Mistaking her sigh and visual perusal as one of concern with Scott, Joe spoke again. “We aren’t new at this, Willow. We wouldn’t be here unless Rome was absolutely certain of our ability.”
Willow looked back at Joe. “It’s not that.”
Joe’s turn to frown. “Then what?”
What, indeed. Even if she’d known Joe her whole life Willow wouldn’t just blurt out that she’d been mooning over Ben. Not when the man in question stood mere feet from her. How humiliating would that be?
Her awkwardness only increased when she felt Ben come back to her side, his hand once more gliding along her back in long strokes. “I need to go. I’m hoping this won’t take long so I can come back, see how everyone is settling. If not, I’ll call you.”
Eyes half-closed, she leaned a fraction closer, his breath a hot whisper over the sensitive shell of her ear. “Okay.” Wait. What? She straightened. “Oh. Wait. No. I don’t have a phone.” Rome had insisted she abandon everything in her locker, informing her any item could carry a bug or tracker and had sent it all off, including the clothes she’d worn to Jade’s office, to his agency for testing.
“You do now.”
Willow looked up into Ben’s smiling face. “I do?”
“It’s inside,” Scott told her. “Best of the best, with GPS tracking and all the bells and whistles you could ever want.”
Huh. She could only surmise the phone was part of the protection detail—why, she didn’t know, especially since she was never alone. Nonetheless, the thought of having a cell phone again would be a comfort. When had she started thinking of a cell phone as a security blanket?
She shook that off, meeting Ben’s eyes with a solemn, “Thank you.”
“Welcome.” He brushed a bare hand over her head, a soft caress that had her wanting to nestle in for more. “Take care of her,” he warned Joe and Scott, though his eyes never left Willow’s.
“That’s what we do best,” Scott called out. “Remember?”
Ben grimaced. “I’m surprised Rome hasn’t already booted them out of the cabin.”
“That’s because we haven’t been here long enough to annoy him.” This from Joe.
Willow felt her lips twitch, nearly laughed out loud when she spied Rome standing, hands on hips, legs apart, just outside the front door. His head was tilted up, as if seeking reassurance or patience from the heavens, and not getting any.
Ben brushed his hand over her shoulder and down her arm as if loath to leave. “I’ll see you later.”
Willow nodded, watched as Ben resettled on the snowmobile. “Be careful.”
Ben winked. “I have reason to be.” A minute later he was roaring out of the clearing.
As he left, another vehicle entered, this one carrying two women. The two vehicles met in the middle and the driver’s side window of the blue SUV rolled down. Willow recognized the driver as Kaylie Gentry, er, Kinigos, but didn’t know who the passenger was. Mild curiosity turned into sharp jealousy when the blonde laughed and reached over Kaylie to pat the hand Ben lay in the open window.
What is wrong with you? She forced her hands to unclench and hugged her waist, very aware she’d never been this moody before, even on the most brutal of PMS days. Ben isn’t yours. You aren’t even dating. Just deep breath in, deep breath out.
Willow’s mental mantra was interrupted by Rome’s exasperated, “Now what?”
“If you’d wanted privacy, you should have gone to Richmond.” Joe admonished.
“I wanted security, not fucking Grand Central,” Rome snarled.
Willow yanked her head to Rome, her mouth forming a shocked “oh.” It wasn’t that she hadn’t heard the word before, she just rarely heard Rome lose his calm demeanor.
Rome heaved out a sigh. “Sorry, Will. There’s been some...difficulties with another case and I’m not handling it very well.”
A shot of uneasiness went through her. “Do you need to leave?”
He straightened, every inch of his muscled frame pure determination. “Not unless I absolutely have to and if that happens, know that you are completely safe here. No one will get to you without a fight, and a deadly one at that.”
She didn’t need the reminder. “I don’t want anyone else to die, Rome. Not on my account.”
“He’s not talking about us, love,” Scott cracked his knuckles. “It’s the bad guys who are gonna fall.”
While Willow could appreciate Scott’s confidence, no one was invincible. She turned back at the sound of vehicles, seeing Ben zoom off—without a backward glance—and Kaylie ease to a stop right where the snowmobile had been.
