Ash forced her brain back to the conversation she was having with her cousin Laura’s new mother-in-law Rosalie and turned her back on the men.
“A week isn’t too bad, but yes, any longer and it gets stressful. I have some fantastic pharmacists working for me, though, and I trust them not to burn the place down while I’m gone.”
“That sounds interesting. Who’s burning what down?”
Ash jumped to the side when she heard an incredibly deep voice. Her heart thumped in her chest and heat spread up her cheeks when she realized it belonged to Jack, the bigger, blonder twin.
“Hey, Aunt Rosalie. Congratulations on finally marrying those two off.”
Jack kissed the woman, and Ash gulped air into her lungs. What on earth had happened outside when Jack and his twin, Scott, had touched her? It had been like they’d reached inside her and attached electrodes to her soul, shooting pleasure into her belly and destroying her ability to hold her own body weight. If Jack hadn’t stepped forward when he had, she would have ended up on the ground, a pulsing mess of sensations.
“Yeah, well they had to wait for the right woman to come along, didn’t they, Jack?”
Something almost stern in Rosalie’s tone snapped Ash’s attention back to their conversation and she watched a slash of red color Jack’s handsome face.
“Yes, they were much smarter than I.”
Oh, so he was married? He wasn’t wearing a ring, although that wasn’t a given for all men. Divorced, then? Or had he let someone go?
Rosalie turned back to her, blue eyes glowing with warmth.
“Jack, have you met Laura’s cousin Ash? She’s a pharmacist from Toronto.”
Ash’s belly tightened as Jack’s sparkling ocean-blue eyes met hers, a smile tilting up his full lips.
“I did, outside for a moment, though I didn’t realize she was a pharmacist.”
Ash swallowed the lump that had risen in her throat and straightened her shoulders. She could do this. Conduct a conversation with a man she couldn’t keep her eyes off.
“What do you do, Jack?”
He grinned at her, that smile lighting its way down into the pit of her belly, pulling on an area between her thighs that Ash had believed had died a long time ago. After her ex-husband had done such a good job of destroying her self-esteem, she hadn’t thought a man would ever truly appeal to her again.
She squeezed her thighs together and almost gasped at the jolt of longing that just being so close to this man brought her. She’d never believed in lust at first sight, but this had to be it!
“I’m a football coach for the local high school. I played pro ball for a few years after college.”
Ash’s blood cooled like the heat had never been. He said that with such arrogance, as though it was actually impressive! She frowned and looked away. What was the easiest way of escaping? Maybe say she needed to go to the toilet?
“Oh, that’s nice. Would you excuse me? Rosalie, could you tell me where the bathroom is, please?”
Jack’s eyes went wide and his mouth fell open slightly.
Yeah, I’m not impressed by the fact that you can kick a bloody ball around, buddy.
She smiled at Rosalie and tried to ignore the odd pain in her gut. Why would she want to stay and talk to a footballer, for God’s sake? Thick as a brick and more focused on his body than anything of importance.
Rosalie’s eyes widened as though she were shocked by Ash’s reaction, but Ash wasn’t budging. How stupid did they think she was to fall for the charm of a philanderer? Ash waited for the information she’d requested, smiling as sweetly as possible at her hostess.
“Head down the hallway there, and it’s the third door on the left.”
Ash gave Jack a half smile and bobbed her head. “Nice to meet you.”
She turned on her heel for the second time in ten minutes and headed off in the direction Rosalie had sent her.
The house was incredible. The ceilings were high and the rooms were spacious, yet had that cozy home feel that only special people managed. She stopped outside the bathroom and stared at the framed picture on the wall. It was of Tyler and Brandon, about fifteen years earlier. They were lanky and their noses were too big, yet their smiles were exactly the same. Cheeky and oh-so-charming. Her cousin was a lucky woman, indeed. Assuming, of course, that they didn’t turn into the arrogant pigs most men could be. Though judging by their mother, they’d be skinned alive if they did.
