He’d made the invitation when Emma had shown up on his doorstep, practically bouncing, and announcing she was kidnapping Becky for the day. She’d agreed quickly and dragged Becky out of the house, Simon’s hearty laugh following them all the way to Max’s car. Emma had taken Max’s car because she’d decided they were going shopping.
Becky had laughed. Knowing Emma, she’d known they’d need the extra room Max’s Durango provided. She’d been right. She just hoped Max hadn’t been too horrified when Emma got home, bags and boxes piled in the back seat.
She followed him to the front door. “Hi, Emma, Max.”
“Hi, Becks. Hi, Simon.” Emma looked gorgeous in a caramel colored turtleneck sweater and heather gray slacks that complemented her golden skin tone. She wore her favorite black pea coat.
“Rebecca.”
If anyone could beat Simon in a Hottest Man in Halle contest it would be Max Cannon. Golden blond hair framed the face of a wicked angel, the only flaw being a small scar on the side of his nose. She could see a sapphire blue shirt under the bomber jacket he was wearing, and his long legs were encased in black slacks. His sunny blue eyes and easygoing grin hid the fact that he was one of the most powerful men in town. Without even thinking about it she bowed her head slightly in respect to the Pride Alpha and his mate; the smile was for her friends.
Max poked his head in the door and stared around at the floor, a puzzled expression on his face.
“What the hell are you doing?” Simon asked, frowning.
“Wondering where you stashed the piles and piles and piles of bags Becky must have brought home.”
Simon’s brows rose up. “You did know they were going shopping today, right?”
“By shopping, I thought they would pick up a dress, maybe get some shoes or a purse. Instead I could probably open a boutique in my living room.”
“You know, all Becky brought home was one itty bitty bag.” Simon smirked as Max growled good-naturedly. “She took the Durango shopping, Max. That should have been your first clue.”
“Yeah, especially when she folded the seats down right before leaving.” Max dodged the blow Emma aimed at his arm with a chuckle. He turned to Becky, still chuckling. “How are you feeling, Becky?”
Max’s gaze zeroed in on Simon’s bite mark, visible through the straps of her halter dress. With a pure male grin he high-fived Simon, who grinned right back.
Becky shook her head. “Are they always like this?” she asked Emma.
Emma sighed. “Yup. Except when you throw Adrian into the mix. Then they get downright third-gradeish.” She grinned up at her mate. “Rumor has it that it’s amazing they ever got Simon’s place fixed up. There should be glue and nails and other stuff just sticking out of everything, with the three of them buried under the wallpaper. I can almost see Wile E. Coyote holding up the ‘HELP!’ sign.”
“We got it done because we’re very good with our hands,” Max purred, leaning in to place a quick kiss on his mate’s neck.
Becky wrinkled her nose. “Ew.”
Max laughed, obviously tickling Emma’s neck, judging by the way she shivered and giggled.
“Where are we going to dinner?” Becky picked up her jacket and was surprised when Simon took it out of her hands and held it out for her. “Thanks.” She blushed, putting it on. He pulled her hair gently out of the back of the jacket, caressing her curls with a soft, gentle touch. The fact that Simon wanted to touch her almost all of the time still had her head spinning. He’d barely let her out of his sight the entire time she’d been in his home.
His arm settled around her shoulders and guided her out of the house. “Noah’s. It’s Max and Emma’s favorite place, and I always bow to the wishes of my Alpha.” He locked the front door. She could tell from his expression he was doing his best to keep a straight face.
Max choked. “I wish.” Simon’s barked laugh was loud as Max led them to his Durango. “Like Noah’s isn’t your favorite place to go when you’ve made a big sale, right, Simon?”
“Nope, not at all.”
Max helped Emma into the front passenger side as Simon helped Becky into the back. “Let me guess; his favorite food is lasagna.”
Max looked at her, surprised. “How did you know?”
Becky grinned at Simon as he stuck his tongue out at her. “Lucky guess.” She put on her seat belt and relaxed back into the butter soft leather. “Oh, Emma, thanks for going with me to get my baby back from the mansion.”
