Meant To Be: A Malsum Pass Novel Read online

  He grit his teeth. He could salvage this. He lunged for the phone. “J.T, you might as well go ahead and eat. No sense in letting your food get cold.” He said while dialing the number to the diner. When Lucy gave her standard greeting Conner said, “Hey, Lucy. What’s the special at the diner tonight?”

  He listened and then looked at Elizabeth who was checking out his kitchen. He snapped his fingers to get her attention and the instant stiffening of her spine clued him in that once again, he’d fucked up. She turned to look at him and the expression on her face was so hostile he was surprised the paint on the walls didn’t start peeling. He tried for a look of apology as he asked, “Do you like pot roast?”

  She gave a stiff little nod, her voice frosty. “That will be fine.”

  Conner grunted. Well, la-di-da, your highness, he thought unkindly before giving his attention back to Lucy. “Fix up two for me, Lucy, to go, I’ll be there in a few.”

  Once he disconnected the call, he was way too agitated right then to say more than, “I’ll be right back,” and headed out the door. This evening had gone to hell in handbasket real fast. First it had been the way she had looked at The Stag, as if cockroaches were going to come pouring out of the place. The Stag may not be some hoity-toity VIP lounge, but it was his pride and joy. They served beer, draft or in the bottle, they served liquor. Rarely would anyone request wine or a mixed drink. Most people came in to belly up to the bar, have a drink, and watch the game or listen to music. They didn’t come to be fashionable or to be seen. They came to relax, catch up with friends… It wasn’t posh. It was casual and that’s the way he liked it.

  Then, the way she’d reacted to Clyde as if he was a deranged beast instead of the slobbering fluff ball that loved everyone. Of course, an uninvited nose in the crotch would probably set anyone off. Just how would she react when she was surrounded by wolves? Though he did have to admire her bravery when it came to protecting her son.

  He halted his angry power walk to the diner. There had also been that moment when she’d said thank you and their eyes had connected in silent communication. The moment hadn’t lasted, but it had been powerful. He took a calming breath. He’d get the dinners, they’d eat, they’d talk, possibly find that connection again, and if not, he’d work on figuring out how to get out of the mess his damned wolf had gotten him into.

  Conner entered through the bar entrance of The Stag with dinner. It was a slow night, not surprising, just a few of the regulars and both his brothers. Jacob eyed the bag of takeout and raised a brow. “How’s the date going?”

  “Damn that smells good. Please tell me that’s for me, I’m starving.” Zack interrupted, pushing away from the bar and approaching Conner with every intention of snagging the bag. Conner let out a growl and Zack backed off with a grin. Holding out his hands as if to ward his brother off.

  “I need a favor, Zack.” Conner said.

  Zack smirked. “I already loaned you Clyde. Right now I’m too hungry to do anymore favors.”

  “Come up to my place in fifteen minutes to check on your dog and challenge J.T to beat your score on the X-Box. Do that, and you can eat the shit ton of lobster and shrimp I’ve got upstairs.”

  “Nice. Consider it done.”

  “She doesn’t like lobster?” Jacob asked.

  “She’s allergic.” Conner growled, his annoyance coming back.

  Jacob shrugged, “Better a trip to the diner for takeout than a trip to the ER.” Then he changed the subject, “Don’t forget to tell her about the air conditioning unit. I’ll load it into her car before she leaves if she wants.”

  Conner had forgotten all about that. Jacob had noticed how hot it had been in the camp so he had mentioned loaning her one of the window units they no longer needed since having central air installed. Maybe the promise of air conditioning would put her in a more amiable mood.

  “You courting someone, Conner? Who’s the lucky bitch?” This was from Joe Porch, a regular at the bar. The man had been best friends with his grandfather until grandpa Pierce had passed away.

  Before Conner could answer, Jacob said, “Human, Joe, and it’s just dinner.”

  Joe growled and Conner wanted to strangle his brother. Joe was of the old school opinion that lycanthropes and humans did not mix. Period.

  Joe pointed his beer bottle toward Conner. “Your granddaddy must be rolling in his grave, boy.”

