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An alarm screamed through the speaker of my phone, reminding me that it was time to take my medicine. From the age of thirteen, when I first started my period, I had been plagued by horrible bouts of cramps and pain, not to mention sporadic, uncontrollable bleeding. Plus, there’d always been the weird reactions of men, the feelings I didn’t understand. So, I’d been on hormone medication for the majority of my life. At the peak of all the worst times, my mother took me to the doctor to help regulate my cycles. Ever since, I’d taken strong pills that masked the scent of my pheromones making me less hormonal and less potent to men. A person could set their watch, hell the world clock, by the regularity with which I took them. In all the years I’d been on them, I’d never missed a single dose.
“Do you even like Ty?” Mom crossed her arms and leaned against the kitchen counter as I dug around in my bag for the little bottle of pills.
I shrugged. “Honestly, I’ve never really interacted with him. Yesterday was the first time I’d ever seen him, so I can’t say whether I do or don’t like him.” Oh, he’d drawn a response all right, but I didn’t want to say that to my mother.
She scowled, unable to hide her worry. “Maybe it’s a blessing that the two of you found each other.” She didn’t sound convinced.
The pills weren’t in my purse, so I gave up looking. “Why wouldn’t it be?” I popped the rest of the bread into my mouth.
Dad smiled gently. “We’re just concerned given your, err, condition.”
We’d always called it my condition.
Mom held her hands up and came to stand beside me. “Don’t worry, Liza. It shouldn’t be a problem as long as you keep taking your medication.” She wrapped her arms around me so tightly I thought my lungs would pop.
“You’re probably right.” I patted Mom on the back. She shouldn’t have this kind of anxiety about an adult daughter. “You really shouldn’t worry. Everything will work out the way it’s meant to.”
Mom pulled away and nodded, the worry still evident in her eyes. I hugged Dad, then grabbed my keys and headed out the door.
I had another event to work at the Presley Acres Country Club. Along with the lunar mating festival, I’d been contracted to cater an after-party for the ceremony to celebrate any matches that may have occurred. Never in a million years had I thought I would be included in that particular celebration.
As I backed out of the driveway, my thoughts drifted back to Ty.
Warmth spread through me at the thought of him, and I smiled. Maybe Mom was right. This could be a blessing, but only time would tell.
Walking into the country club, I tried to count how many plates we needed to prepare. While deep in thought, trying to remember the projected head count, Cecily Banks appeared at my side and tapped my shoulder. I jumped, gasped, and turned; Kung Fu Panda mode engaged.
Holy shit. Where’d she come from?
Cecily was young, beautiful, and an heiress. She was exactly the kind of woman that belonged with a Keller. That fact didn’t go unnoticed. “I want to know, and I think everyone else does, too. How’d you do it?”
I had a thousand things on my mind, and deciphering one of Cecily’s mystery questions would take more brain power than I had to spare. Instead, I pinched my face into a scowl. “I’m sorry. What?” For once, my tone wasn’t pleasant or ingratiating. I was learning to use my annoyance to my benefit.
Kelis, another heiress with more money than good sense, stood next to her friend, a foul expression on her face.
“How’d you get Tyson to look at you like that?” Cecily crossed her arms and glared so deeply it seemed as if her anger had ventured into the depths of my soul. She was one of those people who called everyone by their given name. It irritated me.
Also, she was new in town, but she’d acted as if she owned it from the moment she’d arrived. Her family had only moved to Presley Acres a few months ago, then immediately made themselves well known by purchasing one of the most outlandish estates in the state of Texas. They had acres and acres of land, and a house that was long and wide with enough rooms to fit most of the town inside for a sleepover. It had once been a boarding house that had been converted to a mansion for some TV show and then put on the market for millions of dollars.
Cecily’s family had money, and they weren’t afraid to rub it in everyone’s faces. On top of her wealth, Cecily had an unearthly level of pride and assumed privilege that made her a tyrant. She always seemed to be on the prowl for the next trinket, position, or man that would make her happy for that moment.
I took a step back. “I’m still not… What?”
She pointed a long, manicured finger at my face. “The mating ceremony was my chance to meet Ty and show him what he could have.” She waved her hand down her skinny, model-like figure. “I want to know how you tricked him into thinking you are his mate.”
I blinked at her. It seemed a few of her brain cells had gone on strike. There was no way to trick someone into a fated mate daze—at least none I knew of. The power that had taken over my body the previous night was uncontrollable, undeniable, and un-trickable.
I cleared my throat and smoothed the wrinkles out of my uniform. No matter what this bitch had to say, I refused to surrender my professionalism. Especially here at the country club in front of so many clients. Sighing, I forced a smile. “I’m sorry, Cecily, but I didn’t trick anyone.”
Kelis slapped the back of her hand against Cecily’s shoulder and let out a sarcastic laugh, egging her friend on. “Did you hear that? She says she didn’t do anything wrong. Are we supposed to believe that fate would be so cruel as to give Ty such a common mate?” She sneered at me. “You’re expecting everyone to believe you didn’t go to some witch doctor and poison him with a potion into wanting you?”
I rolled my eyes but kept my composure, though my brothers’ voices rang in my head, telling me to punch her in the tit.
As tempting as that suggestion might have been—and boy, was it tempting—I refrained.
“Can you imagine? Tyson Keller being fated to her? A common servant girl.” Cecily chortled and looped her arm through Kelis’s. “Common trash.”
I took a deep breath and allowed them to spew their bullshit. It was going to take a lot more than this to make me stoop to their level. We were in public, after all. Away from all the prying eyes, things might have been different, but it was easy to maintain my composure here.