“No problem. Besides, I enjoyed the shopping trip.”
Emma grinned as Max and Simon shared a look in the rear view mirror. “You do know she drives a convertible, right?”
“So do I.” Emma crossed her arms over her chest. She tried to glare fiercely at him and failed miserably as her lips kept trying to curve up in a smile.
“I know. ” The glare Max sent Emma had Becky stifling a laugh again. The two of them were just too cute for words. “At least Becky’s isn’t candy apple red.”
“Hey! I love my Cruiser, especially the candy apple red convertible part.”
Becky turned to laugh with Simon and realized he was giving her the evil eye. “What?”
“Since when do you drive a convertible?”
“Since three weeks ago, Garfield.” She ignored the twin snorts of laughter from the front seat and focused her attention on the big goob next to her. “You got a problem with that?”
“Hell, yes! Those things aren’t safe!”
“My point exactly.” Max nodded righteously and ignored the poke Emma gave him.
“How are they not safe?” Becky stared at Simon, one brow rising in challenge.
“Red lights. Maniacs with knives. Need I say more?”
“In Halle?”
“Didn’t Emma get mugged right outside of Wallflowers?”
“Your point?”
“Crime happens even in Halle!”
“A mugging by a drunken college kid is a lot different from maniac, knife-wielding convertible killers.”
Simon gave her an evil grin. “Fine. Let’s see if it’s strong enough to stand up to a full grown male Puma jumping up and down on the roof, shall we?”
“You are not breaking my brand new VW Bug, Simon!”
“Oh, even better. Cats love to play with bugs.”
“Simon! ” She reared back in surprise. His green shirt had turned an interesting shade of brown. She frowned and poked a finger at his chest, wondering what the hell was going on. She looked and caught a glimpse of her face in the rear view mirror. Her eyes had turned gold.
Oh. So that’s what things looked like through the Puma’s eyes. She turned her head and looked out the window, wondering what else looked different.
“She’s changing.” Max exchanged a look with Simon she couldn’t interpret.
“I bit her last night, and she’s pretty strong willed. I’m not surprised she’s taking to it so fast.” Simon was watching her with an expression of mingled worry and pride. “She should be fully changed within a day or two.”
She looked at Simon and noticed his shirt once again looked green. “Great. I get to join the Fuzzy Club and buy stock in Nair. Can we eat now? I’m starving.”
“You’re always starving,” Emma muttered.
Simon laughed. Becky grinned.
Max pulled up outside of Noah’s with a groan. “Don’t feel bad, I’m starving too.”
Emma laughed as she climbed out of the SUV, much to Max’s obvious disgust. Becky tried to follow her friend, only to find herself pulled out of Simon’s door instead. He looked down at her and winked.
She made a face at him and allowed him to tow her along behind their friends, the heels of her violet pumps clacking on the sidewalk.
Oh, thank you, God. Belinda’s not working. The redheaded hostess smiled warmly and led them immediately to their seats. Simon held out her chair and helped her sit before taking his own seat next to her.
Things were fairly quiet as the four of them stared a
t their menus. Becky thought about getting the chicken marsala, but the lasagna the waiter carried past their table smelled so good she had a hard time deciding between the two.
“Stop biting your lip.”
Becky looked at Simon over the top of her menu to find him grinning at her, and let her lip go.
“What’s the problem, baby?”
“I can’t decide between the chicken marsala and the lasagna.”
“Share?”
“Sure!” Becky’s stomach rumbled.
“Share what?” Emma looked between them, confused.
“Our dinner.”
Emma looked at both of them and pursed her lips. “Oh.”
“Actually, that sounds good.” Max looked over at Emma. “Emma, you want the seafood alfredo?”
“No, I think I’ll go with the shrimp primavera. You?”
“Chicken parmesan.”
“Yum.”
They placed their orders with the waiter, all four of them deciding on wine with their dinners.
“So, why did Simon’s shirt turn brown, anyway? I thought cats were color-blind. Shouldn’t it have turned gray?”
