“Wow,” Celeste marveled. “I’d say it looks like a French whorehouse, but no respecting French whore would set foot in this place.”
Grant threw back his head and laughed, and the sound of his laughter vibrating in his chest warmed her heart.
He walked across the room with her still in his arms, and set her down by the window.
“Well, hello, husband,” she said.
Grant smiled at her. He had a nice smile. “Is that how humans greet their spouses? I mean, I may be a werewolf, but I’ve seen a sitcom or two. I’m pretty sure no wife says that, ever.”
She grimaced. “Hello, dear. Hello, sweetie. Hey, babe, how was your day?”
He laughed. “And you don’t have to look as if you’re drinking sour milk every time you greet me.”
“Right. No sour milk face. I’ll work on that.”
He was still smiling, and he looked so impossibly sexy and handsome, with rays of sunlight glinting in his thick, dark brown hair, that she wanted to kiss him. To devour him. To feel him inside her. Instead she turned her back to him and stared out the window.
“Relax.” He started massaging her shoulders, and a flood of arousal washed over her like a tidal wave. She stifled a gasp and tensed up. Stop it, Celeste, you can’t have him. This isn’t real.
He stopped massaging her, his hands resting lightly on her shoulders.
“Hey, I might not be your dream man, but you at least have to act as if I don’t make you want to gag when I touch you. Just until the court case is over.” There was a touch of hurt in his voice.
She put her hands on his. “I’m sorry. And you’re everyone’s dream man, believe me. I just… I’m really stressed about this.”
He resumed the massage, and she stifled a moan of pleasure. “You can break into a business or a millionaire’s home without blinking an eye. You talk your way past people for a living. Fooling a county judge and a government employee should be child’s play to you.”
She sighed. “I know. I just never had to worry about anybody else before. This is Jeffrey’s life we’re talking about here. If I screwed things up for myself, it wouldn’t matter to anybody. But Jeffrey’s had a tough, terrible life, and we cannot afford any missteps.”
“It would matter to me if you screwed up your life.”
His hands felt too good. She had to make him stop before she made a total fool of herself.
“Thank you. I need to go to the bathroom.” She hurried away, found the bathroom, and splashed cold water on her face. It didn’t help. She needed to bathe in a tub full of ice cubes. That led to thoughts of being naked, and then she was imagining Grant’s hands on her bare skin again. She shivered and squeezed her thighs tightly together as arousal zinged in her core. She had to get a grip – and not on any part of Grant’s anatomy. If she got involved with him, she knew how badly it would hurt when she had to leave.
When she walked back in to the room, he was unpacking his suitcase. As she moved towards his suitcase, she bumped into a table and almost knocked over a vase. He grabbed for it and caught it.
“Damn,” he laughed. “You are Jennifer’s sister.”
She gave him a puzzled glance. “What do you mean?”
“You know. You’re both clumsy.” He had a twinkle in his eye. “It’s okay, I think it’s cute.”
She shook her head. “Wow, she really pulled the wool over your eyes. I was always the clumsy one. She was as graceful as a cat. If she acted clumsy around you, it was to make herself seem helpless so you’d be there to rescue her. That was a thing she did with guys.” It always worked, too.
“I see.” He bit the words out and turned away, his eyes gone dark and stormy.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“You didn’t.” His smile was rueful now. “When I look back on it, I know it was just infatuation. I came from this family where everybody was intent on proving how badass they were, how macho they were, how they never needed anybody. Your sister seemed sweet and helpless and she needed a white knight to rescue her. I met her at a bar. She was waitressing and her ex-boyfriend was there threatening her, and she was so scared. He hit her, right in front of me, and I punched him so hard I knocked his lights out.”
“Boone,” she said. “He wasn’t her ex. They set you up. That’s a classic Jennifer move.”
“Wow.” New understanding dawned on his face. “I was a total chump.”
“Hey,” she shrugged. “I was her sister, I knew her better than anybody, and she took me in all the time. It was a game to her, manipulating people. We were so powerless growing up, it was her way of feeling like she was in control.”
