by AE Jones
It was time to stop being scared.
“Do you want me to come in?” Sheila asked.
“No! I mean, I should be fine.”
Sheila hitched her eyebrows into a questioning arch. “So you had me come for emotional support, but you want me to wait in the car?”
“Well, I guess you can come in and sit in the waiting room.”
Sheila stared at her for several agonizing seconds before she finally nodded. “I didn’t realize you were scared to go to the dentist.”
Alex started to wither under her penetrating gaze. She had always been a terrible liar. “I know these fears I have don’t make sense. But phobias seldom do.” And she was an expert on phobias. She tucked her hair behind her ear.
When she walked in the door of Wilson Dental, she faltered, and Sheila ran into her back.
“Hey! Why’d you stop?”
“Sorry.” Alex stepped further inside and gaped at the décor. The waiting room walls were varying shades of blue to mimic being under water. Cartoon frogs of all shapes and sizes decorated the wall as well, and the carpet in the middle of the room was in the shape of a giant lily pad.
“May I help you?”
Alex turned to the voice. A smiling middle-aged woman sat behind a glass partition. “Yes, I have an appointment with Dr. Wilson.”
The woman’s smile dimmed. “You have an appointment?”
“Yes,” Alex answered. “Is there a problem?”
“Well, I think there must be some sort of mistake. Dr. Wilson is a pediatric dentist.”
Of course he was. Now what was she going to do? Before she could think straight, Sheila spoke up beside her. “You didn’t know he was a dentist for children? I thought you’d been here before.”
“A…friend recommended this dentist when I told her about my phobia. She said her daughter was scared to go to the dentist until she started seeing Dr. Wilson.”
“And how old is this daughter?”
Alex glared at Sheila. “Would you please go sit down?” She turned back to the receptionist. “If possible, I would still like to see Dr. Wilson. Maybe he could recommend someone for me.”
The receptionist nodded reluctantly. “Sure. I’ll see if Dr. Wilson is able to meet with you for a few minutes.”
“Thank you.” Alex walked over and sat down next to Sheila. “Don’t say a word.”
Sheila avoided her gaze by studiously concentrating on a Highlights magazine. “Wouldn’t dream of it. Besides, I’m in the middle of looking for hidden objects in this jungle picture, and I can’t find the basketball.”
Twenty minutes later, a young woman in pink scrubs led Alex into the examination room. The machinery was cleverly hidden behind plastic animals. The dental assistant had her sit in the chair. “Do you want a frog bib or a princess bib?”
“Ah. I don’t think I need a bib. I’m only here to talk to Dr. Wilson.”
The assistant smiled patiently. “Before he can recommend a dentist for you, Dr. Wilson will want to examine your mouth. We’ll go with the princess bib.” She hooked the paper bib around Alex’s neck and filled a small plastic cup with water. “Sit back and relax. Dr. Wilson will be right in.”
“Okay.” The assistant left the room and Alex took a deep breath. Her nerves jangled under her skin while time trickled by.
“Hello. I’m Dr. Wilson.”
Alex turned toward the voice. To be honest, she hadn’t known what to expect. Her imagination had begun to go wild, especially after seeing the frog-inspired waiting room. She’d been afraid he would have buggy eyes and a round belly, but he was quite human in appearance. He was medium height with light brown hair and brown eyes.
“Hello.”
“What can I do for you today?”
She sat up straighter. “My name is Alex Bennett. I need to discuss something important with you.”
He looked perplexed. “About what?”
“My family runs Bennett Bridal, and I want to know more about the incident at your wedding.”
He closed the door to the exam room. “What about it?”
“We believe it wasn’t an accident.”
“Why not?”
“There have been too many strange incidents lately at our weddings. A pattern has emerged, and since Sydney Thompson’s disappearance…”
His eyebrows shot up. “What type of pattern?”
“A number of weddings for our special clients have been sabotaged.”
“Special?” He watched her cautiously.
Somehow she needed to get him to understand she knew without actually saying it. “You have a very appropriate design scheme here.”
After a moment he smiled. “It works well with the children.”
“Would you tell me about the incident at your wedding? Why were you in the kitchen?”
“My mother loves orchids, so I had corsages made especially for her and my soon-to-be mother-in-law. One of the assistants from your company told me that they were being stored in the kitchen. When I stepped into the cooler, the door closed behind me.”
“Why didn’t the assistant bring you the flowers?”
“When I asked, she said she didn’t have time to get them for me.”
Alex frowned. That was a big no-no. None of Bennett Bridal’s assistants would ever do that. “What did she look like?”
He closed his eyes briefly. “She was attractive. Medium height. She had red hair pulled back into a ponytail, and either green or blue eyes. Sorry I can’t remember anything else, but it was a couple months ago.”
That didn’t sound like any of the assistants Peggy had working for her currently, but Alex would double check that as soon as she got back to the office. “I’m sorry for disturbing you at work. We’ll let you know if we find out anything more.”
