The Alpha's Mate (22 page)

She scouted the area, which wasn’t all that
big, and found what she was looking for. The restaurant was part of
a chain, but they kept the lights dim, the music low and served
something other than burgers and fries.

She pulled into the lot and almost pulled
back out again. There was a silver Mercedes like the one she’d seen
last night with Ohio plates and a discreet Cincinnati dealership
emblem next to the taillight. It had to be Charles.

She glanced up and there he was, watching her
from where he sat by the window. Leaving now would look like she
was avoiding him, but that was exactly what she wanted to do until
she spoke to Marshall. Charles wasn’t alone and that was what made
her decide to park and go in. There would be no awkward moment
should he ask her to share his table. If he was dining with others,
he wouldn’t ask and if he did, she could politely decline.

He no longer made her uncomfortable now that
she knew she could control the feelings he invoked, but she still
felt it would be inappropriate for her to have any contact with him
until she talked to Marshall. She had, after all, heard only
Charles’ version of the story. She should give Marshall the same
courtesy of listening to him before she formed an opinion or drew
her own conclusions.

The place wasn’t busy, yet the hostess took
her time coming to the podium to seat a party of one. Elizabeth
could feel the eyes of Charles’ guest boring into her, but she was
her mother’s daughter and her face only showed a mild impatience
with the hostess and no discomfort at all for the intense
inspection.

“Table for one?” the young woman asked. Her
smile was wide and professional, but her voice held a hint of ‘poor
thing’ in it.

Elizabeth was used to it. There were certain
types of women who always looked at unescorted women with a kind of
pity. Normally, she would have nodded and smiled in agreement, but
not today; not when she was being observed and judged by Charles’
companion.

“Apparently,” she said looking the girl up
and down with a look that said she wasn’t impressed by what she
saw. “One of those tables over there, please.” She nodded in the
direction she wanted to go, as far from Charles as she could get
without appearing to be hiding. Besides, she was curious to observe
who he was with. Nosiness was another flaw her mother had been
unable to quell.

The hostess flounced ahead, but Elizabeth
refused to scurry to keep up. Charles had his back to her. She saw
him turn his head and smile as she approached. With a regal nod of
her head and lowered eyes, she recognized his greeting and hoped
that would be the end of it. Unfortunately, Charles had other
ideas.

“Elizabeth! Of all the places to meet you.
Come say hello.”

Charles was sitting with three other men, all
in dark, western cut suits and string ties. The two men next to the
windows appeared to keep their eyes down, but Elizabeth was sure
they missed nothing. They were big and broad and while they never
moved, they broadcast menace.

Elizabeth had no choice but to stop.
“Charles,” she said, neither friendly nor unfriendly. She looked up
into the eyes of his companion. If she’d still been walking, she
would have stumbled. His eyes were green, almost electric, and she
knew she’d seen them before. Something rolled over in the pit of
her stomach.

“What brings you here?” Charles seemed happy
to see her. “The fare in Rabbit Hollow finally get to you? Meatloaf
and mashed potatoes do lose their allure after a while.”

She laughed lightly because the comment
called for it. “I rather like meatloaf. Sally Ann said she’d give
me the recipe, though I think hers makes twenty-five servings.
Actually, I was out running some errands and thought I’d stop in
for a salad. I
do
miss salad.” Wolvers weren’t big on
anything green.

“I’ve been known to eat a salad or two,” he
laughed, playfully defensive. “Christmas, Easter.”

Charles’ companion hadn’t taken his eyes off
her since she’d entered the restaurant. He hadn’t said a word,
either, until now.

“I wouldn’t mind being introduced to the
little lady.” He smiled and there was something feral in it.
Elizabeth immediately knew he was a wolver. When he held out his
hand, she had no choice but to take it.

Her stomach lurched and she was grateful
lunch was hours in the past.

