "Are you saying she likes to date? That doesn't make her less of a lady. She can do whatever she damn well wants. And you should listen to her when she talks."
"You should stop acting like you can order us around," Matt snarled. "Or we'll show you what—"
"Matthew Finch!" Rhonda finally came out of the office to stand in the dining room and stare at him. "What do you mean, coming in to my restaurant and causing trouble like this?"
Matt jerked his head toward Grey. "We're not the ones causing trouble. This guy—"
"Looks to me like this guy was sitting there drinking a cup of coffee and minding his own business, and you came in and started hassling him." Rhonda put her hands on her hips and glared. "So this guy can stay if he wants, but you and your friend need to get out of my place until you can come back with a civil tongue in your head."
"Rhonda, we're just—" Paul started in a conciliating tone.
"You're just nothing." Rhonda was brooking no argument. "You both get out now or I call the police on you. I don't think you want them after you again, Matthew."
Matt glared at her, then transferred the glare to Grey. "You coming?"
Grey shook his head. "You're the one who wants to fight, not me." He glanced over at Ali, and she could hear him thinking, or her as clear as if he'd said it out loud.
"Matt, come on," Paul said. "We can find him later. We know where he is now."
Matt's face twisted in an unpleasant smile. "That's right. We'll be waiting for you, asshole." He led the way out of the restaurant.
When they were gone, Ali let out a breath in relief. She turned away from Grey, and found herself face to face with Rhonda.
"What on earth was that all about?" Rhonda asked her.
Ali shook her head. "Just Paul wanting to start some trouble. I didn't tell him to do anything, he was just using me as an excuse."
Rhonda frowned. "Hmm. Well, you make sure he doesn't use you as an excuse inside these walls again. I don't want my waitresses attracting trouble."
Ali nodded tiredly. "Yes, ma'am."
She was so sick of things being inexplicably her fault. How could she have controlled Paul? There was no way she could've stopped this, unless she'd had the foresight to pretend everything was okay to Molly when she’d gotten home earlier.
But she couldn't have. Nothing was okay.
She looked involuntarily back at Grey. He was still standing by his booth, watching her. When their eyes met, he took a few steps toward her and said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause trouble at your job. I'll see myself out." He took out his wallet and laid a twenty on the table— way more than his endless cup of coffee was worth.
"Did you mean that?" Ali heard herself say, and then cursed herself for not staying quiet.
His attention was immediately on her again. "Mean which?"
“All of it.” She bit her lip. “About being a lady, and Paul doing what I didn’t want.” She was getting it all jumbled, but the core of it seemed to stand out to her like it was lit up with a fiery brightness.
“About respect, you mean.” Grey’s eyes were steady on hers.
That was it. “Yes.”
“I meant it.” Grey glanced at the door. “Those guys don’t respect you.”
Ali let out a sharp laugh. “That’s for sure.” She looked away. “No one in this town respects me.”
“Why not?” When she looked back, he was still looking at her, those silver-grey eyes seeming to go right through her. “You’re smart and caring and not afraid to speak your mind. Why wouldn’t anyone respect you?”
She didn’t want to talk about it.
He took one step closer. She was suddenly aware of his body: his broad shoulders and big hands, his narrow hips and powerful thighs. All wrapped up in jeans and a T-shirt now, but she knew what he looked like out of his clothes.
“Alethia, who told you that you were his mate and lied about it?”
She snapped back to attention. His voice was soft, but his eyes were sharp.
“It’s not real,” she whispered.
“What’s not real?” His eyes widened. “M
ates aren’t real?”
She nodded.
She could still hear Matt’s voice. You actually fell for that? Ali, that’s the oldest trick in the book! She could still feel her world crumbling around her.
“Alethia, no. Mates are real. Every shifter has a mate.” Grey took her hand, and she didn’t pull away. “My parents were mates. They knew the day they met, and they didn’t leave each other’s sides for thirty years.”
Everything about him suggested sincerity: his face, his eyes, his open and leaning body.
