by Hazel Gower
“When I designed this kitchen, I wanted it bigger than most, so nobody was stepping on anyone and everyone had room to do their magic.”
“I haven’t seen many restaurant kitchens, well besides on TV and movies, but I think it’s fantastic.”
Bringing the hand he held up to his lips, he kissed it. “Thanks, beautiful.”
They stopped next to Richard, who stood at the front directing people and checking quality. “Richard, I’d like you to meet my mate, Samantha.” He said her full name as he noticed with Anna she didn’t use the name he’d gotten to know her by.
“Hiya, Samantha. It’s nice to put a face to a name we hear so often.” Richard held his hand out, and Sammy took it turning a shade of pink at Richard’s words.
“Nice to meet you, too, Richard. I have no idea what Slater could have told you, but I hope it’s all good.”
Richard let go of Sammy’s hand. “Everything he’s said is positive. He told us what a strong, brave woman you are.”
Sammy looked extremely embarrassed, so Slater took over. “We’re here for lunch, and I’d love for you to cook your creamy garlic salmon.” Turning to Sammy he asked, “You do like fish, don’t you?”
“I love fish. I’m not a huge meat eater. I don’t eat red meat at all, but I love salmon. It’s my favorite fish.”
Slater’s bear preened at Sammy’s comment, and Slater himself was happy as he loved his fish and wasn’t a big red meat eater.
“Sure, I’ll make my salmon dish. Go sit down and relax, and I’ll bring it out personally,” Richard said.
Slater reached out and held Sammy’s hand again as they walked out of the kitchen, and he guided her to the corner table he had for them. Letting his hand drop from hers he pulled her chair out, and Slater waited until she sat in it before he slid her into the table and took his own seat.
“Slater, your restaurant is beautiful. I love the natural colors and the soothing waterfall outside.”
“Thank you. It’s one of my favorites. I own a couple with my cousins. My brothers even have shares in this one.” Moving his legs under the table so his feet sat between her legs, he held one of his hands out, and Sammy held it and they twined their fingers together. “Speaking of family, my mother and father have been asking me to bring you around to meet them. Well begging is more like it. My mother is super excited that one of her sons will have a mate.”
Slater watched as Sammy froze. Her eyes went wide, and she tried to snatch her hand from his. She bit her lip, and her gaze darted everywhere but him. “I don’t think that’s a good idea right now. We’ve only started dating, and … um … what about Brock?”
He could see how scared and uncomfortable she was. Maybe he should wait and bring this up another time, but he really was sick of telling his family about his mate and them never seeing her. “My parents are nothing like Brock’s. I didn’t have nannies raise me. My mother stayed home and was a soccer mum. My mum is like you, human.”
Sammy gasped. “You never said anything about that. How did she meet your father?”
Slater chuckled. “Like any normal person. At a concert I believe. My mum doesn’t call it that. She calls it a festival. I’m sure she’ll tell you the story when you meet her.”
Sammy nodded. “Okay, if you’re sure, I’ll meet them.”
He leaned down and brought her hand up and kissed it. “Thanks, beautiful.”
Sammy grinned at him and relaxed. “Did you say one of your mother’s sons? Do you have brothers or sisters?”
He told her about his brothers and reminded himself that he needed to call his mother tonight. She would be so excited.
****
Slater arrived early to take Sammy driving. After the success of yesterday’s lunch he was keen to spend more time with Sammy. She opened the door before he even had the chance to ring the doorbell.
“You’re early. That’s good.” Sammy grabbed his hand and held it in hers as she almost ran to the Commodore. “Come on. I can’t wait to get in the driver’s seat again.”
Slater chuckled at Sammy’s enthusiasm as she opened his car door and pushed him in, ran around to the passenger side, opened the door and got in her seat and shut the door.
“Where are you going to take me? The same place as Brock, or somewhere new?”
Starting the car he put the car into gear and drove toward the beach. “The same as Brock. I think that’s the best for the first couple of lessons.”
