by L. P. Maxa
“Good god, Coop. Not very lady-like.” He wrinkled his nose as he watched her inhale her pastry. “What does your interview have to do with me? This was Baze’s brilliant plan. He’s supposed to go with you. I already had to sit through Riley’s.” He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He was by no means complaining, but he was exhausted after last night with Molly. Yoga did a body good.
“I don’t want Baze to go with me. I want you to go with me. Please. Baze gets all moody and pensive. I’ll buy you lunch afterwards.” Keller picked his head up in time to watch her polish off the croissant in one more giant bite. She immediately frowned like she was sad it was gone.
He narrowed his eyes are her. “Liar.”
“What? I promise. I’ll buy lunch. Anything you want, except Greek food. I’m not feeling very Greek today.”
“No, you’re lying about why you want me to come with you instead of Baze. I can tell. Your pulse sped up and your palms started sweating.”
She rolled her eyes, wiping crumbs on her yoga pants. That’s all she wore these days, and he knew for a fact she never actually went to yoga anymore. “I just ate a mound of chocolate and butter, and I’m pregnant, I’m always sweating.”
Keller shook his head. “Nope. Tell the truth or I won’t go with you.”
She let out an irritated sigh. “Fine. But you have to promise not to make a big deal about it, okay?”
“I’ll do my best. Now, spill.”
“After I thought about things we talked about last night, I realized why Dom was so nervous about my going head to head with Brooks. It all kind of sank in that it’s not just me anymore, you know? I need to protect our daughter. Baze wants answers. I feel like you’ll stop me from saying or doing something detrimental long before he will. And Linc? Please. He would forget why he was even sitting outside that room in the first place.”
“Well, that was sweet. Damn. How can I say no to that?”
Coop hopped up and sat on the couch next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. “You can’t. And thank you.”
Keller put his head on top of hers. “You’re welcome.” He’d liked Coop from the moment he’d met her. She was spunky and funny and beautiful. Now that she was mated to his friend and part of his pack, he loved her like a sister.
Corey slapped his bare thigh harder than necessary and stood to leave. “Now go get dressed, lazy bones. I’ll come by your office when it’s time to go.” A very annoying sister.
Keller let his head fall back on the couch as soon as the front door closed. He only needed like fifteen minutes. A little power nap and then he would go get in the shower. When he heard his front door open back up he growled, “Coop, I say this with so much love in my heart. Go the fuck away.”
The sound of Molly’s laughter had his eyes flying wide. “You really shouldn’t talk to women that way.” She closed and locked the door behind her.
Keller held his arms out, inviting her to come curl up on his lap. He was pleased when she complied. “What are you doing here? Not that I’m not happy to see you.” He kissed the top of her head and then took a deep breath full of her fragrant shampoo.
“I only have about forty-five minutes until my next class, but I wanted to see you. I had breakfast with Agent Brooks earlier this morning.” She paused, no doubt able to feel when his body tensed under hers. “I didn’t learn much. He’s from west Texas somewhere, no girlfriend, married to his job, and not willing to talk about the investigation.”
He shrugged quickly. “Well, can’t say you didn’t try. Glad that’s over. Now, how about we spend the rest of your forty-five minutes not talking about Brooks?”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Molly
She knew she should just tell him the rest, like pulling off a Band-Aid. But then he started to guide her to her back, kissing her neck until she was lying flat on the couch. He groaned against her skin, using his body to spread her legs so that he could settle at her core.
Molly really needed to tell Keller that she had asked Brooks to breakfast again tomorrow. But when he was kissing her throat with those sort of lick-kisses it was hard to form coherent thoughts, let alone words.
“Oh, Keller, that feels so good.” Molly turned her head the other direction, giving him access to the opposite side of her neck. While his mouth was busy driving her crazy, his hands were peeling off her tight black yoga pants. She arched into him, craving the feel of him inside of her. You would think that last night would have tided her over for a week, but she needed him just as fiercely today as she had yesterday. She hoped the urgency between them never went away.