Chapter 22

Elizabeth was vaguely aware that Charles was
apologizing and making the introductions, though the words didn’t
register in her reeling brain. The sexual surge coursing through
her was almost as strong as Marshall’s, certainly stronger than
anything she’d felt from Charles. There was no interest, however,
no curiosity on her part. Only revulsion. She felt as if she were
being physically molested by some half rotted corpse.

Only three words echoed in her mind.
“
Thank you, Mother.
” It was merely her years of training in
proper social etiquette that prevented her from screaming and
running away. She hung onto those words, repeating them like a
mantra in her brain. His grip was strong and he held the handshake
beyond politeness. He felt it, too.

“How do you do,” she said steadily. She
refused to let this brute rattle her and she was grateful for her
experiences with Marshall and Charles. If she hadn’t had the
preparation, she would never have survived.

“I’m doing just fine, honey. How about you?”
His tone of voice was demeaning. His grin was wolfish, not like
Marshall’s but in a Red Riding Hood sort of way. And like the wolf
in the story, this man would consume her if she let him. She wanted
to pull away, but she squared her shoulders and refused to be
brought low by this piece of scum.

“I find your familiarity offensive, sir, and
I would never be your ‘honey.” She spoke as if the word were
distasteful on her tongue. “And I too will be fine once you release
my hand.” She saw the grin falter. He quickly recovered and let her
hand go. She had all she could do, not to wipe it off with the
napkin Charles had removed from his lap.

“Charles,” she said again and nodded as she
had before. She walked away with her head held high.

The hostess was still standing by her table,
menu in hand, shifting from hip to hip in her impatience. Elizabeth
took the proffered menu, her hands now shaking.

“I’m sorry to keep you waiting,” she said,
meaning it. “I’d appreciate a glass of chardonnay. House will do
and would you be so kind as to point out the Ladies’ room,
please?”

The hostess must have recognized something in
her face or in her shaking hands. She glanced back at Charles booth
and then smiled consolingly. “It’ll be here waiting for you by the
time you get back, honey.”

Elizabeth almost let loose with a burst of
hysterical laughter. How could a word be so repulsive one minute
and so comforting the next? “Thank you,” she said and meant that,
too.

She only intended to touch up her makeup and
wash her hands, but found herself scrubbing and scrubbing as if she
couldn’t get them clean. How could she have felt any sexual
stirrings for such a nauseating creature? She looked up into the
mirror and saw the look of self-loathing on her face. Her stomach
rebelled. She quickly found herself in the shameful position of
knees on the floor and head in the bowl.

Her appetite was gone, but she would not let
Charles’ bastard ‘associate’ see what he’d done to her composure.
She returned to her table and drank half the glass of white wine
down in one swallow, only after she was sure Charles and his
companions weren’t looking.

The waitress came and took her order; soup
and a small house salad. The larger steak and blue cheese salad
she’d intended was too risky with her queasy stomach.

Opening her handbag, she pulled out her
current romance novel, discreetly disguised in a brocade cover, and
opened it to the place marked with a pale pink ribbon. It was what
she usually did when dining alone, but this time, she did very
little reading. She watched. She was very proud of herself for
remembering to regularly turn the pages, although she left the
narrow ribbon where it was. Red hot sex was coming and she wasn’t
about to lose her place because of some damned pervert in a string
tie.

What she hadn’t noticed before was that
Creepy Eyes, as she dubbed him, had more than the two thugs sharing
his booth in his posse. The booth behind him held four more.

They were all similarly dressed as the three
with Charles, but even from this distance, she could see that the
quality of the fabric and tailoring were inferior to the others.
Were they uniforms or simply flattery to their boss’ taste? Creepy
Eyes was definitely the boss. The four talked quietly, occasionally
laughing at something one or the other said, but always watched
Creepy Eyes with hooded eyes of their own.

Charles and Creepy Eyes were in the midst of
a heated debate. Charles looked angry as he shook his head and
slapped the table with his open palm. She heard the words “not on
my agenda” from the brute and Charles say something about plans
changing. The words made her flinch inside although she had no clue
to their meaning.