Sammy bounced in her seat with excitement the whole ten minute drive to the beach. She got her L plates out of the glove compartment, and as soon as he parked she was out of the car and putting them on the car.
Slater got out and took a deep breath in of the sea air before he walked around to the passenger side and got in. Sammy was in the driver’s side fixing the mirror and seat.
“Okay, so what did you start with Brock yesterday?”
Both of Sammy’s hands sat on the top of the wheel, and she had a huge grin on her face. “We reversed out and drove down to the end of the car-park and back again. Towards the end he let me drive up and down the deserted street.”
Slater wondered why Brock had looked so frazzled when that was all they’d done. Sammy had talked about yesterday like Brock had taken her for a proper drive. Shrugging his shoulders he put his seat belt on. “Today we’ll do the same and get you used to the car. So how about you put the car in reverse and back out of this spot? Then put the car into drive and go down to the end and around the roundabout and back again. Just drive the same as you drove with Brock.”
Sammy nodded, put the car in reverse, put her foot down on the accelerator and backed out until she hit the curb and went up it. Slater’s stomach came up and back down in seconds as she slammed on the brakes.
“Crap. Forget I did that.” She shot him an innocent smile, put the car into drive, and sped down the end of the car-park.
Holy shit! Thank God he was a shifter, as otherwise he would have just had a heart attack. In a car-park that the top speed should be twenty kilometers per hour, Sammy was doing almost eighty. He had no idea how all the wheels were still on the road as she went around the roundabout. His voice came back up again, and he yelled.
“Slow down. This is not a marathon. You’re in a car-park. Didn’t Brock tell you to slow down?”
“No. He told me to have fun and get comfortable with the car. I’m going a lot slower with you than Brock.”
Slater shook his head. “Slow down and back out slowly. I might be a shifter, but I’d like to live through this.”
Sammy rolled her eyes at him. “I think you’re being a bit dramatic.”
“I’m not. You need to slow down.”
. This time when Sammy backed out she didn’t swear when she hit the curb, but she did slam the brakes on before she put it into drive and sped off. Sammy slowed down this time but not by much. He grabbed the door handle as she did sixty around the small roundabout. She hit a pot hole and swerved.
“Stop! Stop!”
Sammy slammed on the brakes, and the car seemed to wobble. She turned to him. “I was slowing down. You don’t have to scream at me to get me to stop.”
“Yes, I do. You weren’t slowing down. For crying out loud, use some common sense. You go slower around the corners and roundabouts. That’s why you lost control of the car over the pothole.” He ran his fingers through his hair, yanking at his hair. “Ease out of park when you’re backing out and be mindful of the curb.”
“Okay, I get it. But you didn’t have to yell. I’m only learning.”
“I wasn’t yelling. You almost killed us.”
“I did not. This is an empty car park.”
“What if we were on the road?”
“We’re not. We are in this empty car-park so I can learn.” Sammy started the car back up and drove down the car-park at a much better speed.
“This is more like it.”
“If you’d told me you wanted to go slower I would have gone slower. You said to do what I did
with Brock, so I did.”
Slater felt like pulling his hair out. How could Sammy not know to go slower around corners and roundabouts? “For fuck’s sakes, didn’t Brock teach you to go slow and stick to speed limits yesterday?”
“Not really. Brock said he wanted me comfortable with the car first. He said to get a feel for it and what I thought was safe.”
“Fucking hell, no wonder he looked frazzled yesterday. Did he teach you anything? How on earth can you think what we did was a safe speed? Only an idiot would think that!”
“You’re yelling again. There is no need to yell at me. I don’t like being yelled at or told I’m an idiot. I think I’ve had enough for today.”
Slater couldn’t believe it. Brock was in the wrong, and he was the one copping it. “No. You’re not finished. We are going to drive this car-park if it fucking kills me.”
She pulled to a stop. “I’m not going to do anything if you keep yelling at me. Please stop yelling.”
