by Rayne Reilly
“You didn’t have to meet me here. You look like you’re about to pass out. What the hell did they give you at the hospital?” Grant asked as he supported his brother’s elbow to stand upright.
Holden tried to stand tall but stumbled toward Grant. “It turns out I have a mild concussion. That might have something to do with it…That and the painkillers for my arm.”
Grant pressed his lips together and looked as his baby brother compassionately.
“Let’s go find a taxi and get out of here,” he said firmly.
Quickly, they arranged for the taxi to take them to Holden’s penthouse apartment. Holden continued to pass out off and on during the brief journey. Grant urged him to wake up each time his eyes closed. He was growing concerned at Holden’s inability to remain awake and hoped that the concussion was not too bad. He was glad he had shown up. Clearly, Holden was a little worse off than he had mentioned.
“Are you sure you shouldn’t be in the hospital?” Grant asked.
“No. I’m fine. They did say I should have someone with me for the next 48 hours and I told them you were coming so it’s all good,” Holden assured.
Grant let out a long breath. Holding up his brother, he ushered him inside to one of the large sofas in the living room. Propping a pillow behind Holden’s head, he sat across from him.
“Do you want anything?” Grant asked. Holden looked so vulnerable and a little sad. Grant felt bad for giving him such a hard time over the phone. Running a hand through his hair, he sat in a chair across from Holden.
“I’m fine. Glad you came.” Holden spoke quietly.
“Do you want to talk about the woman who hit you? Who is she?” Grant raised one eyebrow.
“No one special. I slept with her a couple of times but there was no spark so I told her I didn’t want to see her anymore. She began to cry and the next thing I knew, she was claiming she was pregnant,” Holden said, looking annoyed.
“Are you sure there is no chance that she is carrying your baby?”
“No chance. I assure you.” He shook his head before adding, “I’m not ready to settle down or be a father right now, either way.”
“Let me guess, you told her that?”
Holden nodded. His brown eyes looked a little sad as he stared back at Grant.
“The next time I saw her was when she ran me down with her car. But not before threatening to go to the papers about me mistreating her,” Holden finished.
“There isn’t anything you aren’t telling me, is there?”
“Of course not. You don’t honestly think I would ever harm a woman, do you?” Holden snarled.
Grant knew that his brother was not the violent type at all but he also knew that is arrogance could get him into trouble sometimes. Holden had a tendency to speak without thinking.
“No. I don’t. But you do manage to get yourself in awkward situations once in a while and I end up having to get you out. So this woman, where can I find her?” Grant asked.
“Her number is in my phone. Her name is Courtney.” He pulled out his phone and passed it to the elder brother.
Grant stood. “I’ll call my lawyer and have him contact her. We can get ahead of this more easily now that you can charge her with assault. I’ll be right back,” Grant said, taking Holden’s phone and leaving the room to make the call.
When Grant finished speaking with his lawyer he realized that in his rush to get to Vegas, he had forgotten to call Acacia and tell her he couldn’t make it to their date that night. He glanced at his phone realizing he was already late. He had hoped she would be forgiving once he explained what had happened. But the call didn’t go the way he would have liked.
After she hung up on him, Grant returned to check on Holden. He could hear the hurt in Acacia’s voice when he told her he had been called out of town. She doesn’t believe me. Grant growled as he took a seat in front of Holden once again.
“The lawyer is dealing with it. He’ll call you directly to discuss the details. He said that it is her burden to prove she is pregnant and provide DNA to show the child is yours. You should be fine. But please be more careful about the women you date and what you say to them,” Grant warned.
“You had a date tonight?” Holden changed the subject. Grant realized his brother's bear-shifter hearing had been working just fine in spite of having an injury. Holden had heard his conversation with Acacia.
“Did...yes.” Grant felt annoyed with himself that he hadn’t called Acacia sooner to reschedule.
“Is she a shifter?” Holden asked.
"She's human," Grant muttered, running both hands through his hair and shaking his head.
"You know Dad won't be happy if he finds out you are dating a human," Holden commented.
"I haven't dated her yet,” Grant said dryly. He narrowed his eyes at his brother. Holden always insisted on getting a rise out of him. Holden’s off-the-cuff remarks reminded Grant of why he was always so quick to judge his little brother.
"Does she know you're a bear shifter?" Holden asked.
"No. She doesn’t. Just stop okay?” Grant growled. Rubbing his chin with one hand he stared past Holden. “I can't help feeling drawn to her. I can’t explain it. It’s as though she is my fated mate." Grant said, his jaw clenched.
Holden laughed. "Good luck with that, Bro. Maybe you just need to get laid and you will forget all about her. We aren't meant to mate with humans. You know that."
“You let me worry about Dad,” Grant said gruffly. He was more concerned with whether or not Acacia would even give him a chance at a second date. He hoped he could win her trust.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The afternoon shift always seemed to pass a little more slowly at work for Acacia. The best thing about it was that she got out of work around dinnertime and had time to go for a walk before going home. She had been feeling out of sorts ever since Grant didn’t show up for their date. In spite of him calling to apologize she still felt hurt and disappointed.
