Chapter Ten
Mason was enjoying himself immensely. Not only had he and Wade found their mate and satisfied her, but here he was sitting in the warm sun, with her perfect little hand in his as they sipped at tropical drinks and laughed at the stories of Heidi’s childhood that her friend Julie couldn’t resist sharing.
“…and Heidi just stood there in front of Mrs. Collins, the librarian, smiling the whole time, pretending to be engrossed by her book recommendations, while I tried to move the damned stubborn goat away from the classical literature section it had been trying to eat.” Julie was wiping the tears away as she tried to catch her breath from laughing so hard, “You should see how guilty she still looks whenever we run into the old bag downtown!”
“Hey!” Heidi laughed and threw the cherry from her drink at her friend, who ducked. “I feel bad. Mrs. Collins still blames the missing books on the football team—she tried to get the entire lot of them expelled.”
“Why exactly did you need to stash a goat in the school library?” Wade asked incredulously. He and Mason had spent most of their lives in the city and certainly didn’t have any livestock shenanigan stories like these two crazy females.
“Heidi’s idiot older brother said we were too chicken to goat-nap the rival team’s mascot and stash it until the game was over that night.” Heidi’s friend’s smile slipped when she mentioned the brother, and Mason wondered what that was all about.
“Damn, Hector freaked out when he realized we actually went through with it.” His mate’s sweet laugh was music to his ears. “I swear he wanted to tan our hides—but that was the last time he ever dared us to do anything.”
“I can’t believe how much trouble you two got into growing up in such a small town like Blue Valley.” Mason shook his head as a server dropped off another round of frothy blended drinks and asked, “What the hell were we doing with our time, Wade?”
“Getting drunk out by the boathouse at the country club pales in comparison to the adventures they’ve had, I’m afraid.” Wade toasted the two women, causing them to giggle furiously—Mason was afraid they were all more than a bit tipsy after enjoying the afternoon beside the pool.
“Sure,” Julie snorted, “it was all fun and games until my Uncle Randy had to come and collect us in the Sheriff’s squad car. He had the silent treatment down like a master … Heidi could never make it ten minutes before she was spilling the beans and telling him everything.”
“Lucky for us he was such a softie—he never told my dad even half of what he’d caught us doing.” Heidi added, “Good thing, or he would’ve never let me be friends with a hooligan like you, Julie.”
The little wolf winked at her friend, “Papa Jennings loves me, and you know it.”
“…only because he doesn’t know what happened to his favorite guitar.”
Julie’s gasp was loud and her eyes went wide.
“You wouldn’t…”
“As long as you don’t make me do something we’ll both regret…”
“You heifer!” Julie laughed as she threw her own drink garnish across the table, causing Heidi to squeal and try to evade the flying pineapple wedge. “Oh, well—there goes my reputation with the parents.”
Mason loved seeing this side of Heidi. With her friend, she was carefree and comfortable, the nervousness he’d sensed when they’d first met melting away like the last of the daiquiri in the bottom of his glass. He noticed that she’d gotten a lot of sun on her face, and when she couldn’t stifle a little yawn, his instincts rallied at him to care for her, and Wade’s must have been doing the same.
“We’ve been drinking in the sun for hours. I don’t know about you guys, but I sure could use a little nap before dinner.” Wade stretched and finished the rest of his drink.
“Oh, my Goddess, yes,” Heidi agreed, “a nap sounds divine. I think I’m a little drunk.”
“Well, then why don’t you two ladies go have a nap, and then we’ll pick you up for dinner, Heidi, at say, 6:00?” Mason suggested. “Of course, Julie, you’re more than welcome to join us.”
“That’s nice of you, Mason,” Julie smiled as she stood, “but I think I’ll just grab something quick and go see a show.”
“Cabin 210 right?” Wade stepped close to give Heidi a quick kiss, which Mason could tell flustered her a little.
“Yup, okay, see you later, then.” She blushed and smiled when Mason kissed her as well before the two giggling women turned to leave the patio. Both Mason and Wade watched the sway of Heidi’s luscious backside through the sheer wrap she wore over her red bikini.
“Damn, we are lucky bastards,” Wade murmured.
“Yes, we are,” Mason agreed. “Now let’s go see if we can’t find this cheetah. The sooner we get to the bottom of this wristband scam, the sooner we can concentrate on claiming our mate.”
****
“We passed the events desk in the foyer earlier. Let’s start there and see if they can tell us where to find her,” Wade suggested as they made their way back inside. After meeting Heidi, the truth was that he couldn’t care less whether they found out who was stealing from the company or not—he just wanted to move on with claiming her and starting their new life together. He’d never felt such an all-consuming need to spend time with a female before. Everything else seemed to pale in comparison.
When they arrived at the events desk, a perky little brunette with a beaming smile was ready to help them, but he could tell from her scent that she was most likely a wolf shifter, and therefore not the female they were looking for. He had to stifle a smile as Mason turned on the tiger charm that had gotten many a female to lower her guard.
“Hello, dove. We’re hoping that you can help us with a little something.” Marcy—so her name tag identified her—looked Mason up and down like she was measuring him for a suit.
“Of course.” Her smile widened even more as she licked her lips and leaned across the counter, giving both men a clear view straight down her ample cleavage. “What can I do for you?”
“We were told to ask for Serena,” Wade chimed in, playing his part perfectly, acting as though he was taking full advantage of the free show she was giving. After all, nothing turned a woman’s attitude to one of suspicion quicker than a seemingly straight male who didn’t get distracted by boobs. “That she could hook us up with one of those fancy wristband deals. Do you know what we’re talking about?”
“Of course,” her voice lowered as she ate up the attention they were giving her, “let me just give Serena a call and see if she can pop in and speak with you.”
They tried to look casual as they wandered a short way from her desk, pretending to look at the posters and event schedules posted on the walls, but still close enough that they could overhear her conversation.
“Serena … there’s two super hotties here at the desk asking for you, looking for wristbands.” She spoke quietly into the phone, her eyes darting back up to check them out. “Should I call Rafe, or do you want to handle them yourself?”
Interesting. So now they had at least two names of people involved in the scam. Wade couldn’t keep himself from looking back at the female when she growled low in a predatory manner in response to what Serena must have asked her on the other end of the phone. Yeesh, he felt violated as she leered at them both.
“Oh, no … these two are definitely worth your time.” Her voice was grating on his tiger—it was nothing like the sweet, dulcet tones of his mate's soothing voice. “I’d do them right here on the desk if given the opportunity.”
That last bit was said loudly enough that he knew she’d meant them to hear her, and when both he and Mason looked over towards her, she winked at them.
In the past, Wade certainly hadn’t had any issues with a sexually forward female—quite the opposite actually. But now, her lewd behavior came across as tacky, and his tiger began to get irritated.
They had a mate—how dare this female try to seduce them? His tiger didn’t like games. The only thing his beast wanted now, was to go back and find Heidi. Wade had to rein himself in so Marcy wouldn’t sense the aggression that was beginning to bubble up inside of him.