  Conner just shook his head. “I’m not dealing with this right now, I need to get back. Zack,” he said pointing to his youngest brother, “fifteen minutes.”

  He could hear his brother laughing as he pushed through the door to get to the stairs. “Must be a disaster if Conner’s looking for a bail out.” And then Joe’s, “Good. He has no business messing around with a human.”

  Right about now he was wishing his wolf had been of that opinion. Steeling himself to face Elizabeth, he opened the door and came to an immediate halt. His attention completely snagged by Elizabeth who was partially bent over his entertainment center looking over his movie selection, a pair of glasses perched on her nose. She looked at him above the frames. Damn that was sexy. He had a sudden image of her in his head, kneeling before him, looking up at him just that way as she took him into her mouth. He groaned, backed out of the apartment and shut the door.

  He needed at least a few minutes to talk his raging hard on down.

  Chapter Ten

  Elizabeth stared at the door. Strange man. She shrugged figuring he must have forgotten something. At least his leaving to go get dinner had given her temper time to cool. The nerve of the man. Snapping his fingers and expecting her to come to heel like the dog. No, no, she took a deep breath, thinking about it would just get her riled up again. Pulling her glasses off, she was tucking them back into her bag when he came back through the door and smiled at her. “Let’s eat.” He said.

  “Hey, Conner,” Jeremy said dumping more ketchup onto his plate. “I forgot to ask you earlier about the werewolves.”

  Elizabeth cringed. Would Conner be offended knowing that Elizabeth’s grandmother had created a myth that involved his town in order to scare children into going to bed? She glanced at him, he had stilled, a container of food only halfway out of the bag.

  He looked at Jeremy and then her. “What’s this now?”

  Elizabeth let out a nervous trill of laughter and waved her hand like it was no big deal. “My grandmother used to tell my brother and me, when we stayed at the camp as children, that Malsum Pass was full of werewolves that could smell a child not sleeping and come to gobble us up.”

  He went back to pulling the dinner containers from the bag. “Huh.” He said, placing the container in his hand near her before he grabbed the shrimp cocktail and moved it off to the counter.

  “So are there werewolves here?” Jeremy asked again.

  Conner grinned. “Well, I know I can get a bit hairy and growly occasionally. Does that count?”

  Jeremy laughed and stuffed some fries in his mouth, his eyes shining with happiness and Elizabeth couldn’t help but shoot Conner a smile of thanks. He stared at her a moment, his look so intense that she would have paid good money to know what he was thinking. Then he cleared his throat. “Let’s eat.”

  Elizabeth had barely gotten a taste of her food when Jeremy asked. “How old do I need to be to get a tattoo?”

  Conner looked at her over the rim of his glass, took a large swallow of his wine, before he said, “Thirty.”

  “You’re thirty?” Jeremy asked. “Mom is too. Uncle Edward says turning thirty makes women do strange things.” Then to Elizabeth. “Maybe you should get a tattoo.”

  Elizabeth eyed her son and grinned. “Maybe I will.”

  When Jeremy’s eyes went almost as big as saucers and said, “Really?” Elizabeth couldn’t help but chuckle.

  “If I were to get a tattoo, what do you think I should get?” She asked, truly curious to hear what Jeremy thought.

  He thought about it for a moment. “Something cool,
” he said, “but pretty since you’re a girl.”

  Elizabeth nodded and pursed her lips as if giving some serious consideration. “Skull and crossbones?”

  Jeremy let out a loud bark of laughter and the sound was so contagious that she couldn’t help but join in. When the dog let out a woof, she thought he was joining in as well until a new voice said, “Am I interrupting?”

  She startled a bit and swung around in her seat to see who had arrived. Another redheaded man stood behind her with a grin on his face. He looked enough like Conner and Jacob she had to assume he was another brother. His red hair was too long, touching his shoulders and his beard was in dire need of a trim, looking quite scraggly in places. His clothes, she noticed while looking him over, looked clean but wrinkled as if they had sat in the dryer for a while before he’d simply taken them out and pulled them on.

