by E A Price
He gave her an exaggerated leer to prove his point, and given the way she smiled, she had actually appreciated it.
“Okay, let’s go.”
Chapter Eleven
“Why’d you become a deputy?” asked Barlow.
Susie swallowed a bit of her sub and replied, “Because of my grandpa. He’s retired now, but he was sheriff when he was younger – he was always my hero. No matter how people treated him, he was always respectful, always honest, and he never let anyone bully him – and plenty of shifters tried to. But he wouldn’t back down – he always did what he thought was right. I wanted to make him proud.”
Barlow nodded thoughtfully. “Is he?”
“Proud? Yeah, but I think if I had ended up a professional can collector he’d still be super proud.”
They were enjoying a nice lunch. Unlike the lunches with Allen, Barlow didn’t chastise her for laughing too loudly, or roll his eyes when she dropped sauce on her shirt – no, Barlow howled with laughter and then spent ten minutes staring at her breast deciding what shape the sauce stain resembled. He decided on a goat riding a unicycle. She got the feeling Barlow was un-embarrassable. After spending so much time with Allen who was always uptight and worried about what strangers would think, it was nice being with someone who was so laidback. He was also really easy to talk to.
Barlow grunted and finished his second sub – he ordered three. She was impressed by the way he put food away.
“My ah, my grandparents raised me.”
He nodded – listening but still eating.
“My dad died when I was young, and my mom left, so they took care of me.”
His eyes crinkled in sympathy. “What happened?”
“He drowned. We were living in New York. My parents liked to party, and he got so drunk he thought it would be a good idea to swim to the Statue of Liberty at midnight in January.”
He placed his hand on her leg. “Fuck, I’m sorry.”
Susie smiled slightly. Something else she liked about Barlow was that he didn’t swear all that much. At least not the f-word – this was the first time she heard him say it. Usually, he was more of a PG-13 swear kind of guy. Even when he was chasing unruly cattle and falling in cow dung – he didn’t swear. The situation had to be serious for him to swear like that.
“My mom died when I was a kid,” he said in a gravelly voice, thick with emotion.
Susie placed her hand over his. Vaguely, she already knew from what Terri had told her. “I’m sorry.”
“She went out one night, hunting, and a hunter thought she was a real wolf. She couldn’t change back in time.”
Susie mewled in sympathy. “I had no idea.”
How awful. She always thought of shifters as invincible, powerful creatures, but it wasn’t true. Barlow lost his mother over such a stupid mistake.
“It’s fine,” he grunted. “I’m over it.”
He tried to remove his hand from hers and Susie clung onto it, rubbing her fingers over his knuckles. She could tell he wasn’t telling the truth about that. She could tell he was holding onto the pain, and keeping something back.
Barlow looked up, and for a second, she thought she saw fear in his eyes. But that was quickly doused. His eyes pinned hers, and she had an urge to lean forward and kiss him, to ease his pain and take what she had been dreaming about ever since Vegas.
“We’re getting a little morbid,” she said with a forced laugh.
He chuckled and patted her other thigh with his free hand. “Yeah. So what’s your favorite flavor of chip?”
Susie giggled. “Plain.”
Barlow made a face, and she giggled even harder. “Plain?”
“Yeah, plain.”
“Jeez. Next, you’ll say your favorite flavor of ice cream is vanilla.”
“Well…”
Barlow threw back his head and howled in amusement. It was loud and wonderful to hear; she almost missed the growl coming from Allen. But the male growled a couple of times to make sure he got his point across.
Allen approached them, a distasteful look on his face.
“Susie.”
“Oh hey,” she said weakly.
Barlow’s mirth disappeared, and he smiled coldly at the other wolf.
Allen sniffed and pursed his lips - he looked like someone had just passed him a bowl full of rotting garbage. “Susie, I need to speak to you.”
“Susie’s talking to me,” rumbled Barlow.
Allen’s eyes flickered down to the hand on her leg.
