by Diane Leyne
It was close to the truth, thought Sam. The fiancé part was true, although once the engagement was over, her overwhelming emotion was relief rather than hurt, so he had probably done her a favor in a roundabout way. If he hadn't cheated, it would likely still have ended, hopefully before they got married. She’d had a close call. She wondered idly if she should send the student a thank you note. Did Hallmark make a card that conveyed the sentiment “Thanks for fucking my fiancé and for helping me to see how unsuited we were”?
And she had lost her beloved grandmother. Even the last part of her story was true. It was her grandmother who had made her promise to come to Washington, but all during the drive, it had felt right. Somehow, she’d felt like she was coming home. It was a strange feeling. The forests and mountains had just felt like home.
She took a final sip and put down her cup. The lunch crowd was starting to trickle in, and she knew Penelope would soon be swamped.
“Once I get organized, you and Ginger will have to come out for a little housewarming. I warn you, my cooking isn’t up to Sunshine Cafe standards. In the meantime, I’m going to take a walk around town.”
“Hey, having someone else do the cooking is a luxury I don’t get very often.” Penelope smiled, and her whole face lit up. “And we’ll do a girls’ night out soon as well. There’s a great little bar on the north side we can go to called Lupo’s. Booze and live music. You’ll love it. Saturday?”
“Owned by one of your cousins?”
“How’d ya guess?” They laughed.
“I’ll be there.”
* * * *
Samantha decided to circle the square, ending at McAllisters on the south side. She browsed slowly, stopping in the general store to pick up a few things she’d missed before. When she realized they delivered, she decided to stock up and placed a large order to be delivered later that day.
She got a lot of curious glances and nods, but they all seemed friendly enough, though no one approached until she reached the entrance to Bodies in Harmony. It was on the second floor of a building that also housed a sporting goods store and a bookstore. She almost missed the entrance when she was walking by. She’d stopped to check out some of the books on display and had bumped right into a rather large man coming from the opposite direction.
He had quick reflexes and had saved her from tumbling over and righted them both. Samantha found she had to look up at the buff young man, not that he was too young. He looked to be in his mid or maybe late twenties and clearly worked out at the gym whose logo was prominently displayed on the tank top he was wearing.
She had to force herself to step back. Reluctantly, the stranger released his grip.
She looked him up and down. From the distance of a few feet, she could see that his top also displayed his nicely sculpted arms and hinted at a six-pack. Above the top, she could see an easy grin, short sandy hair, and blue eyes. He had a nice smile and wasn’t shy about using it. She wondered if he was single. She wasn’t looking for a relationship because she planned leaving when the summer was over, but maybe a fling?
But then it hit her. For a second after they’d bumped, her nose had been buried in his nicely developed chest. He was wolf.
“Andy McAllister.” He held out his hand and waited.
“Samantha Anderson.” She held out her hand, and it was quickly engulfed by his larger one. She could feel a snap of electricity and almost tried to pull her hand away.
“Nice to meet you, Samantha Anderson. New in town?”
“I’m living at what I understand is called the Daniels place.”
She watched his eyes narrow as he processed this information. Then his grin returned. “Then you’ll be staying in town. Great. Might I suggest a trial membership here at Bodies in Harmony. Not that I’m implying there’s anything at all wrong with your body, not in the slightest. You clearly work out and have done a superb job. I’m just suggesting that if you plan on living here, our club would be an excellent place for you to visit. In fact, I’d like to offer myself up as your personal trainer.” He grinned expectantly. Samantha found herself grinning back.
“I’m guessing you are one of the owners.”
“My twin brother, Eddie, and I own the place. And I’m sure Eddie would love to meet you, too. Perhaps we could both train you?” He winked at her.
Samantha felt her mouth go dry. Surely the very nice young man wasn’t suggesting what she thought he was suggesting. Maybe she would have that fling. And if his brother was as cute as he was, maybe she’d go wild in Harmony.
Just then, the door to the gym opened. Out came two men. One looked to be about the same age as Andy. They weren’t identical, but they had the same coloring and build. This clearly was his twin, Eddie.
The other man was a little bit older than the other two, maybe mid-thirties, and whereas the twins smiled winsomely at her, this new man glared. There was definitely a family resemblance. Big brother, maybe? He had thick dark hair that was almost to his shoulders. His features were not conventionally handsome, but he had a magnetic presence. And he looked like the big bad wolf as he stared at her.
“Eddie, Gabe. Meet Samantha Anderson. She’s staying at the Daniels place, and I’m trying to convince her to come work out at Bodies in Harmony. Ed, I told her we’d both be happy to train her.”
“Oh, absolutely, Miss Anderson.”
“Please, all of you, please call me Samantha or Sam.”
“Well, Sam. Welcome to town and to Bodies. Anytime you want a joint or even a private training session, please give us a call. We’d be glad to oblige. How long do you plan to stay in Harmony? A good long time, I hope.”
