AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Cal looked me over from head to foot. “No, I’m pretty sure that’s you.” For me, Reuben had chosen a classic navy blue suit, a pale blue shirt, caramel brogues, and a purple patterned tie. Like Cal, I’d decided against neckwear. I wanted everyone to see my bite too. We were still using our fake-married cover, even though that was a little further from the truth of our relationship now, and our matching gold rings completed our ensembles. I had to admit, we cleaned up well.
I pecked a kiss to his lips, then lifted his hand and kissed right over the gold band. Cal’s apprehension had faded by a degree, so I kept his fingers intertwined with mine. Since we’d claimed each other, it had been hard to stop touching him, and I’d avoided it as much as I could. Holding his hand now helped me relax and focus on what we were about to do.
“Do you want to go over the plan again?”
Cal shook his head. “I think I’ve got it. I wish there was a way to get this close to him under the cover of night. It feels weird approaching him in public in the middle of the day.”
I agreed, but this was our only option. “Stick to the perimeter. See what people are saying about him, and when we get an opportunity, we’ll approach him.”
“I know.”
We checked in with the event planner—Reuben had made sure our names were on the attendee list—and received small name tags with the museum’s logo that we were required to wear.
“I don’t get modern art.” Cal had stopped just past check-in and was looking up at three massive bronze babies with barcode stamps where their faces should be.
“It’s a David Cerný.”
“I think you must have me confused with my twin. I have no idea what that means.”
“Cerný is a famous Czech artist. These babies were up on a television tower for a while. Now they are displayed all over.”
“But why don’t they have faces? I’m sure Quin would say it’s representative of society’s dehumanization of people or something equally depressing.”
“I think that’s exactly what it’s supposed to mean. Maybe you’re not as bad at the art thing as you think.”
Cal shrugged. “Probably just Quin’s constant barrage of useless information finally sinking in enough for me to regurgitate it.” Cal’s phone buzzed in his pocket, and he slid it out. “Speak of the devil.”
“Quin?”
“Yeah. He’s been blowing me up all morning. I think he knows we’re mated.”
“You haven’t told him?”
“When exactly would I have had time?” Cal raised an eyebrow, and I remembered exactly what we’d been doing since we left the train yard last night. I’d spent pretty much every minute of the intervening hours buried balls-deep inside him, so it was easy to see his point.
“Okay, fair. Do you want to call him now?”
“Maybe it wouldn’t hurt. I wanted to have Felix and Julius look into your dad too. If that’s okay with you?”
“Are you really asking me for permission?”
“Would you rather I didn’t?”
“No.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him across the small garden toward the fence where the crowd was thin. “It means a lot to me that you asked.”
“Jack, I?—”
I knew what he was going to say, and it wasn’t fair. “Don’t. I get it. I made it hard for you to like me. I’m sorry. I thought it would make dealing with my feelings for you easier for me, but it didn’t. The fact that you trust me at all says more about you than it does about me.”
Cal turned his hand in mine and tugged me close. “We weren’t ready to face what we are to each other then. It’s a shitty thing to say, but I’m glad you were held at gunpoint.” I glared at him, and Cal laughed. “Seriously. It was probably the only thing that could have forced me to get my head out of my ass.”
My hand found his neck, my thumb tracing along the claiming bite I’d left on his skin, and Cal shuddered. Before I could lean in and take the kiss I wanted, a throat cleared behind us. I dropped Cal’s hand and turned, shielding my mate with my body as he crossed his arms.
The unmistakable scent of wolf clung to the shifter who’d interrupted our conversation. He was tall and leanly muscled with broad shoulders that were disproportionate to his thinner lower half. His hair was several shades of brown, and he woredark sunglasses that perched on his wolfish nose and kept me from seeing his eyes.
“Mr. Harper?”
“Yes. Can I help you?”