“It’s okay, Barlow,” said Susie. If she didn’t speak to Allen, he’d march off and force Jules or maybe Candace to get her, and he knew she wouldn’t say no to her friends. Allen refused to be avoided.
Allen smiled smugly, and Susie squeezed Barlow’s hand.
“I’ll be right back.”
“Hurry back, little darling,” crooned Barlow, only the slightest edge to his voice.
*
“Are you okay?” asked Allen when they were out of Barlow’s earshot. He looked a little agitated.
“I’m fine.”
Allen huffed and puffed, and Susie wondered if he had dragged her away from Barlow just to ask her that.
“I was worried when you were so late in arriving - I thought something happened to you.”
Susie pressed her lips together to stop herself from laughing. Something did happen, and it was freaking hilarious. Thankfully, she had managed to snap a few pictures with her phone – she looked forward to sharing them with Terri when she got back to Rose.
“We just got a little lost; it was nothing.”
“I don’t like you being in danger,” hissed Allen.
Susie glared at him. Where was this coming from? “Who said I was in danger? I was with Barlow, and I can take care of myself.”
“I’ve said it, again and again, I don’t like you working as a deputy!”
“What?!”
This was an argument they had numerous times when they were together. He demanded she quit, and she refused. He wanted her at home, cooking and cleaning and she said nuts to that. Why he was dragging that out now, she had no idea.
“First of all, I have no idea why on earth you’re bringing this up now. Secondly, that’s really none of your business anymore.”
Allen gave her a thunderous look. “And where did you find that… that person?” The word person was said with the most scorn he could muster.
“You mean, Barlow? Vegas, actually.”
Allen snorted. “Have you brought him here to make me jealous?”
“I don’t do things to get a reaction from you,” she replied peevishly.
He grasped her hand, giving her a harrowed look. “I still love you, Susie.”
“Funny way of showing it,” she muttered trying to tug her hand away.
“I’m a wolf – I have urges. I was only with Helen on the full moon as my beast – you’re human, you can’t possibly understand. My beast needed the release – but my heart has always been yours.”
Yeah, he was probably thinking of her while cavorting with Helen. Boy, that sure made her feel all warm and fuzzy – not!
“I have to take Helen as my mate because she gave birth to my cub, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be together.”
“Yeah, it does,” she scoffed. “I’m not going to be your mistress.”
“No, I mean you could be my second mate.”
“Second mate?”
Allen beamed at her. “Helen has to be my first mate because she’s a wolf and gave birth to my son, but you could be my second mate.”
Susie squirmed at the thought of the three of them sharing a bed. “So you’d have two mates?”
He nodded almost feverishly. “Yes, I would essentially be mated to you, but I would have to spend the full moons with Helen and mate with her then.”
“Oh boy, that does sound tempting,” she muttered, putting as much sarcasm in her voice as she could muster.
Allen’s delight quickly turned
to fury. “I’m trying to find a way for us to be together.”
“Well stop trying!” she snapped, and with a huge effort, she managed to free her hand so she could stomp away.
Moments later she felt a hand grip her arm, and she swung, hoping to smack Allen right in his bleached white smile. But she gasped as Barlow caught her.
“Take it easy, slugger,” he purred.
“Sorry, thought you were someone else.”
“Yeah, I figured. What happened with keyboard teeth?”
“It’s a long story.”
Barlow shrugged as if he didn’t mind listening, but Susie wasn’t in the mood. She liked Barlow, but she was a little uncertain where she stood with him. Friends, she guessed, but she worried that Barlow wanted something more. She didn’t want to encourage him, not when she had no interest in being with a wolf… right? She wasn’t hoping for more with Barlow, was she?
“And not one I want to talk about,” she added.
“Fair enough,” he replied without hesitation. “According to our schedule, we’re due for some wedding snowboarding.”
“Of course we are,” she sighed.
“You up for it, little darling?”
“Sure, why not?”