She smiled. She could see they were all anxious to hear her answer, but whereas the twins looked like they were interested in her as a potential conquest, Gabe looked angry. She decided to play with him. “Well, I bought the place, actually. I came into some money and wanted to get as far away from Florida as I could, for reasons I would rather not discuss.” She smiled inwardly as she could practically read the thoughts running through each of their minds as they assumed she’d had a love affair gone bad. “Anyway, Mrs. Daniels had this, she described it as a vacation cabin that sounded wonderful. I came into a small inheritance, and one thing led to another and here I am.”
“And how glad we are that you are here,” declared Eddie. “Right, Andy?”
“And what about your friend here? He doesn’t look glad I’m here.”
“Oh, Gabe. He’s not our friend. He’s just our big brother. Ignore him. We do. He’s always grumpy.”
“Calm down, boys. Give her some breathing space.” His voice, like his hair, was darker than the others’, but he was clearly related. His voice was similar, but deeper and harsher. He was taller than his brothers, but of a more slender build. He clearly didn’t spend the same amount of time in the gym as they did, but she’d bet he looked pretty fine under his clothes. His hair was jet black and longer than she generally liked on a man, but he had the same intense blue eyes as his brothers.
And even from this distance, she could sense wolf. But the scent was different than his brothers’. It was stronger, more primal. She didn’t just recognize it but she felt it calling out to her on a primitive level. She’d found his brother, well, both brothers actually, attractive, and she’d already toyed with the idea of a fling, but now that she’d met Gabe, she realized that she felt desire, and that alarmed her. She’d just met this man, hadn’t spoken with him or touched him, not even his hand, and she realized she was afraid to. Something about him, either the man or the wolf, called to her on a level that she didn’t even want to think about. It was time to go on the offensive and take control before she flung herself at him and begged him to take her on the spot.
“I’m guessing you are another McAllister?”
“Gabe McAllister. I’m the mayor of Harmony.” He held out his hand seemingly an automatic gesture because he didn’t seem terribly pleased to be meeting her.
* * * *
Gabe stared at Samantha, willing her to not take the hand he’d held out automatically. When one was in politics, some actions were as automatic as breathing. You just did them without thinking. His large hand closed on her smaller delicate one, enveloping it. He could tell she touched his hand reluctantly, only good manners making her touch her hand to his. Fine. It was just a handshake. What was her problem? Hell, what was his problem? Why was he so drawn to her? Sure she was beautiful and had an amazing body, but so did other women, and he didn’t have an overwhelming urge to ravish them on the spot. Damn it. He’d known her all of thirty seconds. What was wrong with him?
If he was honest with himself, he was afraid to actually touch her. He wanted to pull his hand back, but his hand didn’t want to cooperate. If he held on any longer, he’d want to taste her, and then he’d want to fuck her. Damn. He already wanted to fuck her. This never happened to him, but he just met her and already his body was responding to her. He was not going to do this. She was not his mate no matter what his inner wolf was howling. She was a human who was living in the house on the land he wanted to buy. She was a thorn in his side, and if he did what he really wanted to do, which was take her right on the spot and show her who her alpha mate was, she’d run screaming to the sheriff, who was definitely no wolf, and he, Gabe, would end up in jail.
He was going to escort her to McAllisters because he’d promised his cousin Ginger. And then he was going to try to get her to leave town or at least move out of the Daniels place. He had plans for that property, and they didn’t include this sexy stranger who called out to his inner wolf.
He was the alpha both in his family and of the pack. He could control his urges. He would not let his cock embarrass him in front of a stranger and certainly not in front of his brothers. She was a hot woman. So what? He’d met other hot women, and fucked some of them, and didn’t have this overwhelming urge to throw them on the ground and take them the second he saw them.
When she pulled her hand away, he had to will himself to let go. He could see his brothers watching intently, and suddenly really wanted to be anywhere else. He knew when he got home they were going to start in on that wolf’s mate legend, and since he was the alpha, he had to claim their mate so that they could all claim her. He kept trying to tell them that the whole mate thing was just a story and they should try to find their own mate or mates or whatever. Share, don’t share. Whatever, but leave him out of it. But now—he took a deep breath—now he was wondering if all the stories were true and this woman was the reason that he’d never before found a woman who could keep his interest. He needed to get away from her as quickly as possible so he could think because he couldn’t seem to form a coherent thought standing so near her.
“Ginger called and asked me to fetch you. She said you needed furniture. This way.” He took her by the arm and started walking, not giving her a choice about coming with him. He did it partly because the sooner he got her to the store, the sooner he could run and hide in his office and think, and partly because if he was leading, he could try to keep his body angled away from hers and maybe she wouldn’t notice his raging hard-on.
Luckily, she let him lead her away, but not before looking back at his brothers and waving. They waved back while grinning impudently.
Suddenly she stopped, looking back over her shoulder and calling out to his brothers, “Saturday, Lupo’s?” Then she turned back to him with a pseudo-sweet smile that stirred his cock and made him want to kiss it off her face. “You can come too, if you like. But I warn you, there will be fun, frivolity, and dancing. You probably wouldn’t enjoy it.”
Gabe wanted to growl at the thought of dancing with her at Lupo’s and holding her tightly against his body, grinding his erection against her in a precursor to fucking her brains out later that night, but he contented himself with tightening his grip on her arm.
