by Cara Adams
“Oh, it’s you, Keelan and Wynn. We saw the light and thought we’d say hi to you. How’s your day been?”
“My day’s been good, thanks. I was just showing something to Wynn. And what about you, Dakota. How has your day been?”
Dakota and Berian both smiled and relaxed when he used Dakota’s name. That was his password. To answer the person who questioned him by name. It meant he didn’t have to remember some convoluted formula, or try to fit some inappropriate word into the conversation.
“How’s the roof garden coming along?” Wynn asked. One of Dakota’s mates, Lewis, was in charge of building the project.
“It’s progressing really well. It looks amazing,” answered Berian.
“It really does. You should come up and look at it one day,” added Dakota.
“We will,” replied Wynn.
Keelan stopped and watched as the guards returned to their rounds, and then walked up the stairs again and back to the professional suites. “Let’s take the stairs. It’s only four floors,” he said, pushing the stairwell door open.
“Only. Only four floors,” groaned Wynn.
“You’re the one who has to pace and can’t sit still.”
“It’s how I think.”
“That means you’ll be thinking extra well when we get back to my apartment.” Keelan set a fast pace up the stairs. The truth was, he needed the exercise as much as Wynn. He really ought to go to the fitness center more often. And when the roof garden was finished he really would go there to run at least once a week. He’d put a set time in his cell phone so he didn’t forget.
Back in the apartment he went to his coffeepot and turned it on, while Wynn pulled some leftover snow peas out of the refrigerator and dropped the open bag on the counter beside them, crunching one of the delicious morsels as he did so.
“Normal wolves snack on hot dogs and fries,” he said as he took a couple of snow peas himself.
“I would, but I don’t like them cold. Now snow peas are perfect cold.”
They sat at the counter with their coffee, crunching a pea now and then, until Wynn said, “What’s your plan with the ring? When are we going to ask Quintana to mate us?”
“Yes, well, I haven’t quite worked that bit out yet,” Keelan confessed, feeling his face pinken with embarrassment.
Chapter Five
Wynn had made as much progress as he could from the information Quintana had given him about the Simon pack. He had a list of questions he needed to ask other pack members. He suspected humans hadn’t been included in that pack until her human grandmother because there was such a heavy preponderance of males. However, it was possible that some of the men who’d found their mates in other packs had inadvertently brought back a werewolf bride who was only part werewolf. In other words, these women had been born female because of a human in their family tree. A grandmother, like Quintana’s cousins had, perhaps.
But this was all idle speculation. He really needed an older pack member to interview. He’d learned that older people had good memories for genealogies, and the very best records the researchers had collected had been from when a small group of senior citizens had been interviewed together, sparking each other’s memories and stories of pack members long departed.
He wasn’t at all sure that would happen here though. The best he could hope for right now was that the Alpha would let him interview someone. Anyone at all.
Meanwhile, he longed for another date with Quintana. One that might lead them to asking her to mate them. Realistically it was a little too soon for that. But surely after their last date she had to feel close to them. Hell, he’d never come so damn hard before in his life. It’d felt like his cum was being dragged out of his very toes.
Right now he was in the family history project office, apartment 7C. It used to be a guest apartment, and he was living here as well at the moment, but the second bedroom had been turned into an office and every available inch of wall space was covered with family trees and sticky notes linking various groups together.
Willow and Hawthorne Cunliffe had done an amazing job of collecting and cross-referencing all the data, and he was certain they’d made enormous strides in collating all their information. It was just that they hadn’t found the link, or if it was found, it still wasn’t obvious to him. But it truly did seem that packs without any human connection had declined in the past as they were now. Maybe that’s what had always happened. Lack of females had sent males out to mate with humans and then girls had been born again. It was just that previously no one had connected the fact of bringing the human women into the pack to more girls being born. Possibly because the packs which had banned contact with humans were the ones that had died out.
But this was all conjecture. He couldn’t do anything more here now. He needed to work on progressing their romance with Quintana. Had it been long enough? Would she agree to a date soon?
He left the family history project office and ran down the stairs and out of the professional suites to Keelan’s store. When he arrived, both Keelan and Vaughan were tending to customers, so Wynn stayed well back out of the way, watching and listening. He hadn’t really thought about it before, but he, Keelan, and Quintana all worked with people. Although his own job involved sitting at a computer and managing files and spreadsheets, a lot of it was also talking to people and listening to their stories. And that’s what Keelan was doing now. Listening to this woman’s story and trying to work out which bracelet would be most suitable for her needs.
It was another link between the three of them. They were all people-focused rather than task-focused. Except he needed to concentrate on a task right now. The task of convincing Quintana the three of them belonged together. After both of Keelan’s customers had been served, he asked Keelan, “Are you able to take a ten-minute break?”
“Sure. Vaughan, would you like me to bring you back a snack or anything?”
“Thanks, Keelan. I’d love a jelly donut.”
“A jelly donut. I wouldn’t mind one either.” Wynn’s stomach rumbled at the thought of food. But not until after they’d spoken to Quintana.
“I won’t be long,” Keelan promised Vaughan.
