Moonlight Temptation

by Stephanie Julian

  Grace opened her mouth to speak but shut it just as fast. She stared at him, as if trying to find the hidden meaning in his words. Or the catch.

  Dane rose from the chair and headed for the door. “Think about what I said, Grace. Then let me know what you want to do.”

  “Dane.”

  He stopped as he opened the door and turned to look at her.

  She looked so torn, he almost felt sorry for her.

  Then he watched as she reined herself in. She straightened and her expression cleared as if she’d wiped it with an eraser.

  “Thank you for taking care of Alex.”

  “Just think about it, Grace. I’ll bring Alex back myself.”

  Chapter Seven

  “Oh my god, I think I ate my entire weight in pasta.” Evie leaned back in her chair even as she pulled her coffee cup closer. “Jeez, I’ve never had better food in my life.”

  Cat laughed, the lighthearted sound drifting over the thinning crowd at The Cellar in downtown Reading. “I know, but I think I could still eat another serving of that tiramisu. I swear it made me see stars.”

  “And the chefs,” Evie lowered her voice, though no one sat close enough to overhear, “are really four-foot tall imps who have a gift for cooking?”

  “Monachetti,” Cat finished for her, nodding. “Yep. If you want, we can meet the chefs before we leave. They don’t let just anyone in the kitchen, for obvious reasons, but since you’ve got Etruscan blood, you can. They love to hear how much you enjoyed their food.”

  Evie just shook her head and took a sip of her coffee. Four-foot imps. Next Cat would tell her there were flying monkeys.

  Of course, she’d just eaten dinner with a werewolf and she’d had mind-blowing sex with another earlier today so…

  She just kept shaking her head.

  For the past two hours, she and Cat had been sitting at their table on the side of the dining room. They’d talked, eaten, talked some more and enjoyed every minute.

  She’d corralled three little-boy bundles of energy for three hours this afternoon and loved every minute of that too, but she thought she’d been ready for a little peace and quiet.

  When she’d gone home to change, though, Cat had met her at the house and hadn’t stopped talking since.

  And Evie had to admit it’d been the best thing for her.

  Otherwise, she knew she would’ve brooded over the situation with Ryan and Dane.

  As it turned out, she hadn’t had time.

  Cat made it impossible to brood. The girl’s blue eyes glowed with excitement and that excitement had rubbed off on Evie as she’d showered and changed before leaving.

  Taking her cue from Cat’s above-the-knee plaid wool skirt, form-fitting blue sweater and kitten-heeled black-patent boots—which made the girl look freaking amazing—Evie dressed in tight black pants, red silk blouse and stiletto heels.

  Evie knew they’d turned more than a few male heads when they walked through the door of the restaurant. She didn’t think Cat noticed at all, though.

  She was just too damn happy to be free.

  Which wasn’t the word she was looking for. Well, not exactly.

  Evie couldn’t remember the last time she’d been out to dinner with a friend. Not on a date, not with family. Just a meal with a friend. A meal where they’d managed to avoid talking about men, family and magic the entire time. Cat had been content to talk about anything but.

  Evie had learned that Cat loved to read historical romance and Douglas Adams. And murder mysteries, the bloodier, the better.

  She also loved music.

  “So Avenged Sevenfold is coming to town,” Cat said, “and I was hoping maybe we could get tickets? I’ve never been to a concert and I really want to see this band. I don’t think Mom and the dads will have a problem with us going. I think they’re finally starting to understand that I’m not going to go wild and turn into a wolf in front of a crowd. Or zap someone into a frog accidentally.”

  Evie nodded. “Sure, I’d love to see the band. I love Synyster Gates. The guy is gorgeous. And he kind of reminds me—”

  She stopped before she brought up Tivr’s name, not wanting to upset Cat’s mood.

  If the guy wasn’t an Etruscan god, she’d read him the riot act for playing with her friend’s emotions. She’d—

  She blinked, her mouth snapping shut as it occurred to her that her life had taken an irrevocable turn into the Twilight Zone. One she’d managed to handle without freaking out. Or feeling the need to self-medicate.

