“Why has he suddenly begun hanging around so much? That’s what I don’t understand. You’ve been here for almost a month with no contact, and suddenly he’s here every day.”
“He knows something is going on with me, but I won’t tell him what it is. It’s put him into full-blown big brother role, which for Rory is taking protectiveness to the nth degree.” Kiesha winced. “While I never had any siblings, I’m learning through Alex that a male shifter in protective mode was no little thing. It has the power to drive any self-respecting, independently thinking, mature woman positively batty. Do you think he’d let up off of you if he had something else to do?”
“He has other things to do. The man owns a construction company, for God’s sake.
You’d think he has enough to do without bothering me all the time. I can’t even work in my own home because he’s always underfoot. I didn’t see this much of him when we lived in the same house.”
Kiesha pounced on her statement, eyes gleaming with excitement. “He owns a construction company? You think you could get him to do some finishing work for me at the store? The contractor I hired went to another project he’d committed to prior to his accepting my bid. I knew it was a possibility, but I was hoping we’d be done by now so that it wouldn’t be an issue.”
34 Zena Wynn
“All you can do is ask. I’m sure he won’t turn you down, if for no other reason than that it gives him the opportunity to check you out,” Shannon said ironically.
Mary Elizabeth came back to the table with her lips swollen and a glow on her face.
Neither Kiesha nor Shannon mentioned the scent of arousal that lingered around her. She heaved a sigh of relief and motioned to the coffee cups in front of them. “Oh, good, you already got coffee. Sorry, I got…detained. The food will be out in a few minutes. What did I miss?”
Kiesha rolled her eyes. “We were discussing overprotective men of the shifter variety.” Shannon nodded in agreement.
“Are we referring to your brother? Or are you complaining about the way Alex has been hovering since you became pregnant?”
“Don’t even get me started about Alex,” Kiesha said with a groan. “The man makes me crazy. He’s a doctor. There’s no telling how many babies he’s delivered over the course of his career. You’d think this child I’m carrying was the first baby in all of creation with the way he’s been carrying on.”
Shannon laughed. “It may not be the first child of all creation, but it is his first. From what you told me, he’s been waiting a long time for you and this baby. Cut the man some slack. At least you’re still leaving the house and going to work every day. Some women can’t even do that much.”
Kiesha narrowed her eyes. “If you only knew what a battle that was. I had to put my foot down. He wasn’t against my working, but he wanted to have one of the wolves in the pack follow me around when he couldn’t be with me.”
“How did you convince him otherwise?” Mary Elizabeth asked. “Hugh threatened me with the very same thing. I need all of the pointers on dealing with stubborn males I can get.”
Kiesha’s smile was smug. “I told him if he did so it would make me extremely unhappy.
It would place unnecessary stress on me, and stress wasn’t good for the baby.”
“You played the baby card,” Shannon said, feeling a bit envious of the loving relationships her two friends had found, despite their complaining.
Mary Elizabeth laughed. “You better use it sparingly. Only pull it out for the big arguments, the ones you feel yourself losing. Lord knows, I lose more than my fair share of arguments with Hugh. Almost makes me wish I had a baby card of my own to play.” Kiesha winked at them. “Don’t worry. I only use it in times of extreme emergency. The rest of the time, I play the sex card. It’s amazing what an alpha male will agree to when he’s sated and relaxed after a good round of sex.”
“Hear! Hear!” Mary Elizabeth said in agreement, and the three ladies laughed.
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Hugh brought their food out to the table while they were still laughing. “Do I even want to know what you ladies find so amusing?” He placed the tray on a nearby table so that he could distribute their food.
They looked at him and then at each other, and they laughed again, harder. Hugh smiled ruefully. “I’ll take that as a no.” Shannon noted he’d brought food for himself as well.
Nudging Mary Elizabeth over, he slid his huge body into the booth beside her. All conversation ceased as they focused on satisfying their hunger.
When they were finished, Hugh cleared the table and returned with more coffee.
Seated once more, he placed his arm on the back of the seat and began playing with Mary Elizabeth’s hair as she leaned against him. “How’s Alex? I haven’t seen nor spoken to him since the night I came to your house looking for Mary Elizabeth.”