“I love that photo.”
Rosalie had snuck up behind her and poked her nose over Ash’s shoulder.
Ash turned and smiled at the proud mother. “My cousin seems very happy, Rosalie. I’m so glad she’s found someone…ah…” Laura was sorta married to both of them, right? Ash had read the invitation wrong and turned up two hours early. She’d been shocked at first to see two grooms surrounding her cousin, but Laura’s happiness had been so evident, it was impossible to judge her harshly. “I mean, men who will look after her, love her.”
Rosalie swiveled so she was blocking Ash’s escape into the bathroom, her abundant figure beautiful in its feminine shapes.
“She is, but so are they.”
Ash nodded. “I don’t know your sons at all, but I do know Laura. That woman is a gem.”
Rosalie crossed her arms over her impressive bust and looked at her with intense eyes. Ash cocked her head at the older woman.
“Is there something you want to tell me, Rosalie?”
Rosalie’s beautiful eyes were troubled as she worried her lower lip with her teeth.
“My sons are a perfect pair. Which means that they are perfect compliments to each other, in both looks and personality. Pretty much think of it as your perfect man, divided into two.”
Ashleigh laughed, the bubbles spreading up through her belly and out. She had to cover her mouth with her hand, she was so loud.
“Well, in my experience that would be the only way to get a halfway decent man.”
Rosalie frowned at her, and Ash stopped laughing. That was probably too much information for a woman she barely knew.
“Jack and Scott are a perfect pair also, so please don’t dismiss Jack because you think he isn’t educated enough. He has a college degree, but chooses to spend his life educating young men about the strength of their bodies. Scott is a scientist with the government, he chose a different path.”
Heat seared a path up Ash’s neck and blossomed across her face. The tone Rosalie had just taken with her could only be called chastising, and she was feeling it right down to her sickened belly.
Guilty as charged.
“I don’t like football, or footballers, Rosalie. I have just endured a very nasty divorce, so please excuse my rude behavior. I’m not interested in anyone, especially two men who…”
She trailed off, her cross-referencing brain pulling together fibers she wasn’t sure she should.
Two men! Oh my God!
She took a breath and stared directly into Rosalie’s blue eyes, seeing the truth there before she even asked the dreaded question.
“Rosalie, do all perfect pairs marry one woman?”
She placed her hands on her hips and barely stopped herself from tapping her foot when Rosalie looked down for a moment.
Then the woman looked back up, her mouth tight as she nodded. “Yes. They are designed to find one perfect woman for them.”
Oh God, no.
“Why are Jack and Scott pursuing me? And does it have something to do with that weird electricity thing?”
Rosalie’s gaze sharpened and she stepped a little closer.
“Electricity thing?”
Ash frowned and rubbed her hands over each other, remembering the first contact she’d had with Scott, then Jack’s arm around her. Those moments of pure sensation. Neither science nor common sense could explain why she’d had such a strong reaction to two men she’d never met before.
“Yes. When they shook my hand, something happened. It felt like sparks flying through my
skin.”
Rosalie’s eyes grew wide and her breathing sped up. Why was she getting excited?
“And my nephews? How did they react?”
Ash shrugged. “Not sure, but they haven’t stopped staring at me. I feel like I’m being pursued, which is ridiculous, I know. I sound vain, which isn’t me at all, but—”
A strange sort of giggle burst out of Rosalie, which she quickly stifled with her hand. “Sorry. Okay, well, thank you. I’ll leave you alone and well…yeah.”
Rosalie disappeared in a hurry and Ash made her way into the bathroom, sitting on the toilet with no real need to go.
She’d taken a week of leave to attend her cousin’s wedding and take some time out to recover from her year of hell. Now this. What sort of rabbit hole had she fallen into?
****
Scott swaggered into the kitchen that held his barely older brother. He was still in shock over the idea that they may have found their fated mate, but the jury was still out on whether they could make it work. It felt like too much water had gone under the bridge for him to ever be happy again.