  “Evie?”

  She blinked and refocused her gaze on Cat’s face. The other girl’s quizzical expression made Evie smile and she reached across the table to take Cat’s hand.

  She’d never been a touchy person, never one to give hugs and kisses freely, but Cat had broken through that wall too.

  “Have I ever thanked you for being unafraid to be my friend?”

  Cat laughed, the sound attracting the notice of several men sitting on the far side of the room. “Why would anyone be afraid to be your friend? You’re not exactly dangerous.”

  “Yeah, I am. But you’re helping me learn to control it and, for that, I’m so grateful. I don’t know what I’d do without your friendship, Cat. There were times when I really thought I was going to lose my mind but you never gave up on me.”

  Cat shook her head, her cheeks turning red. “You would have done the same for me.”

  “No, I don’t know that I would have. You didn’t know me before. My life… I’d like to think I would have but… I don’t have your heart, Cat.”

  “Yes, you do.” Cat’s expression went deadly serious, her hand tightening on Evie’s. “You have a huge heart. You’re teaching the son of the woman who kidnapped you and made your life a living hell. Heck, you’re halfway to forgiving Grace Bell because you know she was only doing what she thought would save her son. And,” she drew the word out to three whole syllables, “you’re falling in love with two guys who you have eating out of the palm of your hand.”

  She didn’t know what to say to that, except, “I do not.”

  “Oh, please. Dane would let you put a leash on him and Ryan would walk across burning coals for you. You’ve got two alpha males panting for you. It’s every woman’s dream.”

  Okay, Cat had her there. Two men who cared for her was two more than she ever thought she’d have. Because, really, who wanted to tie themselves to a recovering addict with magic-management issues?

  Still… “They’re not panting for me, Cat. And what do you know about alpha males anyway?”

  Cat shrugged and a little bit of the light leached from her eyes. “I have two for my dads.”

  “Your dads love you to death. But they never make you frown like that.”

  Cat’s mouth pulled into a flat line. “I’m not frowning.”

  Evie sighed. “No, that’s why your mouth is like that. Crap, I’m sorry, Cat. That was stupid. I’m not trying to pick on you. That was a stupid thing to say.” Shaking her head, she began to pull away.

  Cat clutched at her hand and those blue eyes went wet. “He hasn’t come to see me in weeks. And I don’t know what I did.”

  Evie could barely hear Cat but she knew who the girl was talking about.

  “Maybe he’s busy.”

  “Or maybe he just got bored with me.” Her mouth quirked into a bitter twist. “After all, I’m just a stupid teenage girl.”

  “No one who knows you would ever call you stupid, Cat. You’re one of the smartest people I know and if he doesn’t see that, then even gods can be idiots.”

  A little flash of color flushed Cat’s cheeks and she bit into her bottom lip. “And that’s the real problem, isn’t it? If you’ve read any mythology, you know it never ends well when humans and gods mix.”

  Unfortunately, Evie knew that. “So aren’t there any nice mortal boys for you to date? Maybe one who has more than his share of hair growth?”

  Cat’s smile widened. “Hair growth? Really
?” She shrugged. “Yeah, there’re a couple. I just… They just aren’t…”

  “Who you want to be with.”

  Her smile failing, Cat nodded. “Yeah. And that sucks.”

  “Yeah, it does. But that doesn’t mean you should let him win. You’re young, you’re beautiful and every last one of the guys in this place gave you more than a passing glance when we walked in. And kept looking. We’ll just ignore the older, skeevy ones.”

  The flush on Cat’s cheeks deepened even as she laughed. “Yes, let’s. But none of that changes the fact that, tomorrow night, I’ll still be the only seventeen-year-old girl in Berks County who’s never been kissed.”

  “So the next time you see him, you kiss him.”

  “Tinia’s teat,” she huffed. “Could you just imagine his face if I did that? He’d probably read me the riot act. And then he’d tell my dads.”

  “Cat, he’s a guy. He would so kiss you back. And there’s no way he’d tell Kyle and Dan. Ty may be a god, but he’s still a man. And that man would give his left arm to kiss you.”

