by Ruby Shae
“Channel seventeen.”
“Got it,” Ethan said. “Call me if you need me. For anything.”
Zach started weaving his way through the crowd, smiling and nodding at the friendly acknowledgements from the regulars. Where Aiden had earned a reputation for being a serious hard-ass, Zach was the easygoing, approachable one. Nothing about the situation felt easygoing, but he continued to smile until something gave him a reason not to.
He pushed the button on the mic.
“I’m on the floor, and Graham and Ethan are all wired up.”
“Good,” Aiden replied. “Everyone check-in.”
“Here,” Graham replied.
“Me, too,” Ethan said.
“Okay, let’s do this,” Aiden said.
Even though they were all connected, the group could only hear another’s voice if the speaker pressed a button on the earpiece. They didn’t have much to hide from one another, but not having to watch every uttered word made it easier to do their jobs, among other things, and not worry about anyone eavesdropping.
Zach walked up to the dance floor, and his bear went wild again. The animal paced and growled, and when he didn’t move, his bear roared beneath the surface.
He looked around again, and that’s when he saw her.
She was standing at a high-top table, surrounded by four other women, and for a moment he couldn’t breathe.
She was tall, with curves that went on for miles, and she had long, blonde hair that fell in layers down to the middle of her back. Long, layered bangs framed her face, and when her eyes met his, the sapphire blue orbs nearly brought him to his knees.
“Shit!”
She was so beautiful…so perfect…and suddenly, everything made sense.
The reason he’d been so off-kilter was because his mate was in the club.
He made a beeline for her table.
“What?” Aiden asked. “What’s the matter?”
Zach smiled wider. He couldn’t believe he’d pressed the button on his earpiece. He didn’t want to share his news with everyone just yet, but he also didn’t want his whole clan rushing to the floor to give him aid.
“I found my mate.”
Suddenly, he flashed back to how Aiden felt when he’d first found his mate, and the uneasy feelings his cousin described had been the same. Honestly, the similarities should have clicked sooner, but finding a mate had been the furthest thing from his mind when the strange sensations hit.
“Holy fuck!”
“Awesome!”
“Right on!”
The guys’ responses made him want to laugh, but he held in his mirth.
He had other things to worry about.
Zach never had any trouble talking to women, or anyone for that matter, but all of a sudden, his voice was dry. Her friends were enthusiastic, and he knew he was polite, but he’d never be able to repeat their words. He only cared about his mate.
“Hi, I’m Zach. What’s your name?”
“Hi,” she said. “I’m Rory.”
She offered him a small smile, but he knew she was holding back.
“That’s pretty,” he said. “Just like you.”
She was more than pretty, but he had a feeling she wouldn’t like it if he said so.
“Thank you,” she said.
“We’re gonna go dance.”
Her friends disappeared, and for a minute they just stood there in silence. God, when was the last time he’d asked a woman out? He couldn't even remember. Even though most women seemed to like him, no one had interested him enough to bother with in a long time.
Unexpectedly, he blurted out the words he wanted to say.
“I have to stick around for a couple more hours,” he said, “but, would you like to join me for an early breakfast? I know a great place—”
“Thank you, but no,” she said.
Stupid!
An early breakfast was synonymous with a booty call.
He wanted more than a one-night stand.
“How about dinner then? Tomorrow night?”
“Sorry,” she said, as the blaring song died down, and her friends returned. “I will never go out with you.”
A new song failed to start right away, and her words echoed around them, but it was her rejection that tightened an invisible band around his heart. Shocked into silence, his bear roared in pain beneath the surface as the animal felt her slipping away. He didn’t know how to change her mind, and then, unexpectedly, he was out of time.
Aiden’s gruff voice filled his ear, and he had no choice but to leave her.
“Please excuse me.”
He forced himself to turn away, and moved swiftly through the crowd.
Aiden yelled again, and he assured the man he was on his way.
He burst through the front door in time to see Aiden take a hit to the jaw. His cousin stumbled back at the same time the man rushed him with a knife, and knocked him to the ground. Three other men stood in a semi-circle watching the two men, and Zach grabbed one and knocked him out with one punch.
Graham and Ethan arrived a second later, and tackled the other two onlookers while Zach ripped the man with the knife off of Aiden. The knife skidded across the asphalt, but the man’s other hand donned a pair of brass knuckles. The weapon, combined with a four-man attack, explained why they were able to get Aiden on the ground.
Zach punched the man in the throat, and then ripped his arm behind his back and slammed him to the ground. He held the man in place with a knee expertly placed on his forearm.
“Well, it’s about damn time,” Aiden growled.
His cousin stood, and Zach saw the blood soaking his shirt. Luckily, their shifter genes allowed them to heal from most injuries, and Aiden seemed unharmed.
“Sorry man,” Graham said. “I ran out the back and there were two guys pounding on each other out there. Ethan just happened to come along at the right moment, and we scared them off. Saw them heading off in opposite directions.”