“Thank you for believing me.” He sat down on the small stool next to the chair and reached for a pair of gloves. “Now let me return the favor.”
“That’s okay.”
“When was the last time you visited a dentist?”
“Ah…about a year. Why?”
“Let me take a quick look.”
She hesitated before opening her mouth.
He picked up an instrument and quickly checked her teeth. “Everything looks fine. You should probably schedule a cleaning, though.”
“Thanks, Dr. Wilson.”
He stood and pulled off his gloves. “Please call me Jim. We could schedule some time after work to discuss this further.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary right now.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive,” Alex answered.
He smiled. “I guess subtlety isn’t working. I’m asking you for a date.”
“I’m sorry. You did get married, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then why exactly are you asking me out on a date?”
He hesitated for a moment then lowered his voice to a whisper. “I thought you knew about us. Anura take more than one mate.”
Oh, my God. “I’m flattered, but I’m, um, already involved in a relationship.”
“Let me give you my business card just in case you need to get in touch with me.” He handed her a card.
Alex rushed through the waiting room toward the door without waiting for Sheila. When she made it outside, she sucked in a deep breath. She held the card up. It had a picture of a smirking frog. Yuck.
“How did it go?” Sheila asked from behind her.
“Fine. Can you drop me off at the office?”
“What about the meeting at the law firm?”
Alex opened the car door and plopped onto the seat. “No. I think one stop was enough for today.” This had not been the smartest idea on her part. How was she supposed to tell Devin about the red-headed woman without letting him know she’d met with the polygamous frog demon?
Sheila started the car and pulled away from the curb, laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“Your princess bib is a
dorable.”
Alex yanked it off. “Shut up and drive.”
Lorinda’s Wedding Tip: A groom has to be willing to voice his opinion regarding one or two items that really matter to him, and let the rest go.
Chapter 15
So what if a frog demon asked her out? She was a grown woman. Hadn’t Dr. Jennings been coaching her to deal with uncomfortable situations? Dealing with supernatural swingers was definitely outside her comfort zone. But she’d survived. Princess bib aside, there’d been no panic attack.
Alex was slogging her way through more wedding files Peggy had marked for her. After a few minutes, she checked the clock. Peggy was due back from an offsite meeting any time now.
She wanted to check with her about the wedding assistant Jim Wilson described. No Bennett Bridal assistant would have sent a client to fetch his own bouquets, and the information could be their first break in the case. She got up and peeked out the door again, hoping to see Peggy in her office.
“Alex, do you have a minute?” Chrystal called out from down the hall.
“Sure. What’s up?”
“With Peggy gone, I need some direction. One of our clients doesn’t want to have a standard wedding cake at her reception. Instead, she wants a variety of cakes and cheesecakes that guests can choose from. Do you know of a baker who does that?”
Alex snapped her fingers. “Sheila had those at her wedding. Hold on for a second and I’ll find the name of the bakery we used.” She strode back into her office and sat down at the computer to search for Sheila’s file. She paged down and found the name she was looking for. She got up and leaned out the doorway. Chrystal was still waiting in the hall. “It’s Vance Bakery.”
“Thanks.”
Alex leaned over the desk to close the file when her finger froze on the mouse button and she stared in shock at the screen. Her legs let go and she plopped hard onto the guest chair. Next to Sheila’s name was the supernatural shield symbol, along with the initials WN.
What was she?
* * *
Time to get down to business. Devin poured a cup of coffee and sat down at the kitchen table. “What type of security do we need for Saturday?”
Charlie turned his laptop toward Devin and brought up a blueprint. “Luckily the wedding is taking place at a gated country club, which cuts down on traffic. There are two gates—one for members, and one for staff. Both are usually manned by security, which we will triple the day of the wedding. But there will be a crapload of people setting up—caterers, florists, etc. I have a list of employees who will be working the wedding from the club manager.”
Devin glanced at his watch. “Shouldn’t Jack and Connor be here by now? You gave them directions to the house, right?”
Charlie nodded. “Yes. But I had them go straight to the club to interview staff. They’ll also be explaining Saturday’s security protocol to them.”
“What’s Gizmo’s ETA?”
“He should be here in a couple of hours.”
Devin rotated a pen between his fingers. “Everyone knows to watch what they say?”
“Yes. They’ve been warned.” Charlie grinned. “Speaking of which, how’s it going with Alex?”
Devin didn’t like Charlie’s smug look. “Fine.”
“That was convincing.”
“She’s too stubborn for her own good. She was going to interview an anura and a were on her own. I told her no way.”
“How’d she take it?”
“She agreed.”
“Really? And that didn’t make you nervous?” Charlie asked.
It had made him very nervous. “I told her no one on my team goes into a situation alone.”
Charlie hesitated for a moment. “Marina was not your fault, Dev.”
His chest tightened at the sound of her name. “As team lead, she was my responsibility.”
“It’s our job to do whatever it takes to protect our people.”
“She shouldn’t have gone in undercover on her own. It was too dangerous.”
