“I don’t have a direct line to hell to see if it’s frozen over so I’m looking for flying pigs.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you’ve ignored me like I had some contagious disease for the last five years and now all of a sudden, in the last twenty-four hours, you’re constantly in my face. Mind telling me what’s up?” She turned back to stare at him, trying not to grin at how uncomfortable he seemed.
“Can’t a man ask an old friend to lunch?” he grumbled, looking so adorably flustered that she wanted to jump up and kiss him silly. Then slap him for being such an ass.
“I guess,” she said, still wondering what prompted his impromptu visit. She and Alejandro hadn’t even put their plan in motion. Was it working already?
“Good, then get your purse so we can go.”
Standing, she went to the filing cabinet to grab it from the drawer where she kept it stashed. “What’s the hurry? You on your lunch break too?”
“Not exactly. I’ve actually got the week off. The office is getting repainted.” Working as a sales rep, of all things, for a human corporation specializing in heating and cooling services, Mitchell made a decent living even if his choice of careers seemed odd. “Can you move a little faster? Please.”
Biting her lip, Francine fought not to laugh at this frantic Mitchell who’d gone out of his way to invite her to lunch. Perhaps the tides had turned and the mating fever had finally snagged him. Talk about wishful thinking.
Mitchell didn’t say another word as she followed him to the elevator and down to the lobby. Actually, he actively avoided meeting her gaze, which allowed her to drink in the sight of his body, a hot bod that she had only caught brief glimpses in the past few years.
His worn t-shirt hugged his wiry frame, the soft material stretching across his broad shoulders. Well-washed jeans clung to his thighs, the waist of them hanging low on lean hips. His hair stood in untamed tufts as if he’d run his fingers through it. As for his face, he still sported the same sharp-angled features, piercing eyes, and square chin. Ruggedly handsome as ever.
While she let herself drink in the sight of him, he kept his gaze pointed squarely at her feet clad in low heels that she kept stashed at the office. She’d also thankfully had a spare set of clothes because Alejandro had left the crotch in her first pair of pants ridiculously wet after his kiss. The pig. Speaking of whom, she wondered what he did while Mitchell escorted her to lunch.
It was as they exited through the glass doors at the front that she saw the object of her thoughts and caught Mitchell’s triumphant grin. Oh, how nice. She’d gotten caught in the middle of a male pissing contest. Good thing she learned to aim years ago from the numerous times she went camping, because she couldn’t wait to join in.
“Jag,” she cried out, waving.
“Jag?” Mitchell growled.
At Mitchell’s pointed glare, she smiled. “His name is so long to pronounce, especially in the heat of the moment, that I gave him a shorter one that went well, I thought, with his great, big, powerful beast. Don’t worry, Mitchy,” she said, using the nickname he’d hated as a kid, which she’d not thought about in years. “I won’t ditch you for lunch. You did, after all, ask me first. You don’t mind if Jag joins us, do you? He did, after all, go out of his way just to see me. Besides, I’m sure if you give each other a chance, you’ll find you have loads in common.”
She didn’t have time to enjoy Mitchell’s open mouthed incredulity for long because she found herself spun and a pair of lips plastered to hers. Oh, how nice that felt. Like that morning, when he’d insisted on a kiss, tingles shot through her body and she lost her breath at the excitement his simple touch ignited. She didn’t want to analyze her reaction to him too closely, but she began to fear that despite her affection and longing for Mitch, Alejandro might also play a part in her future mating plans.
She didn’t get to enjoy the embrace for long as Jag, in full fake boyfriend mode, lifted his head and smiled down at her with all the lazy grace of a cat who’d caught the canary. “Hey, baby. I wanted to surprise you and take you out to for something meaty to eat.”
“Mmm, sounds delicious,” she purred back. “You don’t mind if Mitchy comes along, do you? He was in the area and asked me first. And he’s awfully grumpy, apparently, when he’s hungry.”
“Not a problem. My mama always did teach me to share.” And then, he winked at Mitchell.
For a moment, she thought for sure Mitchell would either blow his top or die of embarrassment at Alejandro’s sly innuendo.
Instead, he tightened his lips and said through gritted teeth, “Let’s go.”
It was a good thing Alejandro had a good grip on her hand to guide her along because she’d completely gone blank at Alejandro’s mention of sharing. It made her instantly picture both of them with her, pleasing her. What a shame Mitchell would never go for it, especially since the more time she spent with them both, her wolf spinning, her heart racing, and her cleft soaking, the more she wondered what she would do if she had to choose. Would she pick the man she’d known and loved forever who kept denying her, or the Casanova she’d just met who said all the right things and made no bones about the fact he desired her, but who would likely leave once the novelty wore off?
From no men to too many. Fate truly liked messing with people.
Sitting between them in a u-shaped booth at a nearby sports bar, she glanced back and forth at them, not that they noticed, too intent were they on glaring at each other. Actually, Mitchell glared, Alejandro smirked. Apparently, she’d have to get the conversational ball rolling while trying avoid a bar fight. What fun.
“So, Mitchell, why exactly did you seek me out for lunch?”
“Yeah, Mitchy,” Alejandro teased, grasping her hand to lace his fingers through it. “I have to say, if I’d known we were going to have a third wheel, I’d have brought the lube.”
A tic formed in Mitchell’s temple and he gritted his teeth. “First off, I’m not here to have sex with Francine. Or with you, you disgusting pervert.”
Alejandro laughed. “Oh, the lube wasn’t for you, but my sweet wolf here. Nothing like a sandwich to get a woman screaming, in pleasure, of course. Don’t worry, I have no designs on your scrawny body. Francine's though…” He turned to look at her, and shot her a sultry smile as he stroked his thumb over the skin of her hand.
A shiver went through her and heat pooled in her cleft. It didn’t help that now she couldn’t help imagining herself naked between two male bodies. So not happening despite her curiosity. Mitchell would cut off his dick to spite them first. Besides, she couldn’t even convince Mitch to do her, so forget convincing him to share her with another. At the rate this conversation went, she’d probably end up humping her hand alone again because they’d both end up in the hospital, victims of male arrogance and testosterone.
Despite knowing Alejandro’s suggestion would never bear fruit, she played along anyways. The entertainment value was just too good to pass up. “Jag!” she squealed. “You naughty, naughty man. What a fun idea, but Mitchy isn’t into doing wild and kinky stuff, though. He’s more of a missionary man, so I hear. Aren’t you, Mitchell?” She smiled at him serenely, biting the inside of her cheek so as to not laugh at his red-faced, glowering expression.
“I’m not a prude,” he muttered through gritted teeth.
Patting his hand, she cajoled him. “Sure you aren’t. It’s okay, not everyone is into sexual experimentation.”
“Or extreme pleasure, apparently,” Alejandro said, tilting her chin so she gazed his way. And oh, if she didn’t know he played a part, she would have swooned at the heat in his eyes. The promise in his sensual lips…
A growl startled her from her eye contact with Alejandro, and she turned to glance at Mitchell. Still ruddy- cheeked, his eyes blazed while his hands on the table were clenched into white-knuckled fists. “Enough. Francine. You can’t seriously tell me you’re actually dating this guy? Not only is he a pervert, he’s a womanizing pig.”
“Cat.”
“Whatever, asshole. Anyone can see he’s just going to break your heart.”
“Like you haven’t?” she replied tartly.
That made him squirm and drop his gaze. “I never made any promises to you. You were the one chasing me. I tried to let you down easy.”
