CHAPTER FIVE
Poppy could see the three women’s curious expressions roaming over Stetson and tamped down a bit of jealousy. He was an attractive man, and incredibly virile, unlike most of the tanned, slim, vain men that were in attendance tonight. Even she herself was usually accompanied by sharply dressed, well-groomed men who were attractive, but of a rather soft nature. Stetson cleaned up very well in his black suit but was obviously a rougher breed than she normally ran with.
“Hardy…You must be the eldest of the three brothers then?” Amber asked, a calculated smile on her pretty face. Poppy tried to follow her line of questioning. Hardy brothers?
“I am,” Stetson acknowledged, dipping his head. He was what?
“And what do you do, Mr. Hardy? We’ve just been chatting with your brother and his beautiful wife. Seems that his business has really taken off. Do you work for him?” Sandra jutted in, motioning towards Bretty Hardy and his new wife, Bronte.
Suddenly she started to connect the dots. Hardy. That’s why it had sounded so familiar. Bretty Hardy, the billionaire. Was Stetson’s little brother? Her mind reeled with the meaning of that. She didn’t know enough of the familiar history to know if it was family money or from Brett’s successful business, but Stetson clearly was part of a very affluent family now.
Stetson let out a masculine snort. “No, I don’t work for my baby brother.”
She bit back a laugh, seeing the strain of those words evident on his face. She couldn’t really see Stetson working for anyone. He seemed like a lone wolf, someone that didn’t take orders from anyone else.
“Then what…” Amber’s words were cut off as Stetson deftly nodded and turned Poppy around, headed towards the buffet table.
She smiled, enjoying his discomfort. “You’re Brett Hardy’s brother?”
“Yes…” He answered, dragging it out. “Is that a problem?”
She shook her head, her curls bobby. “Not at all. Just curious, that’s all.”
“Why is that curious?” He asked, his steely gaze not letting her avoid his own.
“Brett’s amazing. A true success story, both in his business life and his personal. Bronte is amazing.”
He nodded, “She is. Annoying, but amazing.”
She laughed. Clearly, he was a typical big brother, not just to Brett but also to Bronte. “So, is that how you find your celebrity clients? Because of your family connection?”
He chuckled. “I’m not sure what ‘family connections’ there would be. I grew up with just my brothers. And we certainly didn’t come from money. Brett made it on his own two feet, as did myself and my other brother, Darian. And I never said my job is working for celebrities. It’s much more…private sector than that.”
She let him off the hook, not pushing him for more answers. At least, not now.
The event began exactly on time and continued smoothly. The caterer was doing well, the décor was all pristine, but the atmosphere seemed to be waning. As the party was coming to its lowest point of excitement, Poppy couldn’t help a worried look from coming to her face. She wasn’t sure what was going on. Everything had been going great, but there was a lull that indicated to her that people felt that something was missing. Should she have brought in a second form of entertainment? Maybe people had been expecting some more with the wildlife? She started to regret that she hadn’t arranged for animals to play a part at the party, but she’d listened to her two associates who had said that this wealthy crowd didn’t want to see animals. They just wanted to show support financially.
***
Stetson’s inhuman sense of hearing gathered a mosaic of comments from the aristocratic crowd that they were becoming disappointed that no one arranged to have any animals from the preserve come into view through the large windows.
He was deeply irritated by the idea that these animals should be expected to entertain these people. Even more so, that they apparently didn’t understand that the preserve consists of hundreds of acres of land so there’s no way to plan where the animals within it would be. Stetson forced himself to look positive and face Poppy. She made every effort to not let it show, but she seemed deeply bothered that people weren’t having a great time.
Just then, Stetson caught the scent of lavender, his pupils dilating as he inhaled the intense scent. He looked into the crowd and found the gaze of Brett, who nodded, signaling that the guests who were in danger had left safely.
Stetson felt somewhat relieved and now was able to pay closer attention to Poppy. She still had the same worried look on her face. “Is something wrong?”