“He’s made it his mission in life to see how crazy he can make me before this baby is born, but other than that, he’s doing fine. He should be here soon. He had a meeting this morning that must have been pretty important. He was very hush-hush about it. I told him we would be meeting here at the diner before going over to the store.” While Kiesha was still speaking, the door opened, and Alex walked into the diner with Rory trailing close behind. It was apparent from their manner that the two were together.
Shannon took one look at them and muttered under her breath. “He didn’t. He wouldn’t.”
But it was obvious that he had.
Rory had gone to Alex looking for answers to his questions that Shannon refused to give.
36 Zena Wynn
Chapter Five
The two men crossed the diner headed for the back table where the women and Hugh were sitting. They were a study in contrasts, in appearance and personality. Though they were both alphas, their backgrounds and upbringings vastly differed. Alex, with his dark eyes rimmed with gold, black hair splashed with gray at the temples, and his long, lean, muscular body, was the more laid-back of the two. Then there was Rory and his hazel eyes that were constantly changing color. He was shorter in height, but much bigger by comparison with his barrel chest and stocky build topped off with his head of fiery red hair and a temper to match. Both men were attractive enough to star in any female’s fantasies. Definitely drool worthy, and not just because of their looks. If any of the males Rory had thrown at her had been like these two, or even Hugh, she wouldn’t be in the predicament she was in now.
Shannon studied them carefully, worried. Although Alex had promised not to disclose anything about her condition, she knew how tricky and resourceful Rory could be. He excelled in conning people into revealing more than they had intended. There was no doubt in her mind he had pulled every trick in his repertoire hoping to get the information he wanted from Alex. She looked from Rory to Alex, trying to read the expressions on their faces. It was like trying to read a rock and just as informative. Neither man was giving away anything.
Alex called out to the waitress for some coffee and a couple of menus before bending down to give his mate a kiss. As he lifted his head, he looked at Shannon and shook his head slightly. She gave a small sigh of relief, even though in a couple of days it wouldn’t matter.
Rory would be able to smell what was going on with her, if he couldn’t already.
Rory snagged a table and dragged it closer to the booth in which they were sitting while everyone exchanged greetings. Alex introduced Rory to the group, one by one.
Shannon waited for the inquisition to begin. He’d spent the last few days grilling her for Nikolai’s Wolf
37
information on her friends and her life in the Raven pack. Now was his opportunity to discover firsthand.
“Shannon tells me you own your own construction company,” Kiesha stated after an encouraging nudge from Shannon. “You wouldn’t happen to be interested in gaining a little extra business, would you? My contractor had to start on another project.” Rory frowned. “He committed to doing a job for you and then left to go work on something else?”
Shannon hid a smile. Kiesha’s question had effectively sidetracked Rory, just as she’d hoped.
Kiesha appeared to be puzzled; then her expression cleared. “Oh no! I knew about this other project. He committed to it prior to accepting my bid. I went with him because he had the best reputation of all the commercial contractors I contacted. I was lucky he agreed to take me on. He’s a very busy man.”
Seeing that Rory was effectively hooked, Shannon allowed her thoughts to drift as Rory asked more questions about who Kiesha’s contractor was, the work she was having done, and what remained to be completed. She tuned back in just as Rory stated, “I usually only do residential work, but since you’re a friend of my sister as well as her employer, I’ll do it for you. When do you want me to start?”
“Probably in another day or two. Shayla should be here by then, and she can tell you what her requirements are.”
Alex and Mary Elizabeth groaned in unison.
“Your cousin Shay is coming here?” Alex questioned in apparent dismay.
“Shay’s coming?” Mary Elizabeth asked at the same time.
Kiesha looked at them in surprise. “Alex, I told you Shay was coming to set up the computers and get everything operational. And Mary Elizabeth, I’m sure I said something to you about it.”
Mary Elizabeth rubbed her forehead. “Kiesha, I’m trying to remember, but I’m coming up blank. When exactly did you tell me Shay was coming?” Shannon smirked, always ripe for an opportunity to give Mary Elizabeth a hard time.
