Moon Shine (Takhini Wolves) (15 page)

“I see.” Justin looked her over carefully. “What type of language do you understand?”

Good question. “I think you can pretty much say anything you want, and I’ll be okay with it.”

“I have a business proposition for you.”

Talk about out of the blue. “Whoa, okay, that was unexpected.”

Justin smiled. “This is, of course, provided you and Evan don’t end up whipping Whitehorse into a frenzy of bloodshed and scandal.”

“Now you’re being no fun at all,” she teased.

He shrugged lazily. “I know, I know. Although, since my boss stopped the bear shifters from tearing the city apart, I wouldn’t object to a little fireworks from the wolf side of the equation.”

Bloodthirsty bastard. “I think Evan and I can find some common ground that doesn’t involve ripping out entrails and leaving them strewn in the streets.”

Justin leaned forward, elbows on the table. “Harrison Enterprises owns diamonds, but they have other holdings as well. I took a look through your computer shop the other day. It’s pretty impressive for a small, locally run enterprise.”

“I try my best.” His compliment didn’t make sense, though. “Surely you don’t want me to set up a computer shop in Yellowknife.”

“It’s more your overall business savvy. We could use someone like you on staff. Tyler has extra work because of his position as head of the bear clans, but he wants to be sure Harrison Enterprises continues to advance.”

She wasn’t quite sure where this was leading. “You did catch the part where I’m an Alpha here in town, right?”

He nodded. “Yes, and I heard the rumour stewing about you and Evan being an item. That makes no difference to me, I mean, to Harrison Enterprises. We’d want you for consulting services. You could work from anywhere, including here in Whitehorse.”

Well, now. She was always up for alternative sources of revenue. “Put together a business proposal, and we’ll see what we can do.”

He looked slightly sheepish for a moment. “You do realize if we hire you, I’ll suggest we put in the tightest fail-safes possible. To make sure at the end of every transaction, we actually end up owning what we intend to buy. No offense.”

Her amusement rose. “None taken. I wouldn’t hire me without major supervision as well.”

They chatted about the difference between living in Whitehorse and Yellowknife, until Amy interrupted. “I realize this might be out of line, but what are your intentions regarding Amanda?”

Justin sat back, obviously surprised by the twist in the conversation. “I’m not sure what you’re asking.”

“Remember my business about speaking people’s languages?”

He nodded.

It was interfering, but Amanda seemed so determined to make the wrong decision. Amy didn’t want the woman alone when a simple misunderstanding was keeping her from happiness. “You’re accidentally speaking a language she doesn’t want to hear anymore.”

Justin frowned. “Could you be more specific?”

Amy tapped her fingers on the table as she pondered the best wording. She gestured toward him. “My comment earlier about your suit. You’re a good-looking man, Justin, but you wear the trappings of civilization a little too hard. At least in terms of what Amanda is looking for.”

“Did she say something to you?”

Amy tilted her head from side to side. “Sort of, but mostly it’s in the way she watches you. Her body language says she’s very attracted then she remembers something, and up pops a barrier.”

The bear across from her nodded. “She does run hot and then cold. I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong, but I suppose…”

Amy reached across the table and laid her hand on his. “She’s been hurt, but she’s not permanently broken. You can make a difference.” She let her gaze run over his expensive clothing, and her nose wrinkled. “But you need to lighten up.”

She patted his fingers.

Justin cracked a smile. “Are you into psychiatry as well as computer hacking?”

“Being a shrink is part and parcel of being an Alpha.” She tossed him a wink. “I admit this is the first time I’ve attempted other-species matchmaking.”

He sat up straighter, fumbling with his coffee.

Amy grinned into her coffee cup. Awww, she’d never seen a bear blush before. He must have it bad for Amanda.

They rose to their feet and he escorted her out the door. “Well, I’m thankful for your suggestions. And I’ll get that information to you as soon as I can.”

“No rush. I have a fair bit on my plate to deal with.”