He couldn’t be this much of a liar, could he?
She couldn’t be this much of an idiot, could she?
“Ali!”
She jumped. Rhonda was standing at the door of the office again, giving her a pointed look.
She turned back to Grey. “I can’t talk right now.” She hesitated for a long moment. “Can you meet me after my shift? I get off at seven.”
“I’ll be here.” His eyes were warm. He held onto her hand as he backed away, only letting it slip from his fingers when he was too far to keep holding on to her.
Ali watched him leave, and then went back to her customers.
***
Grey knew that Matt and Paul would be waiting for him outside the restaurant.
Every part of him yearned to come at them head-on. The snow leopard inside him growled and flexed its claws. Nothing would give him more satisfaction than to wipe that goddamn grin off of Matt’s face, leave him begging for mercy.
Ali Parker ain’t no lady. Her own brother had been standing right there and hadn’t said anything at all. He hadn’t even looked surprised.
It had taken all of Grey’s self-control to keep from shifting and charging at them both right there in the restaurant.
It was like they didn’t even hear the words that were coming out of their mouths. Matt was clearly just using Alethia as an excuse to start the fight he’d wanted to have anyway. Grey had already been pretty sure that Matt Finch didn’t care about anyone or anything but himself.
But her brother Paul seemed like he was genuinely concerned about his sister. And yet, he wouldn’t listen to her when she told him in so many words to get out of the diner. And he wouldn’t defend her when Matt insulted her.
What a worthless man. Grey was amazed that someone as kind and smart as Alethia had come from the same stock.
He’d badly wanted to take them both down right there, but because he actually paid attention to other people, he’d limited himself to telling them off. Alethia wouldn’t have thanked him for fighting her brother at her workplace.
Even now, he had to keep from confronting them. He’d promised to meet Alethia when her shift was over, and if he got carted off by the local police for brawling in the street, that wasn’t going to happen.
After he’d talked to Alethia, though, all bets were off.
Grey saw Paul and Matt waiting at the curb, kicking the pavement and talking to each other. He waited for a moment when they were both looking away, and ducked around the corner of the building to the wall of bushes that marched along the side of the parking lot. He slipped behind one and shifted. His snow leopard form was powerful but lean, and it was simple to slink along behind the hedge and come out the other side with no one the wiser.
It was harder not to turn right around and pounce on those two assholes.
But he kept himself and the growling snow leopard under control, and slipped off into the trees behind the diner.
There was a suitable tree in just the right spot, and Grey leapt up into it, sinking his claws into the trunk and climbing until he got to a fork high up in the trunk, where he could see over the top of the low building to where Matt and Paul were standing.
Hidden by the canopy of leaves, he settled in to wait.
***
It didn’t take long for the two of them to get bored of waiting around.
Grey wondered what sort of hunter Matt was. He didn’t know much about bears’ hunting style, but a big cat with that kind of attention span would be going hungry. Grey could stay crouched against a rock, perfectly camouflaged by his coloring, for hours if he had to, waiting for something unwary to wander by.
Something like Matt.
Maybe Matt was the sort of shifter who ate frozen dinners from the grocery store and only shifted when he felt like being intimidating. That seemed to fit his personality.
They poked their heads into the diner and came out a second later, obviously frustrated that he’d somehow disappeared. Grey figured he’d be dealing with a lot of scaredy-cat insults the next time he ran into Matt.
That was fine. Matt could insult him as much as he wanted as long as he left Alethia alone. And when Grey finally got his claws into Matt, he knew who’d be the scared one.
After exchanging some angry words, the two of them got into Matt’s rusty truck and drove away, gunning the engine and squealing the tires.
Grey waited a few minutes to make sure they weren’t coming back, and then climbed down from the tree and shifted back to human. It was time to kill a few hours until he could meet Alethia.
As he was headed for his truck, though, his cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, and smiled to see the screen showing Cal. “Hello?”
“Grey, I’ve got some good news for you.” Cal’s easy tone was music to his ears.
