by Sara Summers
Just like everything else.
“I’ll fix this, I swear.” I vowed, and then hurried out of the room.
It was time for me to start brainstorming ways to get that sexy shifter to walk away from me after spending his entire life waiting to meet me. I was going to need a very detailed plan, along with a truckload of backups.
Quinn
When I explained the situation to my mom, she was just as upset as my dad was, but for a completely different reason.
“I don’t want my grandbabies to have fur, Quintessa Armelle!”
My awful full name was getting far more attention than it deserved.
“I didn’t ask for this, mother.”
She sighed and nodded.
“I’m sure your father is furious. He’s been counting on your marriage to Travis Childers to cement his chances at winning the Senate, and we both know how long he’s wanted that.”
“Since before I was born.” I leaned backward, sinking into my seat.
Though my mother was almost as fierce of a lawyer as my father was, her office was much more comfortable and welcoming than his was. The majority of both of their clients were celebrities, but hers were mostly female and therefore required a bit more finesse.
“He says he can find a way to free me from my soulmate legally. I promised to try my best to get rid of him too, so you won’t have to worry about furry grandbabies.”
“Honey, I believe in your father, but do you really think you have the balls to break the heart of a man who has been raised to see his soulmate as the most important gift God could ever give him?”
“Well I definitely didn’t think you had the balls to ask me if I have the balls to do something.” I smirked when she rolled her eyes.
“Just answer the question.”
“I can’t, because I don’t know.” I brushed a hand through my hair. “I don’t know if I have the balls to break his heart, but I know that I owe it to dad and the rest of you to try everything in my power to do it. Our family won’t become a big joke because of me.”
“If you say so.” My mom didn’t look convinced.
“I do.” I promised. “I’m going to make that man wish he’d never chased me down.”
Cody
I walked into the massive office building and toward the lady at the front desk, acting like I belonged there.
She probably realized I didn’t, but I had to try.
“Hi, I need to see Quinn Longhorn.”
I’d seen her last name on the invitation, which was definitely to my advantage.
The woman eyed my wrinkled t-shirt and old pair of jeans.
“I’m sorry, Miss Longhorn doesn’t take walk-ins. Make an appointment through her office.” She turned back to her computer with her nose in the air.
“She’ll take me.” I rested my forearms on the desk. “I’m her soulmate.” I tilted my head to the left and gestured to the marking on my neck.
The woman glanced over and then did a double-take.
“You’re a shifter?” the shock was evident in her eyes.
“You don’t get many of us around here?” I asked, though I knew the answer.
Most shifters stuck together. We’d been separated from humans for the first eighteen years of my life, so we were still adjusting to the change of being a part of the human world again. It had been two years, so it was still fairly new.
“I’ve never met a shifter.” She admitted.
“Well, I’m Quinn’s soulmate, so chances are that you’ll be seeing a lot more of me around here. Can you tell me what floor she’s on?”
The receptionist hesitated.
“I’m sorry, her father would have me fired if I told you where she was. I can have her notified that you’re here if that would help.”
I nodded. It was frustrating to be kept from my soulmate, but there was no point in getting mad at the receptionist. She wasn’t the one making the rules.
“Sure, that would be great.”
“You can wait over there.” She gestured to a waiting area with plushy seats beside a fancy water dispenser and a table of snacks.
“Thanks.”
I let myself sink down into one of the chairs and wondered, briefly, how long Quinn would make me wait. She hadn’t been thrilled with me when she walked away, but she wouldn’t leave me more than ten or fifteen minutes, would she?
Quinn
“Miss Longhorn, there’s a man here to see you. He says he’s your soulmate.” My mother’s secretary stepped into her office with a device in her ear and a hesitant expression.
“Did you get his name?” my mom checked.
She was on top of everything, as always.
“I’m afraid not.” The secretary apologized. “I can ask the first-floor receptionist if you would like.”
“Don’t worry about it. Thank you.” I told her.
The woman nodded and left me and my mom in the room.
“Are you going to bring him up here?” my mom checked.
I shook my head quickly.
“Nope. I’ve got to get rid of him, remember? Leaving him alone in the waiting room for a few hours should piss him off. Do you have any work I can take care of for you while I wait for time to pass?” I checked.
My mom shook her head at me and handed me the large tablet that had been on the side of her desk.
“Yes, plan my outfit for the gala tonight.” She instructed. “Make sure it fits the theme.”
I always took care of her outfits, and she always looked stunning. While age hadn’t been kind to her, surgery had, and my mom looked much younger than she was. With her bright blonde hair the same shade as mine and her light blue eyes that also matched mine, people often asked if we were sisters.
We may as well have been for the tiny amount of mothering she did.
“You should call in for a tux for your mountain man, dear. I’d hate for him to follow you to the gala and make us all look bad by wearing sweatpants and a muscle tee.”
Most of the time, she just felt like one of my life’s critics.