The blonde stepped from the SUV with a hearty laugh and Willow gritted her teeth. The woman was absolutely stunning. Tall and slender, her thick silky hair glowed in the dying sunlight, framing a face that was perfectly made up, yet far from overdone. Her attire might be an almost duplicate of Willow’s, and Kaylie’s, for that matter, as the other clomped through the snow, but the newcomer seemed more elegant somehow, and moved through the white fluff with a grace that surpassed that of any dancer Willow had ever come across.
And this bimbo flirted with Ben? Just who was she and, more importantly, what was she to Ben?
Once again Willow had to pry her fingers free from where they gripped the material of her coat.
Not yours, remember? Ben doesn’t belong to you.
The blonde smiled and Willow narrowed her eyes, this time in thought, because the Mona Lisa lip twist made the tall woman appear familiar somehow.
“Hey, everyone. We’ve come to snatch Willow away for girl time.” Kaylie’s eyes sparkled with mischief.
“Holy hell. You’re Tess Gentry.” Scott practically drooled with open admiration.
The blonde made a face. “Guilty.”
The name meant nothing to Willow, other than the gorgeous creature must be related to Kaylie. Still, she racked her brain trying to place the face. It was in the midst of Willow’s hard stare that Tess turned to her and held out a hand. “Hi, Willow. I’m Tess, Kaylie’s sister. I just have to tell you I saw you perform in New York once and was mesmerized by your grace. You moved so effortlessly you seemed to simply float over the ground.”
Taken aback, Willow looked down at the offered hand, free from any covering, and automatically responded, yanking her hand back briefly to rip off her glove. “Thank you.” Willow tilted her head in contemplation. “You look familiar.”
Tess shrugged indifferently. “Well, if you’ve seen a Victoria’s Secret catalog in the last six years you probably saw me.”
“Or an SI swimsuit edition,” Joe happily supplied.
“Or scanned the Internet for hot chicks,” Scott announced.
Willow’s tongue glued itself to the roof of her mouth. Yeesh. What the hell was Ben doing kissing me when this woman was free to flirt with him?
To all this Tess only rolled her eyes. “I do have a brain as well, boys. I’m not just a body.”
“And you keep that stupid look on your face, Scott. Caleb will take great delight in knocking it off,” Rome murmured.
At Willow’s confusion, Tess held up her left hand. “My fiancé, Caleb Bennett. Which is why Kaylie and I are here. Tonight is my wedding shower and we’ve come to pick you up.”
Any relief Willow felt at hearing Tess was engaged to the big guy she’d met her first night here dried up at the idea of joining a bunch of unknown women for a wedding shower. She turned wide eyes to Kaylie, seeking help. “But I. That is. Um. I don’t...”
Kaylie waved a hand through the air, dismissing any reason Willow tried frantically to dredge up. “Nothing you could think of will keep us from transporting you to an evening filled with females, fun, food, and games.”
“Count me in!” Scott said.
Rome reached out and smacked the back of Scott’s head. “Idiot.”
Tess looped an arm under Willow’s. “You must have cabin fever by now. Besides, our mom is an amazing cook and if the spread she’s laying out
is anything like she did for Kaylie’s, well, let’s just say I’m salivating already.”
Willow glanced up at Rome, half-expecting a refusal or a grudging submission as he did with Ben. But she was surprised yet again. “I think it’s a great idea.”
Willow gaped. “You do?”
“Sure. You’ll be safe with them and you won’t get into any trouble.”
Kaylie snickered under her breath. “So he thinks.”
Tess patted Willow’s arm when she jerked. “The trouble part, hon, not the safety part. Now let’s get out of the cold. You people are weird, standing here, freezing perfectly good body parts off.”
Willow had to admit the tips of her ears were long numb, and she was starving. Yet before she could agree, Scott bounded up the stairs, hollering at them to wait until he got Willow’s phone.
While Scott was gone, Rome eyed the three women. “Two hours, ladies. I’ll be down to pick Willow up in two hours.”
