by E A Price
Crap! She wasn’t fishing for a new phone or trying to guilt him.
“No, I don’t want that, I can buy my own phone!”
“You just said you couldn’t.”
Ugh. “What I mean is…”
“I can buy you a phone,” he grumbled, his face getting harder by the second. “It’s really nothing. I need you to have a working one in case I need to reach you.”
“But…”
“There you are!” cried Ariel, Branch’s sister as she swept into the room.
“Here we are!” exclaimed Mira, thankful for the end to that conversation.
Branch narrowed his eyes at her - as if saying that they would discuss it later.
The young woman beamed at them. “Mom’s looking for you both.”
“Swell,” he rumbled.
If his dour tone bothered her, Ariel didn’t let it show. Perhaps she was used to it. Perhaps he was always like this. Mira usually found grumpy people offputting – like the guy from Monty Python says, ‘always look on the bright side of life.’ But she didn’t find it offputting in Branch. No, moody and broody was just damn sexy in him. Oh, who was she kidding, he could prance around with his underwear on his head and pencils up his nose, and he’d still be sexy.
“She wants to know how you two met. She wants the full story,” trilled Ariel. “Come on.”
She danced out the room, calling to her mother that she had found them.
“Damn,” muttered Branch.
Mira shrugged. Nothing to worry about. She wasn’t saying that lying was always a good thing, but she had experience. When she was younger, she used to tell all sorts of stories about why her mom left. It was easier to tell the stories than the truth – that her mom simply didn’t want to be with her.
“Don’t worry, I’ve read about a thousand romance novels – I can make something up. It’ll be fine. Just you wait, I can be a terrific fake fiancée.”
Fourteen
Branch smiled fairly effortlessly as Mira chatted easily to her audience. It was hardly the greatest story ever told, but she had them enthralled with her easy manner, soft voice and twinkling smile. Course, when she gestured with her hands, her breasts bounced, and when that happened, he could barely think at all. She was wearing a reindeer sweater that should not have been erotic, but it hugged her in all the right ways, curling around her body, caressing and clutching her…
Easy boy.
Mira embellished the story with small asides, and while the story was hardly electrifying, her bouncy nature made it so. She was making up a story about how they met when she was delivering a sandwich to him.
It made sense to him now why his brother had called her ‘sandwich girl.’ She apparently delivered sandwiches to his building all the time. Perhaps that was why her scent was familiar. Perhaps that was why he couldn’t get the smell of her out of his nostrils. Perhaps that was why he woke up again and again in the night and reached out towards the empty place beside him – the same way he did for a year after Janelle died. Perhaps forcing himself to be near Mira for the next few months was going to be absolute hell.
It was also slightly worrying that she could lie so easily and be charming at the same time. His herd mates were virtually enraptured by what she was saying – which ultimately merely boiled down to the two of them meeting when she delivered a turkey cranberry sandwich to his office.
It wasn’t a spectacular story, but somehow she made it so. So much so that several male members of his herd were listening intently to her – too intently. Most of her audience was female, but males were also paying attention. They were watching her, laughing at her jokes, and smiling at her. Who the hell did they think they were daring to smile at her?!
A furious sound escaped his chest. His herd mates shrunk a little from that sound, and if sensing the reason for his disquiet, the males stopped paying quite so much rapt attention to his ‘fiancée.’
Mira turned to face him, gave him a small smile and then patted his hands. Her fingers lingered on his, and something zipped through his body, something almost electric.
What he wasn’t sure. Arousal maybe? It had been a while since he had been intimate with a female. Surely that was it. It wasn’t particularly her; it was just that it had been a while. Okay, maybe it was partially her – he did find her worryingly attractive. He did want to be with her physically.
Perhaps Mira would want him too. Perhaps their arrangement…
No! He shouldn’t – wouldn’t - take liberties with her. They had an arrangement, and that was it. He shouldn’t touch her that way, lest she think there was anything more to their relationship.
A vision of Janelle, his late mate, swam before his eyes. He had stood up and sworn in front of his whole herd to be her mate. To be loyal and true to her and a part of him couldn’t forget that. Janelle was his heart mate, and according to shifter mythology, you only got one. He wasn’t ready to mate again – not a true mating anyway, and he needed to remember that.
Fifteen
“Well, happy?”
Mira gave him a smug smile, and he grunted in return.
“You’re a very accomplished liar,” he huffed, and apparently that was all the thanks she was going to get.
She shrugged his comment away. She had way too many glasses of eggnog inside her to let him dampen her good mood. She didn’t exactly like to admit it, but she was enjoying her fake engagement party. Branch’s family were awesome. Both she and her dad had been happy, but they had always longed for a larger family. For more people to take joy in their Christmas festivities. It was really nice being surrounded by so many people who were so jolly and excited, even if it was only temporary.
“I was just… exaggerating. I mean the facts are all there. I did deliver a sandwich to your office; you just weren’t in it.”
“Hmmm.” He didn’t look particularly appeased by that.
“Your family is nice – and there’s so many of them.”
“Hey, Branch. Mira.”