He stepped up beside Jack and crossed his arms. How had the golden boy fared with a woman who could supposedly handle them both?
“Go well, did it?”
A low growl left Jack’s throat as he glared at Scott, his blue eyes firing like a roiling lightning storm. Scott couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face.
“What? You’re the more charming of us. Whatcha do wrong?”
Jack was the more charming, the more handsome, and the one that had always believed that their fated mate was still out there. Even with all the evidence to the contrary. It was hilarious that he’d struck out so quickly!
“I’m a footballer. That seems to be a problem.”
Scott’s eyebrows shot up. Since when did his twin being an amazing sportsman, with all the successes and muscular body that went with it, cause a problem?
“You’re kidding me? I’ve never met a woman who didn’t love the fact that you played football.”
Jack shrugged, his posture tight and stiff through his shoulders.
“She’s pretty smart, I think. Probably thinks I’m a typical jock. We both know most footballers can be a bit thick.”
Scott’s interest piqued like a cat popping its head up from a sleeping position.
“Smart? Like how?”
Laura was a vet, so maybe her cousin was too. Not that Scott had an easy time believing that one woman was made for them, but if she were, he’d need her to be smart. Not to mention a great communicator, affectionate, loving and sensual as hell…
Yeah, good fucking luck. You’ve looked forever and never found a woman who came within a street of that.
“She’s a pharmacist. I think. She owns her own business.”
Scott could hear the beating of his heart as he took in that rather important piece of information. She was more than smart. She was intelligent and probably had a decent amount of common sense, too, if she ran a business.
“Wow, well she’s got brains, then.”
“Yeah, and the body.” Jack whistled and pulled a face that was close to a grimace.
Scott lifted a brow.
“I thought you liked ’em lean?” Scott didn’t mind lots of curves, but Jack always seemed to go for the women you could barely see. You’d need two of his last girlfriend to make up Ashleigh’s voluptuous figure.
His twin shrugged, thrusting his hands into his pockets. “They’re just the ones around. The gym, at the football games. I don’t pick them on purpose. Besides, Ash’s curves are a fucking turn-on!”
Aunt Rosalie came bustling toward them like a steam train, her face set and determined.
“I can’t believe it! She’s your mate, isn’t she? After all this time, you’ve found her!”
Scott groaned and threw back his head. The whole family knew how he felt about this! Even if there was such a woman for them, it was too bloody late!
He growled at the ceiling. “How can you say that to us, Aunt Rosalie?”
He brought his head back down and glared at his mother’s younger sister. She just beamed back, her blue eyes bright and clear.
Fuck!
“Because you two are following her around like puppies and you had the instant contact fire bolt, didn’t you?” She slapped her hand against his arm. “And what do you mean? I know you both stupidly married women who didn’t suit you, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t have the perfect woman out there waiting for you.”
She leaned closer, her gaze flicking between the two of them. “And it sounds like you’re going to have your work cut out for you. Ashleigh has just gone through a messy divorce and is pretty cut up. I think you’re going to have to work a little bit of magic.”
Bloody stop! No! I don’t want to know anything about her.
Scott groaned again, turned and walked back through the glass doors onto the patio, his heart galloping inside his chest as though it were trying to escape.
He didn’t want this. He didn’t!
Sure, he’d wanted to touch her to see what would happen, but he hadn’t thought he’d actually feel anything when he did. He thought to prove the strange feelings flowing through him wrong, but he’d done the opposite.
His brother’s big hand slapped him on the back and the breath left his lungs in a fast, painful rush. Damn caveman.
“You okay, bro?”
Scott shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest, then dropped them when the move pulled on his shirt too much. Bloody monkey suits. He loved wearing a t-shirt and a loose lab coat at work.
“Fine.”
His brother chuckled next to him and Scott sighed, some of the fight going out of him. This was Jack. His best mate, his brother. Jack had been there for every moment of his life, good and bad, and no one knew more about how much his ex-wife had damaged him.