Grey’s smile inched wider. He’d been waiting for this call for a long time, and it wasn’t just because Cal was terrible at staying in touch. “Oh yeah?”
“Ranger Mike Riorden just gave his notice not too long ago. He’s retiring at the end of the month. I mentioned you to the boss a long time ago. He told me today that they’re going to offer you the job.”
Grey let out a long breath. “Thanks, Cal.”
“Hey, don't thank me. I just didn’t want to end up with another idiot chucklehead like they hired last time. So we’ll see you up here in Montana before long?”
“Sounds like a plan. End of the month, you said?”
“That’s right. Pack your stuff and give your notice, you got two weeks to get your butt up here and start your brand-new job.”
“I have a few things to take care of down here first, but I’ll be heading north as soon as I can, I promise.”
“Don’t wait too long. I can think of five or six chuckleheads from town who’d love to snatch this job up. It’s your responsibility to save my poor park from them.”
Grey made himself laugh. “I’ll do my very best, Cal.”
“You’d better.” The line went dead. Grey put his phone back in his pocket, the smile fading from his face.
Suddenly he had a deadline.
Before, he’d been thinking that if he couldn’t get Alethia to see that he was telling her the truth now, there’d always be another shot. Prescott was a small town. He could start doing his grocery runs, nights out, whatever, here instead of Ryder’s Lodge, and he was sure to run into her. Hell, she worked at what was probably the only diner in town. There would be plenty of opportunities to see her again.
Now, he had two weeks to pack up and move to another state for a second chance at the only job he’d ever really wanted.
If he had to give it up to keep Alethia, he would.
But he didn’t just want to go. He wanted to get her out with him. She wanted to leave, and the longing in her voice when she’d talked about it had been almost thick enough to touch. He could do that for her.
But he had to do it soon.
***
When Ali got off work, she wasn’t sure what to expect.
Paul and Matt lurking outside, maybe. Or nothing at all, Grey having given up and gone home. Or all of them, getting into a fight before her eyes.
Instead, though, Paul and Matt were nowhere in sight, and Grey was leaning against his truck in the parking lot, watching the door.
He straightened up when she came out, and watched unsmiling as she walked over to him, stopping close enough for a conversation, but far enough that she wouldn�
��t be able to feel the heat radiating from his body.
Who was she kidding? She’d felt it the second she stepped outside and saw him.
The silence stretched out as she looked at him, the light from the streetlights catching the silver in his eyes and making him look almost otherworldly.
“Hi,” she said finally. Stupidly.
“Hi.” Somehow his quiet, husky voice imbued the word with weight and substance. Like behind that single word was a deep well of passionate longing.
She tried to shake that idea off. Where was she coming up with this? “I said we could talk.” She kept her voice as steady as she could, but it still trembled a bit. “Here I am. So talk.”
Weirdly, he pulled out his phone. Ali frowned as he held it up, wondering what he was doing.
“I got a call this afternoon.” He pulled open the log and showed it to her. It said Cal Westland. “Cal is a ranger at Glacier National Park up in Montana.”
She had no idea where this was going. “Okay.”
“He offered me a job.” His eyes pinned her to the spot with their intensity. “I’ve been waiting for him to call for a long time, Alethia. I knew one of his colleagues was getting up there in age and was planning to retire soon. I knew Cal had put in a good word for me and heard a positive response from his boss. I knew I had a good shot of getting offered this job.”
He paused, and took a deep breath. “Will you come with me to Montana, Alethia?”
She was speechless.
“I know you don’t think that you’re really my mate,” he kept going when she didn’t answer. “From what little you’ve said about it, I understand why. But even if you don’t believe me about that, you know we have a connection. Last night was the most amazing experience of my life. I’m not just talking about in bed, I mean the whole night we spent together. I’ve never felt that way with another person, and I think you feel the same.”
Ali swallowed around a dry throat. She still couldn’t seem to speak.
“Come with me, and we can build on that connection. You can start somewhere else. With me.” For the first time, he looked uncertain. “Would you consider that?”