by Tonya Brooks
The realization was totally liberating.
Never in his adult life had he had the opportunity to just be a regular guy. Every woman he'd dated had known who he was and how much he was worth. His innate mistrust of women had become even more jaded because he'd never known which had the greater appeal, him or his money and power. Now he had the opportunity to find out.
And a date with the stunning cashier would be no hardship.
"Let me take you out for a cup of coffee and I'll tell you," he'd offered and flashed her a dazzling smile.
Her smile had grown even brighter as she'd leaned toward him and whispered, "Don't tell the boss, but… I don't like coffee."
He had laughed in genuine amusement and quickly suggested, "Then how about lunch?"
"It would have to be a late lunch," she responded. "My shift doesn't end until one."
"Tomorrow at one?" He suggested because there was no way he could clear his calendar for today on such short notice.
"It's a date."
The next day, he had arrived bearing a huge wicker picnic basket filled with delicacies from his favorite deli and a bottle of wine that would have never made it into his collection. Though his assistant had assured him it was quite good and something a regular working class stiff would be able to afford.
Since the coffee shop was directly across the street from Central Park, his assistant had convinced him that a nice relaxing picnic where they could just talk and get to know each other would be perfect. She had also assured him the idea had a romantic flair that any woman who didn't use the word summer as a verb would enjoy. That had sealed the deal.
She'd been waiting for him casually dressed in a pair of jeans that showed off those long luscious legs and a sweater molded to her gorgeous breasts. Thoughts of peeling them off of her had him harder than the concrete under their feet. "I haven't been on a picnic in years," she said and looked delighted at the prospect.
"I've never done it," he had admitted and hooked her hand through his elbow to lead her across the street and into the park. His penthouse overlooked Central Park yet he'd never set foot in it in the daytime. At night his wolf considered it his private playground as he romped and ran every square inch.
Once she had selected a spot in the sunshine, he spread out the traditional red checkered table cloth and they sat cross-legged facing each other with the basket between them. "I'm not sure of proper picnic etiquette," he admitted with a sheepish smile.
"Then allow me to do the honors," she had said as she shifted the basket to the side and began removing items that she neatly arranged between them. She had oohed and ahhed over his selections and some of the tension began to leave his shoulders. Reece couldn't believe that he was more concerned about how she would react to their picnic than he was about an impending feud between rivaling packs.
"You still haven't told me your name," she reminded him with a simply adorable impish smile.
"It's Reece," he'd confessed and hoped she didn't press for a last name, though he had been known by several that he could give her if she did, just not the name he'd used since he was thirteen. "And you're Joey."
"Not really," she had denied and grinned at his perplexed look. "My boss is hearing impaired, so my name tag is wrong. He's such a sweetheart that I didn't have the heart to tell him."
Was she for real? Reece knew women who would go into complete histrionics if someone mispronounced their name, but this woman hadn't complained that her name tag was wrong because she didn't want to hurt her bosses feelings. Holy hell. She really was as sweet and genuine as she seemed and he was completely intrigued.
"Are you going to tell me your name?" He queried.
"It's Jolie, hence the name tag that reads Joey," she explained.
Jolie. Which he knew was French for pretty. Had this been his typical date, Reece would have informed her of that and proceeded to flatter her that she was too stunning to simply be called pretty. Magnifique came to mind because she was magnificent. The sunlight shone on the golden mane surrounding her and she positively glowed.
They laughed and talked and time passed without notice for either of them. Reece was enthralled by her beauty, ensnared by her innate sweetness and addicted to those brilliant smiles. When Jolie shivered, he noticed that the sun had sunk behind the trees and realized that it was almost six o'clock. "Have dinner with me," he invited and did not want their date to end.
Jolie glanced at her watch and her eyes rounded in surprise at the time. "I can't. I'm going to be late like it is."
"You have a date?" He queried and his hackles rose at the thought. She had awakened something possessive inside of him and he did not intend to share her with anyone else. Ever. His wolf was convinced that Jolie was their mate. It seemed the beast was as fascinated with her as the man.
"A class," she clarified as she hastily placed the empty wine bottle and glasses back in the basket.
"What are you studying?" Reece asked as he stood when she did, anxious to know everything about her.
"Contemporary dance," Jolie replied as she lifted the tablecloth and shook it to remove any debris.
"With those legs, I should have known," he teased and loved the blush on her cheeks.
She quickly folded the cloth as she playfully responded, "When I become a star on Broadway, you can tell people that you knew me when I was no one."
Reece took her hand and held it in his to still her movements. When she glanced up at him questioningly, he admitted, "You will never be no one, Jolie. You're too special to ever be considered insignificant."
Her eyes had softened and she favored him with the sunlight of her smile as she squeezed his hand gently. "Thank you, Reece. For the lovely compliment and a wonderful afternoon."
"I want to see you again," he admitted as he closed the distance between them. She tilted her head back to look up at him and he realized that she was the perfect height for kissing. God how he wanted to taste the sunshine of her smile.
"I'd like that," Jolie had agreed.
"Tomorrow night?"
"Only if you let me cook you dinner."
