4
MCKENNA
I smoothed my dress down my hips in front of the mirror and fixed my hair. Brayden didn’t tell me anything about the guest list, but I had a gut feeling Ellis would be at the engagement party. I would make him regret he ever turned his back on me.
I pushed my bust up so my cleavage spilled out of my top. He always liked that, and I could make his bear crazy just throwing my chest around. I would make him wish we were still together. I might even twist the knife by hitting on some other guy at the party.
I strutted out into the sea of voices and bodies moving all around. The groomsmen stood in one corner with Brayden. Dozens of relatives filled the living room at my uncle’s house, but I didn’t see Ellis anywhere.
I waded into the mix. People stopped to greet me on all sides. I hugged my relatives and introduced myself to people I never saw before. Half the people in the place belonged to Julia’s family. I saw some of my own cousins I hadn’t seen in years and barely recognized. There were spouses of people who got married or moved across the country. There were some of Julia’s friends from work. There was just about everybody, except the one person I kept searching for.
Why was I searching for him? I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up. Maybe he wouldn’t come. Maybe Brayden forgot all about him. Why was I getting all fluttery in my stomach thinking about him? Ellis Johnson was just another guy, another hard guy who wanted a nice piece of ass.
As I was just about to give up my search, I saw him. The crowd parted, and there he was, standing right next to Brayden. They laughed and slapped each other on the back just the way they used to. They talked with their heads together like seven years hadn’t passed since they saw each other.
At that moment, I knew I messed up big time making myself more noticeable to him. I never stopped wanting him. I wanted him now as much as I ever did. My bear prowled beneath my skin, begging for his attention. If he put out his hand and cocked his head to one side to invite me to slip away with him, I would do it. I would follow him exactly the way I used to when we were in high school.
Icy cold slithered up my spine and my bear panicked. I had to get away. I had to hide in the crowd so he wouldn’t notice me. I couldn’t run the risk of him seeing me in that dress, or I would be lost. I couldn’t have him look me up and down. I couldn’t have those mesmerizing eyes trace my breasts and my hips and my thighs.
Forget about making him regret what he did. Forget the whole thing. I wished I never came to the party. I should have locked myself in my room at home and never gone near him.
Just then, my mom hustled up to me. “I need your help in the kitchen. We’re putting out the crab dip, and we don’t have any Tabasco sauce.”
I raced after her with my heart pounding in my neck. I would take any excuse to get away from Ellis. What made me think I could ignore him? What made me think my feelings wouldn’t come rushing back?
He looked just as good as he ever did—maybe even better. The years were more than kind to him. They made him more commanding, more enticing. He got bigger, bulkier, more masculine than ever. Now that I saw him, I realized what a young and awkward cub he was back then. He didn’t know what to do with himself.
Those eyes burned into my soul, even after I took refuge in the kitchen. Those eyes knew exactly what they wanted. They knew what they were looking at, and they knew what to do with it. Years of experience told him how to take his time, how to move in on his prey with infinite slow movements.
Those eyes kept me frozen like a deer in the headlights. They disintegrated my flesh at his touch until I fell at his feet in a puddle of panting desire.
My mom shoving the empty Tabasco bottle into my hand woke me from my reverie. “What are we going to do? We can’t serve crab dip without Tabasco.”
I bit my lip to contain my laughter. Of course, my mom would worry about something as little at Tabasco sauce. But this was my chance to get away from Ellis. “Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll run out to the store and get some.” I would make any excuse to get out of here before I fell apart.
“Oh, would you, really?” she gasped. “Thank you so much, honey. You’re the best.”
Yeah. I’m the best. I’m the best at getting myself into situations I can’t get out of.
I tossed the empty bottle in the trash and raced for the door when a blocky figure barred my way. It was him. My heart stopped, and my breath stuck in my throat. He looked me up and down.
“There you are. I was hoping I would see you again.”
I ducked around him. “Gotta go. Crab dip emergency. Can’t serve crab dip without Tabasco.”
I raced to the door and ran out to freedom. I jumped in my car and fired it up. Now that I was outside, my dress made no sense at all. I would attract lots of attention at the grocery store, but who cared? I was out of there. I didn’t have to talk to Ellis Johnson after all.
I hit the gas and swerved into the main road. Phew! I started to calm down on the way to the store, but once I got to the parking lot, I faced a whole new problem. A bunch of construction guys leaned against their truck fenders right outside the door. They unwrapped the sandwiches they just bought and ate their dinner. They laughed and joked and swigged their drinks out of the bottles.
Well, here goes nothing. I got out of the car and slammed the door. The noise attracted their attention, and their eyes bugged out of their heads when they saw me sashaying across the parking lot toward them in my dress.
At first, they just stood and stared. Then came the first wolf whistle and the catcalls. “Holy Mother of God! Will you look at that!”
“Hey, baby, come on over here and have dinner with me. You won’t regret it.”
My cheeks burned, but I couldn’t help smiling. I could throw it around for them, no problem. Anything was better than getting stared at by Ellis Johnson. I wasn’t in danger of falling for any of these guys.
I strutted past them and paused in the door to throw one hip out to the side. I gave my ass a hard slap. “Take a good look, boys, ‘cuz you ain’t never getting a piece of this.”
Idiots, they didn’t even know what I truly was. And if they found out? They wouldn’t be interested. No human man could handle a woman that could turn into a bear. Someone who was stronger, faster, bigger than them. I made guys stumble on their words, but when things got serious, I knew I needed to find a mate. A real shifter who could handle me and my bear.
I went to the store and got the Tabasco. When I came back, the guys were gone. Good. I got in my car and started the motor, but I drove back to the house much slower than I left it. I parked outside and took my keys out of the ignition, but I didn’t want to go in.
Now, what was I going to do? I couldn’t exactly ditch the party when I carried the crucial Tabasco in my hand. I definitely didn’t want to go back in there, though. He would be waiting for me. Once he set his eyes on something he wanted, he didn’t back down. I knew that better than anyone.
Those eyes told me everything. He wanted me again. He wanted to pick up where we left off, and I couldn’t let that happen. I had to avoid him.
Maybe, just maybe, I could duck in, toss the Tabasco to my mother, and hit the bricks. Maybe he would be in the bathroom and wouldn’t see me, but what about Brayden? What about Julia and all my family and all Julia’s family? They would notice if the groom’s sister ditched the engagement party. Brayden would be furious and demand an explanation. And when our bears went at it? Ugh, a nightmare.
No, I had to go back in there. I had to face the music, and that meant Ellis Johnson. I had the rest of the weekend to get through, and I wouldn’t be able to do that if I didn’t get myself under control pretty quick.
I could still pull this off. I got away from him once. I could do it again. I could be too busy helping my mom and talking to people to notice him. I would surround myself with strangers so he couldn’t touch me.
He couldn’t lead me off into a private room for you-know-what if I didn’t let it happen. Right?