“I don’t want to get married again, Jack.”
That chuckle again. “That’s cool, but I’m going for it. You don’t mind, I assume?”
A heavy growl rose and vibrated through Scott’s chest like none he’d ever heard or produced himself before. His hands balled into fists, and the mountain lion within him rose to the surface.
No! She’s mine too!
“Settle down, Scott, it’s okay.” Jack’s placating tone and hand on his arm was enough to make him press down on his lion, and the beast calmed instantly. He was so used to controlling him. Twenty years with an abusive, degrading human wife tested his control to its limit.
“I don’t…” Eloquent words weren’t possible at the moment. “Oh fuck it. I’m going home. Tell the boys I said bye.”
Scott looked at his brother and gave him a smile that he knew was closer to a grimace. He couldn’t do any better at the moment. Jack’s blue eyes dimmed, crows feet lining his normally young-looking face.
He slapped his hand on Jack’s shoulder.
“Don’t stress, big brother. All good.”
Scott stepped through the crowd of his family and picked up his jacket. Thankfully he’d brought his own car, and his kids were with his ex for the weekend.
No one stopped to talk to him as he made his way through Rosalie and John’s house, flinching as he stepped through the carved front door. The door that was the talk and pride of all their family.
Ignoring the wooden carving, he took a few steps down the path before he couldn’t resist the tug of it. He had to look once more. He turned and clenched his jaw against the feelings that assailed him. It was only a door. A pretty entranceway to a house.
He sighed and let his shoulders sag, the deep ache and longing flowing over him like a cold shower. Within the door was the carved shape of a Rocky Mountain lion, which was beautiful but also deceptive. In the backdrop if you looked closely were four other lions, the family surrounding and supporting their alpha. Everything he’d ever wanted, staring at him, mocking him.
Scott blinked back the tears and made his way through
the throng of cars until he found his old Mercedes, jumped in, and started the car. He’d been young and blind when he’d married his wife. He hadn’t believed any of the stories about perfect pairs and just hoped that he’d be happy. That the woman he bred with, trusted and loved, would be right for him. But he’d never been more wrong.
Chapter Three
Jack took a sip of red wine and let the liquid, flavored with a touch of liquorice, slide down into his gullet. His eyes were trained on the sway of Ashleigh’s rounded hips while she danced with Laura on the makeshift wooden stage. She was one hell of a sensual woman.
“She is a beautiful woman, Jack.” His uncle John stepped up beside him, laying a hand on his arm that was both reassuring and paternal.
“Yeah, thanks, Uncle John.”
He continued to watch Ashleigh move to the music, her lush ass and breasts moving and swinging in an incredibly enticing way. She threw back her head and laughed at something Laura said, color flowing into her cheeks and brightening up her whole face.
Something had happened to her, both Rosalie and Laura had eluded to it. A messy divorce was one thing, he’d had one of those, but there was something more going on and he was going to get to the bottom of it.
“You spoken to her much yet?”
Jack chuckled and shook his head. “Yeah, for all of two minutes. She found out I was just a stupid jock and bolted.”
John’s eyes went wide as his mouth fell open. “You’re kidding me?”
Jack burst into laughter, drawing the attention of most of the people in the area, including Ashleigh, who quickly turned away again with a slight tilt of her chin.
“Nope. Miss pharmacist thinks I’m not suitable.”
John frowned. “Does she know anything about perfect pairs?”
Jack shrugged and took another sip of wine, loving the warmth in his belly. He smiled at his uncle. “Not unless Rosalie or someone else explained it to her. If she had, she wouldn’t have been worried about me being a footballer. Scott’s smart enough for both of us. He’s always been strong where I’m weak.”
John huffed. “Yeah and if you ask Scott, you’re the charming, good-looking one. You each have your strengths. It’s not about weaknesses.”
Stalking the Pharmacist Page 2
