Apparently Ben had already met a woman earlier, when Ingrid and I were at the salon, that he was interested in. He had her number and she invited him to stop by her workplace. He was hoping to invite her to tag along with them to Mimi’s.
He begged me to accompany him to assure the woman that he was a nice, safe guy to hang out with. Since I was a dutiful cousin, I agreed. But, like a complete moron, I didn’t think to ask where the woman worked. Big mistake.
That was how I ended up outside the one-story red-painted cinderblock building with black stenciled lettering that read: “Sunkissed Key Fire Department.”
I was about to turn tail and run, but Ben had a hold of me and was tugging me forward. “Come on.”
The front bay of the building was open and the firetruck was visible. There, buffing and polishing the wax on the body of the truck as he stared right at me, was Mac. Dammit.
Mac’s eyes narrowed. His gaze raked down my body. My knees turned to jello, and I instantly felt twenty degrees hotter. Then, Mac looked at Ben and frowned.
Ben smiled and nodded. “Hello. I’m looking for Hailey. She’s expecting me.”
Mac motioned with his head. “She’s inside, through the door on the left.” Then his narrowed gaze again landed on me.
Ben grinned at me. “Be right back.”
“Ben, I—” He disappeared inside, leaving me standing in front of Mac, all by myself. Bastard!
I smiled tightly and crossed my arms over my chest. I was going to kill Ben.
Mac flipped the rag in his hand over his shoulder and leaned against the front of the firetruck. “I take it you sang at the wedding? Are you feeling better today?”
I uncrossed my arms and then crossed them again. The honest answer was my feet were killing me, I was tired, and standing anywhere near Mac was nerve-racking. “I’m fine. The couple, Flynn and Arden seem happy together.”
Like he’d noticed my discomfort, he stepped away for a second and returned with a chair. He slid it in front of me, and nodded at it. “Please sit.”
My feet didn’t care that accepting the seat put me a few feet closer to him, but other parts of my body did. I rounded it and sat down, instantly sighing in relief. “Thank you.”
Mac leaned against the truck again. I felt uncomfortable, as though he was studying me. “Who’s the guy?”
I shivered as his deep voice stroked over me. “Ben’s my cousin.”
A grunt was his only reply.
Feeling anxious and out of place, I continued on, tripping over my tongue. “My boyfriend couldn’t make it. Adam. Moro. Adam Moro. He’s my boyfriend. That’s his name.” Ugh, shut up, Melody.
Mac’s eyes hardened and he straightened. Silently, he moved closer, his mouth pressed into a thin line. Just when I thought he was going to say something, one of the other firefighters walked in.
“Well look who climbed out of her tree and got all dolled up!”
I prayed for the ground to open and swallow me. It didn’t.
So I buried my face in my hands and groaned.
11
Mac
I ignored Jay. I didn’t even know what he said. My eyes were on Mel.
Melody.
Melody Manes.
I’d been listening to her on iTunes since the night before when Parker revealed who she was. I remembered her. She was around the same age as my sister and she’d been at the peak of her career with a chart-topping hit when I was in grade school.
My sister and her friends used to put on a Melody Manes CD and dance around her bedroom singing Alive In Your Eyes into hairbrush “microphones”.
I only really remembered that one song, Alive In Your Eyes, then Melody Manes kind of just faded away. I had no idea why. I’d looked her up on Wikipedia, but there wasn’t much there. Her fade to obscurity became even more baffling after I had a listen to the other songs on her two albums.
She was good. Very good.
Her smoky, sultry voice had a versatile sound that would lend itself beautifully to anything from jazz to bluegrass to heavy metal to pop. And Mel herself was gorgeous. Why, with a talent like hers, had her career ended so early. I wanted to ask her about it, but my tongue was tied by that one word she’d said—boyfriend.
She had a boyfriend? How was that possible? She was mine.
My wolf howled in fury, and my brain was besieged with demanding thoughts about tracking this boyfriend down and ripping him to confetti bits.
Mel’s face was buried in her hands. I silently willed her to lift her head and look at me. I hoped to see something, anything, there that said that she wanted me. It didn’t matter that up until this moment I’d been telling myself that I didn’t want to take a mate. Especially not a human mate. Still, pride, ego, something wanted her to at least crave me the way I craved her.
Please don’t let her really be into some other dude.
When she looked up, her eyes met mine, but looked away quickly. She cleared her throat and smiled at Jay. “What would it cost me to buy your silence? How much for your promise never to mention the tree incident again, especially not in front of my cousin or my brother?”
Jay pulled up a chair and sat beside her, ignoring my low, steady warning growl, just beneath human hearing range. He knew that he was pushing his luck. But he seemed to enjoy fucking with me. “You sang at the Bennett wedding, right?”
Her smile was thin as she nodded. “I did. With the cousin and brother I mentioned. And my best friend, Ingrid.”
“There’s a friend Ingrid?” Jay leaned closer and my growl became a little louder. “Is this friend Ingrid a single and available friend Ingrid?”
“She is. She’ll be at Mimi’s tonight if you’re curious.”
“Is she as beautiful as you?”
That was it. A growl tore out of me. I kicked the front of Jay’s chair. Hard. It upended, sending him flying backward. The bear shifter landed with a thud and lay sprawled on the ground chuckling.
Mel looked up at me with wide eyes. “Did you just…growl?”
I grunted, coughed, and tried to cover by offering Jay a hand to help him up. He refused and stood on his own, but I pushed him away and sat in the chair he’d fallen out of, which put me close to Mel.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Yes.”
Her eyes studied me and I could practically hear the gears in her brain working. I took the time to look her over again. In the long, red dress she wore, her curves were mouthwateringly enticing. She looked elegant and graceful and feminine. In her heels, she was tall, over six foot, but even with her heels, I was taller.
“So, that guy in there hitting up McClintock is your brother or cousin?” Jay laughed and shook his head. “Good luck, bro. She’s a ball buster.”
“Ben’s my cousin.” Mel shrugged. “He deserves whatever he gets. I just hope if she busts his balls, I’m around to see it.”
“Ouch. What’d the poor guy do to deserve that?”
I shot Jay a go-the-fuck-away scowl. I wanted time to talk to my mate, no matter what the end outcome would be. I wanted to at least know this engaging woman fate had paired me with. Even if she was human.
“Ben and my brother, Price, have been making my life hell since I grew boobs. As far as I’m concerned, whatever payback comes their way comes in the name of karma.”