by Cara Adams
Werewolves of Hanson Mall 4
Overwhelmingly Precious
Quintana Simon is dedicated to succeeding at her career and never being poor again. She owns and manages both the clothing stores at the mall and spends every waking hour there.
Hanson Mall Pack werewolves Keelan Griffith and Wynn Evans are determined to get to know her better. They use the family history project to take her out on a date, but how can they progress the relationship from there? Wynn is in charge of the werewolf genealogy project so plans to use the investigations to bring Quintana closer to him and his cousin Keelan. Keelan owns the jewelry store in the mall, and harnesses his particular skills, together with Wynn, to enchant Quintana.
But can they overcome her past and work their way into her heart, showing her love will overcome all difficulties? And that’s assuming she will even agree to a second date!
Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Paranormal, Vampires/Werewolves
Length: 35,669 words
OVERWHELMINGLY PRECIOUS
Werewolves of Hanson Mall 4
Cara Adams
MENAGE EVERLASTING
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting
OVERWHELMINGLY PRECIOUS
Copyright © 2014 by Cara Adams
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62741-547-7
First E-book Publication: April 2014
Cover design by Les Byerley
All art and logo copyright © 2014 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
About the Author
OVERWHELMINGLY PRECIOUS
Werewolves of Hanson Mall 4
CARA ADAMS
Copyright © 2014
Chapter One
Quintana Simon glanced at the time on the computer. Twenty-five past seven. Hanson Mall didn’t open until eight but the fitness center opened at six, and often Meriel, her store manager, came straight here after her early morning aerobics class. Quintana leaned back in her chair and stretched. Damn. I really ought to start going to the gym more often. I need to exercise. But… Yeah, but. That was the problem. Quintana was never going to be poor again. Poor was horrible. Ever since she was a little girl she’d worked hard to achieve success. Not wealth necessarily, but definitely money in the bank safely tucked away for a rainy day. So she didn’t have time to go to the gym. All her time had to be spent making sure her business was a success.
She logged out of the accounts program and jumped up, walking out from behind the counter and staring at her store. The Hanson Mall Dress Boutique was hers and hers alone. Not that she was unaware of just how good Meriel was at her job, but all the decisions were Quintana’s. She would succeed or fail on her own merits. So far she was doing okay.
The metal gate across the store opening rattled, and Quintana smiled at Meriel. Her hair was still damp from her shower, her cheeks were flushed pink, and she looked happy. “Morning, Meriel.”
“Hi, Quintana. Are those bridal gowns going to arrive today?”
“According to the tracking receipt they’ve been loaded on the truck so I’d say yes. Don’t call the woman back until they’re in the store though. I’d hate her to be disappointed because there was a traffic jam.”
Meriel smiled and they talked for a few minutes, then Quintana said, “I’m going to the other store now, but I’ll be back later to look at the new stock when it arrives.”
The store Meriel managed for her was the Hanson Mall Dress Boutique. This was her second store and it focused on bridal wear, evening gowns, high-end professional wear, and what she termed “dressy clothing.” It was on the third level of the mall, a little out of the way of casual browsing shoppers, but it also meant there was less likelihood of shoplifting or peanut-butter-covered little fingers spoiling the expensive gowns.
Her first store was on the second level, and it was where she was heading now, running lightly down the stairs instead of waiting for the glass-walled elevator. The moving walkways hadn’t been turned on yet.
Quintana’s Clothing was managed by Tori, who was young and energetic, a good match for this store which sold everyday wear—tops and shirts, sweaters and pants, casual skirts, and a few dresses. Tori always arrived at five to eight, exactly in time to have the computer and cash register booted up before she unlocked the doors at eight precisely.
Quintana herself moved from store to store, staying at each one long enough for Meriel and Tori to take coffee breaks and a lunch break each, and doing the store’s paperwork between serving customers and ordering new stock. Where other stores hired a junior to do any running around, Quintana did it herself, preferring to be a hands-on owner, and meeting and f
orming relationships with regular customers, company sales staff, and other store owners and managers.
