One thing about telling a convincing lie, he knew, was the dramatics of it. Too much, and you lost your listener. Not enough, and they didn’t want to believe it. He slumped back in the truck, pulling a distressed face as he thought of what he’d tell her about the items in the back of the truck. Renovation project? It was as good as anything.
“They?” Lizzie’s voice pitched higher as she drove at dangerous speeds down the road.
“Slow down,” he instructed, “and put on your seatbelt. I knocked him out; we’re safe for now.”
Lizzie’s knuckles whitened on the wheel, then she reluctantly eased off the gas. The last thing he needed right now was to be pulled over by the cops. They would be harder to convince than Lizzie. When she was driving reasonably again, he let out a sigh and covered his face with one hand, as though wearied with a terrible burden.
“The family.”
“Your mafia, you mean?” Lizzie’s voice took on an angry note.
Philip flinched, then hoped she would take it as pained and regretful. “Yes. That is what I mean. I was born into it, didn’t know anything else but the family… Mafia…” That much was true. “But I have my daughter now. I want a better life for her, and I don’t want her involved with the mafia at all.” That also was true; why else would he pay so much to ensure she never set eyes on the Godfather? “So I became a CI for the cops. They must have found out, because that man, Craig, was sent to kill me.” All lies. He pitched his voice with panic. “We have to get to my daughter’s school right now! I have to get her and get out of here.”
Lizzie’s tense shoulders relaxed a smidgen. The fear faded from her face as determination set in. “Right. Of course. I can take you to the cops. The people you’re working for—”
“No.”
“Melodi—"
“No!” Philip panted a few harsh breaths, trying to work himself into a real frenzy of fear. His wolf growled low in his chest, annoyed by the pretense, but he ignored it. This was about protecting himself and Bethany from the wrath of the family, while also trying to prevent Lizzie’s death and the chaos that would bring. “No, we can’t go to them. They can’t protect us. Not even Melodi. There’s someone on the inside feeding the family information. I’ve just found out, but I don’t know who it is.”
“It’s not Melodi,” Lizzie hissed at him, sending a glare in his direction.
“I don’t think it is, but I can’t be sure of that,” Philip replied. “So, no cops. And when Craig wakes up, he’ll tell the family about you.”
She paled once more.
A smirk fought to emerge, but he held it in. “Don’t worry. I just have to figure out what to do from here. But first things first. I need to get Bethany out of her school and get her far from the city. I need to make sure she stays safe… and just when I was about to redo her room,” he moaned, inspiration striking him. This way, Lizzie wouldn’t ask about the tarp in the back of the truck, or anything else. “I was going to gut it, get better insulation in there, paint it pink and sparkly like she likes.”
A flash of some unknown emotion crossed Lizzie’s face, but he didn’t bother trying to decipher it. What mattered was the belief in her eyes as he directed her where to go. Good. This had been enough to buy him some time, at least. It didn’t seem like she was going to continue insisting on going to the cops. Which was an especially good thing, because his story about being a CI would be torn apart in seconds if they did.
“Please.” He reached out, put his hand on her shoulder again, and locked gazes with her as they came to a stoplight. “Please, I know you have no reason to trust me, but my life and the life of my daughter is in your hands.” A rather masterful move, wasn’t it? Making her think that she had all the power. If he had had a little more preparation, he might even be able to squeeze out a tear or two. “We have to get out of the city. I need to figure out who the dirty cop is. And then we can come back and get this all taken care of.”
Lizzie turned back to the road as the light turned green. “Okay,” she whispered. “And I know exactly where we can go. Nobody knows about it, not even Varton, so nobody will come looking for us.”
Philip forced his smile to look more grateful than triumphant. “Thank you,” he breathed as he settled back.
Look at that, he crowed within his mind. And I get a free vacation out of it, too.
Chapter Two
Philip had always loved the smell of forest and trees. It was the wolf in him. It longed to go running through untouched wilderness, to be free of cars and cities and all the rushing noises that came with it. Here, life was peaceful. He could lay on the silty beach soaking up the sun’s rays, he could splash around in the lake, he could shift at will and dash back and forth without concern of what people might think or do.
It was, without a doubt, what he imagined heaven to be like. With his life, he’d probably end up going to the other place, though; he imagined it would be living in a city forever with a bunch of pretentious snobs. He longed to get out of the city, to give Bethany something like this to grow up with. He’d lived his whole life in the city, and he could feel the strain it put on his wolf. There were some days when his wolf didn’t even want to emerge because it knew that it would have to be locked away soon enough.
Shifting wasn’t illegal in the city, but it was highly disapproved of and often a shifter would find themselves being hunted by animal control and slapped with a fine for disturbing the peace when all they were doing was going for a run.
Here, though… He dashed along the edge of the lake, Bethany on his heels. He didn’t run as fast as he could, well aware that her shorter legs would have a hard time keeping up. She yipped for joy as her wail made wide, happy circles. When Philip slowed enough, she leapt into the air and pounced on his back, biting at his flanks as any young wolf would. Philip twisted in a circle, yelping when her needle-sharp teeth bit into his tail.