“Good,” Aiden said, and nodded in his direction. “How’d it go with you?”
Zach just shook his head, and picked up the guy he’d been holding to the ground.
“Let’s get these guys inside.”
An hour later, the four men sat handcuffed in their office while they waited for the police. If it had been a simple bar fight, they might have let the men go, but everything changed when they tried to jump Aiden. Now, they would spend at least one night in jail, and be banned from the club for life.
Graham and Ethan had taken over security on the inside of the club while Aiden had cleaned his wounds with the help of his mate, Liddy, and Zach had filled out paperwork. Now, the two men were taking turns walking the floor while the other waited for the authorities.
Zach glanced at the monitors, and silently cursed.
Shit!
“Aiden, she’s leaving. Where are you?”
“Hallway, I’ll be there in two seconds. Go.”
Zach didn’t hesitate.
He ran out the employee’s entrance, and raced around to the front of the building. He arrived just in time to see his mate walking across the parking lot alone.
Shit! Why the fuck is she alone?
Torn between wanting to protect her, and possibly pushing her further away, he stayed in the shadows and watched until she was seated safely inside her vehicle with the door locked. As she drove out of the lot, he moved quickly through the parked cars until he was close enough to read her license plate and set it to memory.
He watched until her taillights disappeared into the darkness, and then he pulled out his cell-phone and texted Graham.
He’d give her space—for now—but there was no way in hell he’d let his mate go without a trace.
Chapter Two
Rory placed another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth, and resisted the urge to close her eyes and fully savor the cold, sweet treat. Her ex had hated ice cream, or more accurately, he’d hated her love for it, and he’d berated her every time she’d
indulged.
It hadn’t taken long for her to give up the coveted dessert completely.
The fact that the man had dictated what she put in her mouth was just another reminder of what an ass he’d been, but the fact that she’d let him have that kind of power over her stung more.
Never again.
Normally, she’d go to the grocery store, and then devour a pint of her favorite insanely delicious concoction in the privacy of her own home, but she’d felt the need to splurge, and the homemade ice cream in the shop on Main Street tasted better than anything store-bought.
Hell, if she were being honest, it tasted better than almost everything, regular food included, and she’d needed to get out of the house for longer than a quick run into the supermarket anyway.
It had been two days since Zach had approached her at the club, and she still couldn't get him out of her head. After he’d left her table that night, she'd stayed and hung out with her friends for another hour, but she’d never caught sight of him again.
She hadn’t meant to embarrass him, and she’d wanted to apologize, or at least say something to make things right. Not that she could, or that he would even let her try. In fact, she had a feeling he would never accept her apology, and if she were being completely honest, she’d really just wanted to see him again.
Unfortunately, the feeling hadn’t gone away.
He’d been on her mind for the past two days, and for some reason, she couldn’t forget him. He was amazingly attractive, but she’d seen attractive men before, and it was more than that. He’d made her feel things that she didn’t think she would feel ever again, and though she didn’t want a man, she felt connected to him in some way.
The whole thing was driving her crazy.
He was just a man—a stranger—and she didn’t even know him. Apparently, those points didn’t matter because she’d spent the whole next day, Sunday, alternating a fine line between being wired and being depressed. Her reaction to him made it seem like he was more—meant more—to her than he should.
None of it made any sense, and after a full day of wallowing in strange, unrecognizable feelings, she’d chalked her obsession up to the fact that he was the first man who had shown any interest in her since she’d broken up with her ex, and she really didn’t know what to do with that information.
She could've called and talked to Pam, or one of the other girls, but she didn't want to. After being alone for so long, sharing her feelings was still a struggle, and she knew it was stupid to care so much what a stranger thought.
When Monday morning rolled around, she'd been ecstatic to get to work, and grateful that her job as a bookkeeper didn't require too much concentration or interaction with anyone else. She’d wanted to be left alone, and even ended up blowing off Pam for lunch, but nothing helped.
She couldn’t stop thinking about the man in the club.
Hours later, she’d walked into her apartment, tired from the day, and forced herself to look in the mirror.
Really look.
And that’s when it clicked.
What the hell am I doing?
He was just some guy, and he didn’t mean anything. She shook her head, and forced herself to push him out of her mind. Two days was long enough to waste on nothing.
After a shower and a great dinner, dessert was a must, and she made a trip to the ice cream shop for a much-deserved bowl of goodness. Dressed in a yoga pants and t-shirt, her outfit hadn’t even played into her decision.
She’d just wanted to get out of the house and celebrate her independence.
Unfortunately, the shop was more crowded than she'd expected, but finding a table hadn’t been hard. Especially one nearly hidden against the back wall.
Still, she’d genuinely forgotten about her outfit until she saw him walk in.
Zach.
He stepped into the shop, and like a moth to a flame, her body reacted.
He was dressed in all black again, but in the well-lit lobby of the ice cream shop, she could see what the dim lights of the club hid.
Damn!