Moping through her day she found it hard to smile or be outgoing. She was grateful when the end of her shift arrived and Kellie invited her to go to a local bar for a well-deserved drink.
“I was going to go for a walk before heading home but a drink sounds better for the mood I’m in,” Acacia said glumly.
The girls set off for a pub style bar where they could grab a nice meal and have a couple of drinks. As soon as they sat down, they placed their order. Even after their food arrived, Acacia kept glancing at her phone, which she had set on the table in front of her.
“Why don’t you call him?” Kellie said in cheerful voice.
“Why? He stood me up.” Acacia pouted.
“You know you want to see him...don’t pretend you don’t. Just call him, make some excuse, asking if you missed a call from him or something,” Kellie offered.
Acacia let out a chuckle. “I’m not desperate Kellie. The guy is nice and all, but I am not chasing after him. Especially after he decided our date wasn’t important enough to go through with it. Let’s just drop it. I’m not in the mood for talking about it.” Acacia sat back and folded her arms across her chest. Kellie looked down at her plate of food in silence.
As the women ate their meals they began to make small talk and Acacia was able to forget all about Grant. At least, that’s what she tried to tell herself.
She continued to glance at her phone occasionally hoping that he would call her. As if by sheer will, her phone beeped telling her she had a text. It was from Grant. Her heart leapt in her chest as she read it.
‘I’m back in town. Any chance you will let me take you out tonight?’
He hadn’t given up on them going out. It felt as though a million butterflies suddenly took up residence inside her stomach. She held the phone in her hand and bit her lip as she stared at the message.
“He wants to take me out tonight,” Acacia said and paused before adding sharply, “I can’t believe he would expect me to be available with no notice.”
Kellie snorted with laughter; dropping her fork onto her plate with a clang.
“What?” Acacia asked sarcastically.
“You were just moaning about him not being interested a few minutes ago. Clearly, he’s still interested, so why don’t you just invite him down here?” Kellie suggested.
“I can’t. I’m just in casual clothes, my hair is a mess from coming off work. No...I want our first date to be special.” She paused and held the phone up to text him back. “I’ll tell him I’m out with a friend and not available.”
“But?-” Kellie began to say.
Acacia put up a hand, her palm facing her friend.
“Don’t worry. I will let him know another time would be better. Besides, I have to work tomorrow and it’s getting late.”
She glanced at Kellie quickly and back down at the phone. Kellie let out a laugh, shrugged, and continued eating. Acacia realized she was being completely unreasonable but she didn’t want to appear too eager to see him. Technically she didn't have to go to work until the afternoon but now wasn't the time to be reasonable. She wanted him to want to date her and not do it out of obligation.
CHAPTER NINE
The doorbell rang, surprising Acacia. She walked over and opened it. Standing on the front step was a flower delivery man. He passed her a huge bouquet wrapped in iridescent cellophane. She gasped.
“Acacia Foster?”
Her eyes were big as saucers, she nodded. The young driver passed her the flowers and turned away to head back to his truck. Acacia took a second to begin breathing normally again. She stepped back and closed the door gazing down at the flowers in her hand. She walked to the kitchen and laid the flowers on the counter, pulling out the small envelope that held a card addressed to her.
“Dear Acacia,
I am looking forward to our first date. Finally!
Have a great day, Grant.”
She placed the card on the counter and opened the carefully-wrapped flowers. She inhaled the beautiful fragrance of them. It was breathtaking, the most beautiful bouquet of flowers she had ever been given. There was a mix of lavender roses, lavender gillyflowers and purple statice, accentuated with green button poms and lush greens.
“Wow,” she whispered to herself.
Finding a container large enough to hold the flowers was a challenge but finally, she settled on a large drink pitcher and filled it with water before placing the flowers into it. She couldn’t help the smile that was frozen on her face.
Grabbing a quick snack, she headed off to work an evening shift at Angelo’s. She couldn’t wait to tell Kellie about the incredible flowers Grant had sent. Snapping a photo to show off to her later, she quickly padded out the door.
***
The restaurant was extra busy with it being a Friday night. Acacia’s section was packed with customers and there was no sign of things slowing down. With every table that she cleared, the hostess had someone else sitting there within minutes. Acacia hurried back and forth from the kitchen and between tables. It was nights like this that she wished she didn’t have to do this job anymore.
Wiping some sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand she approached a corner table where a man was seated alone.
“Good evening, Sir, are you ready to order?”
The overweight, middle-aged, balding man moved his gaze from his menu to her face. His expression was serious and immediately, she felt something was off about him. On cue, he looked her up and down. It made her skin crawl.
“I’ll have the lasagna,” he said with a wink as he leered at her.
Acacia tried not to show her revulsion at the way his eyes locked onto her breasts. Quickly, she took a couple of steps back and turned slightly, feeling self-conscious.