“Oh no. Everything’s fine,” she denied. At his intense, disbelieving look, she admitted, “The crowd just seems less than thrilled tonight.”
Stetson tried to be reassuring by telling her, “It’s a really beautiful party. You did an amazing job.”
“Thank you,” she said quietly, seeming to appreciate the compliment. But he noticed she still kept a worried eye on the lulled crowd. Stetson knew he wasn’t primarily there to get close to this woman, but he never could turn away his help from anyone. Stetson took her hand and asked her to show him around.
“Show you around? You’re kidding right?” She laughed. “It’s a party. People here, people there and bar over there.”
He shook his head. “No. Not the party. This observatory. You checked it out before the crowd was here right? Show me what they have here.”
She seemed to be content with the opportunity to be distracted, and she obliged him. She walked past the party goers, straight to the large wall on the north side of the room. His attention was caught first by the tantalizing sway of her hips in the tall stiletto heels, but then by the wall itself. The wall was covered in wildlife murals that had animal facts printed on them.
He and Poppy stood there gazing up at the pictures and she pointed out the interesting facts as they read them together.
He interrupted her, wanting to know the answer more than wanting to hear more facts. “Do you like animals?”
Poppy smiled at him with a twinkle in her eye and answered, “Yes. I do. They’re beautiful and people can be beautiful, but animals are just…innocently genuine.”
Stetson enquired, “What do you mean?”
Poppy smiled and took his hand, leading him to the edge of the wall. The most prominent creature on the mural was a large gray wolf which was native to this part of the country. Poppy stopped him right in front of it. She explained to him, “The gray wolf for instance. Did you know that they mate for life? For life, not just for a night. And animals only hunt when they need to eat. They don’t squabble over religion or politics. They just live and raise young.”
Stetson was floored at this explanation. He knew that there was no way she could know that she was talking about him, but he felt desperate to hear more about how wonderful animals could be. He’d never had a problem with his animal side. He always struggled more to be a human than a wolf. He felt being both was somehow wrong. Having the power of a great beast and the flawed heart of a man made him feel that somehow his existence was unfair to other humans that were weaker and unfair to other animals that didn’t know any better.
Poppy turned her thoughtful gaze out the large windows toward the wooded ridgeline and said, “I wish I would’ve tried to set up something so the guests could see some of the animals that we’re here to support. It would have been a hit, but how do you make wild animals understand that? I know it’s not likely that it would’ve even worked - the animals don’t know what tonight means obviously, but it would’ve been amazing.”
Stetson quietly agreed. Suddenly, he had an idea. “Would you excuse me?”
“Is something wrong?” Poppy responded, looking curiously up at him.
Stetson assured her, “No. I have a little ache in my knee and it’s time to take an anti-inflammatory. I left them in my car. So, I just need to go grab one, so I keep my schedule going.”
Poppy offered to accompany him, but he politely refused, saying that it would just take a few minutes.
***
Stetson couldn’t believe what he was doing. Even as he stood in the shadow of the building, stripped of his clothes and readied himself for what he was about to do, he thought, I should not be doing this. This is crazy!
But he couldn’t help himself. Poppy seemed so disappointed that her guests were not having the best time that he knew he had to do something to make her feel better. He needed to do something to help the mood change in the party. That’s how he found himself there, hidden between the building and a line of thick hedges, removing his suit until he had stripped down to nothing.
“You really are insane,” he told himself as he shook, allowing the change to come over him. He’d checked the area several times to be sure that there was no one round to witness him but, even as he changed, he found himself glancing from side to side.
I can’t believe I am risking everything for this woman, he thought to himself as he stood in his huge grey wolf form. With the restraints of his human form shaken off, he felt completely free. His entire body relaxed as he stepped out from behind the hedge and began to trot over towards the windows of the observatory. Every instinct told him not to let himself be seen by the humans that were partying within the building but the thought of seeing Poppy’s smile when the party was turned around made him shiver with excitement.
