“I gather artifacts for museums! You’re selfish! You hoard them and hide them from the world!” The professor sounded like a two-year-old who’d been denied a new toy.
“They’re our heritage! They’re not trinkets for people to gape at!”
“I’ve never stolen an artifact in my life! Keep flinging false accusations at me, and I’ll sue!” Professor Reese actually stamped his foot on the ground. He stood several steps behind the sheriff as he did so.
Ginger bit her lip in frustration. She was dying to jump in and yell at them as if they were all a bunch of kindergarteners, which is exactly what they were acting like, but to do so would be to undermine the sheriff’s authority.
The yelling grew more heated, and she turned and walked away.
As the shouting reached a fever pitch, Jax and his deputy leaped out of the patrol car and came trotting back to stand behind the sheriff. Both groups of men glared and bristled at each other.
Several minutes later, the panthers turned, shifted into panther form, bellowed out a series of threatening roars, and turned and loped away.
The sheriff joined Ginger a few minutes later. He left behind Jax and the other deputy, parked in their patrol car.
As they drove away, Ginger said, “Okay, I get it now. You can’t have anyone challenging your authority as an Alpha because then people like Jax think they can step up and challenge you.”
“I’m glad you see that. Jax has been making rumbling noises, coming near to challenging me, for months now. He thinks that being diplomatic is the same as being weak. He wants to do everything by force. If I let him have his way, he’d start a war with the panther nation.”#p#分页标题#e#
“Did I make things worse for you that night at the Hoot Owl?”
“Not too much.”
“I promise I won’t openly challenge you again.”
“Openly?” he was smiling now.
“Oh, come on. I just don’t have it in me to never give you a hard time. And it’s even more fun when I’m being subtle about it.”
“Speaking of giving me a hard time…did you yell at two old ladies who were walking by the community center? Portia called to inform me of it.”
Ginger winced. “She really doesn’t like me, does she?”
“She doesn’t, but that’s not the point.”
“They were yelling insults at Cletus! Did she mention that? They totally made fun of him. And he didn’t even say anything back to them; it was all me.”
“No, she did not mention that. However, there are probably ways that you could have responded to them that would have set a better example for Cletus and reflected better on your pack.”
She pouted as they rode in silence. She was right, damn it! She wished he could have seen the look on Cletus’ face when they mocked him. Grown women, making fun of a skinny young boy.
Finally, grudgingly, she said, “If it will help maintain your authority, you can punish me for it publicly. However you see fit. ”
His eyes lit up with a gleam.
“However I see fit? You sure about that?”
Her face flushed, the blush spreading all the way down to her toes. Her private parts were probably blushing. What did the devious sheriff have in mind? Nothing good, she was sure, but it was too late to back out now.
“Ahhhh….yes. I am a woman of my word. However you see fit,” she choked out.
“All right.” His smile turned sensual and his eyes had a gleam to them that worried her. “The punishment will take place tonight, after work.”
Did this count as a date? Her mind flashed back to what Marigold had said about punishment and seduction…and how there was a fine line between the two of them.
Damn it! She hated it when Marigold was right.
She spent the rest of the day at the office, filing and answering phones, and trying to ignore the feeling of Portia’s angry glare burning holes in the back of her head. At least Jax just ignored her, while Lola came and sat on her desk and peppered her with questions about New York City.
That evening, Loch dropped her off at the boarding house so he could go home and change.
Ginger was just in time to help Marigold pick out an outfit for her date with Henry. Marigold deliberately chose jeans and a tank top, to let Henry know she didn’t think the date was any big deal.
Ginger looked her over and shook her head, frowning. “I hate to tell you this, but you look sexy as hell in that outfit, and Loch also told me that Henry really likes a girl in jeans. What he doesn’t like is frou-frou city girls.”