  “Zack this is Elizabeth Larkin and her son J.T.” She heard Conner say. “This is my youngest brother, Zack. He’s Clyde’s daddy.”

  With that said, Clyde leaned heavily into Zack’s legs with a groan. Elizabeth would have been knocked sideways with that much dog leaning on her, but Zack was obviously used to it as he gave the dog a scratch behind the ears that got that back foot thumping again. Zack was looking her over with avid curiosity and a mischievous twinkle in his brown eyes. Then he turned his attention to Jeremy and grinned. “When Conner told me he was having dinner with a champion racer I had to come up and see it for myself. I’ll have you know I’m unbeaten at Forza. Are you up for it?”

  Jeremy stood up so fast in his excitement that he knocked the table and it rattled. He shot Elizabeth a sheepish look of apology and then bolted past Zack into the living room. She just sighed with an indulgent smile and shook her head. She glanced at Conner. “I hope your brother knows what he’s letting himself in for.”

  Conner shrugged. “Zack will love it. It’ll give his someone new to crow to.”

  Elizabeth turned her attention back to her food and took a bite of the pot roast. It had cooled quite a bit at this point, but the meat was tender and seasoned perfectly so it still tasted delicious.

  “So what do you do for a living, Elizabeth?”

  His voice became ever so slightly seductive when he said her name, as if he liked the taste of it on his tongue. The thought shot shivers down her spine and she stiffened slightly to halt the sensation and took a fortifying sip of wine. “I’m the head of the women’s department for an on-line catalog.”

  She was once again distracted by his ability to raise a single brow until the derision behind his words finally penetrated her brain. “So you shop for a living.” It wasn’t a question and the twist of his lips spoke volumes. He didn’t approve of her work. What an asshole. As if he had the right to judge her! She had worked hard to get where she was and she made damn good money doing it so he could take his disdain and shove it right up his ass.

  Thomas had just left her a widow, she was a teenage mother with an infant to care for and no usable skill. Frankly she had been freaking out when one day Thomas’s mother had mentioned that one of the buyers at her company was looking for an assistant. The company, when she looked into it further, had so many perks she nearly cried. A full cafeteria, a gym, and best of all, an on-site daycare. It was probably a long shot, but she had to get that job. She would do whatever it took. She may have even made a bit of a nuisance of herself after the initial interview, calling every few days to remind the man of how eager she was. Whether it was her persistence or her new mother-in-law’s influence it didn’t matter, they’d hired her and she’d nearly wept with gratitude. For years she’d fetched coffee, answered e-mails, fielded phone calls, sat in on meetings and took notes, collected and organized samples, ran things to and from photo shoots, and examined copy. And all the while, she’d asked questions and paid attention, soaking up every drop of knowledge. So when her buyer was promoted to lead on the fall catalog, she had put her name forward to take over his spot.

  She had been so certain, when she’d gone in for that interview with the owner of the company, that the job would be hers. After all, she knew the department inside and out. Instead, she had been told, “The buyer’s assistant position was never intended to groom a replacement.” Her hopes had come crashing down but she had smiled and nodded and assured him that she understood. He had looked at her for a moment and then said, “We’re coming out with a new rugged women’s clothing line.” She knew her face must have shown some intrigue because he held his hand up and then said, “It’ll be a test run to see how well it performs. If I put you in charge of the project, do you think you can handle it?”

  Elizabeth had nearly leapt over the desk between them to hug the man. For the next several months she’d studied trends, got in touch with every contact at her disposal, and put together a collection that had performed so well that the line had been picked up for all five of their catalogs. And now she was head of the entire women’s department. From gopher to department head and Conner Pierce had the nerve to disparage her achievement? Oh, hell no!

  If he could over simplify her profession then so could she. “And you open beer bottles for a living.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Elizabeth stood up from the table, her dinner barely touched. “It’s getting late.” She said stiffly.

  Conner stood so fast he nearly overturned his chair. He grabbed her wrist to keep her from leaving and she glared at him. “Let go.”