Sammy went to get out of the car. He gripped her arm tight before she got any further. “I’m not yelling!” Shit. He was. Maybe he wasn’t cut out to teach Sammy to drive. He knew aggression and yelling were two of her triggers.
“Let. Go. Of. Me. Now. Slater.” Sammy wrenched her arm from his hold as she emphasized every word. When Sammy was free of him she opened her door and got out.
Smashing his fist into the dash board he swore when he heard it crack. Getting out of the car he went after Sammy.
“You can’t walk home. Come on and get back in the car. I’ll drive you home.”
“No, thank you. I don’t feel like going anywhere with you right now.” He could see the tears glistening in her eyes.
Growling at the situation he grabbed Sammy by the waist and hauled her back to the car.
“Let me go now, Slater. I can’t believe you’re doing this to me. Put me down right this minute, or I’ll never forgive you.” She kicked and banged on his arm.
Placing her down in front of the passenger side he tilted her head up to him. “You need to calm down. You’re overreacting. You don’t get to act like a child. This is all over me telling you to slow down. If you can’t handle this how will you handle the rest? Don’t be an idiot about this. You can’t run away or ignore the situation any time you don’t like it.”
Oh crap. He heard the words come out of his month, and he couldn’t believe he’d grabbed her like that, and to go as far as to call her a child … surely she’d been called many things before by that bastard. How could he repeat the behavior? Sammy’s eyes were as wide as saucers, and he watched as a tear fell down her cheek.
Slater knew he’d done and said the wrong thing. He stepped back, and as soon as he did she straightened and opened the car door and got in without saying a word. He felt like shit. He should never have said anything or do what he did, especially with Sammy’s history. If his mother ever heard what he’d said he’d never hear the end of it. She’d told him that humans were more sensitive than shifters, and if he did what Slater’s father had done to her she would personally castrate him.
Going around to the driver’s side he got in and put the car seat back and fixed the mirror, started the car, and drove back to Sammy’s place.
After a good five minutes or so of silence and waiting for Sammy to say something, he sighed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said what I did. I thought I was patient, but I’m not.”
Sammy didn’t answer, and he glanced at her to see her cowering almost huddled in her seat. His heart sank, and he felt worse. His bear whined, and Slater could feel he was angry with him for treating their mate the way they had. He hated the way she was right now. He’d rather her yelling and fighting than cowering in the corner.
****
Brock sat in his captain’s office waiting for him to come out and tell him why he was called in. The small talk was almost over, and Brock knew it must be something big if he started the conversation with small talk rather than getting to the point.
“As I said I’m glad you’re doing better now your mate is giving you a chance, but I was thinking that maybe you could casually drop some questions to her about Breakaway precinct. Internal Affairs has asked for information, and I said I would have a talk to you. I thought you could maybe slip a couple of questions in.”
Brock growled and stood. “I knew something wasn’t right with that station. I don’t know anyone in our precinct that would let someone treat their wife, mate, or girlfriend like Greg did. I don’t like bringing it up as it makes Sammy really uncomfortable. She goes into a shell, and it takes a while to get her out of it.”
Brock paced back and forth in his captain’s office, unsure of what he should do. He wanted to make sure his mate was safe, and he needed to know he could protect her. He needed to know he was better than any other shifter for her. He would slay all her demons. Maybe if he could find out what happened and put them all in jail Sammy would feel safe. She might stop hiding and shrinking back in fear at the mention of Greg or anything to do with his precinct.
“I’ll do what I can. I’ll work with her. But you have to give me time.”
His captain stood and nodded. “Fine. We will try and see what you can get out of her before we try drastic measures.”
Brock opened the door and left the office. He hoped it didn’t come to drastic measures. He didn’t want Sammy in danger.
Going to the lockers he got changed and got in his car to head over for his turn at having lunch with Sammy. He wondered if Slater had survived her driving. Brock had let her go and have fun yesterday with him. He wanted her comfortable in the car. He wanted her confident before he drilled all the rules and instructions into her. Brock hoped Slater wasn’t too hard on her.
