For some reason, that pissed her off. Yes, she’d chased him, but how dare he make her sound like some desperate bitch. She’d only gone after him because her instincts said he belonged to her. “I see. Well, consider me let down, Mitchell. You were right. I can’t force you to love me. Or care for me or even want me. Alejandro, on the other hand, does. So congrats, you’re free. I’m done letting a foolish girlhood fantasy dictate my life.”
Opening and shutting his mouth a few times, Mitchell seemed at a loss for words. “So that’s it? You don’t think we’re meant to be mates anymore?”
Actually, she knew the exact opposite, and her inner wolf howled in frustration that he didn’t see it too. “Oh, I know you’re supposed to be mine. Even now my wolf is telling me to pounce on you and sink my teeth in. But don’t worry,” she said, shaking her head sadly when he leaned away from her. “It’s obvious you don’t feel the same way. And besides, it looks like fate’s found you a replacement.” She turned away from Mitchell, her heart heavy that she’d bared it all and he still insisted they weren’t meant to be. Alejandro slid on the bench until he could curl his arm around her. She welcomed his warmth and turned into him, nuzzling the skin of his neck.
“I’m sorry, Francine,” Mitch whispered. “I-um-that is, you’re like a-”
She tensed. “I know. I know. I’m like a sister to you. Bye, Mitchell. You don’t need to hide anymore. I’m done.”
Forcing herself to not look at him as he left, she instead inhaled Alejandro’s scent, its muskiness exciting and soothing at the same time. Her wolf paced in her mind, confused. On the one paw, it wanted her to not let Mitchell, who stood with a rustle, walk away. But at the same time, her inner bitch wanted her to open her mouth wide and put her mark on the tanned column before her. Claim this man who’d made her no promises and simply played a convincing role, one that fooled even her human side so sincere did he appear.
“He’s gone,” murmured Alejandro. “He’s a fucking idiot, you know.”
Trying to move away from temptation, she found herself unable to, Alejandro’s arm anchoring her at his side.
“He’s not an idiot, just too honorable. Kind of like you, I think.”
“Me?” Incredulous eyes peered down at her. “I’ve been called a lot of things in my life, baby, but honorable? Not even close.”
“Perhaps because you’ve never had an opportunity. I think you’re a lot more chivalrous than you give yourself credit for.”
He dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose. “And you are lucky we are in a public place or I’d show you just how non principled I am.”
“Mmm, public sex. That’s not a threat,” she purred. “That’s foreplay.” Down went his head onto the table with a thump while Francine laughed. “Was it something I said?”
“When I agreed to this ruse,” he mumbled, his face still buried. “I didn’t expect you to try and kill me by making my blue balls explode.”
“Poor Jag. Am I too much for you to handle? It wouldn’t be the first time a man’s had that problem. Hell, the prime example just walked away. Speaking of which, our target’s gone so you don’t need to pretend anymore.”
Turning his head sideways, Alejandro’s dark eyes regarded her with a seriousness she found disturbing. “And what if it weren’t an act for his benefit? What if I did feel something for you? What would you say?”
His words took her by surprise, especially since she’d thought them herself. Did she want Alejandro as a lover?
An answer to his question didn’t arrive before their waitress did with drinks, and seeing the way she smiled coyly and flirted with Alejandro reminded Francine of one important fact.
Sliding away from him, trying to regain some sense of equilibrium, they ordered. As they waited for their food, she analyzed the Mitchell thing while skipping the whole feeling thing she’d discovered for Alejandro. She didn’t want to get into the fact that everything she’d said about him was true and not a script for their plot.
Alejandro abruptly broke the silence. “Jag, huh? Nice spur of the minute thinking. Is it short for my cat? The mighty black jaguar, feared by all.”
She giggled. “Nope. For some reason, you make me think of a cocky air force pilot, which in turn, made me think of the military, and that show Jag. But, I guess it does work both ways.”
He clasped his chest. “Ooh, take a man down a notch why don’t you.”
“My grandmas taught me well.”
“You’re close to them?”
“Very,” she said, stirring her drink. “They both pretty much raised me.”
“What about your parents, or is that topic off limits?”
“I’ve got nothing to hide.” Other than the fact Mitchell wasn’t the first to walk away from her, tearing her heart in the process. “My mom got pregnant in her teens with another shifter. Neither was ready to settle down or deal with the responsibility of a child. So I spent my time going back and forth between my grandparents’ houses. Heck, even now my mom can’t be bothered to remember she has a child. She’s off on some cruise somewhere with her newest boyfriend. As for my dad, I haven’t seen him in years. Last I heard, he was living in the Bahamas with his latest girlfriend.”
Eyes of melted chocolate peered at her with a hint of sadness. “That sucks.”
She shrugged. It had, but she’d gotten over it-mostly. “I met Naomi while staying at my maternal grandmother’s place. My grandma would go over for coffee with Meredith, Naomi’s mom, and even though we were babies, we hit it off.”
“I bet the pair of you caused all kinds of havoc.”
A giggle worked its way past her lips. “Oh my God, did we ever. I don’t think Chris ever forgave us for pinning him down and dressing him in a diaper so we could use him as a real baby to play house.”
Alejandro winced. “Okay, now you’re making me glad I never had sisters.”
“You missed out then,” she said with a grin. “What about your family? Javier’s never talked about it much other than to say his brothers are pains in the asses and that your mother is a saint.”
A twinkle appeared in his eyes. “Who, us? And he’s right, my mother is a saint. She had to be. There’s five of us boys in total. We just about drove her insane with our antics.”
“What about your dad?”
“Who knows? He flits around, leaving behind half brothers and sisters that we’ve never met.”
“Oh. Your parents split up?”
“Not exactly. My father is not a believer in monogamy, and my mother foolishly allows him to get away with it. He goes and plays, then when he tires of it, he comes home to my mother’s open arms.” Alejandro’s gaze dropped, but not before she saw the anger and hurt in his eyes. It seemed her Jag didn’t agree with his father’s philosophy. A point in his favor.
Francine’s lips tightened. “I’d never tolerate that.”
“And yet you see no problem with Naomi’s situation?” He teased her, but she defended her words anyway.
“There’s a difference in several people choosing to live in a polyamorous relationship, who are committed to each other only. It’s a whole other thing for someone to go chasing after other people to have sex while hurting the family they have.” It came out a little more vehemently than she meant, but she hated the obvious pain he felt at the way his father treated their mother.
“I agree with you one hundred percent.”
She blinked. “You do?”
“You don’t hurt the people you love, ever. Sex, after all, is only a fleeting pleasure.”
“And yet you seem to engage in lots of it,” she replied dryly.
“Only because none of my partners ever truly made it past my body to see the man. If the right lady were to come along…”
“You’d fall hard like Javier did. I hope you find her one day,” she said softly, even as a part of her screamed-and her wolf howled-that he already had.
“Maybe I have.”
Not daring to look at him, scared of what she’d see, or not, she needed to change the direction of the
