by Paige Tyler
“So,” he asked, figuring he’d better change the subject before his inner wolf was over there humping her leg. “What kind of work do you do?”
When another smile tugged at the corner of her very kissable lips, her knew his attempt at casual conversation had failed dramatically.
“I’m an insurance investigator for Lexington Mutual Group,” she said, taking a small bite of cake. “I look into high-price claims that have been filed and figure out if there’s any kind of fraud going on. If the claim is legit and the insured property has actually been stolen, damaged, or destroyed, I try to help the cops track down the people responsible.”
Huh. “So, it’s kind of like being a private eye?”
“A little bit, I suppose,” she said, shrugging those perfect tanned shoulders in the sexiest way he’d ever seen. “Except I don’t have a fedora or a dimly lit office. Or a gun. The only camera I have is the one on my cell phone, and I never ever get into a physical confrontation with the bad guys. I find the evidence and turn it over to the cops, then stand back and let them take all the credit.”
Diego was surprised by how much that last part had him breathing a sigh of relief. The thought of Bree out there doing something dangerous had him feeling all kinds of funny.
“You might not be cuffing the bad guys, but you still have one cool-ass job,” he insisted. “How did you get into it?”
“I worked at LMG for years doing administrative work, but after the divorce from Dave, we needed money, so when my boss mentioned the investigator position, I jumped at it. The pay is great, and I ended up loving the work even though I hated the travel that comes with the job, especially when Brandon was little.” She looked pensive as she took another nibble of cake. “I felt like I was deserting him. Every time I went on a two- or three-day trip to Houston or Austin, I’d spend half the nights crying in my hotel room.”
The anguish in her voice was so painful, it was all he could do not to reach out and pull her into his arms. “When we lived in LA before we moved to Texas, my dad walked out on us,” he said instead, his voice soft. “I was barely thirteen and my brother and sisters were all younger than me, and my mom had to work three jobs at one point to cover the bills. I’d hear her crying after she came home late at night because she couldn’t be there in the morning when I got my brother and sisters up and ready for school. She hated being away from us so much, but we never held it against her. She was doing what she had to do to keep the family going. I’m sure it’s the same way for Brandon.”
Bree smiled gratefully at him, tears glistening in her eyes. “How old were you when your mom and stepdad got together?”
“Seventeen.” He smiled at the memory as he used his fork to slice off another bite of cake. Though he’d since retired, his stepfather was a Dallas PD cop back then and one of the reasons Diego joined the force. “They met a little while after we moved here and probably would have gotten married sooner, but Mom wanted to make sure it was the real deal before she committed.”
“I can understand that,” Bree admitted. “Dating is complicated when kids are involved. As a woman, you want to go where your heart leads you, but as a mother, you know you have to keep your head and think about your children first. It makes finding that perfect someone so much harder.”
Since he’d experienced all of that as the son of a mother who’d dealt with that same dilemma, Diego didn’t see anything odd about what Bree had said, but from the chagrined look on her face, it was obvious she thought she’d said something wrong.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “That sounded harsh, didn’t it? I wasn’t trying to scare you off or anything like that when I said I always have to put Brandon first. It’s just—”
“It’s okay,” he said. “You don’t ever have to apologize for putting your son first. It’s what makes you a good mother. I already knew that before you invited me over for dinner, and as you might have noticed, it didn’t stop me from coming.”
Bree opened her mouth, then closed it again. A moment later, she smiled. “I guess I’ll just say thank you and leave it at that then.”
Diego finished the last of the cake and set the plate on the table, then picked up his wineglass and took a sip before sitting back and looking at Bree.
“Speaking of the divorce, I get the feeling Dave isn’t happy about it.”
Bree stared at him, her fork halfway to her mouth, and Diego wanted to kick himself for circling around to her ex-husband again. But something about the guy made his werewolf side leery. Even if talking about Bree being with another man made his stomach clench.
Finishing her cake, Bree placed the empty plate on the table, then picked up her wine and sat back with a sigh, sliding off her shoes and curling her legs under her like a cat, revealing a breathtaking glimpse of thigh and making Diego’s heart beat faster than ever.
“Talking about my ex,” she murmured. “Not exactly what I had planned for tonight. But if you’re going to be in our lives, I guess you should know what kind of jackass he is.” She sipped her wine. “When I first met Dave, I was barely out of high school and thought it was true love. He’s seven years older than I am, and at the time, I believed he was charming and mature. He’d already graduated from college with a degree in financial management and my family loved him, even when he took a job here in Dallas and we moved from back East only a few days after we got married.
“I got pregnant with Brandon a few weeks after we arrived here, and that’s when Dave changed. He made snide little comments on how much time I spent with Brandon after he was born and didn’t like when I decided to get a job. He didn’t want me going out to lunch with my coworkers and hated when I spent time with my friends. By the time Brandon was halfway through elementary school, Dave was the poster child for anger management and extremely possessive when it came to me.”
