Damn that bastard! God, she despised him. After rebuffing her offer, he had the nerve to stalk her and then come in here and tell her he’d changed his mind. And all because he thought—
“Shit.” Frank. He was still waiting outside. But how could she face him like this? It was a good thing he was human and wouldn’t be able to smell Delacroix’s scent on her. The asshole rubbed his scent all over her as if marking her. It was that True Mates instinct, she told herself. He couldn’t help himself. Nothing more.
She righted herself as quick as she could, cleaning up the lipstick and rubbing her body down with paper towels sprayed with perfume. It would have to do for now. Her wolf didn’t like having the male’s scent rubbed away, but, well, boo-hoo, tough titties.
Satisfied with the cleanup job, she walked out of the bathroom, and by the time she reached the table, she had stopped wobbling on her heels. “Sorry to take so long, Frank,” she said, easing herself back onto her chair, ignoring the delicious soreness between her legs. “I had to take a call. From the office.”
“Everything okay?” her dinner companion asked.
She nodded. “Yeah, it’s fine. What were we talking about?”
Frank Woods flashed her a bright smile, his handsome face lighting up as he continued his story. Frank had been Joe’s best friend since childhood and was his best man at their wedding. The loss had been just as devastating for him as it had been for her, so it was natural they had gravitated toward each other after he died. He’d been her rock throughout the whole thing, and they still got together every now and then. Knowing it had been Joe’s birthday two weeks back, he called her to see how she was doing and made plans to have dinner to catch up.
It really was silly Delacroix would think Frank was “on her list.” After the Cajun turned down her offer, there was no list. No matter how much it had hurt, she was starting to get used the fact that a child wasn’t in her future.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked. “You usually love the desserts here.”
She looked up from her uneaten tiramisu. “Well, you know. Just things.”
His hand reached over and covered hers. “Yeah, I know. But … we all have to move on.”
“We do.”
“So, uh, are you seeing anyone?” His expression was … hopeful?
She wanted to jerk her hand back but resisted the urge. Instead she slid it out of his grasp and patted the top of his hand. “No, I’m not.” What would he think of her plan to have a baby? She could only hope he didn’t want to put himself forward as a candidate.
An awkward moment passed between them before she spoke. “We should probably leave. I mean, I want to go home.”
“Oh.” His face faltered. “Of course. It was nice seeing you.” He shook his head when she grabbed her purse. “No, let me. Please, you paid the last time.”
She smiled weakly. “Okay, if you insist.”
After Frank paid the bill, they left the restaurant and went their separate ways. She drove home, trying not to think about tomorrow, but that was impossible. It was even harder as she lay in bed alone with her thoughts and nothing else to occupy her.
Her hand went down to her flat belly. It’s really going to happen. In twenty-four hours, she could possibly be pregnant. By Delacroix.
Damn him, why did he have to be such a bastard? Of course, she should be glad he was an asshole. It would be easier to forget about him afterwards when they went their separate ways. He would be a terrible father, but an even worse mate. Probably cheat on her the first chance he got. The thought made her want to rip her sheets to shreds. Her wolf, too, wanted to maim and claw those imaginary females, but they had to accept it. After he got her pregnant, he would be having sex with many other women, and she couldn’t do or say anything about it.
“Argh!” She flipped over and sank her face into her pillow. Can’t think of that. Just think of the beautiful little pup you’ll be holding in your arms in nine months.
Even her wolf seemed appeased by the thought and lay down quietly.
Yes, in just a few months, she would have everything she wanted, and Delacroix would be out of her life.
When she signed up for this job, Mika knew there would be no weekends or vacations. She was all right with that schedule because she had pretty much thrown herself into her work at her previous position at the special investigations unit of the Lycan Security Force. So, even though it was Saturday, she had to come in to her office and plow through a pile of work, plus, she had scheduled an important conference call with a contact abroad.
“.…she’s not budging on that item. And that’s about it.”
“Thanks for the update, Julianna.”
Her cousin Julianna—formerly Anderson—MacDougal’s pretty face was drawn into a frown as it filled the screen of her monitor. “Ivanova’s a tough nut to crack, but I’ll work on her. I know this alliance with Moscow would help us out a lot.” Along with her husband Duncan, she served as envoy to the New York clan, and their main job was to travel around the world meeting with other clans to get them into their fight against the mages. Currently, they were in Moscow, trying to get the current Alpha on their side.
While their kind had to follow rules set by the Lycan High Council, clans all over the world were pretty much independent of each other, unless they had
