by Josie Walker
“My family is why I’m in this mess in the first place,” Sophia muttered.
Michelle quirked an eyebrow and pressed a hand to her hip as she waited for Sophia to explain herself.
“I feel so guilty…” she admitted all in a rush. “Because I’m using what for you is a horrible situation… to meet guys.”
“What?” Michelle asked, wondering if she was terribly dense or if Sophia was just REALLY bad at explaining things.
“My dad has scared off every boy I’ve ever dated. He just can’t seem to believe that anyone is good enough for his precious baby girl. But I’m not a baby and I’m so sick of being alone. All I want is that special someone… and I can tell that you and my brother are totally into each other… so my evil plan is doomed before it’s even started.”
“Excuse me,” Michelle interrupted angrily. “I am not ‘into’ Parker.”
“Oh please, I can smell him all over you,” Sophia snorted. “Shifter’s nose,” she explained when she saw that Michelle was going to try to deny it. “We can also smell lies so I recommend you speak carefully around my family.”
“Hmph,” she replied noncommittally.
“All I’m asking is that you pretend to play along with my whole bachelorette idea. Don’t let Parker corner you right away. Let the other shifters feel like they stand a fighting chance. Go out on a few dates. Please give me time to see if any of the others could be my potential mate. If you do this I will owe you like forever,” Sophia ended all in a rush.
At first Michelle didn’t know how to respond. On one hand she was insulted, because the woman’s behavior was underhanded, not to mention presumptuous. But when she tried to imagine what it must have been like for the woman to try to blossom under her father’s shadow she couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. Ty was one intimidating man, and the fact that he was also a shifter bear and the Itan had probably made dating unbearable for the girl.
“I can’t believe I’m agreeing to do this,” she sighed, combing a hand through her wet hair.
“YES! YES! YES! I knew you’d do it!” Sophia squealed, pulling her in for a big bear hug. “We’re going to be the best of friends,” she stated confidently.
“So what exactly did you have in mind for today?” Michelle asked warily.
***
There were ten chairs lined up on the deck. Each of the chairs was occupied by a woman. Michelle was in the last seat, followed by Sophia, Mia, and Gigi. Sophia had also enlisted all of her aunts, whose names Michelle couldn’t begin to remember, and a few other clanswomen had volunteered to help as well. Each woman was armed with a small notebook and a pen. All of their feet were bare.
Sophia stood and addressed the crowd. “You are all here because you’re interested in mating and settling down,” she began timidly, but gained more and more confidence as she continued her speech. “But because there are so many of you, you’re going to have to work hard to stand out from the crowd. This evening’s competition is highly recommended, but not mandatory. Those who want to compete will start rubbing feet at the end of the porch and work their way up to Michelle at the other end. We’ll all be judging you and the man with the best overall score will win a one on one date with Michelle.
Her announcement was met with excited yips and a chorus of contented chuffing sounds as the single shifters began to line up at the edge of the stage. A few of the men removed their shirts as though they thought that might somehow improve their rankings. Someone started up some romantic music on the large built in deck sound system. Then the music ended abruptly as someone else switched it to heavy metal. All it took was one glare from Mia and the musical offender apologized and switched it back to the original album.
Michelle was last because she was supposed to judge whether or not the men could still give a decent foot rub after they’d already delivered nine massages, or if they lacked stamina. The women tried to keep straight faces as they scribbled notes on their score cards, and Michelle couldn’t believe how much fun she was having. It was hard to feel like she was being held here against her will when she was having so much fun. She couldn’t stop giggling at the goings on.
“Watch your hands on my wife,” Ty growled at the unfortunate candidate poised at Mia’s feet.
“Oh calm your bear already,” Mia retorted. “It’s not even a good foot rub.”
The candidate looked sick at her proclamation, and proceeded to rub harder and harder down the line. Unfortunately for him, and his barefoot victims, harder isn’t always better. Pretty soon Ty wasn’t the only one supervising his wife’s feet. All of Sophia’s uncles were lined up, forming a menacing wall of censorship. Michelle was starting to think that her new friend hadn’t been exaggerating about her family scaring off all of her potential boyfriends.
Parker was the last shifter in line, but instead of going for her feet he rubbed her shoulders. She refused to admit how good his hands felt on her skin, especially with everyone watching them.
“Did you get confused?” she asked cattily. “Or did you just forget that this is a foot rubbing competition? You know you’re never going to win if you can’t learn to follow the rules.”
“Some rules are meant to be broken,” he whispered huskily in her ear.
Just when she was starting to relax into the massage and enjoy it he broke away abruptly, leaving her wanting for more. She glared at him and in return he gave her a wicked grin. His playful smile let her know that he’d been baiting her intentionally. She wanted to knock that look right off his face.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The women had retreated inside to compare notes and make a final ruling. Most of them were limping slightly and wincing as they walked.
“I never really thought there was such a thing as a bad foot massage before today,” Mia whined.
“It’s a good thing they’re all so good looking, because most of those boys couldn’t even finesse an old goat,” Gigi muttered.