“And what’s your way?”
She frowned, turning away from him and hugging herself. “Moving all the time so I don’t have to depend on anybody, ever. Which is why we should keep our distance from each other. Let’s talk about tomorrow. What’s our game plan?”
“I have lawyers flying in from Reno. Werewolves. We’ll go over the details this afternoon, and be in court tomorrow at nine a.m. I’m getting a paternity test today – the results will be back in a couple of days.”
“How will we pretend I’m Jenny?”
“I’m getting new ID made up for you and that’s what you’ll show them at the courthouse. We’ve contacted the coroner’s office and explained that there was a mistake. Jennifer was burned beyond recognition, so we’ll tell them that your car had been stolen and you didn’t report it because you owed a bunch of money in parking tickets. We’ll tell them you only recently found out about the accident.”
Jennifer was a terrible person and she’d hurt Jeffrey to the core with her neglect, but still, thinking of her like that…Celeste felt sick. Grant must have seen it on her face, because he reached out and brushed his fingers over the back of her hand. The touch felt comforting. Reassuring. Right. She pulled her hand back anyway.
“When you’re in the courthouse or around the CPS, you’ll answer to Jennifer. And we’ll work with Jeffrey today to go over what he tells CPS. I hate to ask him to lie, but it’s for a good cause. I’m also going to work with him on staying calm and under control, so there’s no risk that he’ll shift in public.”
Celeste grimaced. “He’s all too used to lying, I’m afraid. So at least he’ll be good at it.” Then she met his gaze. “Worst-case scenario. Let’s say we’re at the courthouse and they try to take Jeffrey. That CPS bitch really seemed to want to take him into custody. And you never know what kind of judge you’re going to get.”
He nodded, his expression going grim. “I’ve anticipated that. My lawyers are bringing backup. I’ll have a helicopter on standby. If the judge orders him taken into custody, I’ll fight our way out of there if necessary. We’d flee the country and go somewhere the U.S. has no jurisdiction. It’s not just that I don’t trust social services to take care of him, it’s the fact that he’s a werewolf and they’d figure that out quickly. He’d end up in a government testing lab. I will kill anyone who tries to take him from me.”
“You’re hairy again,” she said, reaching out without thinking to stroke the fur on the back of his hand. “Ooh. Silky.”
This time he was the one to snatch his hand away.
“Sorry,” she said, hurt.
“It’s okay, it’s just…when you touch me, it has a certain effect on me.”
“What kind of effect?”
“Don’t look down.”
So of course she looked down. “Oh my God. Is that…a werewolf thing? Are you all proportionally huge?”
“Gah! I said don’t look down! And also, I don’t know, it’s not like I go around checking out human dicks and comparing them for size!” He moved behind a chair.
She stifled a smile. “I can still see you between the slats of the chair. Wow. Sorry, that’s totally crude of me. I’m ashamed of myself.”
“And yet you’re still staring.”
“I can’t help myself. It’s mesmerizing.”
He moved from behind the chair. “Is it really now. Tell me more.”
She felt warm all over. He was going to kiss her. Would she let him?
Could she stop him?
He stepped closer, his eyes intent on her mouth, moving with sleek predatory grace that made her heart beat faster. The heat in her face told her she was blushing and all of a sudden there seemed to be too little air in the room.
Did she want to stop him?
There was a huge crash outside, and the shrill sound of a car alarm.
“Jeffrey!” Grant spun away and ran for the door. Celeste ran after him, taking the steps downstairs two at a time, racing across the expensive Oriental carpets, and out the front door.
When they got there, they found that the shiny black Range Rover that had been parked in the roundabout was now upside down.
Jeffrey was jumping up and down with excitement. “Do it again! Do it again!” He cried out. “Da— I mean, Grant! Look what she can do!”
Mandy smiled sheepishly at them as Grant glared at her. “Oops. That one’s on me.”