"You cook?" He asked in amazement and had never had a woman offer to cook for him before. Her chef perhaps, but never herself.
"My mother was French. Of course, I cook," she had laughingly assured him.
"It's a date," he agreed. Unable to stop himself, Reece feathered his lips over hers in a kiss as chaste as it was reverent. There was something so special about her and he wasn't about to scare her off by releasing the hunger that she had inspired. From that day forward, he'd been hopelessly lost in Jolie and had basked in the sunlight she brought into his cold, barren life.
And now she was back in his life again, but her sunlight had turned to darkness. Her joy had been crushed by despair. Bitterness had taken the place of the love she had once lavished on him so freely. Reece was a selfish bastard who didn't deserve her, had never deserved her. Even knowing that, he still could not make himself let her go again.
Because without his mate, he was nothing.
CHAPTER FOUR
Jolie woke with a start and sat up looking around the room in disbelief. Oh, hell. It hadn't been a dream. She really was in Reece's penthouse. In his bed. She hopped out as if her ass was on fire and hustled into the bathroom. Of course, it would have her dream bathtub complete with jets and mood lighting. What she wouldn't give to be able to soak all her cares away.
With a sigh of resignation, she relieved her bladder, washed her hands and face and went in search of her ex. Jolie might have been too wrung out to give him hell last night, but that was about to change. If he wanted a relationship with her son, then he was going to have to play by her rules.
Entering the living room, the scent of coffee assailed her nostrils and led her directly into the kitchen. Reece was standing at the counter pouring himself a cup with one hand, his phone in the other as he barked out orders like a drill sergeant. The scene was so reminiscent of the past that she had to close
her eyes.
When they were married, she would have walked up behind him, slid her arms around his lean waist, laid her head against his shoulder and just enjoyed holding him. When he finished the call, he would have turned around and kissed her until they were both panting for more. Dammit. She had to stop remembering these ridiculous things.
Like how passionately he had kissed her. The way he had looked at her like she was the only woman in the world. Until the day he'd turned on her. Then his turquoise eyes had been as cold and hard as the stones they resembled. Exactly like his heart. Yes. That was what she needed to remember, what she needed to focus on until their talk was over.
"I don't have all day, Reece," she snapped as she walked over to the refrigerator and removed a pitcher of orange juice. He handed her a glass as he finished his conversation and ended the call.
"Morning, sunshine."
"I told you not to call me that," Jolie reminded him irritably.
"Ouch. Not a morning person anymore?" He queried and lifted the cup to sip his coffee.
"Not since I started working nights," she said sweetly and he choked on the coffee. Deciding that tormenting him was too much fun to resist, she added, "You know, normally when a man picks a stripper up and takes her home with him, the last thing he's interested in is talking."
***
Reece had not needed a reminder of what she did at night and the insinuation that she also engaged in prostitution set his temper on edge. After he had coughed the fluid out of his lungs, he growled, "That wasn't funny, Jolie."
She gave him a death glare and snapped, "No, it's a fact of life."
Jesus! He wasn't about to touch that one. He'd lose his mind if he thought for one minute that his mate had sold her body. The body that he'd pay any price to have in his bed permanently. He needed to be rational for their discussion, so Reece forced himself to ask calmly, "Would you please stop trying to provoke me so we can continue our conversation?"
"Anything to get it over with," Jolie said in exasperation as she opened the refrigerator and started removing items.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm hungry."
"I can order…"
"I'd prefer to make my own omelet if you don't mind," she refused the offer he'd been making as she shoved the door closed with her hip and began placing the items on the counter. The thought of one of her omelet's had him and his wolf salivating. Jolie really was an amazing cook.
"Need some help?" Reece offered and his mind flashed back to memories of her trying to teach him to cook and they'd always wound up making love instead. Images of Jolie bent over the countertop while he took her from behind, of her sitting atop the stove or pressed up against the refrigerator with him buried so deep they had seemed to be one.
Their eyes connected and he saw the desire in hers before she quickly looked away. Yeah, she'd been remembering it, too. "You'd just get in the way," she responded and began preparing the ingredients.
Reece moved to the other side of the counter and adjusted the steel rod in his jeans before he sat on a stool. He'd forgotten how being around Jolie had kept him in a perpetual state of arousal. Keeping his hands off of her was going to be a bitch. That was another reason why they needed to get this shit sorted out as soon as possible.
Four years of celibacy had sucked.
"You're not talking," she pointed out.
"I thought I'd wait until I had your full attention."
"I can multi-task," Jolie said dryly. "Start talking."
His mind raced through all of the things they had discussed last night and everything that still hadn't been said. Just to be on the safe side, he decided to do a re-cap of their last conversation. "Do you understand why I reacted the way I did?" Reece queried.
"Yes and no," she responded as she turned to dump something into the frying pan.
"Could you elaborate on that?" He asked and wanted there to be no misunderstandings left between them.
"Your mother warped your perception of women so you didn't trust me when I told you something that you believed was impossible," Jolie said succinctly. "A man without mommy issues would have assumed something had gone wrong with the procedure and had a test done to confirm it instead of accusing his mate of being unfaithful."