She released him, spanking the ground with her paws, and he growled softly, a warning to calm down a bit. Bethany didn’t seem to care, because she lunged for him right away. Philip didn’t have the heart to ruin her fun, and rolled over under her attack, giving a false yelp of pain as she bit at his face. He shifted back to human form and seized her around her fuzzy middle, turning her upside down quickly to avoid getting more bites.
“Okay, okay,” he laughed as she writhed and wriggled. “It’s time to calm down, sweetie.”
Bethany stopped her struggling and gave him a perfect puppy-dog look. Her ears drooped as he set her back down, but her tail started going again when he sighed; she knew when he was defeated, and Philip did too.
“Fine,” he agreed. “We keep running. But I’m not carrying you back, so remember that.”
Of course, he did end up carrying her back to the cabin. It was a nice little place, but more extravagant than he thought was necessary. He’d have been happy with just living off the land for a while. This place, though… It had indoor plumbing and a turbine where the lake and river met, which enabled electricity in the cabin. There were two bedrooms, three if you counted the attic space, and as soon as they had arrived, Lizzie had gone through the cabin, cleaning it up and washing the bedding that had been left in metal containers. There was even a good selection of canned foods available.
Philip hadn’t asked Lizzie why she was preparing for the zombie apocalypse. If this was what she wanted to spend her money on, it wasn’t any of his business. People had a right to do what they wanted with their lives. He, out of anybody, knew that. Now that he knew about this place, though, he could imagine bringing Bethany out here when he could. She didn’t like roughing it camping like he did, and it was a nice place, anyway. Lots of things to do, even if that was just lying in the sun, relaxing.
They stopped at the docks to pull on their bathing suits before heading into the cabin. When they shifted, their clothes didn’t shift with them, leaving them nude when they shifted back. It was never an issue with shifters, just seen as a natural way of being. Most hum
ans thought the same way, though public nudity was still frowned on. Lizzie might be part shifter herself, but Philip didn’t want to embarrass her by walking around naked.
When they got into the cabin, he found Lizzie slicing fresh vegetables into a salad. Her knuckles were white over the knife and her movements jerky enough that he wasn’t sure she should be handling a sharp blade. He quickly made up a sandwich for Bethany and put it on a plate.
“Go eat outside,” he urged. “And then after we eat, we can read some stories or go swimming.”
Bethany grinned at him. “Stories!”
“Alright, stories it is. That’s probably a good idea, I’m getting worn out.”
Bethany rolled her eyes. “No, you’re not, Daddy. You’re not old yet.”
“I’m not, huh?” Philip ruffled her hair. “Go eat, okay?”
She nodded and bounded out of the kitchen, apparently full of energy again. Philip shook his head, grinning, before he turned back to Lizzie. She seemed determined to ignore him as she rinsed off a new cucumber and started to peel it. Her hands were shaking even more, now. Worried that he was going to scold her for going into town and picking up fresh veggies when she knew that they should be keeping their heads low?
Not that there was any real reason to do so, but there was some pretense needed.
Philip stepped up behind Lizzie, putting his arms around her waist. She jumped as he grasped her hands in his, stilling the dangerous swipes of the peeler. She froze, going so utterly still she might have fainted right then and there. She didn’t even pull in a breath.
“Everything okay?” he asked her. “You’re seeming a little nervous… Did something happen in town?”
Lizzie was silent for a moment.
Philip sighed, taking the cucumber and peeler from her and then turning her around. He was aware of how close their bodies were when they stood like this. Her round, lush ass pressed against him, and she was probably not even aware of what she was doing. After spending so much time with her, he had come to notice more and more what a delicious body she had. All curves. Thick, heavy breasts. Hips that were just right to hold onto. Thighs that could crush a man between them… and he had to work hard not to think about what it would be like to be crushed by her.
He grasped her hands in his, unsurprised to find them cold, and pressed them to his chest to warm up.
“If you’re worried I’m going to be upset with you… well, it would be better if we stayed here, out of sight, but I’ve been getting tired of canned vegetables, too.”
Lizzie’s jaw clenched tight and her eyes flared with anger. “How can you be like that?”
Philip rose a brow. He thought that she’d be happy for him to be understanding and gentle about this, even if she was breaking the rules by running into town. He frowned as he considered. He’d made her leave her cellphone behind, but it was entirely possible she had phoned her cousin or the cops when she was in town. If she’d done that… well, things were going to get a lot more complicated.
“Be like what?” he asked, careful to keep his voice calm.
“Be so calm about this!” Lizzie clapped a hand over her mouth as she cast a glance at the door Bethany had disappeared through.
Taking her by the arm, Philip pulled her to the opposite end of the kitchen. Bethany thought that they were just on vacation—which was true enough, he supposed—and he didn’t want her to start thinking that there was something wrong. Lizzie looked ashamed of herself, hunching inward and wrapping her arms around herself. She mouthed a sorry, then spoke in a quieter voice.
“I don’t understand how you can be so calm when there are people out there… people who are after us. After you especially.” She kept casting anxious glances at the door. “Yet you’re out here running around like it’s nothing. What if someone finds us? What if they know we’re here and—”
“You said yourself that nobody knows about this place,” Philip interrupted. “I know you’re scared but believe me, nothing is going to happen. Nobody is going to find us.”