A tall, broad man – there didn’t seem to be any other kind in Branch’s family tree - approached, smiling. He was good looking but kind of forgettable. At least he was forgettable when faced with Branch – he was not nearly as handsome as Branch. But then, who was? Branch could make gods jealous.
Branch scowled, but the other male didn’t seem to notice or mind or even slow his progress towards them. “Mira, this is…”
“Hey, Roger!” cried Mira.
Branch glanced at her in surprise before returning his impatient gaze back to Roger.
“Great party,” said Roger.
“It’s lovely, isn’t it?” trilled Mira.
“But I’m afraid I have to get going,” said Roger.
“Don’t let us keep you,” grunted Branch.
“Welcome to the herd,” said Roger to Mira.
He went in for a hug and Branch really started growling. Mira shivered slightly as Branch slipped an arm around her waist. Pathetically, she tried to suck in her stomach, to give the illusion of a slim waist. But after a couple of seconds, she gave that up. It wasn’t really worth the effort and given the incensed look on Branch’s face – currently directed at Roger – he wouldn’t have noticed anyway.
Roger gulped and settled on shaking Mira’s hand. She said goodbye to him, and weirdly he seemed to bow to Branch before bolting for the door. That was kind of odd, but maybe all CEO’s liked their employees to do that. Mira noticed that a large number of Branch’s employees all seemed to be related to him in some way.
“That’s…”
“Your second cousin Roger – he works in finance.”
“How do you know that?” he asked suspiciously.
“Your mother introduced me to everyone, and while I haven’t met Roger before, I know lots of your family members from delivering sandwiches to them.”
“And you remembered them? I can barely remember Roger, and I see him every day. I spent a five years calling him Roy before someone finally corrected
me.”
Mira let out a small giggle. “I try to remember names and sandwich requests. It helps in my job.”
“Hmmm. You enjoy your sandwich delivery job?”
His snooty tone suggested it would be a miracle if she did.
Mira gave him a playful pout. “Actually I do. The owners let me bake cupcakes so we can sell them too. I can make whatever I want. When I applied for the job, I didn’t think I would like it as much as I do, but it’s actually pretty fun. My dream is to have my own bakery.”
“Hmmm.”
His face took on a stony expression.
“What’s your dream job?” she asked because he hardly seemed like he was on cloud nine right now.
“I’m running my family’s company,” he replied.
“But is that your dream job?”
Branch gave her a slightly confused look. “It’s what I always knew I would do.”
“That’s not the same thing. Does it make you happy?”
He paused before saying, “I am not unhappy.”
Mira smiled slightly. Materialistic maybe, but she couldn’t imagine anyone being very unhappy in such a gorgeous house. He obviously enjoyed a nice lifestyle. But there was something not quite right about his house. Of course! He didn’t have any Christmas decorations.
Much to Temp’s chagrin, she put theirs up on December 1st. Poor Temp didn’t know what was going on until she went to the bathroom and she found that Mira had attached her special Christmas seat to the toilet. It said ‘ho ho ho’ whenever anybody lifted it. It was probably a little jarring to discover that in the middle of the night.
“Coo-ee!”
Branch stiffened as a very slim and very pretty redhead started making her way to them. Her hair was expertly teased and she was wearing a brief, glittery mini dress that Mira was sure would barely be big enough to cover even one of her own legs.
Mira hadn’t been introduced to her, but the way she was blowing kisses in Branch’s direction suggested that he knew her.
“Alpha!” she called, waving at Branch.
“Let’s go into the garden,” he hissed.
He virtually carried Mira outside. In fact, it all happened so fast; she was sure her feet didn’t even touch the ground.
“Who was that?” Mira asked as she weaved on her feet, trying to get her balance. “I don’t think I’ve met her.”
“No need to change that now,” he muttered as he gripped her arm, steadying her.
Before she could object, he took her hand and led her around the side of the house.
“My coat…” started Mira as she shivered.
He grumbled and pulled his sweater off and pushed it over Mira’s head. It swamped her, but it was deliciously warm and steeped in his masculine scent. Would he let her keep it? Oh if he would, she would sleep in it and dream that it was him wrapped around her, rather than just a sweater… Yeesh, maybe she needed to get out more.
“Jeez. Aren’t you cold?”
“No.”
He was now only wearing a t-shirt, and it was starting to snow. She placed her hands on his arms, but sure enough, he was already deliciously warm. She ran her fingers over his skin, delighting in the gentle buzz his touch afforded.
When she noticed him gazing at her, she quickly removed her hands and stowed them in the sweater sleeves.
“Who was that?” she asked.
“No one.”
“You usually flee from no one?” she teased.
“Humph.”
His grumpiness seemed to blossom even more. So cute!
Mira bit her lip. She was enjoying herself. Far too much. She had to remember that this was all just a show – she wasn’t really meeting her boyfriend’s family. Plus, she still hadn’t made up her mind on whether she wished to go through with this whole thing or not. Well, actually she had – she was.