“She told you on the same day you decided to take off on your little business trip.” She laughed when Mary Elizabeth gave her an evil glare as Hugh clutched her a little tighter, a small growl rumbling out of him.
“Besides, what’s wrong with Shayla?” Shannon asked. “Why the big fuss?” Shannon had never met Kiesha’s cousin but had spoken with her on the telephone a few times to give her input on the necessary system requirements.
“I’ve got to admit, you’ve piqued my curiosity. What’s this Shay like, and why the groans?” Hugh had never met Shayla either. She glanced at Rory, but he was busy noting something in his planner.
38 Zena Wynn
“Shayla cannot be described,” Alex said. “She can only be experienced. All I can say is you’re in for a treat. Shayla’s a hoot.”
Mary Elizabeth agreed with a laugh. “Amen to that. Shay is beyond description. You’ll just have to wait until she gets here to see for yourselves. When are you expecting her?” Kiesha lightly popped Alex on the arm. “Cut it out. Shay’s not that bad. I will admit she can be a little bit out there, but don’t let her manner fool you. The girl’s a certified genius. I think a lot of what she does is just a front to hide how intelligent she is. She used to intimidate people.”
Shannon hadn’t known that little tidbit.
“Honey, she still intimidates people. She threatened to hack into the FBI’s most wanted files and add me to the list if I didn’t treat you right. After she took my picture with her camera phone.”
Shannon burst out laughing. Mary Elizabeth snorted, then covered her mouth to muffle her laughter.
Kiesha’s mouth dropped open. “She did what?”
Alex smiled. “You heard me. She’s very protective of you.” Shannon smirked and raised her coffee cup in a toast. “I like the sound of her already.”
“Good.” Kiesha grinned. “I already told her she could stay with you.” Shannon shrugged, expecting nothing less. She was living in the pack house, after all.
Being newly mated, Kiesha wouldn’t want Shayla staying at the house with her and Alex, even if she was family.
“You never said when you were expecting her?” Mary Elizabeth reminded Kiesha.
“Oh, she should be here sometime late this evening.”
“Good. I was hoping I would get a chance to see her before we left.”
“You two going somewhere?” Alex asked.
“Unfortunately,” Hugh replied. “I can’t talk her out of it, and I won’t let her go alone.”
“Going where, and why don’t you want her going alone?” It was Rory this time with a question.
“I’m going back home for a funeral,” Mary Elizabeth said.
Before Shannon could offer her condolences, Hugh spoke, “No, you’re not going back home. Your home is here, with me. Say it! ‘My home is with you now, Hugh.’”
“My home is with you now, Hugh. Squawk, squawk. My home is with you,” she said in her best parrot imitation.
Hugh hooked her around the neck and dragged her closer to him. With his other hand, he took his knuckles and rubbed them against her forehead while she shook with laughter.
“Smart-ass.”
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Watching the two of them, Shannon felt a twinge in the region of her heart. Long-forgotten dreams of a loving mate of her own rose up to haunt her. The combination of the heat and the blue moon stole any chance she’d ever have of experiencing what her friends had. No, she couldn’t think like that. She had a plan. A good one. It would work. It had to.
Failure was not an option.
Kiesha suddenly gaped at Mary Elizabeth. “Please tell me you are not going back for Charles’s funeral. Not after what he tried to do. I’m sure your family would understand if you couldn’t make it.”
Shannon kicked Kiesha under the table and hissed, “She told us not to say anything.”
“Oops, my bad. But still, what the hell is wrong with your thinking?” Kiesha continued to scold Mary Elizabeth.
Instead of the anger Shannon expected, Hugh merely shook his head and sighed, his expression that of a man who had fought hard and lost. “That’s what I said. You try and convince her not to go because I tried and got nowhere.”
“Guys, I have to go. My parents have no idea what happened, and I have no intention of telling them. He was a good son-in-law to them, no matter how crazy he was. I’ll let his secrets go to the grave with him where they belong. Besides, his lawyer called and said Charles recently changed his will, making me the executor of his estate. I’m obligated to be there for the reading of the will, which will be the morning after the funeral.” Shannon privately agreed with Kiesha and Hugh. Mary Elizabeth was a little too nice for her own good, especially where her family was concerned.