  Evie had met Tivr, Lord of the Silver Light, only a few times since she’d moved in with the Etruscans. Each time, Cat had been there. And the guy had been way too careful about not paying her too much attention. So much so that it was obvious he wanted to pay her a hell of a lot more attention.

  Evie couldn’t believe Kyle or Dan didn’t see it but then maybe they didn’t want to see it. Kyle and Dan treated Cat like any beloved daughter was treated by her father. Like spun glass. They deliberately overlooked the fact she was seventeen and in love with a god.

  And who could blame them? All those myths about gods typically involved sex. She figured neither Dan nor Kyle wanted to even think about their daughter having sex, much less with a deity.

  Sighing, Cat released Evie’s hand to lift her espresso for a sip. When she placed the cup in the saucer, the rattle revealed how shaken she was. “Doesn’t matter anyway. Nothing’s ever going to happen between us. I just need to give it up.”

  “Why?” Evie just shook her head. “If you want him, I say go for it.”

  Cat just shook her head. “So are you going to take your own advice? I saw the bag you packed. Are you planning to stay with Dane and Ryan tonight?”

  “I haven’t made up my mind yet.”

  “Why? That seems like a no-brainer to me. Two hot guys, one girl. The odds are in your favor. Besides, I’ve never seen Dane interested in anyone before.”

  “Yeah, he’s so interested, he had to bring his best friend in so he wouldn’t have to feel obligated to me. I don’t know, Cat. I just feel like even though he wants me, he doesn’t want me enough.”

  “Or maybe he wants you so much, he doesn’t know how to express it. Dane’s never been good at dealing with emotion. He’s always seemed like such a tight ass but he’s never been mean. Just kind of buttoned up. Know what I mean?”

  Yes, she knew what Cat was saying. It just didn’t help her make what seemed like such a huge decision. “You know, maybe I’m thinking about this the entirely wrong way. Maybe I should just be looking at this as a fling. I mean, Ryan will eventually have to go back to his practice in Philly. And with Ryan gone, Dane’ll stay away from me.”

  Which would leave her alone. Again.

  And maybe that would be a good thing. All this emotion zinging around her body was making her nauseated anyway.

  “I think you underestimate your power over those guys.” Cat’s wry tone made Evie look up from her examination of the table. “But maybe you should just go for it and worry about the consequences later.”

  * * * * *

  “How the hell long does dinner take?”

  Ryan tore his gaze away from the television long enough to see Dane stop by the front window for what had to be the hundredth time and look out.

  Ryan was no lucani but even he could sense Dane’s agitation and it was beginning to affect him too.

  Looking at the clock on the DVR beneath the TV, he realized it was only five minutes after the last time he’d looked. It seemed like hours.

  “I’m sure she and Cat have a lot to talk about.”

  “Or she decided to go home and didn’t bother to tell us.”

  “Evie wouldn’t do that. She’s not a coward.”

  “I’m not calling her a coward. I’m just saying, maybe everything’s happening too fast.”

  Ryan heard something in Dane’s voice that made him turn off the TV and give his full attention to his friend. “I don’t think we’re talking about Evie anymore.”

  Dane stiffened and didn’t turn from the window. “Who the hell else would I be talking about?”

  “What’d your mom have to say this morning?”

  Ryan didn’t actually expect Dane to answer. He’d thought Dane would probably tell him to fuck off then continue to obsess over Evie. “I told her to have a good time in New York.”

  “Are you still seriously thinking about mating Ione?”

  Dane didn’t answer and Ryan felt heat move through him, a vicious, searing anger he hadn’t felt in years. It made his hands curl into fists at his sides and every muscle in his body tense with the need to tear out Dane’s heart. Or at least dig into his chest to look for one.

  “Damn you, Dane. What the fuck are you doing? You’re going to hurt her and I’m going to tear your throat out, you bastard.”

  Dane finally turned from the window, his expression lacking the snide arrogance Ryan had been expecting. Dane looked almost pained.

  It threw Ryan completely off track.

