“You were nice, and I realized that it was you I was smelling. When Cal walked in, he let me know that you were the woman he was talking about. While hesitant, going to lunch with you was one of the best things that had happened in ages. You smelled delicious. You have a brain, wit and I felt alive again,” he said. “When I got to Cal’s, the first thing he said was that he hadn’t seen a smile on my face for a long time. Then he asked why I was still there and gave me your address. The rest you know.”
“Yes, and at this point, I’m a little pissed. Cal set us up?” she asked. The muscles under her skin started to tense.
“Ginny, stop that,” he said with sub-vocals for emphasis. “He did some match making. Him and Luc and everyone in that office, because they care about you and were tired of seeing you torn up and overwrought. Lack of sexual release when you’re drowning in pheromones will drive you crazy.”
Ginny was still not very calm. She couldn’t decide if she wanted to beat Cal, Luc and Patrick or thank them. “But…” she started.
“But nothing. You were crabby and bitchy when I walked in and by the time we came back from lunch, you were happier than you’d been in weeks from what I could tell. So was I. So just put all those plans of killing the lot of them on hold,” he growled.
Ginny nodded. He was right. She did need some sexual release. Too much stress, too many teens and no one to cuddle with. “Okay, they did some matchmaking and I won’t kill them. However, you never answered my question. Is this just a good scratch of an itch for us or is it more?” she asked afraid of what his answer might be.
“I came out here expecting a one night stand. It isn’t what I found. We are both a little rough around the edges, but I’d like to see how things work out,” he said. “What do you want?”
Ginny didn’t realize how hard she’d been clenching her jaw until she relaxed it upon hearing his words. “I… I want to give this a try. Beyond the sex, George likes you and the kids responded well to you,” she started.
“Oh?” he asked.
“Yes. If they didn’t like you, they wouldn’t have made you breakfast. George wouldn’t have made it comfortable for you to stay the night either,” she said wondering how she was going to explain that. Or how their acceptance of him was more important than she would like to admit.
“What do you mean? George is your brother isn’t he?” Patrick asked.
“No, he’s Luc’s brother and sort of the family enforcer until Luc is healed. If he had decided you didn’t fit in the pack dynamic, he’d have made some excuse to get you out of here,” she said.
“Ah, I understand. He’s the pack guardian. Big son of a bitch too,” he said with a smile playing across his face.
“Oh yeah. I’ll explain more of what went on not too long ago, but you have the right idea. He’s also sort of distantly related kin, which is why he’s helping me with Duke’s kids,” she said.
Patrick nodded. “Something else you need to know,” he said as his hand played across her neck to the bite mark on her shoulder.
“Yes,” Ginny said. “Careful, that’s tender.”
“I bet. I sorta chewed a bit more than I meant to,” he said apologetically. “That leads me to where I was going though. My wolf claimed you last night when we shifted. We don’t communicate very clearly most times, but that bit came through loud and clear,” he finished.
Ginny’s hand moved up to the bite and touched it. She remembered more of what went on last night and deep down inside of her where her wolf slept, she felt contentment. She looked up at Patrick with eyes gone yellow with a slight shift. “Sounds like they decided before we even got a chance,” she said. “Guess we’ll just have to see how this works out.”
Patrick nodded and pulled her into his arms.
*
Luc walked into the bedroom with a very smug look on his face. He leaned against the door and waited for Meg to look at him. She was still getting dressed for work.
“Well, who was on the phone?” she asked as she hunted under the bed for her shoe.
“George,”
“And what did he want?” she asked. She stood up and put on her shoe. As she did so, she made eye contact with Luc for the first time since he’d entered the room. “Oh shit,” she said as it dawned on her exactly why George had called.
“Yup, they did it. I think you owe me $5 and a blow job,” Luc said with a grin.
“Dammit! You’d think I’d learn by now,” Meg said with a sigh. “How about I buy lunch today?”
“Sure, but I’m still holding you to the blow job,” Luc said with a smile. “Let’s get to work. We mice have to play while the cat’s away.”
Meg laughed and grabbed her coat and bag. It had snowed in the night and Luc was dusting the car off while Meg locked the door.
When they got to work, everyone was smiling. George must have been very busy on the phone. The news of Ginny and Patrick’s date had spread like wildfire. There were doughnuts and a bouquet of beef jerky on Ginny’s desk.
“Luc, there must be thirty or forty sticks of different kinds of jerky in this vase,” Meg said.
“Yeah, pretty impressive. I only had about twenty in mine,” he said as they headed to the coffee machine.
“What? You… When did you get a vase full of jerky?” she asked.
“After my second date with you,” he said as he poured them each a cup of coffee.
Meg just looked at Luc and shook her head. Even after all this time, Luc and shifter issues still caught her by surprise at times. She took the cup of coffee, grabbed one of the doughnuts and headed for her office. At least today would be quiet. No growling or co-workers hiding in her office. Meg turned on her computer and got to work. She had just finished her email when her phone rang.