Which was pretty much the understatement of the century.

Chapter Fifteen

Two days later Evan was ready to crawl out of his skin. He’d done everything possible to honour Amy’s request, but not showing up at her house was getting more and more difficult.

The sudden flurry of activity she’d buried herself under was frustrating, especially when he had thought things were straightening out.

His pack was no help either. All of them were as confused as his wolf. Those who had been at the spontaneous gathering the other night knew Amy was his mate. Word had spread through the pack, and now none of them could figure out why there wasn’t more action taking place.

A few of the more aggressive males had made comments regarding his leadership and strength. He’d dealt with them sternly, Lance and Toby especially, but they were young and cocky enough to continue to be pains in his ass.

Having to deal with an internal rebellion at the same time as dealing with his reluctant mate was not Evan’s idea of a good time.

Tonight she had promised to get together with him, bringing him as a guest to a concert her pack was involved in. As long as she didn’t cancel like she had their previous dinner and luncheon dates.

Evan was beginning to get a complex. He’d never had such trouble with any female before, and the fact his mate was the one avoiding him only made things worse.

So now he was standing outside Amy’s house waiting for her to answer the doorbell, feeling like a complete ass. He’d wondered about bringing her flowers and rejected it as the act of a desperate fool.

Amy swung the door open, and Evan’s tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. He peeled it off and barely managed to keep it from flapping like a damn dog in heat.

She wore a clingy dress, its shimmering wintry-white fabric like a second skin. The neck scooped low and the skirt skimmed up, stopping at exactly the right moment to entice him to explore. Add in high heels that made her legs go on forever, and he was pinned in place for far too long.

“Did you want to come in?” Amy stepped back.

Evan sighed happily as he watched her move. “I’d love to.”

It took an incredible amount of control to not make his forward motion become stalking. What he wanted to do was keep walking until he had her pinned to some flat surface so he could put his hands on that gorgeous body. Check out how soft the fabric she was wrapped in really was.

“Did you want a drink before we go?” she asked.

He shook his head, already intoxicated from looking at her. Just from the scent of her filling his head for the first time in days. He was tempted to skip the activity and spend the night devouring her. Tasting her skin and driving her mad.

Instead he’d concentrate on pack, like they’d agreed. “You want me to drive?”

She accepted his arm and he led her to the sidewalk. “Park around the side of the building.”

He opened the door and watched with fascination as she placed herself in the passenger seat. It was impossible to look away from her legs as she pulled them into the car. Her shoes were held on with delicate bows, and visions of untying them with his teeth struck.

A cough snapped his attention back up to her face, and he sheepishly closed the door and came around to the driver’s side.

“What do you need to tell me about tonight?” He slipped into the traffic and headed toward the theater.

“Canyon sponsored the concert—this is one of the few cultural exchanges that includes musicians from all over the northern hemisphere. The performance typically brings in people from around the world. This is the second time we’ve hosted, and it’s growing on an annual basis.”

The event wasn’t something that had ever been on his radar. “Good for business?”

Amy nodded vigorously. “The financial implications are huge. Investors considering setting up shop in Whitehorse like to know their people won’t have to sacrifice the experiences available in the more civilized South.”

“Makes sense.” He supposed. Although the idea of sitting and watching people while they played music had never been on
his
bucket list.

“I want you to meet two of my pack. Giorgio is part of a string quartet, and Tessa works the soundboard. They are both very good at what they do, but Giorgio especially might be hesitant to see you.”

“On the shy side? That seems a little strange for a performer,” Evan wondered.

Amy shrugged. “Just because someone is talented doesn’t change their internal character. Giorgio escaped from a pack in Russia that was using him for entertainment.”

Evan thought for a moment, but couldn’t figure out what she meant. “Entertainment? As in, he played for them upon request?”

“More like they kept him in a small room, and every time they turned on the light he was required to play. When they didn’t need him anymore they left him back in the dark.”