Diego bit back a growl. “Did he hurt you or Brandon?”
She shook her head. “No. Thankfully, he never got physical, but Brandon was still terrified of him. I tried to get Dave to go to counseling, but he wouldn’t. That’s when I went to see a divorce lawyer.”
“What did Dave say when he found out?” Diego asked.
“Actually, he didn’t know about it,” Bree said, then quickly explained. “I was still working with the lawyer to make sure I’d get sole custody of Brandon and didn’t want to say anything to Dave.”
“That makes sense.”
“I didn’t want to make him suspicious, so when his firm had their annual Christmas party, I went with him.” The hand holding the wineglass shook a little and Diego almost told her to stop, not wanting to upset her, but she was already continuing. “Dave was on the other side of the room with some people when he saw me talking to one of his coworkers. It set him off and he came over and told the poor guy to get away from me. All we were doing was talking and Dave lost his mind. The next thing I knew, he hit the guy over the head with a full champagne bottle right there in front of everyone. It cracked his skull and he died. It happened so fast nobody could do anything.”
Diego did a double take. Okay, he hadn’t seen that coming. “Damn.”
She nodded. “I know. I couldn’t believe it. Dave blew through every penny we had with lawyers, but still got twelve years in prison. Somehow, he got out in six. Apparently, he was extremely persuasive at his parole hearing.”
Diego frowned. He’d have to look into that parole board hearing. The Texas judicial system was known for its leniency, but taking six years off a sentence for a vicious murder in front of witnesses wasn’t the norm. “Has he been bothering you and Brandon since he got released?”
She took a slow sip of wine. “He’s come around my office a few times and stopped by here. Once, he tried to talk to Brandon outside Kevin’s house. It’s always the same line about wanting us to get back together as a family. When he wants something, he has a hard time understanding why people won’t g
ive it to him.”
Diego didn’t like the sound of that. “How’s Brandon taken his father going to jail for killing a man, then showing up like nothing ever happened?”
“Not well, as you can probably imagine.” She ran a hand through her long hair. “The relationship Brandon had with his father before the trial would be described as complicated at best. He tried to get Dave’s attention from the moment he learned how to talk, and my jerk of an ex pretty much ignored him. When Dave went to prison, Brandon tried to act like he didn’t care, but I could see his world was falling apart. I tried to be there for him, hoping I could take Dave’s place, but it didn’t work. Things only went downhill when the other kids at school found out his father was in jail for murder. They became cruel in the way only children can be. All except for Kevin, of course. From then on, Brandon hung out exclusively with him.”
“And you don’t like Kevin,” Diego surmised.
“I like him,” she said quickly. “It’s just that I don’t always like the crowd he hangs out with.”
Diego nodded. “I thought so.”
“How did you know?”
“Just an educated guess,” he admitted. “But when a kid comes in smelling like weed, it’s not exactly going out on a limb assuming he hangs outs with the wrong crowd.”
Her eyes went wide. “Kevin was smoking marijuana before he and Brandon came in?”
“He wasn’t smoking it. But he was around other people who were.”
That seemed to mollify Bree somewhat, but she still looked surprised. “You can tell all that simply from the way he smells?”
Diego grinned and tapped his nose with his finger. “I can smell what he had for breakfast yesterday. The great sense of smell and night vision are part of the package—along with the claws and fangs.”
Bree returned his smile with a small one of her own but didn’t say anything. Instead, she sat there looking thoughtful.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, it’s just that…”
“Just what?” he prompted when her voice trailed off.
She bit her lip, as if unsure whether to continue. “The night Brandon got shot, he was supposed to be at the movies with Kevin, but instead they were at a convenience store all the way on the other side of town. When I asked him about it after he got out of the hospital, he told me they met one of Kevin’s friends at the movies and went to the store to grab some sodas and junk food.”
“But you don’t believe that?”
Her brow furrowed. “I wanted to. But they drove past thirty fast-food places on the way to that convenience store, not to mention a dozen stores exactly like it. In addition to that, the officer I talked to at the hospital told me the store where Brandon got shot is a well-known location for drug dealing and that they suspected the shooting was between two gangs who both claim the store as part of their turf.”
“Did the officer believe Brandon was the target of the shooting?”
“No,” she said. “Not that it really matters. When I was sitting in the waiting room wondering if my son was going to live or not, it didn’t help knowing he’d gotten shot by accident. Regardless of what Brandon says, he and Kevin almost certainly went there to buy drugs and he could have died because of it.”
“Have you talked to him about it?” Diego asked.
She let out a weary sigh. “As much as any mother can have that conversation with their fifteen-year-old son. But he insists he and Kevin were there to buy soda and candy and that he had no idea the store was a gang hangout. He also swears up and down that he doesn’t do drugs.”
“Do you believe him?”
Bree considered that before answering. “I don’t know. I want to, but I don’t know if I can. And the thought that my own son is lying to me tears me apart inside.”