Quintana was human, and shared an apartment with two other human women who worked here at Hanson Mall. Most of the mall managers were werewolves. The mall had been built on werewolf land by the pack to provide employment and an income for the werewolves. Quintana had seen the opportunity to open a store here when the former pack Alpha was first establishing the mall, and had been one of the first store owners, as well as one of very few humans. Since there were far more male wolves than females, the old Alpha had agreed to her opening Quintana’s Clothing because he knew he needed to attract human shoppers as well as weres for the mall to be a success. Quintana’s store had done so well she’d branched out and opened the second one. The mall was doing well, too, now under the leadership of the old Alpha’s successor, Cadfael Hanson.
Quintana unlocked the metal gate at her store, hurried inside and turned off the security alarm, and then returned to pull the gate down behind her and shut it. She turned the computer and cash register on, leaving them to boot up while she walked into the back room and filled the kettle. Tori only drank herbal teas and Quintana enjoyed trying out different varieties with her.
She breathed deeply, loving the smell of her very own store. She was living her dream, owning her store, working hard, and had saved a small nest egg in case something went wrong. Silently she repeated her mantra. “I will never be dirt poor again.” Of course it’d taken her to age thirty to get this far. Most of the women she’d gone to school with had a partner and a couple of kids by now. But for her, that nest egg against contingencies was more important. She’d experienced being cold, hungry, and homeless. Never again would she risk that happening to her. Not even to be wrapped in a man’s strong and loving arms at night. Although an orgasm or two would be nice. Too bad it wasn’t going to happen to her.
* * * *
“You’re going to have to do it,” Keelan Griffith said firmly.
“Me?” Wynn Evans’s voice came out in a shrill, girlish squeak, and he dropped his toast peanut butter side down on the table.
“Yes, you.”
“But what am I supposed to say? You know she won’t go out on a date with anyone, far less me.” Wynn could feel the sweat gathering on his forehead and sliding down his spine, dampening the back of his freshly ironed shirt. He was going to need another shower before he went to work, and that was assuming he could talk Keelan out of this idiotic idea of his before he had a heart attack.
“You want to get to know Quintana better, right?”
“You know I do.”
“Well we can’t sit around waiting forever. Sooner or later someone else will realize how amazing she is and grab her right out from under our noses.”
Wynn stared at his upside-down toast. “Since she won’t accept a date, how am I supposed to get her to agree to be with us? It’s not like she needs someone to escort her home from work, and anyway you live here.”
Wynn had hoped that would put a stop to Keelan’s crazy suggestion, but the man just smiled.
“Tell her she needs to sit and talk to you about the genetics project. There has to be a connection between her and the wolves. She was one of the very first store owners here, and since she both knew about the mall development, and knew the old Alpha, she must be linked to the shape-shifter community. Maybe she’s even part werewolf.”
“Part werewolf? I never even thought of that.” Wynn picked up his toast and munched it thoughtfully. But if she had a shape-shifter grandfather or uncle, that would explain her knowledge of the community and her willingness to work with the werewolves. Most people didn’t think werewolves, or any shape-shifters at all, existed. Of those who did, there was a percentage who were terrified of them. They saw shifters as evil beings who went mad and attacked and killed humans indiscriminately every full moon.
“All right. That might work. But we’ll need somewhere relatively private to talk to her. She won’t want strangers able to overhear the conversation, and we don’t want random customers listening in either. Shall I book the sixth-floor conference room, do you think?”
“That’s an excellent idea, and afterward we’ll go to one of the restaurants for a meal, to make the evening into a true date.” Keelan was nodding at him again.
Wynn licked peanut butter off his fingers as he spoke. “So about six thirty then? After the stores close, with a few minutes to spare in case she needs to talk to her staff or something. And I’ll let her choose which day.”
“But you need to make her choose. Don’t allow her to put you off or say she’ll get back to you ‘some time.’ Lock her down to a date and time.”
Wynn smiled. He could do that. He really could. Right after he had another shower and changed his shirt. Carelessly he wiped his still messy fingers on his shirt and stood to leave. “I’ll message you later with the details.”