Chapter Seven
They had a full day ahead of them. Grant took them into town to shop, and also, reluctantly, bought them the Kitchen Sink pizza at Greasy Gus. He even ate a slice, although he shot dirty looks at Celeste in between every bite.
Then he sat down with Celeste and Jeffrey and talked to them about werewolves. He told them they’d managed to stay hidden from humans by living in remote, heavily forested areas. They never travelled off pack land during a full moon, because on the full moon they were compelled to shift, and their mind was taken over by their beasts. Of course, from time to time humans spotted a werewolf and lived to tell – that was where the legends of werewolves came from. But as long as humans believed that they were just legends, then werewolves were still safe.
Late that afternoon, while Grant and Celeste sat in the enormous parlor practicing their stories with his lawyers, Pete and Reynaldo, Mandy took Jeffrey to the pool to teach him how to swim.
When the doorbell rang, Grant frowned suspiciously. “We’re not expecting anyone. Better not be anyone from my former pack, or I’m going to have me a new wolfskin rug.”
He and Celeste went to the front door and opened it. A short, plump woman with a round face and an ingratiating smile stood on the doorway, holding a wicker basket full of fruit.
“Hi, I’m Marian, your next door neighbor,” she said.
“There are no houses near us,” Grant said evenly.
“Oh, well, I live a little ways down the road.”
As she stepped into the foyer without being invited, Celeste looked at her, trying to figure out how she knew her.
“You look familiar,” she said with a frown. Something about the woman made her uneasy.
From somewhere in the back of the house, they heard Mandy yelling, “Not a good time!” What was that all about?
“Who is that?” Marian asked.
“It’s our nanny. Where have we met?” Celeste persisted.
“I’m sure we’ve never met before.”
“Really not a good time!” Mandy yelled louder. There was a crash, and something shattered.
Marian’s eyes widened. “What was that?”
Celeste ignored her question. “I’m good with faces. I know! You look exactly like the Child Protective Services case worker who trespassed in my house and tried to kidnap my child a few days ago.”
Instead of looking offended, Marian’s smile grew even wider and faker. Right. Something was off.
Marian tried to sidle past Celeste. “Is that so?” She was looking over Celeste’s shoulder, trying to see into the rest of the house.
Grant walked right in front of her to block her. “Excuse me. Where I come from, we don’t go barreling into the houses of perfect strangers without being invited.”
Marian tittered, a high, shrill sound. “Oh, goodness me, I was just so curious about this house. It’s the biggest house in Somerville, did you know that? It’s sat empty for a while and I just wanted—” she tried to side-step past him. He moved again, still standing in front of her. .
“You don’t take a hint, do you? Answer my wife’s question. How are you related to Rhona Millhouse?” He started walking right towards her, forcing her to back up.
She never stopped smiling. “Well, gosh, she’s my sister, didn’t I say so?”
“No, you very deliberately avoided answering my wife when she asked you. So she sent you here to spy on us?”
Marian’s smile vanished. What a relief. That clown rictus was downright scary. “This is a small town, and we like to get to know our neighbors. Do you come from a dangerous neighborhood? You must come from a very dangerous place if this is how they treat people. Probably not safe for children— Is that a wolf cub?”
Jeffrey, in cub form, came racing into the room, with Mandy still in her bathing suit, chasing him.
Marian screamed.
Jeffrey ran around the room in circles with Mandy running after him. Then he paused, lifted his leg and peed – right on Marian’s leg, soaking her pantyhose.
Then he ran out of the room, with Mandy still in hot pursuit. Celeste bolted out of the room after them.
“What is going on here? This place is a zoo!” Marian wailed, and rushed out of the house. Grant slammed and locked the door behind her, and went to find his son.
Half an hour later, a police car pulled up in front of their house, responding to a complaint of a child who was in danger because of a vicious dog in the house. Grant invited him in and let him search the entire house until he was satisfied with Grant’s story – a stray dog had wandered in briefly, but then it had run off again.