Instead of heading for the moving walkway down to the food court, Wynn led them toward the Hanson Mall Dress Boutique.
“So we aren’t just taking a coffee break?” asked Keelan.
“We are. It’s just that I want us to ask Quintana out on a date first. I don’t think I can wait any longer to see her again.”
“What kind of date?”
Wynn stopped and looked at Keelan. “I don’t know. I thought maybe we could ask her what she’d like to do.”
“That’s a good idea. I like that plan.”
Wynn grinned and began walking again, stopping outside Quintana’s store. A quick look inside showed she wasn’t there. Three teenage girls were looking at prom dresses with Meriel. If Quintana had been in the store she would have been with them or standing at the counter.
“She must be downstairs.”
They were close to the glass elevator, so they rode it down one level and turned toward Quintana’s Clothing. Quintana was standing outside the store, her hands on her hips, looking at the window display. It looked fine to Wynn, but he knew nothing about clothing after all. Which was proven to be a fact when Keelan said, “It’s too monochrome. You need a jewel color to attract attention.”
Quintana turned around and smiled at them. “A red T-shirt on the blonde mannequin and a red belt on the brunette should make it look much better. Were you just walking past, or did you come to visit?”
“We came to invite you out on a date with us,” said Wynn. He tried hard to look hopeful rather than imploring, but begging suited him right now. He needed to spend time with her again. He hated not seeing her every day.
“What kind of date?”
“Would you like to choose what we do and where we go?” he asked.
She stopped smiling and looked from him to
Keelan assessing them both. “Actually, I’d like to see the roof garden. I’m really looking forward to when it’ll be finished.”
“That’s an amazing coincidence. Keelan and I were just talking about going up there the other day. I’ll ask Lewis right away. Is tonight after work suitable? I could get us a picnic from the food court and we could eat it up there.”
“A picnic would be wonderful. I haven’t been on one in years.”
Wynn stepped away from the store window and called Lewis. “Hi, Lewis. How are you doing? Good, good. Um, listen, Quintana would like to see the roof garden and I wondered if we could have a picnic up there after work tonight? Yeah, I know it’s not finished but still… Yes. Thank you very much. Would six thirty be okay? Thanks. Thanks indeed.”
He bounced back to Keelan and Quintana. “It’s all organized. Six thirty. Are there any picnic foods you don’t like, Quintana?”
“I like all the usual things, thank you. I’ll see you at the elevator to the professional suites at six thirty then.” She smiled and went back into the store.
Wynn felt happiness bubbling up through his body. She’d agreed. They’d be together again tonight. Happily he high-fived Keelan. “Success!”
“Let’s go get Vaughan’s donut and plan the picnic,” said Keelan.
“Oh, yes. That’s right. A jelly donut.”
* * * *
Quintana had tried to be strict. She’d refused to let them make another date with her straightaway, and she’d deliberately made no contact with either Wynn or Keelan. She hadn’t even walked past Keelan’s store, choosing to take the stairs from the second level to the third every time she moved between her shops, instead of using the glass elevator. But she couldn’t seem to prevent herself from thinking about them. Their delicious bodies, the amazing orgasms they gave her, their patience, care, and helpfulness, even the joking way they teased each other. All of it blended into two quite distinct, yet equally appealing personalities and two men she wanted to know better and ached to spend more time with.
She no longer considered Wynn too young for her. His boyish attitudes and curling hair hid an intelligent adult mind, a perfect match for her own, just as Keelan’s was.
Seeing the farm should have made her forget the men and drive herself to work even harder to ensure her stores were successful. Instead, it saddened her to see no animals in the fields, no vegetables or crops growing, and no men working around the farm. Had all the able-bodied men left to find work somewhere else?
But she could also see that part of their problem was their own attitudes and inaction. Just as her father had refused to be polite and helpful to his customers, letting his bad temper rule over his common sense, so, too, the wolves remaining at the farm had not overcome their engrained habits and searched out other, better paying crops. Of course, that might not have been a complete solution, but surely it would have helped them. She knew other packs—hell other ordinary farmers—were now making a much better living growing organic fruits and vegetables, flowers, specialty seeds, exotic animals for meat, milk, or their wool, and other things. She was certain the pack could have done something to help themselves if they’d researched it properly.
She’d studied business management at community college while working full-time. The pack could have sent a couple of their brightest boys there to learn horticulture or business management any time these past fifteen years. If they had, there was no evidence of it that she could see on the farm.
Quintana decided progress was as much sweat and determination as any genuine ability, although a person with true talent would likely succeed faster than a less gifted person.
Which brought her thoughts back to tonight. There were so many reasons why she should stay away from Wynn and Keelan. Primarily her need for security and success, and her family background of dismal failure. Nevertheless, tonight she would share in a picnic with Keelan and Wynn, and undoubtedly end up in bed with them again. They certainly knew how to please a woman. They’d given her earth-shattering climaxes. But first, she wanted them to show her their wolf forms. She’d grown up seeing dozens of wolves running around the farm. Wolves playing, wolves fighting, wolves competing. She’d seen her father’s pain and anguish at not being able to join in, and had felt his heartbreak at not receiving the wolf gene. But instead of choosing to follow the human path wholeheartedly and make a success of himself there, he’d never fully accepted the human world, and too many of the things he’d tried to do had been inadequately thought through.
