A few days ago, the vice president had come for an official visit to Blackstone, a first for the shifter town. Gabriel didn’t know the politics of the visit, but everyone had come out to welcome Vice President Scott Baker with a parade and then a speech at Lennox Park. For obvious reasons, security was ramped up, and the PD had asked the rangers to come for backup and help with crowd control.
During the speech, a man had somehow broken through the barriers and attempted to shoot the VP. Rogers had been in the right place at the right time and took the would-be assassin down before he could kill Baker. Needless to say, his heroic act had garnered national attention, and footage of him tackling the gunman to the ground played on every single news station in the country, sending Rogers to new heights of fame as his picture was splashed on every newspaper, magazine, and social media sites. Reporters flooded the town, not to mention enthusiastic fans of the newly-crowned hero, which was the reason why the mountains in particular had been teeming with visitors as they hoped to catch a glimpse of the normally camera-shy Rogers.
“Jesus.” Anders’ eyes grew wide, his mouth dropping open.
“What?” he asked.
“I just remembered why I thought she looked familiar.”
“She?”
“That broad looking for Rogers.” He snapped his fingers. “She was there. At the strip club in Vegas. I’m sure of it.”
“Strip club? She’s a stripper?” Gabriel wouldn’t have recognized her as he had done his best not to look at the women than night.
Anders guffawed. “Nah. One of the girls at the bachelorette party next to us,” he said. “I can’t forget those tats. And … I may have given her the same pickup line,” he added sheepishly.
“You never were original,” Gabriel drolled.
A line furrowed between Anders’s brows. “Hmmm. I never did tell you, did I? Rogers disappeared on us that night, and we didn’t see him again until it was time to leave the next day. Nearly missed the plane ride home.”
“He did? Where did he go?”
“Said he couldn’t recall what happened. Just woke up in some motel room on the Strip. Shit, I didn’t think he had that much to drink.” Shifters could get drunk, but it took a lot of alcohol. “Anyway, what do you think she—oh, fuck me!” The tiger shifter barked out a laugh and slapped his palm on the table, making several of the other diners send them dirty looks.
“What’s the matter with you?” Gabriel asked.
“Holy mother of—” Anders’s face spread into a grin. “Do you think she’s …”
“She’s what?”
“You know.” He made a rounding gesture with his hand over his stomach. “Knocked up?”
“What?” Daniel getting a random one-night stand pregnant? “No way.” He couldn’t believe it. But then again, if he had been so drunk he couldn’t remember it …
“Here are your pies, gentlemen.”
The sound of the familiar voice made him and his lion perk up. Temperance stood next to the booth, tray in hand. “You’re a sight for sore eyes,” he said, his eyes roaming over her gorgeous form.
The smile that spread across her face lit up the room. “Rosie told me you’d arrived. And I thought I’d come over and bring these to you myself. Hey, Anders,” she greeted. “Wait, where are you going?” she asked when the tiger shifter got to his feet.
“No offense, Temperance, I love your baking. But I’m not gonna stay here while you two make goo-goo eyes at each other.” He looked at Gabriel knowingly. “Besides, you know I wanna be there and see Roger’s stupid fucking face when she walks into that door. See ya guys later.”
“What is he talking about?” Temperance asked as she watched Anders dash out of the cafe.
Gabriel sighed. “I’ll tell you later. For now …” He grabbed the tray from her and placed it on the table, then took her hand and planted her on his lap. “I missed you,” he said, nuzzling at her neck.
She sighed. “There are people here. They’re staring at us.”
“So?” He kissed her square on the mouth. “Let them stare.”
“Gabriel …” she warned, but kissed him back, then scrambled off his lap. He scooted over so she could sit next to him. “So, it’s done?” she said. “No more shifts?”
“Yeah,” he said. “I told Damon I’d be happy to help if they’re shorthanded, but he says he’ll manage. Said he’s thinking of hiring help from the outside since the new batch of trainees aren’t done yet.”
“Are you sure this is what you want?” she asked in a quiet voice. “I’d hate to think you quit because of me.”
“Oh, baby.” He took her hand and brushed his lips against her knuckles. “I told you, I wasn’t cut out for that job anyway.” In truth, he’d been thinking about leaving as soon as Damon started to settle with Anna Victoria. He had originally joined to support his friend, but now he was doing fine on his own with the help of his mate.
“What are you going to do now?” she asked. “Are you going to work for your sisters?”
He didn’t need to work at all, but he wasn’t the type to lay about and do nothing. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that.” From across the room, he caught Rosie’s eye. The fox shifter smiled at him and gave him a nod. “I’ve been talking to Rosie, actually.”
“You have?”
“Yeah. See, she’s been thinking of taking it easy. Stepping back a bit.”
“Huh. She did mention that she needed a vacation.”
“Yeah, so …” He took a deep breath. “I offered to buy her out.”
“What?” she asked incredulously. “You’re going to buy Rosie’s?”
He nodded. “Yeah. She’s been wanting to retire for a while now, but she didn’t want to just hand over the business to anyone,” he said. “She wants someone she can trust, who’ll take care of this place and love it as much as she does, but also bring new life into it. Baby,