He had seen the look in his brothers’ eyes. They were attracted to her too. But she was human. She was off limits. He would have to remind his brothers of that. And he would have to remind his own damned cock.
* * * *
Andy and his brother gave her a thumbs-up, watching until she was out of sight. Then they headed upstairs to the gym. The place was busy with the lunch crowd, but they went straight to the manager’s office they shared and closed the door and locked it.
“Oh my god, Eddie. Tell me I’m wrong. I kind of always thought it was must a myth, the whole mate thing. You can’t just look at a woman and know she’s the one, and there are five of us, but god damn it if it isn’t true. She’s the one for me, for us, I just know it. My dick knows it, my mind knows it, and my heart knows it. Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me you don’t feel the exact same thing.”
“You aren’t wrong, brother. We’ve just met our mate. When she smiled at me, I felt ten feet tall. I’d do anything to make her smile always.”
“Me, too, except, of course, when I make her scream with pleasure.” Andy smiled at the thought. “And I plan to do that as often as possible.”
“I can’t wait for Nick and Bart to meet her. I’m sure they’ll feel the same. There’s just one problem. Or make that two…She doesn’t know yet that she’s our mate. Hell, she probably doesn’t even know about shape-shifters and might be a little alarmed by five men claiming her as their mate.”
“Yes, that could be a problem, but with time, I'm sure we can convince her to give us a chance. The bigger problem is definitely behind door number two. Gabriel. And if he tries to run her off, I’ll kill him.”
“He’ll definitely try. Son of a bitch, no offense to Mom, but that damned son of a bitch is going to do something to wreck this before it gets started. You know he is. He’s so damned stubborn. He’s said he doesn’t believe in the whole mate ‘nonsense’ and that it’s stupid for us all to think we have to be with the same woman, so even if he feels something, he’s going to try to drive her off. You saw him manhandling her.”
“Yeah, but I also saw her expression. She’s no pushover.” Eddie grinned. “I admit I was worried, too, Andy. He had got me doubting that it would ever happen and thinking that maybe we should start looking for our own mate, but damned if I didn’t look at her and just know she was our mate. Not my mate but our mate. I don’t know how I know, but she’s meant for all of us. I can feel it. But what do we do?”
“First, I’m going to call Nick and Bart and warn them that our mate is on her way. And then I’m going to count the hours until Saturday and dancing with our mate at Lupo’s.”
“I’m hoping we don’t have to wait that long. With any luck, she’ll come for a workout. You saw her body. She clearly enjoys a trip to the gym.”
“Maybe she’d like some private training lessons.”
“We can only hope.”
Chapter Four
Samantha started tugging on her arm. She was feeling all tingly where he was touching her, and it was better for her peace of mind to get some distance between them. He was rude, and also, she didn’t like being dragged, so she used that to stoke her anger and try to tamp down on the attraction she was feeling.
“Do you mind? I’m not a sack of grain or something.” She dug in her heels and stopped, pulling her arm free. “If you want to escort me to McAllisters, then you can do so without dragging me. Or I can just go find it myself. Downtown Harmony’s not that big. I won’t get lost.”
She could see him steel his features. He was angry, she realized, blazingly angry, and she had no idea why. That made her angry in return. Maybe if this electric chemistry she was feeling wouldn’t go away, she could channel it into anger.
Turning on her heel, she started walking, and this time he was the one trailing behind.
“I promised my cousin…” His voice trailed off as she turned and glared at him.
“We’re here now. I’m not lost. You can leave now.” She turned and opened the door. She could see him hesitate. “Scoot, go, leave me alone. You must have some kind of mayoral task or something that needs your att
ending.” She walked into the store, letting the door close in his face. She heard the door open immediately as Gabe stomped in behind her.
“I work here!”
He kept walking past her, through the store, and disappeared into a room at the back, shutting the door loudly behind him. She looked up at the two men in the store and giggled. They smiled back at her.
Clearly these were also McAllisters, and these two were identical twins, although they dressed very differently and one had short hair and the other long curls. They were around the same height as the other twins, maybe six feet, but with builds more slender like their jerk of a brother, the mayor. Their coloring was in between, too. Their hair was darker than Eddie and Andy, but not as dark as big brother’s, but they also had the family blue eyes. They appeared to be in the middle in ages as well, probably her own age or maybe a year or two either way.
“Hi, you must be Samantha. I’m Nick McAllister, and this is my brother Bart. And clearly you’ve already met and been charmed by big brother Gabe,” said the one without the curls.
“I’m Bart, and no we are not psychic. Andy called and told us you were coming with Gabe.”
“How many McAllisters are there?” she asked.
“Just the five of us. Gabe’s the oldest at thirty-five, although he’s such a stick in the mud that he usually seems a lot older than that. The folks retired to New Harmony a few years ago, and he takes his role as head of the family and mayor of the town very seriously.
“We’re thirty-one and Andy and Eddie are the babies at twenty-five. And we are all single.” He smiled suggestively. “I take it you are single, too?”
“Yup. Just me. No dependents, not even a dog.”
“You like dogs?”
“Love them. We used to have a wonderful German shepherd dog when I was growing up. I loved Murphy, and when he died, it was like losing a brother.”