He got in his car and started it and drove out of the car park and to Sammy’s house. Brock pulled up just in time to see Slater pulling into Sammy’s driveway. Brock got out and watched as Slater got out and walked around to Sammy’s side. He opened the door, and Sammy shrank back in her seat.
Brock moved closer and growled when he smelt the fear, hurt, and anger coming off Sammy in waves. “What the hell did you do to her?”
Slater turned on him, and Brock could see the worry and regret in his eyes, although when they saw him they turned to fury.
“This is all your fault, Brock. What the hell were you thinking? You didn’t even warn me she thought she was a rally racer.”
“Stop. Stop right there. This isn’t my fault. When she came home after my lesson she wasn’t fucking terrified.” Brock caught Slater’s fist as it came at him.
A whimper from the passenger seat had him pushing Slater out of the way. He knelt down so he was eye level with Sammy.
“Hey, angel, want to tell me what’s wrong?” Brock kept his voice low and level.
Sammy’s eyes looked unfocused. She didn’t even look like she was with him. She was far off, someplace safe.
“Sammy, it’s me, Brock. It’s safe now. You can come back. I promise no one will hurt you or harm you in any way.”
Brock watched as Sammy’s eyes cleared, and she focused on him. As soon as her body relaxed she took a deep breath and threw herself at him. Brock wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.
“It’s your job to teach me to drive from now on.”
Brock sighed and breathed in her scent as he stroked her hair. “Sure, angel. It will be a thing just the two of us do.”
Sammy nodded against him, and he squeezed her closer to his body. This shouldn’t have happened. Sammy shouldn’t have got to this stage. She’d reported to the police her situation with Greg. Brock kissed her forehead and stood noticing Slater had left. He’d talk to him later. But after what just happened he knew he had to find out what was wrong with precinct Breakaway.
****
Brock taught her to drive the rest of the week. He never yelled, and he stayed calm and never judged or told her she should have done this or should have done that. Brock explained things calmly.
> Sammy felt silly now for the way she’d reacted with Slater. Sammy wanted to apologize to Slater, but he’d stayed away from her, and she hadn’t seen him the rest of the week. Slater had sent her flowers, teddy bears, boxes of chocolate, and apology letters. Tomorrow was Sandy’s wedding, and she was supposed to be resting and going to bed early for beauty sleep, but she needed to see Slater.
Getting off the bus she walked down to Glaser. Sammy could see the waiting line the closer she got for the restaurant and wondered if she should have come earlier, but she knew Slater would be here at this time. Debating if she should wait or push her way to the front she sighed in relief when Anna came down the line checking if people were with a large party group that was already in and waiting on people so they could order.
“Samantha, why are you waiting out here? Come, come on in. Slater’s woman doesn’t wait in line.”
“Hi, Anna, is Slater here? I came to see him.”
“Yes. Slater’s in the kitchen driving Richard crazy.”
Anna dragged her through the throng of people, who gave her dirty looks and mumbled complaints as she skipped the queue and made her way to the front. Anna got behind the reception desk and pointed her to the kitchen.
“Just go in the kitchen. Slater will be up the front with Richard.”
“Thanks.” Sammy weaved her way through the crowed restaurant astounded at how many people were there. She couldn’t see an empty seat in sight.
Before she reached the kitchen doors she took a deep breath in and hoped Slater didn’t mind her just turning up here. Pushing the kitchen door open she stared at the controlled chaos around her and the two men standing at the front of the room towards the food bay arguing.
Sammy watched the fierce look on Richard’s face as he stood up to a furious Slater, who stood over him yelling. Sammy backed up and hit the door as Slater’s voice boomed through the kitchen. Her body started to shake, and her mind told her to run, to leave, and that Slater was someone she didn’t want to know. This was the second time he’d reminded her of Greg. Sammy had barely lived through her last relationship. She wasn’t risking herself again.