  He released her, blew out a frustrated breath and ran both hands through his hair. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you, it came out wrong. Besides,” he said motioning toward Jeremy and Zack in the living room, “J.T’s having a good time. At least stay for dessert.” He finished with a smile that probably would charm the pants off a woman if she weren’t so incensed right then.

  She looked out at Jeremy who was doing some sort of victory dance while Zack was bowing before him, obviously conceding victory, and her temper cooled. She even smiled until Conner ruined the moment by speaking. “Please.”

  Her smile fell and she sniffed. “Fine, Jeremy can play a bit longer.” She watched a satisfied smirk appear on Conner’s face and she had the sudden urge to smack it off. Who knew she had such violent tendencies? She cleared her throat, “May I use your bathroom, please?”

  Conner motioned past the living room, “Down the hall, second door on the left.”

  Once in the bathroom, Elizabeth glanced around. The room was relatively clean for a bachelor. She’d seen her brother’s place enough times to know that some men were slobs. The toilet seat was up which wasn’t surprising and the cap was off the toothpaste, but at least there weren’t whiskers all over the sink or wet towels and dirty clothes on the floor. Looking in the mirror, she ran her fingers through her hair and touched up her makeup in a few spots. This is for Jeremy she reminded herself. She could do this for him because right now he was having more fun then she’d seen him have in a long time. And that was the point of this entire trip. He may not be bonding with her, but he was having fun. He was making new friends and creating happy memories. She would stare down the devil himself for Jeremy so she could definitely handle Conner Pierce.

  She was just coming out of the bathroom when she heard a hoot of laughter. “Crash and burn, big brother. Crash. And. Burn. It looks like your lady friend is far from impressed with your magnificence.”

  And then Jeremy’s voice, “You like my mom, Conner?” He actually sounded excited by the idea rather than horrified.

  “I don’t think your mom likes me much, buddy.” She heard Conner say.

  “You should bring her chocolate, women like that. Mom likes the ones with the gooey caramel, not the hard caramel.” Jeremy’s voice sounded so serious and she had to tuck her lips between her teeth to keep from laughing. Her son giving dating advice to someone like Conner seemed absurd. And embarrassing. What was she thinking? There was nothing funny about this. She did not want Conner Pierce courting her, or Jeremy liking the idea.
/>   Jeremy continued, “Flowers too. Not lilies though, they make her eyes get all puffy. Roses. Roses are good.”

  Elizabeth took a calming breath, closed her eyes, and counted to ten before she cleared her throat loudly and made her way back to the living room. Jeremy was focused on the game but grinning, Zack was whistling a little tune and petting Clyde, while Conner was leaning against the wall with his practiced smile in place. “More wine?” He asked.

  She declined the offer but resumed her seat in the kitchen. She was starving so she might as well eat. Conner returned to his seat as well and thankfully he let her eat for a bit before he tried to resume the conversation. “So tell me about J.T’s dad. Is he still in the picture?”

  Elizabeth chewed and swallowed then dabbed at her mouth with a napkin before replying, “Thomas was killed in Iraq not long after Jeremy was born.” Her face turned sad. “He never got to meet his son.”

  Conner nodded, looking sympathetic. “That must have been tough. Were you married?”

  Elizabeth nodded. She thought back to when she found out she was pregnant and her and Thomas’ quickie wedding. It had been such a careless mistake, but then, she was a careless girl back then. She had cut her hand on a rusty nail that was protruding from the outdoor bleachers the last week of school before graduation. She bandaged it up, but it had become infected and she had had to go to her doctor. If the doctor had told her that antibiotics would interfere with her birth control pills, she hadn’t been listening. And if it had been stated on the informational sheets they had sent home with her or even on the prescription pamphlets that came with the medication… well, she hadn’t actually read any of those. She had been completely oblivious as she’d continued having unprotected sex with Thomas. She hadn’t known she was pregnant before bidding him goodbye as he went off to boot camp. It was always the plan after high school that Thomas would follow in his family’s footsteps and join the marines.