She’d already been completely embarrassed in front of this pack when Allen cheated on her – what could falling on her butt in the snow hurt?
Chapter Twelve
The hotel had a room full of equipment and cold weather clothing for guests to borrow for the snowy pursuits. Susie was trying to find a snowsuit short enough in the leg and wide enough in the hips to fit her when Helen stormed into the room.
Susie stiffened, embarrassment and hurt curling inside her.
It was embarrassing because Allen had been sleeping with this young female for at least two months before she found out – and in retrospect, Helen’s winks and smirks made a lot more sense. But it hurt because undoubtedly most of his pack knew what he was up to with Helen every full moon, and none of them considered it worth taking the time to tell her. Jules swore she had no idea, but Susie wasn’t sure about anyone else.
“How dare you?” thundered Helen.
“How dare I what?” muttered Susie, pointedly not looking at the bristling five-foot-ten wolf shifter.
It was even more painful to see Helen now because she looked radiant and glowing from recently giving birth – as if she weren’t already beautiful to begin with.
“Allen is mated to me!” howled Helen. “We have a cub – there’s no room in our mating for you.”
“Okay…”
Helen gave her a look of contempt. “He told me about your little idea for you to become his second mate.”
“My idea?” squawked Susie.
“Well, it is not happening, okay? Just keep your grubby human hands away from Allen.” She poked a clawed finger in Susie’s direction. “You couldn’t keep him interested, and now he’s mine, so just stay away from him, or else.”
Helen’s eyes flashed amber from her beast, and she flipped her hair over her shoulder before she flounced away.
Dear lord – the weekend was off to a cracking start.
*
Susie let out an oof as she landed on the snow with a thud. What the hell? Shouldn’t the snow be soft? This was as hard as regular ground!
“Nice effort, Susie, try to stay standing,” called the instructor.
No kidding. Helen wasn’t taking part in the snowboarding, but she was present, watching and giggling every time Susie made a fool of herself. She had a few pack females around her, braying in time with her over Susie’s misfortunes.
Stupid, mean girls.
Most of the pack already had experience, and so they were enjoying themselves on the slopes, but the few who hadn’t – like her and a few thirteen-year-olds – were getting instructions. So far, she was the worst of the bunch.
A spray of snow hit her, and she blew it out her mouth, ready to yell at whoever did it. But the anger withered the moment she saw Barlow grinning at her. He easily came to a stop in front of her. He looked like he’d been doing this for years, and damn, that snowsuit was like an extra layer of skin on him. It was hard to stay mad when faced with that sight.
“Having fun?” he asked, grinning.
“Sure, I love cavorting in the snow.” She flapped her arms sarcastically.
“You making sexy snow angels?”
“How did you guess? Now come on, help me up.”
With perfect balance, he leaned over and managed to pull both her and her board into an upright position.
“How long have you been snowboarding?” she asked.
“An hour.”
Susie gasped. “You mean this is your first time?”
Barlow shrugged. “Sure.”
“That’s just not fair.”
He chuckled and started brushing snow off her.
“I’m pretty good at all sports.”
He reached her butt and took an inordinate amount of time brushing the snow away from it.
“I think you’re done back there.”
“Can’t be too careful.”
Susie burst into laughter, before wobbling and clutching him a little tighter.
“Don’t let go,” she breathed.
“I’m not going to,” he growled softly.
Out the corner of her eye, she noticed Allen make his way over to Helen.
“I wouldn’t mind if you kissed me to make him jealous,” murmured Barlow.
Susie wouldn’t mind kissing Barlow either, but if she did, it wouldn’t be for that reason. “I’m not trying to make him jealous, and I’m not interested in using you, either.”
Barlow cocked an eyebrow at him. “You told your friends we were dating.”
“No, they just assumed…” And she didn’t try very hard to disabuse them of that notion.
“You don’t like the idea of us kissing?” He gave her a look that could smolder at a thousand paces.
“I don’t want you to think there’s a chance this might lead somewhere. I like you, but I’m not interested in a relationship.”
