8
MCKENNA
My eyes widened when the gleaming silver Porsche pulled up in front of my house with the top down, but I did my best to hide my surprise. I slid into the microscopic passenger seat and tugged my skirt down as far as it would go.
I gave myself a mental jab for choosing a miniskirt for this trip. I should have known Ellis would show up in a flashy little roadster like this and I’d be sitting next to him bare-legged all the way to the wedding venue.
I happened to glance over to catch him staring at my legs. The color flashed over his cheeks. I tried to cover my legs with my hands, but of course, it did no good. His eyes crept up my thigh to my skirt hem, and just a little higher. I didn’t have to guess what he was thinking about.
I smacked my lips and turned away. “Just drive, okay? Let’s not make this anymore unpleasant than it has to be.”
“This? Unpleasant?” He threw the car into first gear. “Sitting next to you dressed like that could never be unpleasant, no matter what you say.”
He roared onto the street and hit the highway. I crossed my arms over my chest and refused to look at him. Why did he have to go and volunteer for this tasting? I couldn’t believe I let myself fall for him again. Well, I wouldn’t let it happen again. I would get through this weekend without letting him anywhere near my skirt, and I never had to see him again as long as I lived.
I couldn’t help admitting the truth, though. He offered to help Brayden. I couldn’t exactly argue with that. I could think of worse ways to spend a Saturday afternoon than driving down the freeway in this car, too.
The Johnson Clan was well known in our community. They owned a series of giant hotels, mostly made for shifters. Ugh, it would be so nice if the next time our family went to the beach we could have a special room to Shift and run around in. I had never seen one of those rooms with my own two eyes, but I’d heard of them. A make-believe forest in the middle of a hotel. With designated times to go in so you didn’t have to see any other shifters you didn’t want to. Sometimes we couldn’t control our instinct, and a small mammal encroaching on our territory would only end badly for them.
Ellis was one of five. I hadn’t ever been close with the other cubs. Ellis and Brayden hit it off, and that was it. I couldn’t stop myself glancing over at him. He didn’t notice. He kept both hands clenched around the steering wheel, and the wind tossed his hair into his eyes. He squinted into the sun while he dodged in and out of traffic.
The car hugged the blacktop. Car and driver fused into one living, breathing driving machine. He must have driven this car a lot to get that good at it. In no time at all, he pulled up in front of the venue. He parked all the way at the back of the parking lot where no one would notice the car.
He jumped out and pulled my door open before I got my seatbelt off. “After you, Madam.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Don’t think you’re going to turn into my date. You gave me a ride to help out Brayden—nothing else.”
His eyes skated down to my clothes. “Are you sure? You don’t want me to hustle you into the bushes right now and see what kind of panties you’re wearing under that skirt?”
What could I say to a comment like that? He was out of his mind. I turned and walked away, but he hurried to catch up with me. “Let me escort you, Miss Mckenna. It isn’t seemly for young ladies to arrive unattended at these functions.”
“Shut up,” I snapped.
He only laughed. Once inside, the crowd offered some protection. Everyone wanted to talk to him, and he held court with the best of them. Somehow, no matter where I went to get away from him, he always managed to reappear at my elbow.
Waiters circulated with trays of food and glasses of champagne. The bubbly flowed, and I decided to drown my sorrows. If I couldn’t get away from him, at least I could enjoy myself. Brayden and Sam came over, and the three men started talking about the bachelor party.
“We’re staying at a casino in Vegas,” Sam told Brayden. “That’s all you’re allowed to know.”
“Well, shouldn’t I at least know what to wear?” Brayden asked.
“Wear an old tin can,” Ellis suggested. “That will be easy to take off in a hurry, and you won’t have to worry about keeping it clean.”
“You have more to worry about keeping clean than he does,” I chimed in. “You’re the filthy one around here.”
Brayden gasped. “Mckenna!”
“I have a better idea,” Sam added. “Wear a necktie and nothing else. Then all the girls will be able to judge you by your assets.”
“We could make you a necktie big enough to cover you,” Ellis interjected. “We could tie a bowtie around your pecker, so everybody knows what they’re getting.”
The guys laughed, but I couldn’t stand Ellis’s jokes. I had to find a way to cut him down. “Why don’t you tie a bowtie around yours? Maybe you could sell it on eBay or something.”
Brayden winced. “Don’t pay any attention to her, man. She’s probably had one too many.”
Ellis leered at me. “I’ll give her one too many. We’ll see how she likes that.”
“And I’ll give you one too many uppercuts to the jaw. Maybe then you’ll get your head unstuck from your zipper. Reminder, I’m not a little cub anymore.”
Brayden shook his head. “Give it a rest, you two. I’m going to get some of that ice cream over there.”
Sam and Brayden left. I started to turn away when Ellis’s voice touched my ear. “Hey, Mckenna, I was wondering if you could help me with a little problem I have. I can’t get my head unstuck from my zipper. Would you give it a little tug and see if you can get it loose? Maybe when I get the blood rushing to my brain, I’ll be able to think straight again.”
I rounded on him in a rage. “Will you shove those stupid jokes where the sun doesn’t shine? Do you really think I want to stand around shooting the breeze with you all day? Can’t you see I’m trying to ditch you? When are you going to get the message?”
The goofy smile vanished off his face. “I’ll never get the message, Mckenna. I’ll never get the message that you don’t want me, because you do.”
“How dare you!”
Just at that moment, a waiter stopped by with a tray of hors-d'oeuvres. He was an old man with grey hair. He smiled at both of us. “I remember when I first met my wife and we used to get into tiffs like this all the time. How long have you two lovebirds been together?”
I turned away to hide my burning cheeks, but Ellis smiled at him. “Seven years yesterday.”
The old guy nodded and went on his way. The minute his back was turned, I confronted Ellis. “What did you have to lie to him like that for? We have not been together seven years. We’re not together now, and we never will be.”
He cocked his head at me, but he didn’t joke or even smile. “We were together before, and as far as I’m concerned, we were never apart. Yesterday was just a warm-up. We used to be really good together, and we could be that way again. Did you really think it was all over between us? Because I never did.”
“You shithead!” I snapped. “You dumped me. You left me flat, and you never even answered my texts when I asked you what was going on. How do you expect just to waltz back into my life now like none of it ever happened?”
He frowned. “What are you talking about? I never did anything like that. I certainly never dumped you.”
I threw up both hands. “Oh, just forget it. It’s ancient history, and it’s never going to happen again.”
“What about yesterday?”
“Yesterday was a mistake, a tragic mistake—nothing else. Just forget it ever happened.”
I started to walk away, but his voice made me freeze in my tracks. His words caressed me all over, so I couldn’t ignore them. “Is that what you want, Mckenna? Do you really want to forget it ever happened?”
I spun around to face him, but the moment I locked my eyes on his face, that old familiar feeling started to take over. “Why do you have to be so insufferably irritating?”
He glanced around the hall. No one gave us a second glance. He lowered his voice just a little bit more. “Come on. We’re getting out of here.”
He seized my hand and led me out of the hall. He strode all the way back to his car and opened the door for me.
He gunned the motor and threw the car into gear. I gulped down the rising adrenaline burning through my guts. “Where are we going?”
“My place.”