Cody
“Hello? Mountain man?” Someone poked me in the shoulder. If the Quinn-locked GPS in my head was to be trusted, it was my soulmate.
“Mountain man?” I opened my eyes, though I was drowsy. I’d managed to fall asleep in the plushy waiting area chair when Quinn hadn’t showed up right away.
A glance at the clock on the wall told me that she hadn’t showed up for four hours.
“Yeah, mountain man. You’re shaped like a mountain.” She gestured to my chest.
“Is that supposed to be an insult?” I lifted an eyebrow and stretched the muscles that she was eyeing.
“It started as one.” She grimaced and pulled her light blonde hair so it fell over both of her shoulders. “Come on, I have a party to get ready for.” She gestured toward the front door with her head.
“I know. I bought a tux.”
Quinn glared at me.
“You’re not invited.”
“Then you’re not going.” I glared back. “These muscles aren’t just for show, Quinn, I protect the people I care about. I’m not going to watch you walk off to some party in some sexy dress so a bunch of other men can rub their hands up and down you.”
“Really? You’re going to go all caveman on me?” She rolled her eyes and headed toward the door.
I followed, of course, not caring that I looked like a mountain-sized puppy.
“I’ll be a caveman if I have to, because if you come home smelling like another man, I will lose control of the wolf in me and kill any man who touched you. That’s a promise.”
She stopped just outside the doors of the building and swung around, folding her arms over her chest.
“You don’t get to decide what I do and don’t do.”
I stepped up close and looked down into her baby blue eyes, wanting to see her react to me the way she had earlier.
She took a soft breath in, so soft that no human could’ve hea
rd. But I wasn’t human.
“I haven’t tried to decide what you do and don’t do. Go wherever you want and do whatever you want, but I’m going to be right next to you, protecting you. Whether you like it or not we’re soulmates, and that means you’re mine.”
I stepped away and began walking toward my truck, fairly confident she would follow if just to cuss me out.
“We’re not done.” Quinn snapped, rushing to catch up to me.
“We’re never going to be done.” I kept walking.
She grabbed my arm and pulled me to a stop. Her face and neck were flushed, and she was so angry she was huffing. Her anger had raised her body temperature enough to make her sweat a little, and the sweet citrusy scent coming off of her was making it hard for me not to pull her into my arms and kiss her to see if she tasted as good as she smelled.
“Don’t walk away from me like you just decided the conversation was over. I’m just as important in this whole soulmate thing as you are.” She glared at me.
I fought the urge to kiss the frustration right off her shiny pink lips.
“You are the most important thing in my world, Quinn. The conversation was over because neither of us is going to change our mind, not because your opinion isn’t valid.”
Her forehead wrinkled, but she didn’t say anything right away. She looked surprised, and maybe even a little hopeful.
“So what, I’m just supposed to accept that you’re going to follow me like a sad little wolf puppy and break the necks of any men who try to hit on me?” She finally asked.
I could tell it wasn’t exactly what she was thinking, but I still answered the question.
“Well I’m just supposed to accept that you’re going to wear something that makes every man in the room lust after you.”
“Touché.” Quinn nodded once. “I’ll wear something overly-modest if you let me go alone.”
I rolled my eyes, and noticed the way she fought to keep her lips from curling up into a smile.
“I’ve seen your closet. You don’t own anything even somewhat modest.”
“Alright, fine.” She waved it off like she’d planned on losing that fight, but I could see the smile in her eyes. She liked that I’d paid attention to what I’d learned about her in the short time we’d known each other. “I assume you drove here, Mr. Caveman.”
“Yep.” I gestured to my beat-up old red truck parked near us in the parking lot.
“You drive that?” her nose wrinkled.
“Yep.” I repeated. I ignored the urge to take her hand as I headed toward my truck. It clearly stood out in the lot of expensive, shiny cars.
“It’s disgusting.” She complained.
When I held open the passenger door, however, she didn’t hesitate to climb right inside.
“You sound like my sisters.” I said, walking around to the driver’s side.
“Then they have better taste than you.” She folded her arms.
As I pulled out of the parking lot, a quick glance at her showed she was fighting to decide whether to say something or not. Her face was an open book, and I liked that. I really liked that. I’d never liked having to try to guess how someone was feeling, and with Quinn, I didn’t have to.
“What is it?” I asked, when she didn’t say anything after a few more minutes.
I remembered exactly where her apartment building was in comparison to the office building, and could’ve gotten there in a few minutes in wolf form, but I wasn’t sure exactly what roads to take.
“Turn left.” Quinn instructed.
I did as she said, and then waited for her to answer my question. She didn’t.
“I can tell you’re getting all worked up about something. Whatever it is, just tell me.”
She huffed and folded her arms.
“I’m not getting all worked up, I just…” She bit her lip and looked away. “How many siblings do you have?”
That was it? The question she couldn’t decide if she wanted to ask or not?