His mind reeled. “Sometimes I want to go back to the days when my job was to eliminate the stupid and the cruel in the packs out there.”

She stared out the side window. “Eliminating people in charge who are horrid individuals is important, I agree. But it’s dangerous to get so caught up in that side of the equation the actual people who need our help get ignored.”

They were at the parking lot. Evan slid into a stall to the side of the building where she directed him. “If packs were run properly, and leadership did what they needed to do, wolves wouldn’t feel they were trapped. What if there are others still imprisoned like your friend was?”

They were on the sidewalk headed for the main doors when she spoke again. “Giorgio is free from that room, but he’s not necessarily free from his past. Going back and eliminating his captors doesn’t liberate his heart. That’s where I can help, so that’s where I put my focus.”

Only a moment later they were following a red carpet to massive doors that swooshed open as they approached.

Men in suits bounded up to greet Amy, gesturing her forward even as they eyed Evan with caution. She slipped her coat partway off before he woke up enough to assist her. The moment of contact between his hands and the bare skin of her shoulders was far too brief.

A neatly dressed woman reached for Amy’s coat, and Evan passed it over. Even in his suit he felt out of place in the midst of the elaborate formalwear milling around the brightly lit area. His ignorance of an entire portion of Whitehorse population shocked him.

But Amy’s fingers were wrapped around his biceps so in spite of the discomfort in his gut, the night wasn’t a complete write-off.

She leaned in, her lips brushing his jaw, and he swallowed hard to control the urge to pick her up and go somewhere private to switch the evening’s agenda to ravishment.

“There are a dozen visiting CEOs we’ll try to touch base with before we move into the auditorium. Are you okay with that?”

His discomfort flashed to anger. “I’m not a bohemian. I know how to behave in public.”

Amy stiffened, her fingers cutting into his arm.

Great. Evan took a deep breath and pasted on his most pleasant expression.

She answered a wave from a couple and led Evan toward them. He fought the urge to do something outrageous, which was kind of annoying, since she obviously didn’t think he belonged in this world and him being an ass would just affirm her belief.

The next twenty minutes were filled with banal conversation and polite nothings. Or at least that’s the way Evan thought of it. He made sure he kept a smile pasted on his face although the edges got a little more ragged each time the conversation turned to employment. He’d announce his occupation only to be greeted with raised brows and almost sympathetic congratulations.

The current bastard pontificating in front of them was the fifth, and Evan’s patience had been stretched thinner than a small order of wings at the pack house.

“I think that’s
fascinating
. You must be thrilled to have so many opportunities to observe human nature while you’re in that bar of yours.” The behavioral-scientist expert, or whatever the hell his job had been—there had been too many letters and shit for Evan to be able to repeat it. The man wore an oh-too-familiar expression of “let’s humour the peon” that was really beginning to grate on Evan’s nerves.

Evan laid his fingers over top of Amy’s to make sure she didn’t run away as he spoke. “It is a great place to hang out and people watch. I’ve even analyzed exactly how the evening is going to go based on what people order to drink. There’s a science to it, you know.”

His opponent blinked. “Really? That’s fascinating—”

“For example, the beer drinkers have a totally different objective to their evening than the ones who order fancy mixed drinks with names that are hard to pronounce after they’ve had three or four. But my personal favourites are the customers who are so pretentious they ask what years our wine cellar carries, and then go on to recite some memorized spiel to show exactly how knowledgeable and classy they are.”

The man’s face drew tighter as Evan spoke, and he lowered the glass of red wine he’d praised only moments earlier.

Amy tugged Evan’s arm, smiling sweetly as she made her apologies. “If you’ll excuse us. It was lovely to see you again.”

And then they damn near ran across the room as Amy dragged him toward a door that said
Staff Only
.

“Oh, goody, do I get a new job?” Evan asked. “Maybe I should go back and tell that ass I’m moving up in the world. Now I get to use a broom instead of pouring drinks.”

Amy shoved him through the door and jerked it closed behind them. “Could you not hold your tongue for a couple of hours?”