Reece grimaced because she was exactly right. On every detail. He'd overreacted and behaved like a lunatic. All because his mother had been a first class bitch. "You're right," he admitted in a tone laden with grief. "I was a fucking fool."
Jolie eyed him over her shoulder and must have decided to be charitable because she didn't rub it in. "So, yes, I get it. No, I don't agree with it," she explained.
"Can you ever forgive me?" Reece asked through a throat constricted with pain.
"No." Blunt, direct, complete denial. There was no room for compromise in her tone. No possibility of a reconciliation. His hope for a future with Jolie crashed and burned. His wolf howled in anguish as he died a fiery death inside. He dropped his face into his hands and fought the tears that were choking him.
***
The man sitting behind her was not the Reece Lassiter she had known. The man she had married had been sweet and charming, loving and playful, and he had seemed to cherish her above all else. The man who had thrown her out had been cold, hard and implacable, the ruthless supreme alpha who could make or break pack laws with one phone call.
The man at the counter just looked… broken.
Jolie knew that look all too well. She'd seen it on her own face every day for the last four years. Some dark corner of her soul cheered at his misery, but the part of her that had once loved him commiserated with his pain. Now that she understood why he had turned into a monster, it wasn't as easy to hate him as it had been the day before.
She cut a portion of the massive omelet for herself, leaving the largest piece for him, and slid it onto plates. Turning, her heart felt a pang of sympathy for Reece. His head was bowed and clasped in his hands and even the set of those broad shoulders looked dejected. Yeah, he was suffering and she didn't enjoy seeing it like she had thought she would.
Sliding a plate in front of him, she refilled his coffee cup and sat down beside him at the counter. Deciding to try and use this time to hash out the past might be painful, but it looked like they both needed it. Maybe they could finally begin to put the pain behind them and get on with their lives. Hell, it was worth a shot anyway.
"You broke my heart, Reece," Jolie said quietly as she picked at her food. "I thought you loved me and I couldn't understand how you could just turn on me like that. You didn't even give me a chance." Her heart stuttered when he lifted his head and those turquoise eyes were filled with unshed tears.
"You were the first woman that I'd ever trusted," he admitted somberly. "The only woman I'd ever loved. When I thought you'd betrayed me, I… I went insane. There's no other word for it. I just lost my fucking mind."
Yeah, he'd been completely over the edge all right. His eyes had glowed with an unearthly light and he'd sprouted claws and fangs. Up until that moment, she had loved it when his wolf came out to play. But that day it had scared the hell out of her. "You looked like you wanted to kill me," she informed him.
He lifted his hand and gently trailed the back of one finger down her cheek. "I'm the biggest, baddest wolf shifter in the country, Jolie. I have a vicious temper, but even insane I'd never hurt you physically," Reece confessed. "I wish I'd never hurt you at all."
"So do I," Jolie admitted honestly and moved away from his touch. Dammit, he was getting to her. Allowing herself to feel anything but hatred for him would be a mistake and she knew it. The man had shattered her heart, destroyed her life and turned his back on their child. He didn't deserve her sympathy.
The fire of her anger rekindled with the reminder of his unforgivable actions, Jolie grabbed their untouched plates off the counter and raked the omelets into the trash can. "I cannot believe you treated me like that," she accused as she began stacking dishes into the dishwas
her with more force than necessary.
"Do you want to know how miserable I've been without you, Reece? Do you need to hear how much I suffered? How hard I had to struggle just to survive?" She demanded and slammed the door shut so hard it bounced back open. She shut it again and whirled on him to demand, "Do you even care that I almost died?"
Reece paled to ash as his mouth dropped open in shock. "You almost died?" He rasped and looked genuinely shaken. "What the fuck happened?"
"The convenience store I was working in was robbed," she told him bluntly. "The guy was stoned out of his mind and when he put a gun in my face, I thought he was going to kill me. I went into premature labor and almost bled to death before an ambulance arrived. It's a miracle that Bryce survived."
Reece was actually shaking and his color looked more gray than white as he rounded the counter and pulled her into his arms. "My God," he breathed harshly and there was so much anguish in his eyes that Jolie knew it was real. "I could have lost you."
"You lost me a long time ago, Reece," she said evenly and slipped out of his embrace. It felt too good and stirred up way too many feelings she'd rather forget. "Now you need to let me go for good."
***
Both man and wolf rebelled at the thought of letting her go. Hell, letting her out of his arms was difficult enough. Reece knew that he would if that was what she wanted. He didn't have a choice in the matter thanks to that damn vow to Dane. But there was no way in hell he was giving up yet.
"The last time I let you go it destroyed both of us," he confessed raggedly. "Please don't ask me to make that mistake again. I don't think I'd survive it."
The look she gave him was quelling. "You actually expect me to believe that?"
"Yes," he said sincerely. Reece placed his hands on her shoulders and slid them slowly, sensually down her arms until he held her hands in his. "You're my mate, Jolie. The other half of my soul. Without you I am nothing," he confessed and the stark truth of that shown in his eyes, resonated in his voice.