“Got it,” Elana says.
“Good! We can all be adults about this. I don’t want things to be awkward.”
“Oh, I think we can all get along,” Elana winks at me.
Sadie notices and angles in closer to me. I fucking love it. She’s claiming me. She may not seem like an alpha female, but she has the potential.
“Whatever makes things easy for Sadie,” I say with extra emphasis on her name. “She’s my priority.”
“Aww that’s so sweet,” Elana says and turns to Sadie. “Looks like you got a good one.”
“I did. Hey, did you want some champagne?” Sadie waves Brigit over to get Elana a glass.
“Absolutely.” Elana lights up. “Would love a glass.”
Scott stands by with a half grimace on his face. If he hoped for a catfight between Sadie and Elana, he’s SOL.
“To weddings,” Sadie and Elana toast and clink glasses.
“How is everybody doing?” An overly perfumed woman sails over and inserts herself into our group. Beside me, Sadie stiffens.
“Sadie, is that you?” The woman is middle aged with frosted blonde hair. She leans in to invite Sadie to give her a kiss on the cheek and a wave of her intense perfume nearly knocks me out. I duck my head and half turn, wanting to bury my face in Sadie’s hair, so I can draw a clean breath. My wolf whimpers.
“Mrs. Atkins,” Sadie says politely. She kisses the woman on the cheek and retreats, reaching out to me. I grab her hand, and she squeezes it.
“Oh call me Lacy, you’re practically family. And Scott, there you are,” Lacy beckons and gets a cheek kiss from him too. “And who is this?” She peers first at Elana, then me.
“Lacy, this is Deke. He’s my date for the weekend,” Sadie says. “Deke, this is Jenn’s mom.”
Scott quickly follows up, introducing his date.
Lacy frowns. “Oh are you two not together anymore? Shame on you, Sadie, letting our Scott get away!” She pokes Scott in the chest. “I was going to make sure you had a front place for the bouquet toss. I thought you two would be next.”
Sadie is wincing. Lacy’s voice is as loud as her perfume, so other guests are turning. I blink to keep my eyes from watering.
“What’s this now?” A tall, thin man with a bored expression permanently stapled to his face arrives. He halts next to Lacy, who turns to inform him, “You remember Scott and Sadie, George? These are their dates.”
The man turns to me. “And what do you do?”
“Security.” I keep my hand holding Sadie’s. Not that this guy’s offering to shake.
“You’re Sadie’s bodyguard?” The man manages to look down his nose at both of us, even though he’s shorter than me.
“No, although he could be,” Sadie fake laughs. I can smell her tension. “He was in the military, and now he owns a security business.”
“Ah, a start up,” the man says dismissively.
I shrug. “If multi-million dollar government contracts are for start-ups.”
The guy’s eyes bulge.
“Got thirty employees, worldwide.” I hate giving out information, but this is for Sadie. No one is going to make her feel small. In this stupid dick measuring contest, size matters. The size of our company.
George considers me with a sudden new-found respect.
“Thirty employees? I didn’t know that,” Sadie says, looking up at me, impressed.
Lacy’s eyes narrow. “You didn’t?”
“We just met.” Sadie sounds defensive, and I wish I could tell her to relax. These people don’t matter.
“Does your father know about this?” George asks Sadie, and she presses her lips together. I don't know why the comment disturbs Sadie, but I make a note to find out. And to give George’s info to the hackers on payroll, to see if he’s hiding anything. That way, if George upsets Sadie again, I can crush him.
“Mr. Diaz and I still have lunch monthly,” Scott butts in. “He’s given me invaluable insight on the Denson project.” He and George start talking about permits and zoning, while the rest of us stand awkwardly by.
“Have you looked at the itinerary?” Sadie asks Lacy, in an attempt to change the subject. “There’s all sorts of fun stuff available at the resort. There’s a zip line and everything!”
Elana looks bored. Lacy turns to me, “I don’t suppose you would like to join me for morning yoga? It’s outdoors on the lower deck.”
Whoa. Didn’t see that coming. The cougar’s on the prowl.
“Oh, I’m not sure that’s Deke’s thing,” Sadie says, trying to save me. I squeeze her hand.
“If Sadie wants to go, I’d be honored to join.”
“Are you sure?” Lacy asks in a way I know this is a test. “It’s pretty early in the morning.”
I shrug, “Can’t be worse than basic training.”
“Ah yes, you were military. What branch?”
“Army, ma’am,” I say. “Special forces.”
“Well, you know he has discipline,” she says to Sadie with an appreciative lilt to her voice.
Yeah. Barely enough discipline to keep from throwing her over my shoulder and carrying her up to our room.
“And I do love a man in uniform.” Lacy straightens slightly in a way that pushes out her boobs. “Nice to meet you, Deke. Look forward to seeing you tomorrow morning.”
“All right, everybody,” Brigit calls from the front of the room. “Can I get everyone’s attention? The dining hall is ready to seat our party.”
People start to stream out of the room, but Sadie and I hold back. I don’t show it, but I’m edgy as hell. The last place I want to go is in even tighter quarters with these people. This is the most I’ve spoken to humans in ages, and my wolf desperately wants to either fuck or fight to relieve the tension.
“Oh my God,” Sadie mutters. “That was awful. I’m so sorry.”
“Babe.” She’s so fucking sweet. I don’t want her to worry about me. I just want her to stop worrying completely.
As we start to follow the others heading to the dining room, she tugs me down a side corridor. It’s dimly lit with fancy sconces that must be for decoration because they do a shit job of actually lighting anything.
“Are you okay? I know you don’t like crowds.”
I go still. “You noticed that?” Fuck, I’m not doing as good a job on this mission as I’d hoped.
She nods, her warm brown eyes studying my face with so much compassion. “Is it PTSD?” she asks softly.
I rub a hand over my face. “Yeah.” Let’s go with that. I hate lying, but telling Sadie I’m a werewolf who can’t keep his animal in check obviously isn’t going to happen.
She tests a door and pushes it open. It’s a meeting room, unlit and empty. “Come here.” She tugs me inside.
“I’m okay, babe.” I hate that she’s worrying over me now. I’m supposed to be doing her the favors. But then she unbuttons my jeans and sudden heat explodes below my waist.
“Let me help ease the tension.” She lowers to her knees, and I lose all rational thought. “It’s the least I can do after what you did for me.”