* * * * *
Dinner on the patio was luscious tender steak and mashed potatoes with butter and gravy. Jeffrey cleaned his plate and begged for seconds. Pete and Reynaldo, who were staying with them in one of the mansion’s guest wings, had thirds and fourths. Apparently werewolves loved meat.
“Do you want to say anything to Grant?” Celeste prodded.
Jeffrey glanced at Celeste.
“It was okay,” he said.
She coughed into her hand. “Golden Rule.”
He looked at her, baffled.
She replied with a frown. “If you worked really hard to make something for somebody, would you want them to say it was just okay?”
He sighed and looked at Grant. “Dinner was very good,” he said. “I guess you didn’t lie about that.”
“Thank you,” Grant said in a formal, polite tone.
It was pretty adorable to see this big, strong man – a werewolf, no less – being so polite and gentle with his little boy. Who would have imagined that storybook monsters who were perfectly capable of flipping a car – as Mandy had demonstrated earlier – could be so sweet? She felt something soften and melt inside her as she watched Grant interacting with Jeffrey, even getting the kid to crack a smile. She hadn’t heard what he’d said, but had a dark suspicion it had something to do with peeing on ladies from CPS. Those two were going to be a menace. She’d have to watch out for— But no. She wasn’t going to be staying. As soon as Jeffrey felt safe with Grant, knew he could trust him, she’d be hitting the road again. And it looked like Grant might win Jeffrey over faster than she’d expected. The thought made her feel unexpectedly hollow inside. She told herself firmly it was for the best. She couldn’t have Grant. Couldn’t let herself want him.
After dinner, Pete and Reynaldo went off to play pool in the game room, and Grant, Mandy and Celeste sat in the media room and watched a DVR of the Wild Kratts on a projection screen that took up an entire wall.
When the movie was over, Jeffrey stood up, and a silver butter knife fell out of his pocket. He went still and looked at Grant fearfully.
“I wasn’t stealing,” he said defensively.
“Of course you weren’t,” Grant said. “It’s yours. It’s not stealing if it’s yours.”
“How is it mine?” Jeffrey
looked at him with suspicion.
“You are my son. You are part of my pack. Whatever is mine, is yours.”
Jeffrey just stared at him, unsure of what to say. He glanced fearfully at Celeste.
“He’s right,” Celeste assured him. “Maybe just ask next time, if you want something.”
Grant bent down, picked up the knife, and handed it to him. “You can sleep with it if you want. Your mother and I are going to bed soon, so you’re going to sleep in the room next to Mandy’s. There’s a door connecting your rooms.”
Jeffrey growled. “I’m sleeping with my mother.”
Grant sighed. “Here’s the thing, little man. You know that nasty lady you peed on earlier? She’s spying on us. I have some very fancy binoculars; I looked out my bedroom window and I saw a house down the road from us. Half a mile away. She was looking out her window, watching us with a telescope.”
“Son of a…” Celeste stopped herself right before she swore.
“Bitch?” Jeffrey finished helpfully.
Grant cleared his throat. “Anyway. What that means is, your mother and I have to pretend to be a real married couple. That means she has to sleep in my bedroom. Remember what we talked about earlier? How we have to tell a little fib, because if the judge thinks we’re really married, they’re less likely to try to take you away?”
Jeffrey stiffened.
“Nobody is taking you away from me,” Grant told him. “Ever.”
“What about my mom?” Jeffrey prodded him.
“Nobody is taking you from her either.”
Celeste kept the smile pasted on her face. This was getting harder and harder. Would she be able to do the right thing after they won their court case? Would she be able to leave Jeffrey with people who actually knew how to care for a child?
“Anyway,” Grant explained, “real married people sleep in the same bedroom, and their kids sleep in their own bedroom. We have to make it look good. The mean lady has a view of our bedroom window, I’m afraid.”
Jeffrey reluctantly let them go. As they walked off, Celeste heard him saying to Mandy, “When they leave me tonight, I guess you’ll be my new mom. But when you leave me, who will be my mom then?”
A Cub For The Billion-were (Alpha Billion-weres Book 2) Page 6