  “I told my mother there was no chance for anything developing between me and Ione.”

  Ryan opened his mouth to respond then shut it before he reamed Dane for something he hadn’t said.

  “Well, shit, Dane. When the hell were you going to spill that little bit of information?”

  Dane just shrugged. “I didn’t realize I needed to vet my every decision through you.”

  Gaze narrowing, Ryan felt as if he’d been sucker-punched. Which was stupid as all hell. He wasn’t Dane’s wife, for Christ’s sake. He wasn’t his boyfriend.

  But they were more than friends, damn it, and he deserved more from Dane than he was getting. Especially considering the role Dane was forcing him to play here.

  Ryan rose from the couch and walked over to Dane. Since he was a few inches shorter, Ryan had to stare up at him, which had never bothered him. Until now.

  Even so, Ryan knew if he slugged Dane, the guy would go down. He might be able to turn into a wolf, but he couldn’t fight worth a damn. He’d never had to.

  Ryan had learned the hard way that sometimes the only way out of a situation was with your fists.

  Then he looked more carefully at Dane and saw the confusion and frustration in his eyes. The guy looked emotionally fried.

  And for someone like Dane, that had to be biting him in the ass.

  “Dane, what the fuck?”

  Dane snorted, shook his head and turned back to the window. “Yeah, that’s a good question, isn’t it?”

  “So you wanna tell me what the answer is?”

  “I don’t know the answer. Hell, I don’t even know the question.”

  “The question is what do you want?”

  Dane didn’t answer for a few seconds. “I thought I was going to have to sedate Alex when he got back this afternoon. He was practically bouncing off the walls. I take it her session with the boys went well?”

  And that was Dane telling him to back the fuck off.

  God damn it. Ryan wanted to head butt the guy to knock some sense into him. Or at least loosen up just enough to talk to him. But he knew it wouldn’t do any good.

  Ryan took a deep breath, reaching for calm and not finding much to be had. Dane was going to screw this up with Evie. “It went fine.”

  “Good. I…” He breathed out a rough sigh. “She’s coming.”

  Ryan turned toward the window. He saw nothing in the dark, not even the flash of headlights but
he knew Dane could hear the car from at least two miles away, maybe more.

  “You asked me what I want.” Dane turned from the window to look at Ryan. “I could ask you the same thing.”

  The intensity in Dane’s gaze made Ryan go still.

  Did he have an answer to the question?

  No. Because he never let himself think about that question.

  “You’ve got the life you always wanted, don’t you?” Dane turned back to the window, as if speaking to his reflection. “Great job, even better money. You can buy anything you want, sleep with any woman you want. Yet you drop everything when I call.”

  Ryan stiffened, his muscles bunching taut. “You would have done the same.”

  Dane shrugged as if that was a no-brainer. “But why isn’t your life enough for you? Have you asked yourself that question?”

  Ryan’s lips parted to speak. Nothing came out.

  Dane’s mouth curved in a wry grin. “Not so easy to answer, is it?”

  Headlights flashed through the window as Evie eased her car into the space beside Ryan’s in front of Dane’s house.

  His heart picked up its rhythm until it beat almost painfully as he waited for her to get out and come to them.

  She didn’t open the car door for at least a minute and he had to wonder if she was stalling.

  Finally the door swung open and Evie stepped out of her little white VW Cabrio, only to lean back in a second later. When she finally closed the door of the car, she carried several shopping bags. And an overnight bag.

  Dane moved to the door and opened it before she hit the porch.

  Her tentative smile as she walked into the room eased the tightness in Ryan’s chest as he took the shopping bags and set them on the couch.

  “Hey, babe. Looks like you had a busy night.”

  Her smile widened. “Cat and I did a little retail therapy at the mall after dinner. Nothing like spending money on clothes to make you feel better. I got a couple of job applications while I was there. Can’t keep slacking off like I have been.”

  Dane shut the door and walked up behind her, taking the overnight bag out of her hands. “If you decided to continue teaching the children, you’ll draw a salary from there. Ryan said you had a good day with the boys.”