At least he’d shown her what not to do. She’d studied hard and worked ferociously to make a success of her business, reading everything she could find about running a store and spending endless hours following the trends in the clothing industry. That didn’t mean she could stop trying so hard. She was only ever as good as her latest decision. But it did mean she’d developed an understanding of the industry and was reasonably good at what she did. She would never stop trying, never stop learning, never stop working hard. But maybe she could allow a little fun into her life from time to time. The kind of fun that might be found with Keelan and Wynn.
Despite her thoughts, she forced herself not to rush from the store at six, but to complete all her usual tasks before locking up and making her way to the professional suites. Wynn was pacing up and down just inside the glass doors as she’d come to recognize was his standard method of behavior. Keelan was sitting in Sophie, the receptionist’s chair, waiting patiently—behavior she also knew was typical of him. However, when she arrived he smiled broadly and jumped to his feet, as Wynn swiped opened the doors for her.
Keelan must have texted Lewis, or else he’d arranged to come down at six thirty, because he also arrived just then in the elevator and held open the doors for them all as he swiped his card to take them up to the roof.
“You do understand it’s not finished yet? There’s still a lot to be done,” Lewis said.
“I understand. I’m just intrigued to see how it’s coming along. It’s a wonderful idea and I can’t wait until it’s finished and we’re allowed to come here often,” she said.
“Thanks for letting us have our picnic there. I appreciate it. I know it’s your haven from the city,” added Keelan.
“I’m getting a lot better at coping with all the noise and people, but I still like the silence on the roof. Just text me when you’re ready to leave,” said Lewis.
“It might be late,” said Wynn, staring down at the floor instead of at Lewis. Quintana hid her grin. She was pretty sure Lewis had already guessed that.
“Any time before midnight is fine.”
Quintana looked at Lewis with respect. That was a smart answer. He’d given them a deadline in a very gentle way and it was one they should have no trouble fulfilling, yet it still was a deadline.
Wynn had a bulging sports bag and Keelan was carrying a shopping bag. She guessed he had the food. Suddenly Quintana felt hungry for food as well as for the time ahead of them.
Lewis held the elevator door and they all got off, then the doors closed and he was gone. Quintana turned and stared at the roof. She hadn’t been up here very often. It had been an enormous empty concrete space with waist-high railings around the edges. Now, this area here near the elevator, was a forest of six-foot-tall trees hiding the edge of the roof, with flowering shrubs in front of them, and plants in pots in front of the shrubs, making a triple barrier of greenery and color all around her.
A square garden bed had been framed in and small green shoots were sticking up out of the soil in neat rows. There was empty space at each end of the garden bed and Quintana wondered whether that was going to be for more plants in pots, or perhaps benches for people to sit on.
The men were waiting for her to lead the way, but she was enjoying herself looking at everything, so moved slowly through the ranks of trees and bushes to another open area. The garden bed here was very shallow, so Quintana wondered if it was going to be lawn, or more plants.
Now there were
two pathways to choose from. Both were just the concrete of the roof, but the arrangements of the plants forced the person to twist and turn, first heading one way, and then the other. There was a long straight stretch, then some quick chicanes and another long straight stretch heading back the way they’d been coming.
“Oh, I know what this is. This is going to be the running track. That’s why there’s no flowers to look at here,” she said.
She walked faster now she realized the plants here weren’t the attraction and followed the running track around to where they’d begun, the open area. So there weren’t two paths at all. It was a start and a finish.
Wynn opened his sports bag and spread out a blanket on the concrete for them to sit on, then began unpacking some other things. She sat cross-legged on a corner of the rug and watched as he got out paper napkins, hand sanitizer, disposable plates, and cutlery. He set these out neatly on the rug, kneeling on one corner of it as he did. When he’d finished, he put the sports bag behind him and sat back on his heels. Keelan sat with his butt on the rug and his legs stretched out alongside it. He placed the shopping bag of food in the middle of the blanket and let Wynn sort out the containers.
Ah, so Wynn had bought the food. Keelan was just carrying it for them.
The meal wasn’t what Quintana would have termed traditional picnic food. She’d been thinking of things like cold cooked chicken or pork ribs, maybe sandwiches, or even a hot dog in a bread roll. The wolves she’d grown up with had been very fond of meat, although, living on a farm, had also eaten a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. Personally, she thought nothing tasted better than anything picked and eaten straight from the garden.
Quintana wondered if Lewis planned to plant any herbs or vegetables. I must ask him later. I think that’d be great if we did grow some ourselves.
In their picnic Wynn had bought tiny personal tubs of fresh fruit salad, and others of cheesecake. There were containers of hot noodles and vegetables, wrapped in foil to keep them warm, and giant kebabs also wrapped in foil. Right down the bottom of the bag were two bottles of beer and one can of green lantern.