“Hah. You don’t even know where we’re going.” Kaylie chortled. “And it’s three hours.”
Willow mentally cringed, thinking two hours was plenty of time to feel like an interloper.
Rome rattled off an address and the sisters frowned in unison. “How’d you know?” Kaylie complained. “Did Dean call you?”
Rome just smirked and held up two fingers. “Two hours.”
“Two and a half,” Kaylie negotiated, eyes narrowing in determination. “You have to allow for travel and introduction time.”
Rome’s lips twitched. “Fine.”
Scott reappeared and bounced down the stairs. “Keep this with you at all times.” He handed Willow a phone, one of those fancy touch-screen ones, and a pair of gloves. “The screen is heat sensitive rather than touch sensitive, so you don’t accidentally start a call or app. The tips of these gloves conduct and amplify the heat in your fingertips which allows you to use the phone while keeping your hands warm.”
Both women were visibly impressed by the gloves while Willow felt overwhelmed by everything going on. “I don’t know how to work one of these phones.”
“I’ve got one very similar,” Kaylie informed her. “Tess can drive and I’ll show you on the way.”
Chapter Nine
Willow quickly lost track of what name belonged to which face at Tess’s wedding shower. The only three she could remember, beyond the sisters, was their mother, Ruth, a pretty brunette named Dr. Jackie Chavez, and an outgoing middle-aged waitress named Penny. Everyone else was a blur. Warm and welcoming, but a blur nonetheless.
As Tess predicted, Ruth had laid out an elaborate feast. There was chicken salad that could be mounded into huge croissants, hot wings, coconut shrimp, some type of warm chicken dip, a seven-layer dip, a vegetable tray, cheesecake, carrot cake, and round fudge balls dipped in a hard white candy coating. Once upon a time Willow would have never allowed herself near the decadent spread, but today she took a plate and, following everyone’s example, piled high.
They played silly shower games such as wrapping each other in toilet paper to make a wedding dress, drank wine—although Willow refrained as the few times she’d imbibed she’d come out the loser—and ate.
And ate some more.
“How’s the food?” Ruth asked as Willow took up a piece of heavenly cheesecake.
“Wonderful.” Both Willow’s smile and comment were sincere. “I’m stuffed but just can’t resist trying everything.”
Ruth grinned, eyes sparkling with pleasure at the praise. “Excellent. I’ll send some home with you.”
“Oh.” Though Willow eyed the remains with a bit of greed, enough still to feed an army, she demurred. “I’m sure the others...”
But Ruth waved that away. “Nonsense. There’s plenty. And it wouldn’t hurt you to gain a pound or two. Such a tiny thing you are.”
At five feet, four inches, Willow wasn’t exactly short, though she knew her small bones and thin frame, more boyish then curvy, tended to make her look frail. Watching her weight had always been a necessity, barely kept in check by the rigorous dance routines. Her sweet tooth knew no bounds and savoring the cheesecake after a slice of carrot cake, was an uncommon indulgence.
Conscientious of all the foods she’d missed out on over the years, Willow cut a hefty chunk of the cake with her fork. “Not if I keep eating like this.”
Ruth laughed, the musical notes so infectious that Willow continued to smile even after she started chewing.
At that moment Kaylie sidled up, leaning her forearms on the counter next to where Ruth and Willow stood. “God, Mom. I’m so full. Why didn’t you stop me?”
Ruth sent her youngest the kind of maternal, loving look Willow had always longed for and for the life of her, could never remember receiving. Dropping her eyes, she focused on taking another bite, hoping to hide the covetous feeling that tightened in her chest.
“Because you’re eating for two,” Ruth responded.
Kaylie let out a low groan. “Was eating for two. Now I gotta break that habit or I’ll never lose the baby weight.”
Jackie came into the kitchen, moving to the table for a slice of carrot cake. “You will,” she said, having overheard Kaylie’s comment. “Every new mother thinks she’ll carry the extra weight forever, but nature has its reasons.”
“Besides,” Tess said, angling behind her sister to rub a hand over her back in sibling affection. “It’s not like Dean is disgusted with your appearance, and really that’s all that matters.”
