“Let go. You’re strangling me.” Dean tried to pry Grady’s fingers from around his throat. “Can’t…breathe…”
“Oh geez. Grady, ease up, will you?” Joy sighed. “As entertaining as this is, I have enough problems with crazy cats down South. Another dead body is going to put me in the proverbial doghouse with Miles, big time. I’m only allotted one kill a year according to big brother.”
Grady eased off Dean. They both looked at Joy in surprise. She was normally the easiest to get along with of all the Bermins. Not as shy as Amy, as stuck up as Stacey, or as businesslike as Melissa. She was sexy, friendly and stirred as much desire in Grady as his pregnant sister-in-law now did. He didn’t know why, but he’d never thought of Joy as anything more than a sister.
She rapped on a side table. “Now that I have your attention, listen up. Grady, this is partly my fault. Dean told me how pathetic you’ve been, and I wanted to help.”
“Thanks,” Grady growled at his brother.
“Um, sure. No problem.” Dean squirmed to get free, but Grady locked onto his shirt and didn’t let go. “Come on, bro. I can smell her all over you. It worked, didn’t it?”
“Only because I had to lie to her for some sympathy. Christ, I really am pathetic.” He groaned and released his brother, then slumped against the wall. “When she learns I lied to her, she’s going to hate me. There’s no way this won’t blow up in my face. And she was so sweet. So great.” The thought of losing her made his animal spirit hiss in agitation. Now that he’d had a taste of his mate, he had no intention of letting her go. What a mistake to trust one of Dean’s—Joy’s—schemes.
“Now, now.” Joy eased off the couch and sauntered to his side. “We’ll keep this quiet, just between the three of us.”
“Four,” he corrected, unable to forget Gabby’s participation in this mess. The only bright spot in their harebrained plot.
“Four of us.” Joy nodded.
Next to her, Dean did the same. “I swear, Grady. This will work. The woman is into you. The other night at dinner, after you left, she stared at your empty chair for the rest of the meal. And whenever you’re around, she sneaks glances. Right, Joy?”
“Yeah. Even I noticed. I don’t know why she hasn’t gone out with you. Although that dance number I heard about might have thrown her off.”
Grady glared at his brother, who wisely stepped behind the smaller female. “Who the hell hasn’t heard about my bet from hell?”
Dean snorted. “Not my problem you suck at cards and can’t dance.”
Grady nudged Joy aside and leaped at his brother, who swore but couldn’t move fast enough to dodge Grady. He had Dean in a headlock and was about to smash his face into the ground when his cell phone rang.
“Shit. What time is it?” he asked, panting.
“Eight-thirty,” Joy answered, too perky for words.
“Hell. I’m supposed to cover for Monty today.” A stellar idea popped into his brain as he rubbed Dean’s face into the rug. “But since you put me in this mess, you’re going to help me out of it. You cover for me for the next few days. I need time to fix this.”
“Fix what?” Dean asked. “This setup couldn’t be more perfect.”
“I have to try to convince Gabby I’m not such a dick that I’d jump into bed with her after finding you doing my soulmate.” He sneered. “Could you have come up with a worse story to get us together?” He included Joy in his distaste.
She had the nerve to look sorry.
“I’ll do it,” Dean mumbled against the braided rug. “Swear.”
“And you’ll stop interfering. Say it.”
“I’ll stop interfering. Joy too.” Dean turned his face and gasped. “Just trying to help, you big pussy.”
Joy’s muffled laughter didn’t improve Grady’s mood, but the idea of having time to be with Gabby soothed his annoyed cat.
He moved off his younger brother and stalked away. “I’m hitting the shower. You two make sure you both steer clear of Gabby. I don’t need you telling her more lies and getting me in more trouble with her. And for God’s sake, don’t let Miles hear you’re having sex.” He stopped and turned to face them. “That was something you made up, right?”
The horror on their faces relieved him.
“He’s like a brother. No offense, Dean, but gross.”
“She’s like an annoying little sister. Ew.”
“Annoying?” Joy turned on Dean and proceeded to chew him out.
Although they’d created a major hurdle to overcome, Grady finally had the opportunity he’d been dying for—to mate the woman he loved. The future he wanted seemed suddenly within reach.
With a smile, he headed for the shower and tried to figure out where to go from here. Flowers. Check. A note explaining how much he still wanted her. Check. Hmm. Now how to get in bed with Gabby and not look like a rebound guy or an asshole just out for sex. That would take some real planning…
“I followed the credit cards, like you said.” Ronnie Gates sniffed at the waitress who passed him by and winked at her, pleased to see her flush. He’d just taken her up against the wall in the closet. A hard fuck for that little gal would more than serve as her tip. Not a bad ride, but he’d had better.
The chuckle at his ear pleased him, and he smiled into the phone, wishing his brother could see him. “He’s in Cougar Falls,” he continued in a low voice, “with those asshole Chastells, no doubt.”
Lex, his pride leader, brother and the man he idolized like no other, agreed. “Burke is a favorite of Dad’s, so he won’t be easy to deal with. Bermin and those sluts will have been crying about running away, so the cats will be forewarned. If we have to take them in Cougar Falls, we’ll need to slip inside and smuggle them out. I want the women unharmed, mostly.”
“But not untouched,” Ronnie corrected.
“Just Stacey. The others are fair game.”
Ronnie grinned, and a young man sitting nearby quickly looked away. Good to know some people had respect for the top predators in this world. “When are the others coming?”
“I’ll have Quince and a dozen cats on a plane in a few days. I want you to wait and watch. With any luck, Miles and the girls won’t stay. He has family scattered around the Northwest, and we know the fucker is all about family.” He sneered, no doubt remembering how fiercely Miles had fought to free his siblings from Lex’s grasp. “If we don’t have to rip them out of Cougar Falls, we won’t. The fewer Ac-taw involved in this, the better.”
“Yeah.”
“If they move out sooner, call me. I’ll give them ’til the end of the week before we nail them. Whatever you do, Ronnie, don’t let them see you.” The deep growl over the phone sent shivers down Ronnie’s spine. Even though he and Lex were brothers, there was a definite pecking order in the pride. Lex was king, and he never let anyone forget it.
“I won’t. I swear.” Ronnie ran a hand over his brow, tracing the scar he’d had since the day he and Lex had first met. The scar was a reminder to obey without question. That or face sure death.
“I know. I trust you, brother mine. That’s why you’re in Montana and Quince is here helping me with the rest of the dickheads who think they can tell me no. Fucking Miles stirred up a heap of trouble he’s going to pay for.” Lex spoke to someone else then returned to Ronnie. “Don’t fuck it up. I need those females. Just remember, Stacey Bermin is mine.”
As if Ronnie needed to be told that. When hadn’t his brother lusted after the high and mighty bitch? “Sure thing. No worries. I got this, Lex. And if the Chastells stick their noses in too far, we’ll cut them off, right?”