The lights that shone through the windows of the observatory were far too harsh and bright for Stetson’s sensitive wolf eyes and he could see little more than the outlines of people moving around on the other side of the window. He was careful not to get too close, simply making sure he was within view of the human’s lesser sight. Through the thick walls and windows of the building, he could not hear their reactions but when he saw people drawing nearer to the glass he knew that they had seen him. He could just see several fingers pointing in his direction and he was sure that they would be gasping and mewling over him by now.
The excitement overwhelmed him and, in his determination to impress the woman he had escorted, he found himself tilting his head back to howl at the full moon high above his head. His call rung out over the hillside, bouncing off every surface.
He imagined the excitement on Poppy’s face and the urge to go back to her caused him to shake violently. He needed to hold on to his wolf form just a little while longer. He couldn’t risk changing in front of all those people. But he couldn’t stop the thought of touching Poppy, of seeing her face as she smiled with excitement and it made it extremely difficult for him to hold on. His wolf knew that he could not approach her in this guise though the beast also knew that he wanted her just as much as his human form did. Both he and his wolf were drawn to her in a way he had never been drawn to another woman before. It was like nothing he had ever felt before.
Suddenly unable to control himself any longer, he found himself racing back to his hiding place where he’d left the pile of his clothes. His heart raced at the thought of being close to Poppy again and he couldn’t wait to join her back in the observatory. He wanted to witness the remains of her reaction at seeing the gray wolf, the ones that he had missed while he was out getting his ‘anti-inflammatory medication’.
The second he shifted, he knew something was different. Something had changed but it took him a moment to realize what it was. The second he looked down, he knew exactly what was wrong. His clothes were gone.
“Shit!” he growled low in his throat as he glanced around. “I know I left them here somewhere?” He pulled apart the branches of the closest bush in the hopes he might find his suit there, but it was nowhere to be seen.
“Looking for something?” The familiar voice hit his ears and he rolled his eyes. Annoyance flared up inside him as he turned to see his brother, Brett, holding the pile of clothes in a single hand.
“What the hell are you playing it?” Stetson demanded as he grabbed his clothes from his brother and began to quickly pull them on.
“I think that I should be the one asking you that question,” Brett replied with a raised eyebrow. “What do you think you are playing at, brother?”
“I was playing chess,” Stetson snarled at his brother. He didn’t like the guilty feeling in his stomach and it caused him to become defensive though, as the eldest brother, he knew he had no need to defend himself against either of his siblings. “What did it look like I was playing at?”
“It looked like you were playing with our lives.” Brett crossed his arms over his chest. “This woman really has gotten to you, hasn’t she?”
“I don’t know what you are talking about.” Stetson shook his head as he pulled on his blazer and shoved his feet back into the confines of his shoes. He couldn’t deny though that Brett had hit the nail on the head. There had never been any reason that Stetson would risk their secret before, not since the mistake he’d made many years ago.
Brett paused for a moment, then warned in a low tone, “You know you could have just signed our death warrants, right?”
“Brett, don’t be so hard on him.” Bronte suddenly appeared from behind her husband and rested a slender hand on the crook of his arm before she turned her attention to Stetson. “There was a time when you’d have done anything for the woman you loved too.”
“And I still would, which is exactly why I am being hard on him,” Brett replied as he pulled Bronte in close to him, enveloping her in his arms as she pressed her back up against his torso.
At the very same time Brett was speaking, Stetson retorted grumpily, “I do not love her!”
“Love is the only reason I can see for risking something as great as your life and the lives of your brothers.” Bronte shook her head as though she was not pleased that Stetson was attempting to deceive her. “You were there when Brett did that for me. You know how much he cared for me. It’s time to allow yourself to realize that you care for this woman as much as he cares for me.”
“I have to go,” Stetson sighed. He couldn’t listen to any more of their ramblings. They were wrong. They had to be. He couldn’t love Poppy Wade, because he knew that she could never love him….at least not the real him.