Elizabeth saw the black clad wolf’s shoulders
stiffen and the four men behind him stopped talking, immediately
alert. Then Creepy Eyes visibly relaxed and laughed, loud enough
for her to hear him even at this distance.

“It’s over, you win,” he said a little too
heartily. “You go ahead and come up with another plan, but you
better work fast. I’ve spent enough time and manpower on this
project of yours and it’s time to see some results.”

The tension left the air and everything
seemed to settle down. They talked for a few more minutes and
Charles signaled for the check. After he paid, he rose from the
table and the men shook hands. She kept her eyes on her book as he
walked toward her and looked up when he stopped in front of
her.

“I owe you an apology for that,” Charles said
quietly. “One can’t always choose who to do business with. He’s not
someone I would normally introduce to someone like you. I should
have let you pass, but I was too happy to see you again. It was
rude of me to run off like that the other night. I…”

“No apology necessary for the other night. I
said some things I probably shouldn’t.” She smiled to let him know
the apology went both ways.

“No. You saw things I should have seen a long
time ago,” he said seriously and then he laughed a little bitterly.
“It doesn’t mean that things will change between Marshall and me.
Too much water under the bridge. For both of us.”

This wasn’t the place to argue that point, so
she smiled and without thinking, held out her hand. “Good bye,
Charles. I hope we meet again.”

He looked at her proffered hand and shook his
head. “No, I don’t think I should.” He briefly touched her jacketed
shoulder and even through the layers of cloth, she felt a slight
tingle. “Lovely Elizabeth. You might have been the one to change
me.” It sounded like real regret. “Best wishes to you and Rabbit
Creek,” he said and then he smiled that roguish, lady killer smile.
“But if you ever change your mind…” He blew her a kiss and wiggled
his fingers goodbye.

She watched him walk away and a few minutes
later glimpsed a flash of silver through the window as the Mercedes
left the parking lot. Creepy Eyes saw it, too. He said something to
his men, made a crude gesture to the exiting car and laughed. As if
on cue, his men laughed with him. He snapped his fingers and the
four men behind him rose, paused for a moment for instructions and
left the restaurant. Creepy Eyes and his two remaining partners
stayed.

Elizabeth wished he would leave also, but
when she saw him signal the server and the woman returned with a
round of drinks, she knew it was not to be. It was getting late and
she’d already sat here too long. She didn’t like the idea of
finding her way home in the dark. From here, the way to Rabbit
Creek was pretty straight forward, but beyond that was a little
tricky. She’d only driven it once in the daytime. In the dark,
everything would look different and she’d already had one awful
experience on those roads.

She tucked her book away and paid the bill
that had been sitting in its black case for some time. The dinner
hour was in full swing and she hoped she could slip out unnoticed.
No such luck.

“Come sit with me, honey,” he laughed and the
sound sent chills up her spine.

Creepy Eyes held out his hand to her,
stopping the progress of the hostess and the middle aged couple she
led. The hostess, with a sympathetic look for Elizabeth, walked
right through it. It gave Elizabeth the chance to side step away
from them all and keep moving toward the exit. She could hear his
laughter behind her.

She was relieved to lock herself into the
confines and comfort of her little red truck and she took a moment
to calm herself and let the unnerving experience pass. Thank God
she would never have to see that man again.

She started the engine and glanced in the
rear view mirror as she put the truck in reverse. Behind her, in a
shadowed corner of the parking lot, stood one of Creepy Eyes’ men.
He stood with one booted foot propped on the bumper of a dark SUV,
smoking a cigarette. The glow from the tip reflected in his eyes
and gave them a strange yellow glow. Those eyes followed her as she
pulled from the lot. She shivered and was glad to leave them all
behind.

She stopped for gas, not trusting the
accuracy of the gauge that was closing in on empty and while she
was at the pump, noticed the large supermarket across the street.
She judged she’d have just enough time to make a quick stop and
still get home before dark. The next time Marshall stopped by,
she’d have meat of her own to cook for him.