“How was that backrub?” Trista, one of Sophia’s nosy aunts asked.
“Let’s just say he’s not getting that date,” Michelle said, managing to answer the question while still avoiding revealing any of her personal feelings.
“Poor Parker,” Gigi tsked disappointedly.
“He broke the rules,” Sophia said loudly in Michelle’s defense.
“I’m voting for Jacob,” Sophia’s Aunt Kira interjected excitedly. “I don’t even have to be able to see to know that boy is fine.”
“Since when does a thirty-five year old man qualify as a boy?” Sophia asked.
“Honey, when you get to be our age you see everyone as children,” Kira laughed at her own joke and slapped her leg.
Michelle grinned at Kira even though she was fairly certain that the woman couldn’t see her expression. Kira was a mole shifter and she was mostly blind, although according to Mia she could still see blurry shapes. She was married to Isaac, the clan’s doctor.
If Michelle were planning on sticking around… which she wasn’t… she’d have loved to get to know Kira better. It would also have been nice to pick her husband’s brain and maybe glean some medical knowledge to help her with her classes.
But deep down she knew that there was no point in getting attached to any of these women, because the moment she got back on her feet financially she was purchasing a one way ticket out of this crazy shifter town.
“What do you think about Jacob?” Michelle asked Sophia. What she really wanted to say was, “Tell me which ones you’re interested in so I don’t accidentally choose one of them.” But if she’d done that Sophia’s whole family would have realized what the woman was up to.
“I think Jacob’s a great choice. Although you might want to make sure your date is somewhere public. That man is a little too smooth for his own good,” Sophia winked conspiratorially, making Michelle feel like she’d understood what she’d really bee
n asking, and that she had the “all clear” from mission control.
“Wolves have all the best moves,” sighed Evelyn Bennett, the Itana of a neighboring clan.
“You should know, you married one,” Mia teased.
“Shall we go announce the winner then?” Sophia asked.
They all responded eagerly with the affirmative and then shuffled and winced as they hobbled their way back out to the porch.
***
“I’ll pick you up at one,” said Jacob after he received the good news. He bowed over her hand and pressed a suave kiss to her palm. “You might want to dress up.”
“Where are you taking me?” she asked suspiciously.
“It’s a surprise,” he said revealing a sexy dimple in one of his cheeks when he smiled.
Michelle wanted to tell him where he could shove his “surprise,” but that was when she saw the furious look painting Parker’s countenance. And then all of a sudden she wasn’t just playing along for Sophia’s sake.
She wanted to prove once and for all that a certain cocky bear was NOT the master of HER destiny. No one could tell her what to do. She was in charge of her own life… even if she was being held under house arrest with threat of death if she didn’t pick one of the hunky shifters to mate with soon.
As amusing as the day had turned out to be she still couldn’t stop worrying about Grace, but no matter who she’d tried asking today she’d been denied access to her cell phone or any phone for that matter. She hoped that her foster sister was okay, but there was little hope for that on even a good day. Her junkie roommate was always in trouble. “Just don’t go home,” she whispered under her breath as if her friend might somehow be able to hear her from hundreds of miles away.
***
She’d escaped to her own room as soon as possible after dinner. But sleep proved to be an elusive mistress. At one point she could have sworn that she heard the sound of him breathing on the other side of the wall. She’d seen him in the savage glory of his bear state, and she was sure that the flimsy door locks wouldn’t have even slowed him down if he decided to barge in on her.
Too bad that she was a big hot mess who didn’t really know what she wanted him to do. While her mind was hell bent on resisting him, her sex deprived body secretly wanted him to step in through the shared bathroom. Her crazy hormones wanted him to climb right into bed with her so that they could pick back up with what he’d started after she’d accidentally entered the wrong room after her shower. “Maybe you should ‘accidentally’ go visit him again?” her naughty libido suggested in the silence of her thoughts.
She moaned into the pillow in an effort to vent some of her frustration, but it did nothing to soothe the urges he’d stirred inside of her body. He was a complication she so didn’t need right now. She already had enough crap to overcome thanks to her druggie roommate. The last thing she needed was to let some hunky MANIMAL put the moves on her and ultimately break her heart.
***
Sophia kept her company while she got ready for her date, supplying her with some much needed distraction. Fortunately, the woman didn’t require much in the way of feedback as she continued on and on with her endless chattering. As for Michelle, she just couldn’t figure out why she was so nervous. It’s not like this was the first date she’d ever been on! Although it had been far longer than she cared to admit since she’d gone out on the town. She was too busy fighting to survive to scope out men.
She checked her makeup for the umpteenth time and smoothed the dress down over her wide hips. The dress was all black and it was the type of thing she’d always wanted to buy but never had. What made it stand out was the sexy black lace train in the back that extended past where the short skirt tapered off.
The neckline was almost up to her chin, which would almost have made the dress seem modest. But from the back view it told an entirely different story. The scooped cutout dipped all the way down her spine, stopping just short of the full curve of her ass. Thanks to the gravity defying stilettos she was wearing her rear end had never looked so good.