* * * *
Keelan Griffith owned and managed the jewelry store on the third level of the mall. The third level meant he was a bit out of the way of browsing shoppers but it was quieter here, and he liked the ambience. Besides, he had a steady stream of customers wanting special birthday and holiday gifts, or an heirloom ring altered to fit them, which provided an adequate income for him. Over the past few months he’d even added a shop assistant to his store, a young wolf, Vaughan, who wanted to learn the trade.
At thirty-two, Keelan didn’t really see himself as ancient, but he was enjoying teaching Vaughan some of the skills of the trade. Next year Vaughan would begin school to learn about the more intricate side of the job.
Meanwhile Keelan stared at the ring he’d designed especially for Quintana. The white gold band was engraved with tiny spirals, and every fifth spiral had three entwined hearts at the center of it. Five because Quintana means fifth, and the three hearts representing her, Wynn, and himself.
He let his mental image of her face flood his senses. Quintana wasn’t classically beautiful, but she was perfect in his eyes. She epitomized elegance. She was taller than an average woman, and curved in all the right places. Although definitely not fat, neither was she runway model slender. She was just right. The clothing from her stores always looked amazing on her. She was a living, breathing advertisement for her stock. Her long dark hair was usually tied up in some kind of braid, but he’d seen it out a few times and it hung almost to her waist. Her eyes were a rich dark brown that made him think of bedrooms and sex.
Keelan’s own hair was black and his eyes brown. On him they looked boring, and ordinary. The same general categories on Quintana showed him how good such colors could be—on someone else.
It seemed like he’d spent forever trying to get to know Quintana better, with absolutely zero success. He wanted to know what drove her to work so hard when her stores were already doing well. Maybe he’d find out now. He was pleased with himself for finally thinking of a genuine reason why they should all talk. Well, maybe not a genuine reason for him, but since he and Wynn had agreed to share a woman it was genuine enough. Besides, it really would help the genealogy project to find out if there was some shape-shifter in her family tree. Even if there wasn’t it might bring another group of shape-shifters—the ones she knew—into the project.
So few girls were born into shape-shifter families. Boys predominated strongly. Only by mating with humans could werewolves survive. Now the packs had joined together to find out if this had always been true, or if it was a new development. Had there been some change in their blood or chromosomes to cause girls to become rare? Or had werewolves always intermarried with humans, but not really talked about it much?
Wynn and he were some vague kind of seventh cousins twice removed or something like that. His father had explained it to him once when he, as a mature and studious fourteen-year-old, had objected to being made to watch the noisy, unrestrained seven-year-old Wynn on a family vacation. He’d grown up, learned to be a jeweler, and gotten the store. And now Wynn had grown up as well,
studied genealogy, and become the joint leader of the werewolf family history project. He traveled a bit with the work, and sometimes landed up at the mall wanting a bed for the night. Keelan had actually bought a pullout sofa bed after the first few times Wynn had arrived unexpectedly.
Now that Willow and Hawthorne Cunliffe were working on the history project full-time, Wynn traveled even more often, but these days the bedroom in the genealogy office was usually vacant and he could stay there if he needed to.
For a few minutes Keelan worried how they’d manage as a family if Wynn was away from home a lot. Then he shrugged those thoughts off. We haven’t even convinced Quintana to date us yet. One step at a time.
* * * *
Quintana smiled when Wynn Evans walked into the Hanson Mall Dress Boutique. He was so obviously ill at ease and it was plain he wasn’t here just to browse through the stock.
“Hi, Wynn.”
“Oh, hi there, Quintana. I was hoping to talk to you for a few minutes, please. If that’s okay?”
He cast a nervous glance toward Meriel who walked across to the counter, leaned over, and picked up the day’s outgoing mail. “I’ll go and post these now. It’ll save doing it later,” she said with a smile.
Quintana was grateful for her quick-wittedness to both leave them alone and yet do something useful at the same time.
“Thanks, Meriel.”
Wynn relaxed a bit. “I didn’t know if she knows about…well you know.”