Keller slipped two fingers inside her core. “God, baby, always so ready for me.” She pulled her bottom lip through her teeth, his eyes watching her every move. He removed his fingers, positioning the head of his dick at her entrance, filling her in one smooth motion. He put his forehead to hers, panting. “You feel so damn good.”
Molly reached her hands around and grabbed his tight ass, urging him to move, to make love to her. “Oh god, Keller.” He started pumping into her, setting a relentless pace. She spread her legs wider, wanting him as deep as humanly possible. She wanted to feel every inch, every thrust; she wanted to feel everything. She shivered as he slid his tongue from her collarbone to her lower jaw. She knew what he was doing; he was making sure she would carry his scent all day, and holy hell she loved it.
He put his mouth next to her ear and whispered, “Come for me, darlin’.”
When she screamed out in climax, he spilled into her, growling out his release. They lay like that, still and joined together, until both their breathing returned to normal.
“Accidentally claiming you was the best thing I ever did.”
Molly smiled and reached down for her pants. “No arguments here.”
Once she was dressed, she leaned forward and captured Keller’s mouth. She was unprepared when he pulled her back on top of him, deepening the kiss and grinding against her. She smiled against his mouth. “Again? You are an animal.”
Keller chuckled, the sound purely male. “That’s what I’ve been told.” He licked Molly’s bottom lip. She wanted to stay. She wanted to throw her pants in the trash and spend the whole damn day under Keller.
Unfortunately, she had what she called the ladies who lunch class starting soon. Those women would get pissed if she was late. “Sorry, I’ve got a class to teach in fifteen minutes.” She placed one more chaste kiss on his lips and then stood up straight.
“All I get is once this morning? Lame.”
“Poor baby.” Molly sent him a playful pout. “Hey, speaking of babies, what was Corey doing here this morning?”
“Oh, uh, she came by and asked me to go with her to her interview today.”
“Why you? I thought Baze was in charge of Corey watch.” Molly hadn’t realized she was jealous until that comment had slipped out of her mouth.
“Yeah, me too. She, uh, she wanted me to go instead because she thought I would be better at saving her from herself. Coop tends to let her emotions and temper fly high, even more so now that she’s pregnant. I think she is only now realizing how dangerous that can be, you know?”
“Yeah, that makes sense. I’m glad that you two are close. For her to be able to walk into your house first thing in the morning while you’re half naked and start asking favors, that’s friendship right there.”
Keller bit his lips together, obviously trying real hard not to laugh at her. She couldn’t blame him. She sounded ridiculous. “First of all, it’s our house now, remember? And, second of all, you have no reason to be jealous of Coop. She is like a sister to me. She is my, I mean our, pack mate. And she is bonded to my best friend. I love her. Like I love my sister.”
“Ugh. I’m not jealous of Corey. Well, not like you think anyway. I guess I envy that easy closeness you all share with each other.” Molly knew that she and Keller had just mated and that she just needed to give things time, but still.
“Be carefu
l what you wish for. Before you know it Baze will be rolling his eyes at you, Dom will be fighting you for the last roll and Linc will be asking you to point out the waitresses with the least amount of STDs.” He beamed up at her, so much love in his eyes. “You are part of our family, Molly. Once the newness wears off, you’ll be drowning in wolf affection and I’ll constantly be growling at my friends. Okay?”
“Okay.” He kissed her hand and then slapped her ass as she turned to walk out the door.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Keller
By the time Keller got to his office, Coop was already waiting for him, looking irritated and impatient. Great, pregnant Coop in a crap mood right before some douche was about to question her moral code. At least Baze wouldn’t have to worry about her holding back. “You ready to go?”
“Yeah, let’s get this fucking thing over with. It’s only nine-thirty and it’s been a crazy morning.” Coop stood, slung her bag on her shoulder and threaded her arm through his.