Charlie threw up his hands. “Then why did you let her do it?”
“What?”
“You apparently are determined to beat yourself up about it, so I thought I’d join in.”
Devin glared at him. He had sent her in because she was the best person for the assignment. Or at least he’d thought so at the time. But had he been too busy thinking with his dick to realize it was a mistake? “I made a bad call.”
Charlie shook his head. “It’s more complicated than that, and you know it.”
Devin shot out of his chair, shoving it harder than he’d planned. “This discussion is over.”
Devin stalked out of the kitchen, into the living room, and paced for a moment. He normally didn’t lose his temper. He worked too hard to maintain it, no matter how challenging the situation. He huffed out a breath and ran his hand over his hair.
His cell phone rang. It was the anura returning his call.
“Cole, here.”
“Mr. Cole. This is Jim Wilson. You wanted to schedule a time to meet concerning my wedding?”
“Yes.”
“There’s no need. I already spoke to your associate, Alex Bennett, earlier today at my office.”
Devin clamped his jaw against a flood of swear words.
“Mr. Cole, are you still there?”
“Yes.”
“Please let me know what you find out. I gave Alex my card so she can get in touch with me at any time.” Wilson hesitated for a moment. “Also, would you do me a favor and apologize to Alex for me?”
“What for?” Devin asked, shocked at how harsh his voice sounded.
“It was,” Wilson cleared his throat, “just a little misunderstanding. I meant no offense.”
What the hell did that mean? “I’ll be sure to tell her.”
Devin ended the call and barely managed not to throw his cell against the wall. “Damn it!”
Charlie looked into the room warily. “What’s wrong?”
“Alex went to see the anura on her own.”
“Of course she did. Is she okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Then why do you look like you want to hit something?”
“Because she’s nothing but trouble! She acts tough, but she doesn’t know how dangerous security situations can be.” Devin started pacing again. He could only imagine what the Anura had said to her.
Charlie remained quiet for a moment. “And you’re pissed because she didn’t follow your orders?”
“Of course, why else would I be mad?”
Charlie gave Dev one of his patented grins. “Why else, indeed?”
Devin’s anger took on a life of its own, boiling beneath his skin like oil. He had to slow down more than once on his way to Bennett Bridal. At one point his speedometer read eighty.
Now he tried to force his feet to slow down while he rushed into the building. She was a liability. He had to tell Peggy Alex would no longer be part of this case. But first, he was going to find Alex and tell her personally.
He rounded the corner and slammed into Alex. She would have hit the floor from the collision, but he grabbed her arms and helped her back on her feet. He took in her face. She was pale as she’d been when she saw Julian’s fangs and glowing red eyes. But that had been due to shock. Now her chin trembled. His fury changed immediately to concern.
“What’s wrong?”
She wouldn’t meet his eyes. “I need to talk to Peggy.”
“What’s happened?”
“She’s a WN.”
“Alex, you’re not making any sense. Let’s go sit down.”
She jerked her arms out of Devin’s grip. “I don’t need to be coddled. I need to know the truth.”
“And I’ll help you, if you explain what’s going on.”
Alex turned on her heel and stomped back into the office.
Devin followed her. “Tell me what happened. Was it your meeting with the anura?”
She whipped around to fa
ce him. “How did you know about that?”
“I called him to schedule a meeting, and Wilson told me you’d already met with him. Did he hurt you?”
She waved her hand in the air. “No. He was harmless.”
“Then why did he want me to apologize for him?” Devin pushed.
“He asked me out. I was just…surprised to learn they have more than one mate.”
Devin took a deep breath. The horny bastard. “This is why I didn’t want you to go alone.”
She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “I didn’t go alone. I took Sheila with me.”
Was that supposed to make him feel better? “Who’s Sheila?”
“My best friend.”
Devin stared at her in shock. “You told another human about what’s going on?”
“No! Of course not. I wouldn’t do that.” She shrugged. “Not that it really matters now.”
He was trying to follow her rambling. “Has something happened to Sheila?”
“No.” Alex turned the laptop around. “This is Sheila’s file.”
“What about it?”
She jabbed her finger at the screen. “She’s not human!”
Alex’s voice reverberated off the walls. He reached behind him to close the door.
She started pacing the small space like a caged animal. Her once pale face was now flushed red, and her eyes glistened with tears she was clearly fighting to hold back. He had the urge wrap his arms around her and tuck her head under his chin, but that was the last thing she wanted right now. As she continued to pace, his thoughts took an ugly turn. Why was she so upset?
“Can you not be friends with a supernatural?”
“No…I mean, yes! It’s not that.”
“Then what is it?”
She swallowed hard, then hesitated before answering, as if choosing the right words. “How could she not tell me?”
“Alex, she didn’t betray you.”
She jerked to a halt and stared at him. He obviously had hit on the crux of what was bothering her.
“Excuse me?”
“Most supernaturals don’t tell humans about their true natures.”
“Then how do you know about them?”
“As I told you before, my job has exposed me to supernaturals.”