She watched while Max smiled. “Cats are color-blind. They’re just not completely color-blind. They’re protanopic.”
“Proto- what- ic?”
“They lose the red-green spectrum. Everything either red or green looks kind of brown to us. Dogs lose blue-yellow. Grass to us is the color of spicy mustard. To a dog, it’s shades of blue.”
“Huh.” She looked at Simon with delight. “So on your front door, the cat’s head has green eyes.”
“Which look golden brown when my eyes change.”
“Clever.”
“I thought so.”
The topic turned to work as their food was delivered. “Simon, you have to have that sun catcher for Jamie ready to go by Thursday.” Emma waved her fork menacingly at Simon. The effect was somewhat ruined when a piece of shrimp fell off it to land on the table with a soft plop. She looked around furtively before picking it up and plopping it in her mouth, much to Max’s obvious amusement.
“Geez, Emma, I’m working on it, okay?” Simon practically whined, but Becky could see the smile he was trying so hard to hold back.
“You’d better be, or Jamie’s gonna have our heads. If it’s not done in time for his anniversary, Marie is going to be hurt. Then Jamie will be seriously hurt in a full body cast sort of way.”
Simon snorted. “It’ll be done.”
“Good.”
Simon turned to Max, his expression turning serious. “Oh, hey, Max, I forgot to ask. Did you get the e-mail from Sheri?”
“No, I haven’t checked it today. What did she want?”
Emma turned and stared at Max, one brow raised in demand. “Who the hell is Sheri?”
Max winced. “Remember I told you there were two women I’d changed over the years?”
“Yes,” Emma drawled, arms crossed over her breasts.
“Sheridan Montgomery is the other one.”
“The one whose story you couldn’t tell me?”
“Right, because if I told you I’d have to kill you.”
Emma frowned. “If you kill me you aren’t getting any nookie.” She wrinkled her nose. “And if you are that’s really sick.”
Simon snorted, nearly spitting wine across the table. Becky, giggling, pounded him on the back.
“Emma!” Max groaned, laughing. He turned back to Simon. “So what was it she wanted?”
“She’s petitioning to join the Pride.”
“Did she say whether her problem was still a problem?”
“She hoped not, but I’m not as optimistic.”
“What’s the problem? And don’t tell me you can’t tell me, because you’re the one who brought it up.”
The two men looked at each other and grimaced. Simon shrugged. “Sheri was abused by a former boyfriend who’s still chasing after her. She’s seeking sanctuary with us. Max and I want to offer her a place in the Pride, instead.”
Becky and Emma looked at each other, wide-eyed. “Why wasn’t she already a part of the Pride?”
Emma frowned.
“She refused. Said she didn’t want to bring us her troubles, and since Jonathon was Alpha and agreed with her there wasn’t much we could do about it.”
“Oh. Well I for one say let’s bring her in. As long as she’s not another Livia things should work out fine.”
“I agree. I’m pretty sure we can figure out a way to protect her if her ex shows up.”
The two men began quietly discussing how to make Sheridan part of the Pride while minimizing the danger. Emma and Becky watched and listened quietly. Becky was a little alarmed to hear of some of the things the ex had done in the past to Sheri to try and get to her. He sounded really sick. She just hoped they’d be able to keep the poor girl safe.
Becky turned to Emma as the two men continued to discuss Sheri long after they’d completed their main course. “So I’ve been thinking about painting the walls in Simon’s kitchen purple. What do you think, Em?”
“Go for pink.” Emma grinned slyly and slanted Simon a sideways look.
“Pink? Really?” Becky saw Simon and Max grinning at one another. “I was thinking I might use the same wallpaper we used in the store. What do you think?”
“Please don’t.” Simon threw his hands up in surrender. “We’ll be good. No more Pride business over dinner, I promise.”
“Don’t you like the wallpaper in the store, Simon?” Becky batted her lashes at Simon.
“Do the terms ‘ick’, ‘yuck’, ‘ew’ or ‘gag’ mean anything to you?”
