The Alpha Claims A Mate(43)

Carefully she crept behind the outhouse, peeking behind bushes to see…Winifred and the handyman, buck naked, on the ground. Their clothes lay in a pile next to them. Winifred was on top, straddling the handyman, head thrown back in ecstasy, riding him like a cowboy on a bucking bronco. Her hair flowed down her back and over her small breasts like a golden waterfall.#p#分页标题#e#



“Harder!” the handyman yelled. “Ride me like a bull!”



Good lord, she thought, even Winifred’s got a better love life than me.



With a sinking heart, she turned and walked back to the boarding house. The wedding march ring tone sounded, and she reluctantly answered her phone. More bad news?



“You are not coming back to New York,” her mother said. “You are going to stay there and marry that sheriff, and that’s final.”



“Hello. By the way, that’s how normal people start their phone conversations. They say hello. Maybe exchange a few pleasantries. How’s the weather in New York?”



“Cloudy, with a chance of weddings. Listen. I spoke to your father. We are not going to allow Reynaldo Cruz bully us like that. He hasn’t even given your father a raise in years. Your father is already updating his resume and putting out feelers with other firms.”



“If the Alpha fires him and puts out the word not to hire him…”



“We could relocate to another pack, if we had to. This wedding is happening, damn it!”



“Mother, why are you so insanely determined to see me married?”



“Because meeting your father was the best thing that ever happened to me, and I have been ridiculously happy every day that I am married to him. Even when he annoys the living crap out of me, which is fairly frequently. I want that for you. The happy part, not the annoying part, but I think they go hand in hand, unfortunately.”



“Oh.” Sudden tears sprang to Ginger’s eyes. It was true. Her parents were a living testament to the power of love. She yearned for what they had. “I could swear you just used a cuss word. You’d wash my mouth out with soap if I said that!”



“Well, I’m frustrated. This is ridiculous! Some jealous cow is trying to ruin your relationship because you and the sheriff are different types of wolf? I’m a witch and your father is a shifter. We couldn’t possibly come from more different backgrounds , and we’ve been ridiculously happy for 30 years. And we have four of the most beautiful daughters any family could hope for. And I want some damn grandchildren to spoil while I’m still young enough to bend over and pick them up!”



“Good gracious, mother. Language. Watch your language. You really think that you and dad will be all right if I stay here?”



Her mother had already mentally moved on to more important matters. “I’m trying to decide what type of paper you should choose for the wedding invitations. Also, there’s a lot of different styles of calligraphy to consider and I think-“



“I am officially hanging up on you now. I love you, and you’re insane. Seek professional help.” Ginger clicked the “off” button, but as she walked up the back stairs, she allowed a little flutter of hope to quiver inside her heart.



Maybe she could stay here. Maybe she could keep Loch. Maybe her heart didn’t have to break into a million pieces.





Chapter Fourteen


“So if you get married, can I be a bridesmaid?” Lola was leaning back in her chair with her combat boots propped up on the desk, flipping through the pages of a bridal magazine.



Ginger grabbed it away from her. “My God. You, my mother, Loch’s grandmother…Why is everyone in the world so obsessed with marrying me off?”
#p#分页标题#e#


Then she peered at the page Lola had been looking at. “That is a beautiful dress. Wow. Ivory silk. And look at those hand embroidered roses. You know- no, damn it! I will not be sucked into this madness! It is way too soon to be talking about weddings!” She threw the magazine back down on Lola’s desk.



“Not around here. When the Alpha claims a mate, it’s pretty much bam, boom, done. And an Alpha wedding is amazing. All the packs from all over the state come, and the party lasts for days. Think how many hot guys I’d meet.” Lola pouted. “I’m bored with all the guys in Blue Moon. I need fresh flesh. Why can’t you think about my needs?”



Ginger walked away, laughing. Then she glanced at the corner of the room and saw Jax glaring at his computer, lips pressed together in an angry line, and she sobered up a little. She had a feeling that one way or another, Jax wasn’t going to last with the sheriff’s office much longer. He was a man of action, he had the temperament if not the self-restraint of an Alpha, and there was no way he’d put up with a desk job forever.