“Three. I have an older sister, a twin brother, and a younger brother. If you count my siblings’ soulmates, which I do, it’s five.”
Her eyebrows lifted.
“What are their names?”
“My sister is Emma, her soulmate is Logan. My twin brother’s name is Tanner, and his mate is Hallie. My little brother is Artie.” I explained quickly.
“That’s a lot of siblings.” Quinn said, and she still looked pretty surprised. She told me to turn again, and I did as she instructed.
“I guess.” I shrugged. I’d seen plenty of families with more kids than mine, so it had never really felt big to me. “What about you?”
“Oh, I have one older brother. He’s named Christopher, after my dad, and he’s married to a tall blonde who never bothered to pretend we’re family. Her name is Karry with a K and a Y. Are you close with your siblings?”
I noticed the way she steered the conversation away from herself, and I didn’t protest. She hadn’t exactly been expecting me to waltz into her life and tell her we were meant to be together.
“Very.” I nodded. “They’ve been blowing up my phone since I ran out on family dinner a few days ago.”
I could see the interest in her eyes, even just by looking at her in the rearview mirror. She was like a magnet; I could barely manage to stop looking at her long enough to focus on driving.
“Why did you run out on family dinner?”
“Because the mental GPS in my mind switched on and I realized that I knew where you were.”
“Huh.” I could feel Quinn studying me with her eyes, and tried not to fidget. “Turn here.”
I turned, and realized where we were and that we were only about a minute from the apartment. That sucked, since she was finally opening up a little.
“So they’re blowing up your phone because they’re excited for you?”
“They’re blowing up my phone because they’re excited for you.” I pulled into the massive parking garage.
“They don’t know me.”
“You’re my soulmate, Quinn. That’s enough for them.” I parked the car and shut off the engine. “I’ll come around and get your door.”
She protested, but I was already walking around the car and grabbing the handle.
“You really are a caveman.” She muttered, as she took my hand and let me help her out of the car.
Despite her words, I could see in her eyes that she was flattered.
Quinn
My mountain man and I walked side-by-side to the elevator in the apartment building. Dang, that man was going to make my task of getting rid of him difficult.
I thought he’d been attractive with that crazy hair and scraggly beard, so when I’d seen him asleep in the waiting area, his hair recently-cut and perfectly-styled and his face smooth and clean, I’d just about had a heart attack. He was the sexiest man I’d ever seen, and I’d seen a lot of attractive men who were worth a lot more money than he was.
Something about my mountain man made him just about irresistible to me, and it frustrated me to no avail.
I’d gotten some information about his family in the car. He was close with them, really close, and if I needed to, I could use that to get rid of him. I didn’t want his family to get hurt on my mission to get rid of my soulmate though, so that would have to be one of my last resorts.
“What time are we leaving for the party?” he checked.
“About an hour.” I’d given up on trying to prevent him from going. The more time we spent together, the more time I’d have to show him exactly why he didn’t want to be my soulmate.
We walked into the apartment, and it was noticeably silent. We were alone. Beth was at her gym and Garrett was probably off at yet another baseball practice, and neither of them would be back for hours.
That didn’t bode well for me fighting off my attraction to the mountain man.
The mountain man whose name I still didn’t know.
But I wasn’t about to ask him an
d somehow end up with his big, warm hands on my body again, so I was just going to have to stick with calling him my mountain man until someone else said his name.
Without another word, I strolled toward the bathroom to plug in my curling iron. I’d redo my makeup before I did my hair, but the curling iron needed to heat up so it was ready.
“Stay out of my way, mountain man.” I called out over my shoulder.
His whisper of,
“Feel free to get in mine.” Was so quiet that I almost doubted it was real.
And even though I doubted it was real, the words still sent a rush of heat through me. I cursed at my reaction and forced myself to continue toward the bathroom.
After I turned on the curling iron, I headed for my room and pulled my dress out of the closet. It was in a dark pink garment bag, protected, like the rest of my fancy dresses. I only ever wore each one once, but I liked to keep them just for fun. I definitely didn’t need the money, so there was no point in selling them.
I hung the dress from the top of the door and unzipped the bag, pulling the fabric out so gravity had a little time to smooth it out. The fabric was soft and delicate, a light grayish lavender color that I knew looked stunning on me.
I bit back a smile when I remembered what my mountain man had said about the dress, though he hadn’t seen this one in particular—that I didn’t own anything overly-modest. It was the truth.
My entire life, my parents had told me that my body was one of my greatest assets, and as far as I’d experienced, that was the truth.
I swapped my black pencil skirt and green top for the adhesive bra I’d be wearing to the party and a white silk slip. The slip was just to stop me from doing something insane like jumping my mountain man.
I felt his gaze on me as I headed into the bathroom, and forced myself not to look at him. He sat on the couch, still sexier in that t-shirt and jeans than any man I’d ever met looked in a tux. I’d always been a fan of a good tux, but my mountain man… he was converting me to jeans.