She’d arranged her long hair in a curly updo, and she felt almost as though she was waiting for her prom date to arrive and take her to the dance. All of this made her feel even more silly, since she’d never even made it to her senior prom because she’d had to work in order to save up money for her college fund. When she thought of all the sacrifices she’d made to get a degree, a degree which she STILL didn’t have... well she felt as though someone had sucked all of the wind out of her sails.
She flopped gracelessly down on the edge of the mattress. Sometimes she wondered if she’d ever get her nursing degree. She wasn’t even in her twenties anymore. Now that she was thirty-one she couldn’t help but wonder if she was simply too old to better herself. Would she be better off if she just stopped fighting the uphill battle and learned to enjoy waitressing more?
Was she just kidding herself that she was college material? For the first time since she’d woken up in this strange bear’s den she wondered if she should throw in the towel. Would she be better off if she just stopped fighting it and married one of the shifters? At least then she wouldn’t have to worry about keeping a roof over her head.
“Until he gets you pregnant and splits. Then you’d have one more mouth to take care of and no money to do it with,” she thought darkly. No, shacking up with a man was not the answer to ANY of her numerous problems. She’d learned over and over again not to trust people, because they’d always failed her in the past.
CHAPTER NINE
Jacob had driven her to a fancy restaurant over an hour away. There’d been a long line of people waiting outside to get in, but he’d pulled a key out of his pocket and led her in through a side door.
“If this date ends up with me getting arrested there will be no more dates for you,” she warned him sternly.
He chuckled as he opened a door that said “Employees Only,” and then he leaned in so close that his lips brushed the back of her neck. “This is my restaurant. It’s the thing I’m most passionate about, so I wanted to share it with you.”
When he said the word “passionate” it sounded like he was purring and she let loose a little giggle because all of his attempts at being sexy seemed to bypass her libido completely and go directly to her funny bone. He led her inside one of the biggest kitchens she’d ever seen and handed her an apron. It seriously made the kitchen in the diner where she’d worked look like a little kid’s play set or something.
“So now I have to work for my dinner?” she joked playfully. “You know I’m a waitress, right? So I’d probably do better on the other side of that door. I’m actually looking for a job right now if you have any openings,” she suggested. “Perhaps this evening won’t wind up being a total waste after all,” she thought to herself.
“If you were my mate we could run this business together,” he said earnestly. “I’d love that,” he admitted. “Having someone to share the restaurant with would be incredible. It’s a lot of work, but it’s what makes me tick. Does that make any sense at all to you… or am I just rambling here?”
She didn’t know what to say so she just smiled at him and nodded. They both washed their hands at a large industrial sink station, and part of the reason she was so thorough was because she needed a moment to collect her thoughts before she answered him.
“I don’t think that I’ve ever had a job that I’ve been that passionate about,” she finally admitted. The fact that it was the truth made her feel sad. “Work for me has always been about making ends meet. That’s why I want to get my nursing degree. Hospitals always need more nurses, and I feel like there would be job security in a field like that.”
“So what you’re really passionate about is security,” Jacob said insightfully.
His declaration made her feel uncomfortable, as though he’d gone poking about in her head. She hadn’
t given him permission and she didn’t know if she had good feelings about what all he might find in there if he kept looking.
“Maybe,” she stalled, trying to think of another topic to switch the conversation to.
“Answer me this,” he said looking directly into her eyes. “What would you want to do if you didn’t have to worry about money? What do you love? What makes you tick? What’s your deepest darkest desire?”
He practically purred the last word but her problem wasn’t with his overt sexuality, it was with the panic he was evoking in her. He’d just shot her life goals all to hell and she didn’t even begin to know how to deal with that. She wanted to steal the ostrich’s classic move and bury her head in the sand and pretend that this conversation had never happened.
“I… I have no idea,” she finally admitted. And suddenly she felt almost paralyzed with the great unknown that her future had become. Suddenly she wasn’t quite so sure that she wanted to be a nurse, or that there’d be a guaranteed job waiting for her if and when she finally graduated. Was she chasing after all the wrong things?
Jacob handed her a knife, and she hardly even noticed how forward he was being when he wrapped his arms around her and showed her how to properly chop an onion. When she started crying it wasn’t because the onion fumes were burning her eyes, it was because he’d just blown the top off of her mind. How does someone make it to thirty-one without ever having been asked what they want out of their life? How was it that this man was the first person to ever seem to care about what she wanted out of her future?
How had she made it this long without amassing any real hopes and dreams? She had nothing to show for her life beyond a failed attempt to attain some financial security. Shouldn’t someone along the way, a teacher, a foster parent, a case worker, ANYONE, have asked her what the hell she wanted to be when she grew up?
All of a sudden she felt overwhelmed by the busy environment of the kitchen with all the prep staff bustling about. She felt like she was suffocating and she had to get outside where the air was fresh so that she could breathe. She dropped the knife and it clattered as it hit the wooden butcher block. She darted towards the employees only entrance and rushed outside.