Kaylie’s lips curved in a secretive grin. “No. No, he’s quite interested in how my body has changed.”
“That because, despite what’s on TV and in magazines, men like curves.” Tess eyed Willow in a critical, yet not unkind fashion. “I know after leaving the business I gained enough weight to add a cup size. It’s silly, really, all that dieting only to have our bodies molded into a specific form that could be achieved by healthy eating habits.”
“And you,” Jackie, in doctor mode, pointed out, her fork aimed at Willow, “easily need to gain another five pounds.”
Willow felt her cheeks flush and stared down at her nearly empty plate. “Working on it,” she muttered.
“Lucky,” Kaylie said, her tone making the comment both envious and teasing.
One of the women came to the kitchen door and called Ruth away. Once the woman was out of sight, Tess flicked Kaylie on the ear.
“Hey.”
“I saw that stupid look on your face. I take it sex is back on the menu.” Tess wiggled her perfectly manicured brows. “So tell me. Is it different?”
When Willow began to choke, Jackie calmly handed her a bottle of water, her brown eyes gleaming with laughter. “Forgive Tess. She’s usually more subtle than this.”
Tess rolled her eyes. “I don’t have to be subtle with family.”
Knowing very well she was far from family, Willow glanced at the kitchen door, thinking she should give the women privacy. Yet curiosity struck again, and the fact all three women seemed to take the topic in stride while a near-stranger stood barely a foot away made her feet stick like glue to the spot.
“It’s the same, yet different.” Kaylie said after a moment. Her eyes darted from the empty doorway back to Tess with a wicked grin. “He said my scent has changed. It’s more enticing. Man can’t keep his hands off me.”
Willow frowned, wondering what Kaylie meant, not realizing she asked that aloud until Jackie said, “Pheromones. While the core remains the same, they can have different notes depending on diet and hormonal changes.”
Kaylie nodded. “Everything is attracted or repelled by scents, which is why the perfume industry is so large. Your natural pheromones are the most intense where you’re the warmest. For example, your breath. Dogs,” Kaylie used her vocation to illustrate her point, “are so sensitive that professional trainers will not allow the owners to speak until the trainers have finished putting a dog through it maneuvers.”
“Uh, not to seem skeptical about your business, sis, bu
t wouldn’t that be because of their owner’s voice?” Tess turned to lean her back against the counter and crossed one long leg over the other. “And what about breathing through your nose? Wouldn’t those pheromones be blasting out then?”
Kaylie shook her head. “You can speak soft enough or in a certain tone that the animal might not hear and breathing through your nose doesn’t have the same impact as through your mouth. For one, it’s a bigger orifice.” She looked pointedly at Jackie who just shoved a huge chunk of cake past her lips. Undaunted, the doctor made yummy sounds around a full mouth. “And two, it’s a direct and moist link to the inside of your body.”
Willow set her empty plate on the counter, wondering how they’d gone from Kaylie’s husband to dogs. “But men aren’t dogs.”
Kaylie’s gaze flickered from Jackie and Tess to Willow. “Uh, no. But some men are really sensitive to scent.”
“And act like dogs when it comes to another warm, pheromone-acute area of the body.” Jackie snickered.
At Willow’s blank stare Tess laughed out loud. “Your groin, honey. What do dogs do in greeting? They stick their noses in your groin. If men could get away with it, you better believe they’d do the same to just about every female they came across.”
Willow’s face turned pink in shocked embarrassment and then, when the imagine of Ben nosing her between her thighs popped up into her mind, the flush darkened with carnal interest.
Kaylie and Jackie’s laughter abruptly cut off when Ruth reentered the kitchen. “What are you girls giggling about?”
The eyes of the self-confident outspoken bride-to-be widened with fake innocence, a blush staining her cheeks, and she mumbled something behind the hand she slapped over her own mouth.
Eyes narrowed in suspicion, Ruth turned to her youngest. Kaylie, also red in the face, blurted out, “Dogs.”
Seduced by a Shifter Page 7