Barlow grunted. “Who said I was?”
He pulled off his glove and cupped her face; his warmth felt good against her freezing skin.
“You’re cold; we should go inside. Unless you want to do more snowboarding?”
“Nah, I can fall over and bruise my ass indoors as well as I can out here.”
He helped her back in, and she pondered what he had just said.
Chapter Thirteen
“Here, hot chocolate.”
Barlow passed her a cup overflowing with chocolate, cream, and marshmallows.
“How do you know I like it?” she asked.
“It’s hot chocolate – who in their right mind doesn’t?” Even he had to admit he loved the stuff, though not in front of his lion shifter army pal. He once admitted he liked drinking tea and opened himself up to tea party jokes for months that were only stopped after a sharp punch to said lion shifter’s head.
“Fair point. Wow, those are some big marshmallows, ooh and sprinkles!”
“Yeah, that’s the super deluxe hot chocolate with all the trimmings – there’s enough sugar in these babies to keep you going for a week.”
“Yummy.”
Both wolf and man gawked at Susie as she methodically started licking the cream off the top. Holy hell… Because sleeping in the same bed with her wasn’t hard enough already.
“Barlow, that you?”
Barlow almost tipped all the chocolate down his front as his wolf sneered and his ex-girlfriend approached him.
“Roxanne?”
She sashayed up to him, swinging both hips and long black hair like she always did. Crap.
Susie watched them with interest. Was it too late to just grab Susie and make a break for it?
“What are you doing here?” she asked. “Isn’t this a little out of your price range?”
His wolf growled, but Barlow didn’t care. Roxanne was ju
st bitter about the break-up – though she had made plenty of comments like that when they were together. So really, she was just the same as always.
“Here for a wedding.”
Roxanne gave him a tight smile. “So am I. I just arrived. The groom is my cousin.”
Barlow cocked his head at Susie and placed a hand on her leg. “The bride is Susie’s best friend, and I’m her date.”
Roxanne’s razor-sharp glare found Susie, who smiled politely in return. “How nice. I’m here with my fiancé myself. Edward?”
There was no answer, and Roxanne clicked her fingers impatiently and called his name a couple more times. Boy, Barlow hadn’t missed that.
He shot an amused glance at Susie who looked back curiously.
“Yes, yes, I’m here, I… ah…”
Edward approached, and Barlow’s wolf snorted in recognition. Yep, that was his old commanding officer – Captain Jenkins. Barlow had thought he was already married with three children, but he did know that was the sort of thing that wouldn’t slow Roxanne down. Jenkins’ affair with Roxanne was the reason Barlow dumped her, but he had no idea it had gone this far. Didn’t care much either.
“Tanner,” said Edward, looking more than a little embarrassed.
“Captain.”
There was an awkward pause as they all looked at each other, finally broken by Edward.
“We really should check into our room.”
Roxanne pursed her lips but nodded.
“See you soon, Barlow,” she said with a hint of a flirty inflection. “Nice to meet you, Cissy,” she tossed that out over her shoulder as she left.
“Actually it’s… oh, she’s already gone,” muttered Susie. “Friend of yours?” she asked more than a little sharply.
Hardly huffed his wolf. “Ex-girlfriend – she’s a nurse.”
They met when he was injured – not badly injured just injured by a stray bullet. She flirted outrageously, and he did too. They soon fell into a casual relationship.
“I bet she has a lovely bedside manner. I take it she’s a wolf, too.”
He smiled. “Yeah.”
He wondered how humans could ever tell the species of anyone? Shifters usually scented species – except bird shifters, feathery douches had worse noses than humans. Did humans always have to ask? Boy, that sounded exhausting. Huh. Susie was the first human he had ever been with. Didn’t make any difference really. His wolf yowled. Okay, yeah, no difference except for the fact that she was the best he’d ever been with, the only one that haunted his dreams after, and the only one who could make him shudder with just a look.