Possibly, it was crazy, but she was – she just didn’t know how to break it to Temp. She got to help out her sister, spend some time with Mr. Smolder and help him out, too. She couldn’t see a problem with it. It was hardly like her love life would suffer. She hadn’t had a love life for over a year now.
Mira looked up at Branch through her eyelashes. He wasn’t good for her heart, but he looked like he needed help and she wanted to be the one to give it.
“We still need to talk about this whole thing,” she said softly.
“I know, and we will.”
She fidgeted under the giant sweater. “I wish I’d known it was a party; I might have worn something a little nicer.”
“You look nice.”
“I do?” she blurted in surprise.
She was late leaving work due to some additional orders they were getting – sandwiches for parties - and didn’t have time to change. In fear of being too late, she had even sprung for a taxi. She hated paying for taxis; why take a taxi when you can take the bus?
Branch’s eyes seemed to flare, and his gaze bordered on lusty before he quickly looked away into his enormous garden.
She followed his gaze and was surprised to see one of Branch’s relatives trudging through the snow wearing only a pair of jeans.
“Isn’t that Marcus?”
“I’m not sure; we should go inside the house.”
His voice took on a note of urgency, and he swung Mira into his arms. She let out an eep and wrapped her arms around his bulky shoulders. Her delight at virtually getting to hug him was quickly eclipsed as Marcus proceeded to strip out of his jeans too. He was stark staring naked in the middle of the garden, and it was freaking freezing!
“What is he doing?”
Branch ignored her and started running towards the door. But it was too late. In spite of Branch’s attempts to cover her eyes, or to get her back to the house she saw what Marcus was doing. He was turning into a reindeer!
Mira gaped as the huge beast started trotting around the garden.
“Oh. My. God! He just turned into a freaking reindeer!”
Branch groaned, and she felt the rise and fall of his huge chest.
“Mira…”
“He just… One moment he was there and the next he turned into a reindeer!”
“I know,” he muttered, slowing lowering her to the ground.
Holy crap!
Sixteen
“Mira, come down.”
“Nuh uh.”
Branch growled. “If you do not come down…”
“What? You’ll turn into a reindeer and fly up and get me!”
She heard a loud drawn out groan coming from the ground below.
What the heck was happening? He was a reindeer. Nope, not possible. She was losing her mind thanks to too much eggnog – that was all it was. She just needed to hide up here until she sobered up, yep, that was all she needed.
Except, she could still see that reindeer running around the garden and, oh my, now there was more than one, butting antlers.
After seeing Marcus transform, she panicked and ran and well, the tree house looked so convenient. Course, now she was trapped.
Mira eeped as the tree started shaking – was he going to shake her out of it?
She peered over the side and saw him starting to climb up. Crud. Yep, this was why you didn’t climb trees in a chase.
She retreated to a corner as a supremely grumpy face appeared over the edge followed by a worryingly large body. The tree house shuddered lightly.
“I think you might be too big for this place.”
Branch peered at the ‘hang in there, baby’ cat poster on the wall of the tree house. “Yeah, the last person in here was Ariel. I definitely did not put that poster up. I haven’t been up here since I was thirteen and I was smaller then.”
“Hard to believe you could get any bigger,” she murmured as the house gave an ominous creak.
“We probably shouldn’t move too much,” he said as he perched on the edge.
“Yeah.”
There were a few moments of awkward silence. He was watching her carefully, waiti
ng for her to go nuts - as if she were a kitten in a yarn factory. She was considering whether snow would make a soft landing if she had to jump out the window.
“Can you turn into a reindeer?” she asked at last.
“Yes,” he admitted reluctantly.
“You’re not going to right now are you?”
The treehouse was already pretty crowded with just his human self, not to mention it was starting to list.
“No.”
Mira bit her lip and Branch inhaled deeply.
“Marcus shifted in front of you as he believed you already knew the truth about us – because he believes you’re my fiancée.”
“It was incredible,” she murmured. “So everyone at the party can turn into reindeer?”
“Almost. Some of the mates are human; some are other shifters.”
“Other shifters?” Mira leaned forward in her eagerness, and the treehouse wobbled. “You mean they can turn into other animals?”
Branch nodded and his brow creased. “You don’t seem all that shocked.”
“Yes, I am. Of course, I am – what do you think I’m doing up this tree?”
His lips twitched into an almost smile. “No, you’re not.”
“Well, I, you know, I’ve read books about shifters.”
“Books?”
“You know, romances.”
Her eyes dipped from his, and her cheeks bloomed with heat. She’d read an awful lot of steamy shifter romances, and yes she couldn’t deny that she’d always had a smidgeon of hope that shifters would be real.
“You like reading romances?”
“A little…”
“About reindeer shifters?”
“Well, no, mostly wolf shifters…”
Wolves seemed to be the most popular, shortly followed by bears. Reindeers weren’t perceived as being quite as sexy.
Branch sneered. “Unwashed idiots – you should stay away from wolf shifters.”
Mira nodded absently. “This is… unbelievable. So everyone in there is…”
“My herd.” Obviously.
“Right.”
“I am the alpha.”
“Of course.” The most normal thing in the world for anyone to say.