“Can I get you anything to drink with that?” she asked with a hint of hostility in her voice.
“Bring me a glass of wine. Your house white will do,” he said still looking at her breasts, then slowly moving his gaze up to her face. He didn't quite make eye contact before he looked back toward the table.
She glanced around quickly to see if any other staff member was looking in her direction. She couldn’t catch anyone’s attention. The buzz of voices and low hum of soft music filled her ears. She was going to have to deal with him herself if he got handsy. She hated when men acted like they had a right to grab at her.
Fortunately it didn’t happen a lot and usually Kellie was the outspoken one who said something to them on her behalf. This time she was going to have to stand up for herself since running to Kellie was not an option with the restaurant being so busy. She walked away from him and placed his order at the kitchen before going and getting his glass of wine.
When she approached the table again, she kept a good distance from him, carefully reaching forward to place the wine glass on the edge of the table. The man took the opportunity to try to look down her v-neck top. She stood tall, her face flooded red with anger.
“Would you mind not ogling me? It’s making me uncomfortable,” she said in a low but firm voice.
The man didn’t seem embarrassed at being called out about his terrible behavior; in fact, his face changed from a neutral, almost harmless expression to a sneer. He seemed to think it was his god-given right to stare at her.
“If you don’t want people looking at them you shouldn’t have them on display,” he replied, refusing to look into Acacia’s eyes.
“If you continue to behave inappropriately I will have you removed from the restaurant,” she said angrily. Her eyes shot daggers at him. He responded by narrowing his eyes back at her.
“Now, is that any way to treat a customer?” he asked, rudely.
A rush of adrenaline flooded her body and her hands began to shake. She stood glaring at him.
“First of all, I am not displaying my breasts for you. Even if I were, what you’re doing is disrespectful. What’s wrong with you?” she accused.
“Nothing is wrong with me. You and I both know that you like the attention. All women do. That’s why you wear low cut tops in the first place.”
“Are you for real?” her voice was a little more high pitched than she had intended. Her fists were clenched at her sides. “I certainly don’t want your attention! You, sir, are an ass.”
She was about to walk away when he swung his large fat arm out and grabbed her by the elbow, squeezing hard. She winced and tried to free herself from his grasp.
“Look, little girl, I don’t know what your problem is,” he sneered. “I came in here for some food. I saw something I liked. If you’re not interested, no big deal. Now bring me my goddamn food and shut that pretty little mouth of yours. Okay?”
“Get out!” Her voice was now raised and she didn’t care who heard her. Acacia pointed toward the door but stared at the man who had hold of her arm. The stranger tugged her toward him roughly. She dug in her heels and tried to free herself from his grasp. His grip only got harder and he would not let go.
“Let me go! Now!” she spat. Acacia could hear people around her talking about the altercation. She knew that Linda would be intervening any moment.
He released her arm and sneered at her.
“I wasn’t going to hurt you. I was only having a little fun. No need to be so temperamental,” he snapped.
Acacia shook her head in disbelief at the situation in which she had found herself.
Seriously?
Blinded by sheer rage she turned to storm off, intending to report him to her boss. Instead, she walked straight into a wall of solid muscle.
“Oomph!” she said with her mouth buried into Grant's chest. She stepped back and touched her nose with one hand. She could smell his cologne. Or is that his scent?
She felt herself go weak in the knees. Staring up at him, the rage inside her melted away.
“Is there a problem here?” he asked placing his hands on Acacia’s shoulders. Grant looked in the direction of the rude man. The stranger had turned to see what was happening. He saw G
rant and stood up to face him. Grant stepped to one side, moving around Acacia, who was in disbelief at what was happening.
Grant moved to within inches of the offending stranger.
“The lady said she wanted to be left alone. I suggest you do so,” he said in a low, growly voice.
Acacia felt herself go warm inside. She glanced around the room at the customers who were staring at the scene unfolding before their very eyes. Before anything else could happen, she came back to her senses. Clearing her throat, she stepped between the two men.
“You'd better leave before I call the police,” she said to the offensive man.
He thrust out his chin as if to say something but stopped himself. He pushed past Acacia and stalked out of the restaurant. Her heart was pounding in her chest and the sudden rush of adrenaline was easing off. Acacia put her hands to her face and began to cry.
“Are you okay?” Grant asked softly as he reached out to touch her shoulder. His fingers barely touched her. She didn’t move away.
Instead, she nodded but refused to look at him. His hand was hot on her shoulder and she wished that the ground would open up and swallow her at that moment. This was not how she had intended their next meeting to go. Not at all.
Finally, after several seconds she wiped her eyes and sniffed back a sob. Rubbing her hands down her sides, she took a big breath and let it out.
“Thanks for the help. I was handling it, though,” she said sadly.
“I know you were and you did it well. I just thought you could use a little extra help, that’s all,” he whispered to her. His brow creased as he spoke. “I came in just as he let go of you. Did he hurt you?” he asked.