He thought about pointing out that she was the one who risked giving away their position by going into town but decided against it. She was already worked up enough. If he wanted her to calm down, he needed to ease her worries, not exacerbate them. He took her hand again, bringing it to his chest once more.
“Listen,” he urged quietly. “I know this is frightening for you. But it won’t be for much longer, I promise. I just need some time, so I can come up with a lie that the family will believe. Then I can keep you out of this, and I can continue doing my work to take them down.”
It was honestly surprising just how easy it had been to get her to believe that line. He supposed it was mostly because she wanted to believe that he was a good person, protecting her. Which he was, in a way. What she didn’t know was that he was mostly protecting her from himself. If the family did find out about her and what she had seen before he was able to convince her to keep her mouth shut for good, then he would be ordered to take her out.
“What about Bethany?”
He arched his brows. “What?”
“Do you think that just hiding away like this is going to protect her?” Real concern shone from Lizzie’s eyes. “She’s in danger for being your daughter.”
That pushed a button, and Philip snapped without thinking. “I’ll take care of my daughter, you just look after yourself.”
Lizzie flinched.
“Sorry,” Philip was quick to say.
Frightening her more would just turn her away from him. He kept his gaze on hers, although he found himself wondering if she was the type of woman who believed the best of whatever man found her interesting. He imagined she’d had her fair share of male attention, but he couldn’t help wondering if seducing her would help his case or not. But that wasn’t the issue at hand.
He needed to focus, otherwise, he’d lose what trust he had managed to build so far.
“I will never allow anything to happen to my daughter,” he said, making his expression fierce. It wasn’t hard. “Bethany is everything to me, and I would destroy anybody who tried to take her from me.”
Lizzie flinched again.
“I won’t let anybody hurt you, either,” he was quick to add, figuring that she was frightened now at the thought of him handing her over to the family to protect his child. “I promise. As long as I’m here, nobody will ever hurt you.” He grinned. “So, you might as well relax. Try to enjoy yourself and your time away from your cousin and his company.”
“But I love working with Varton,” Lizzie blurted out. Her shoulders relaxed and a passionate light came to her eyes. “And this dating agency, I love it. It’s such a common complaint that shifters get oversexualized in media, and I wanted to be able to help shifters find their mates. Which is why I want you out of it,” she added, narrowing her eyes. “We only want people who are serious about finding their true loves, you know. If you’re just looking for sex, there are other apps for it.”
“You’d be surprised how often those apps stop getting responses as soon as I reveal I’m a shifter,” Philip replied dryly. “And I don’t do prostitutes.”
“Well you don’t do forever, either, so you need to find some other way to get your jollies,” Lizzie responded bluntly. She tapped his chest with her forefinger. “I am going to make this agency a respectable, honorable, and good association. I am going to help people find love and happiness.”
Philip wasn’t sure what was more appealing. The fierce, determined look in her eyes or the pucker of her sweet pink lips. Either way, he didn’t fight the urge when he decided he wanted to kiss her. He just kissed her. Her lips were like candy, and he wrapped his arms tight around her waist, pulling her in close to him as he teased her lips open.
***
So this is why he’s so popular.
That was the only thought that crossed her mind before she was kissing him back. Heat flared through her. Her breasts tightened and her inner thighs tingled. Philip’s
mouth was a powerful force, demanding a return of everything he gave. She was only too happy to give in to those demands. She melted against him, her hands flat against his chest. He was shirtless, with a fine smattering of hairs over his toned and tight muscles. His skin was hot, the warmth of him seeping into her body.
Philip moaned into her mouth, his hands wandering down to grasp her ass. He pulled her hips close to his, and she could feel the sizable bulge in his pants. It was her turn to moan, then, as she pressed herself to her toes to plunder his mouth. Their tongues danced as the kiss turned hungrier and hungrier.
But wait.
What was she doing?
Lizzie yanked back so suddenly that she cricked her neck. Philip followed her but stopped his pursuit when she shoved at his chest. His arms slid away from her, dropping to his sides. Lizzie found herself wishing she hadn’t done that. Her cheeks flushed hot and the tingles in her skin still burned, making her yearn to forget about decency and propriety.
“What was that about?” she demanded, and her heart sank when her voice came out far angrier than she had intended.
Philip arched a brow, a smirk starting to play about his lips. “Got scared? Think it’s too big for you?”
The nerve! Lizzie’s hands clenched and she took a step back from him. “Certainly not. I just don’t go around kissing criminals is all. Certainly not ones that use their daughters for props and to make people feel sorry for them.”
The smirk vanished at once.
“Don’t deny it,” she hissed, even as a heaviness sat in her chest at her words. What was wrong with her, why was she saying this? Maybe she had been frightened. “You care about Bethany, that’s clear. But I know the only reason Melodi hasn’t arrested you yet is because she thinks you’re one of the ‘not so bad’ men. And that’s because of Bethany. And just now, you’re talking about how she matters to you more than anything—”
The Wolf’s Surprise Babies Page 2