It was Emma’s turn to choke, and Max’s to pound her back. Becky just crossed her arms over her breasts and raised her brows at Simon. “And just what is wrong with the wallpaper in the store?”
“Where to begin?” Simon began stroking his chin thoughtfully. “It’s pink. And flowery. And frou-frou.
And pink. Mostly pink. The flowers just up the blech factor by about ten.”
Becky glared at him as Simon shuddered theatrically. “I picked that wallpaper out.”
“In that case, thank you, God, my home is already decorated.”
Becky gasped in amused outrage as Simon clasped his hands together in mock-prayer. “I’m putting a patch of that wallpaper above the bed.”
“I’ll never have a hard-on again,” he muttered. “Couldn’t you put Jessica Alba up there instead? Ow!”
Simon’s hearty laugh rang out when Becky smacked his arm.
“Ass wipe.”
The waiter came back and took their plates. Emma and Max chose to share a cheesecake slice, while Becky went with the tiramisu and Simon just had coffee.
Becky tried to enjoy her dessert, but Simon was staring at her over his coffee cup. The heat in his gaze sent her pulse racing. She made a face at him, hoping he’d laugh and turn back to Max. Instead, he winked at her over the edge of the cup, his smile so happy she didn’t have the heart to be snarky with him.
Chapter Five
Becky opened her apartment door and sighed. After being at Simon’s for two nights and all day yesterday her tiny apartment above Wallflowers seemed even more cramped than usual. But she seriously needed some clothes and the rest of her makeup if she was going back to work today. He’d brought her the bare minimum to survive on at his place. Why he thought one pair of jeans and a pair of panties was enough clothing…no, wait. Male brain at work. He’d probably thought she’d run around his house naked all the time, or she’d wear one of his shirts or something. She practically swam in the damn things. No way could she work like that.
Simon had wanted her to take a few days off, just until after her change occurred. He’d been worried that what had happened to Emma would happen to her as well. Emma had also insisted on going to work and wound up changing in one of Max’s examination rooms. Luckily for the Pride it had been after closing and no patients were in his practice at the time.
&n
bsp; But she didn’t feel the same itchy sensations Emma had warned her about during their shopping trip. No fur had sprouted on her arms. Claws hadn’t appeared. True, her vision had changed in the car Sunday night, but so far that was the only sign of the change she’d experienced. She’d promised both Emma and Simon that if she felt any of the symptoms Emma had mentioned she would immediately call Emma to cover the store and she would go to Simon’s house to wait for him.
In the meantime, she needed clothes, makeup and something to hold back her mane of hair.
She stepped into her tiny kitchenette and felt her heart melt. There on her counter was an eight-piece box of Godiva truffles with a note attached: Think of me while you enjoy your treat.
She had to swallow the lump in her throat as she picked up the note. Damn, Emma, you go, girl. The only way Simon could have known about her near obsession with Godiva truffles was if Emma told him.
She popped one of the delicate confections into her mouth and moaned. That is so good. She picked up the box with a greedy grin. And nobody is getting any of this but me. If Emma knew Simon had picked her up a box of Godiva chocolate anything, she’d try and wheedle a piece out of her, but no way was Becky sharing. Just call me the Godiva Grinch. She snickered and put the box in her bedroom closet for safekeeping while she was at work.
Of course, she brought it back down and popped another piece in her mouth before forcing herself to put the box back. She changed clothes quickly, ran a brush through her hair and decided not to bother with makeup today. She was already running late, and her hands were shaking. She was feeling a little off. Everything around her was starting to swirl. “Damn. Should have eaten more than the chocolates.” If Emma or Simon discovered that she’d gone to the doc about the dizzy spells she’d never hear the end of it, especially if they found out they occurred more frequently when she’d forgotten to eat. Sort of like this morning, when she’d dashed out of Simon’s house. She’d planned on stopping at a fast food place for breakfast, but the accident on Twelfth had slowed everything to a crawl and she hadn’t had the time. The last thing she needed was the two of them hovering over her while she waited for the test results to come in. It wasn’t like she even knew for sure what was wrong, and until she did? She wasn’t saying anything.
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