Evan snorted in derision. “No, I think it would make it really difficult to tell that jerk off if I was actually holding my tongue.”

The hallway lighting was dim, but it was bright enough to see the frustration on her face. “You know what I’m talking about. Yes, I agree, Dr. Winston is an absolute jerk.”

“Then why do you care if I let him know he’s a jerk?”

“Because he’s not a dangerous jerk, he’s a potential business opportunity for the pack, and that’s worth putting up with a little bit of jerkdom for. Plus, there’s no need to prove I have more balls than everyone in the room. I already know I’m smarter than most of them, and that I’m nicer than most of them, and so I let the stupid things they do go.”

Evan narrowed his eyes. “You’re not making any sense.”

Amy rubbed her temples in frustration. “No, I suppose I’m not making any sense to you. The point is, I asked you to be polite, and it’s now only thirty minutes after I asked you that, and it doesn’t seem you’re capable of following any kind of instruction.”

Evan caught her by the upper arms, rubbing his palms up and down against her bare skin in an attempt to soothe her. “I’m sorry if I embarrassed you. I have no objection to being polite, but I do have trouble being polite when there seems no need.”

“And sometimes it’s not worth the fight. That’s the point I’m trying to make.”

She crossed her arms, brushing his hands away and breaking the contact between them. Evan was more disturbed by that than by her words.

“Were you going to introduce me to this Giorgio of yours?”

“After the show. Right now I want to talk to Laney.”

“The woman from the café?”

Amy nodded. “She plays the violin. Or, she did before her ex broke her fingers. She’s still trying to regain her skills, but she loves coming to these concerts, so I bought her a pass. She’ll be hiding down here until the lights go out.”

She tilted her head to indicate the hallway. He followed her, mentally rearranging his plan of attack so that he could get through the evening without pissing her off again.

He was smart. He was strong. He should be able to be suave and debonair for a couple more hours, especially when impressing his mate was on the line.

Only he did miss his comfy chair and the game that was going on back at the pack house. But if this was what it took to bring him and Amy back on track, he’d make the sacrifice.

Amy’s headache had a headache. They were finally seated in the auditorium, and for the next forty-five minutes there should be no necessity to put out any fires or sit on Evan to stop him from offending anyone.

Up on the stage the string quartet was already into the second movement, and the peaceful sounds flooded the room. Perfect acoustics carried the gentle performance of a soothing melody.

Her soul needed a whole lot of soothing. At her side Evan slumped, totally relaxed with his hips forward on the seat, his upper body set against the chair back. His knees were wide apart, his entire muscular body seemingly too large for the delicate auditorium chairs.

He’d dressed up, and she had no complaints about the external packaging. In fact, everywhere they had gone, people’s gazes had followed them as if he were a highly sought-after model. Whispered conversations from those in the room who were visiting made it clear they were all intrigued by the handsome stranger on her arm.

But the chip on his shoulder seemed to get bigger by the second. She had no issues with his job choices—owning the bar and hotel. Both were good solid positions and perfectly suited for his role in leading a wolf pack. Bringing him to the symphony hadn’t been about making him feel inadequate.

His defensive responses every single time someone questioned him had gone from bad to worse. He didn’t seem to get the concept that if the person didn’t matter, their opinion didn’t matter either.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. By the time the performance was over, she hoped Evan would have settled down enough she could take him for a brief meeting with Giorgio. They could escape before tensions rose again.

A few others of her pack were scattered through the auditorium. Laney had smiled hesitantly at Evan when they’d met, but the rest stayed away.

Joining the packs was going to take a lot more finesse and planning than even she had expected.

The music swelled, and she closed her eyes in an attempt to soak in as much relaxation as possible. The biggest thing she could sense, though, was the man at her side. The scent of him filled her nostrils, his presence borderline overwhelming. She wanted him so badly, and she hated that she wanted him when he didn’t seem to care about her in the same way.