Keller smiled to himself. This was the closeness that Molly was talking about. Coop was having a hard day, and he could comfort her. Just his presence comforted her. He knew if Dom saw them walking arm and arm like this, he’d be pissed. He also knew Coop wouldn’t care. Keller tried to imagine how he would feel if he saw one of his brothers touching Molly. He didn’t think he’d be such an ass about it. “Tell me what’s up, Coop. Why the bad morning?”
“Stupid sophomores. I guess some of the kids are, uh, starting to go through their first, uh, change. Their hormone and testosterone levels are no doubt off the charts. The underclassmen, and the non-changers, can’t really deal with them. So they keep coming to me whining about what assholes their friends are being and there is nothing I can do to fix it.”
Keller chuckled. “Yeah, that first change turns your whole world upside down. It’s okay. Just give it time. They’ll calm down, their friends will forgive them, and everything will be okay.” It’d always been this way at St. Leasing, ever since they decided to accept shifters and non-shifters alike.
Their conversation stopped once they reached the conference room doors. “Okay. Here we go. Wish me luck?”
Keller hugged his best friend’s mate. “I got you, Coop. I promise I won’t let you do or say anything that will put you two in danger.” He placed his hand on her belly, which he never got a chance to touch when Dom and Riley were around.
She gave him a small smile and walked into the big room, her shoulders squared and her chin high. Keller took a seat on the same chair he’d used yesterday to monitor Riley’s meeting with the Feds.
“Good morning, Special Agents.”
Keller peeked around the wall, peering through the small glass panel beside the door. Agent Grimes motioned to the chair opposite him. “Ah, Ms. Cooper, thank you so much for coming right over. The cooperation you guys have shown us is remarkable.”
“Oh well, just doing our part. I actually brought all my notes and the paperwork from the clearance evaluations I did with the varsity team a few months ago. Just to clear up any doubts either of you might have about the boys.” Corey finished her statement looking directly into Agent Brooks’s eyes. Through the glass panel, Keller had a great side view of everything that was happening in the room.
Brooks nodded slowly, glancing at his partner before addressing Coop. “Ms. Cooper, I let my temper get away with me when I was talking to Coach Byrne. I should have never questioned your integrity. And I’m sorry.”
Well, would you look at that? He admitted to being in the wrong? Keller wondered if Agent Grimes had reamed Brooks’s ass about everything.
“Let me be frank with the two of you.” Coop leaned forward, clasping her hands on the table. “I didn’t know Mr. Henderson, obviously. I was hired to take his place. The evaluations he was conducting with the team were way too invasive. He asked inappropriate personal questions, he didn’t leave any notes, and he never turned in any evals.” She jagged her pointer finger against the wood surface. “Mr. Henderson was up to something. I met with every single player on the varsity team, I made notes, and I turned in my paperwork. That’s the extent of my connection with Mr. Henderson. These are normal boys that love to play baseball; there is nothing supernatural about them. Mr. Henderson was a whack job and I certainly don’t appreciate Agent Brooks bringing up my name and questioning my commitment to this school and these kids because he has a weird beef with Keller Byrne.”
Agent Grimes cleared his throat, shooting daggers at Brooks. “Ms. Cooper, you have every right to be upset. Agent Brooks acted unprofessionally and I am truly sorry. You, all of you here at St. Leasing, have been extremely helpful and cooperative.”
“Once again, Ms. Cooper, I do apologize for my actions. You have no obligation to help us any further, however, after meeting with a few of the players yesterday we have a few more questions we’d like to ask if that’s okay with you.” Brooks looked contrite, he really did. Either he was a topnotch actor or he was honestly sorry for what he’d said about Coop.
Coop relaxed in her chair and crossed her legs. Then she winced and uncrossed them. “Go ahead.”
Keller laughed quietly to himself when she reached down and pulled the band of her yoga pants up over her growing baby bump.