Before he’d been beautiful, but now he was more. His body looked like it had been carved from granite, and model perfect wasn’t an accurate description. He was otherworldly, every woman’s fantasy, and the strong lines of his face and body had her pussy tingling.
He glanced around the shop like a predator, and when his eyes met hers, he smiled.
Holy hell!
She was lost.
Liquid heat dampened her panties, and she shifted in her seat to stop the hungry, erratic pulsing between her legs.
What the hell?
The desperate urge to run to him almost had her out of her seat, but she linked her ankles around the legs of the chair, and forced herself to stay still. She’d rejected him, and though he didn’t look angry, no man would be happy about her rebuff.
He kept their connection until it was his turn at the counter, and though she lost sight of him for a few minutes, she continued to watch the door so she could see him leave.
He didn’t.
Instead, he rounded the corner, and started walking toward her.
The first thing she noticed was the monstrous sized sundae he carried, and the next was that he drew the attention of everyone in the room.
Hell, how could he not?
Both men and women looked toward him with smiles either in appreciation of his good looks, or his good character. She could see that he was well well-liked within the community, and it seemed as if everyone in the shop would be on his side in a brutal showdown.
Suddenly, every emotion she’d had before was replaced with fear.
She wasn't sure if it was a blessing or curse that she knew how to take a verbal beat down from a man in public, but she braced herself for his angry words, simultaneously wishing the floor would open up and swallow her whole.
Her seat, although in the back, was the perfect place for retaliation. He could embarrass her the same way she’d embarrassed him in the club, and then walk out of the shop with his head held high, leaving her to deal with the aftermath.
When he approached the table, she opened her mouth to apologize, but he spoke first.
“Mind if I join you?”
She’d expected him to hover over the table as he dished out her verbal punishment, but his kind words and friendly smile were all wrong for the message she expected him to deliver.
When she didn't respond, he raised one sexy eyebrow and pointed at the chair. She must have nodded, or agreed in some way, because a second later he sat down with the ease of a man who had no cares in the world.
“What did you get?” he asked, pointing toward her bowl with his plastic spoon.
It was as if his words had healing powers, because she suddenly felt like trusting him.
Don’t be stupid. You can’t trust any man.
The mantra held less pain than it had before, and she could now she how unreasonable the blanket statement was. Especially when Zach made her feel things—want things—she hadn’t wanted or felt in a really long time.
“I got one scoop of mint chocolate chip, and one scoop of rocky road. What about you?”
He’d already devoured a large amount of his sundae, and she silently vowed to always make him get his own bowl when they visited the shop.
Yeah, right!
It wasn’t like they were ever going to see each other again.
“Vanilla,” he said, smiling. “With caramel and chocolate sauce, strawberries, nuts, and whipped cream.”
“Oh, that sounds good,” she smiled tentatively.
“It is,” he said. “Do you want to bite?”
He scooped up a large clump of ice cream topped with everything and held it across the table. Even if she wanted to, she’d never get her mouth around what he offered her.
The thought automatically turned sexual in her mind, but she pushed the naughty thought away, and focused on the real treat he’d offered her.
“You don't ev
en know me,” she said, shaking her head and smiling.
“True,” he said shoving the ice cream into his mouth. After he swallowed he started gathering another scoop. “But I'd like to.”
Silence stretched between them, but she didn't know what to say.
Luckily, that didn't seem to matter to Zach.
“You didn't get any toppings,” he said. “Do you not like chocolate and whipped cream?”
His smile made her think he was teasing with her, and she visibly relaxed.
“I love chocolate and whipped cream,” she laughed. “But I prefer everything inside my ice cream, rather than on top of it.”
He nodded in understanding, and shoved another heaving spoonful into his mouth.
She'd never met a guy who could eat more ice cream than she did, let alone one who liked it as much, and his love for the cold treat shocked her. So did the way the muscles in his arm bunched as he moved the spoon to and from his mouth.
“It’s going to melt,” he said.
She looked up to find him watching her, and her cheeks heated.
Busted!
She blindly gathered up another scoop, and shoved it into her mouth.
Zach chuckled, but he didn’t embarrass her anymore.
“So, he said pushing his empty bowl away. “What is Rory short for?”
She tried not to cringe at his question, but she hated the answer.
“Aurora,” she said.
“Ah, Princess Aurora,” he wrapped one arm around his waist, stretched the other out wide, and leaned forward slightly in a tiny bow. “I should've known I was in the presence of royalty.”
You are too disgusting to be called a princess.
Her ex's words floated through her mind, and if she couldn't help but recoil.
“It’s just a name,” she said looking away from him.
“It’s a beautiful name,” he said, “and it fits you perfectly.”
She looked up and met his dark brown eyes with her own orbs. All traces of teasing were gone, and she couldn't help but believe him.
“I know I already asked you this,” he hedged, “but I'm hoping you'll change your mind."
He was going to ask her out again.
“Zach—”
“You can't say no before I even ask,” he chuckled, “but now that I know what your answer will be, I will wait and ask you another time.”
