The Alpha Men's Secret Club 3(15)

Rust pulled in a deep breath.

“Fine,” he said, sitting down. He glanced at Kate and nodded for her to sit too. “But we’re changing the subject. Nothing about sex or mating or any jobs you might have lined up for me. We clear on that?”

“Fine,” Moira said.

“Fine,” Connor echoed.

Kate let out a secret sigh of relief. So this was a truce. How long would it last? She had to hide a smile of chagrin. Rust seemed so young in the presence of his parents. Or maybe everyone seemed that way in the presence of their parents.

To Moira and Connor’s credit, they managed to change the subject to more pleasant and less touchy things. Throughout the rest of brunch, Kate learned bits and pieces of what it was like to grow up in a shifter family.

It was not quite what she was expecting. Maybe she had expected something really bizarre, like a modern fairytale version of ‘Beauty and the Beast’. Or maybe even ‘The Jungle Book’. But Rust’s family seemed to be driven professionally to make it in the human world, and they were not far different from clusters of human minorities who were determined to make their mark. The only difference was that they had money. Lots of it. But that didn’t stop them from being purposeful and guided by their own structured compasses.

Still, Kate was glad when brunch was over. She thanked Moira profusely, and Rust pulled her to the lounge – away from his parents.

“I’m sorry about that,” he said.

“Oh, no your parents are perfectly lovely.”

“They’re not.” He grimaced. “They’re morbidly curious people, so hungry to have a part in my life they’re willing to do anything to make it happen. But it’s not going to happen.”

“You can’t blame them,” she said. “They love you. They would naturally want to know everything about you.”

He looked deadpan at her. “They wanted to meet the girl who plotted my downfall.”

“What?”

“I’m kidding. In a sense. They just wanted to meet the girl who has gotten me so wrapped around her little finger that I’m willing to sacrifice my career for her.”

“That’s not how it happened,” she protested. But her heart was beating very fast with hope. Was some part of it true?

He grinned. “I know. But I thought I’d get it over with anyway – you meeting them. That will make them happy for a while – the thought that I actually have a girlfriend.”

Oh. So he told his parents that she was his girlfriend just to make them happy. Now they probably thought he was going to get married or mated or whatever it was that shifters did, which he had no intention of doing at all. Her spirits sank.

He saw her face.

“Kate,” he said gently, putting his arm around her shoulders. “You’re as close to a real girlfriend as I’m ever going to have. But we’re both not ready to take the next step. My parents have given up on ever finding another tiger shifter and we all know this is the end of our line. Unless – ”

His face darkened and he shook his head.

“What?” she said.

“Some things are best left unlearned. Come on, Kate.” He shepherded her gently up the sweeping stairway. “Let me show you to my old room.”

“Oh, are we going to christen it?” she said, trying to lighten her own spirits. I’m as close to being a girlfriend as he is ever going to have. That’s a significant step, right?

He laughed. He did seem so much happier out of campus, despite being in his parents’ house.

“Why not?” he said.

“But won’t they hear us?”

“It’s a big house, and you’ll have to promise not to make too much noise.”

This time, she had to laugh too.

For answer, he upended her in a sudden swoop of his arms. She squealed in delight as he carried her up the rest of the stairs.

Maybe the easiest way to handle her own expectations was to live totally in the moment.





12



The call went through the second time.

“Hello?” said a voice.

“Rita Cunningham?” Carlo lounged in the payphone booth, receiver pressed to his ear.

“Yes?”

“You wrote an article about the mysterious deaths in Bellevue around five years back.”

Hesitation.

“Yes, yes, I did.”

“Did you manage to uncover anything more about those deaths?”

“Who is this?”

“Let’s just say I’m an informer, and I wish to remain anonymous.”

“What do you want to tell me about the Bellevue case?” Rita demanded.

“Are you still interested?”

“Yes.”

“You haven’t answered my question.”