Grimes spoke first. “We’ve had three different students bring up Mr. Franklin, Jace and Jasper Franklin’s father, during our talks. We know that it was Mr. Franklin’s bodyguard that attacked you and Riley. We have reason to believe that”—he glanced down at the chart in his hand—“Bull killed Mr. Henderson. Although, now Bull is dead and we won’t ever really know for sure. We were sent here to look into all the ridiculous information found with Mr. Henderson when he was found murdered. The shifter allegations are a joke. We know this. You know this. But what we have stumbled upon here could be part of a much bigger picture. Mr. Franklin is a wealthy, powerful man. And he could very well be connected to Mr. Henderson’s murder.”
Brooks chimed in. “Ms. Cooper, have you ever met Mr. Franklin? Have you ever heard anything about him from either of his sons?”
Coop hesitated. Keller knew what was going through her mind: the safety of her unborn child and the safety of the twins and Riley. He also knew that she wouldn’t back down, because in the end the best thing for everyone was for Franklin to be behind bars where he could never hurt anyone again.
She took a small sip of water they’d poured for her before she finally answered. “I met Mr. Franklin once. He is a monster. He hates women. He hates his kids. He is cold, abusive, and he has absolutely no morals. If you walked in here tomorrow and told me that he was responsible for this whole mess, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
Agent Grimes gave her a sad smile, like that was what he was expecting to hear all along. “Thank you Ms. Cooper. If you’ll excuse me, I have a few phone calls I need to make.”
Coop waited silently until the door closed behind Grimes then raised her eyes to meet Agent Brooks. “What happens now?”
“Franklin has lawyers and connections. We tread carefully.”
“His kids have been hurt by him enough. If he knows that they brought him into all this, he’ll kill them too.” She rubbed her stomach her under the table.
“We’ll keep all of you out of this, Corey. We don’t want to see anyone hurt. Franklin owns a ton of companies, has hundreds of employees. We’ll find another way to investigate him. We’ll find another in.”
She sighed, glancing quickly toward the door, meeting Keller’s eyes for a split second. “Can I ask you a question, Agent Brooks?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“What’s your deal with Keller? Why are you always giving him a hard time? It can’t have anything to do with the investigation because you aren’t treating anyone else like that. Is it Molly? Are you that into Molly?”
“It’s personal, Ms. Cooper.” Brooks gave Coop a small humorless smile that Keller itched to punch off his face. “I’d rather not discuss it.”
“It’s pers
onal my ass, Brooks. You brought it into this investigation. You have a chip on your shoulder and it’s affecting your work.” She returned his fake grin. “I know it, and so does your partner.”
“And for that, Ms. Cooper, I apologize. But I’m still not going to talk to you about my personal life.”
“You’re a prick.”
“I know.” Brooks knocked the table with his knuckle. “Have a good day, Ms. Cooper. We’ll be around campus for another week or so. If you think of anything else, please let us know.”
“Did you just dismiss me? Who the hell do you think you are? You son of a—”
Her impending tirade cut off when her cell phone buzzed on the table beside her, which exactly what Keller was hoping would happen.
Keller: That’s enough, Coop.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Molly
Molly added a little salt to the potatoes she’d just mashed. This was the first meal she was making for Keller and the rest of the crew. Keller had called her earlier and mentioned that they might need to stop by Dom and Corey’s for a couple hours tonight, and she had offered to cook for everyone over at Keller’s—their house—instead. She wanted it to be delicious. She had decided on chicken-fried steak, mashed potatoes, rolls, and green beans. She had wanted to make something Southern and she figured fried was a good place to start.
Molly took a sip of her wine and eyed the dining room. The table was large enough for all of them, but they would need to add a couple chairs. Keller’s house was comfortable, neat, and more decorated than most men’s places. But as cliché as it sounded, it needed a women’s touch. Blending her stuff with his when she moved in over the weekend should take care of that. Molly smiled against her glass when she heard the front door open; she had butterflies in her stomach at the thought of seeing him.