The pain he knew she must be feeling right then seemed to be a tangible thing, as though a steel band tightened around his chest, and breathing became almost impossible.
“I was already going to help him get his inner werewolf under control and come to grips with his nature, so I could talk to him about the drug stuff, too, if you want,” he suggested softly.
Diego held his breath, worried he might be overstepping a bit with the offer. When he saw tears glisten in Bree’s eyes, he was sure he had.
Dammit.
Before he realized what he was doing, he moved closer on the couch, his thigh touching hers as he leaned in to catch the first tear before it could slide down her cheek.
“Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” he said gently. “If you don’t want me talking to him about any of this, I won’t.”
Bree let out a little laugh. “It’s not that.” Her small, slim hand came up to wrap around his, her fingers curling around the one he’d used to wipe away the tears. “It’s just that I can’t believe how lucky I am to have met you.”
He lifted a brow. “I’m not sure if I’d say our meeting was very lucky since you and Brandon were being held hostage at the time.”
She laughed again, this time with an accompanying smile that had his stomach doing cartwheels and barrel rolls.
“Yeah, but if Brandon and I hadn’t been taken hostage, we would never have met you,” she said. “Which would have left my son still lost and confused, and me with no way to help him. You’ve come into our lives at the exact moment we needed you. That’s why we’re lucky.”
Her words got to him in a way he’d never felt before. He had no idea what to say to her, so instead he wiped away a few more tears. Being this close to her—with her skin like velvet under his fingers, lips plump and perfect, scent so powerful he couldn’t take a single breath without being overwhelmed—was intoxicating.
Diego didn’t realize he’d leaned in to kiss her until he felt a light vibration in his chest and realized he was growling low and deep in his throat in a sound of pure pleasure.
A little voice in the back of his mind told him to stop kissing her, that this was moving too fast. But the much more vocal part of his consciousness—the part apparently in charge—insisted pulling away would be foolish beyond belief. The knowledge that Bree was kissing him back with a passion and heat that matched his own had a lot to do with deciding to continue.
So, he gave in, sliding one hand into her thick hair while gliding the other gently along her thigh and over her dress until he reached her hip. Then he tugged her closer, reveling in being with a woman who tasted better than anything this side of heaven. Kissing Bree felt like the most natural, instinctive thing Diego had ever done, and as his tongue teased its way a little farther into her mouth and his fingers tightened in her hair, he couldn’t imagine ever wanting to stop.
It wasn’t until he felt a tingling in his gums and fingertips that Diego realized he might be getting a little carried away. Popping fangs in the middle of a make-out session probably wasn’t the way to encourage a repeat performance.
But if pulling away from Bree wasn’t the hardest thing he’d ever done, he didn’t know what was.
When he finally opened his eyes, it was difficult to look at anything but those rosy-red lips. Then he caught sight of the heat in her gaze and found the urge to keep kissing this beautiful woman hard to resist.
Somehow, he got a grip and pulled back a little more, forcing himself to ignore the sexy whimper of complaint from Bree that had his fangs pushing harder against his gums and his pants tightening around his erection.
“Trust me when I tell you that kissing you for the rest of the night would be the highlight of the best date I’ve ever had,” he said. “But my instincts are telling me this could be even better if we slow down.”
She gazed at him for a long moment, her breathing and pulse slowly returning to normal, before a languid smile slid across those oh-so-kissable lips. “Your cop instincts…or the ones from your werewolf?”
He chuckled, taki
ng her hand and urging her to her feet as he stood, hating the way the hem of her dress slid down to cover that delectable glimpse of thigh. “Which one would you trust more?”
Bree walked alongside him, one of her hands in his. “I think I’m good with either, since I’m pretty sure my son and I owe our lives to both. So, whatever they’re telling you, I’ll go along with.”
When they got to the door, he turned to face her with a smile. “So, if I said my instincts are saying we should go out for dinner and a movie tomorrow night, what would you think?”
Stepping closer, she slipped her free hand behind his neck to tug him down for a kiss. “I’d think we should do dinner and a movie,” she whispered against his mouth.
“Not that I don’t love spending time alone with you, but do you think Brandon would want to go with us?” he asked in between kisses.
This time it was Bree who pulled back. She gazed up at him with a brilliant smile. “Offering to include my son on our night out? If you keep this up, I’m going to start thinking you’re too good to be true.”
Chuckling, he bent his head and captured her lips again. His hands were starting to wander as his mouth traced down her slender neck, when he heard voices from Brandon’s bedroom and remembered where he was.
He reluctantly broke the kiss and took a step back. “I’d better go, or we’ll still be standing here kissing when the sun comes up.”
“You’re probably right,” she groaned as he opened the door. “Although that doesn’t sound too bad. Except for the part where I have to get up early for work.”
Diego ducked back inside and grabbed another quick kiss, then backed down the hallway, his head spinning with how this beautiful woman had gotten to him. “I’ll text you about Friday.”
