Chapter Five
The moment Matthew stepped into The Den a few days later, he had second thoughts about this winging-it plan.
Catherine’s initial rejection had stung, but he was determined to win her over. Fighting the urge to see her as soon as possible, he gave her space. It had been two days since the night he had asked her out. He threw himself into work, as he wanted to make sure his first couple of days as CEO went smoothly.
Of course, he couldn't stop thinking about Catherine. Her face popped into his mind whenever he had a free moment, and so he filled every second he could. He was a beast at work, driving most of his staff to the edge. He was irritable and moody, and by the end of his first day, few of them approached him. By the end of the second day, his new assistant (hired just the day before) quit. No, things were not going well, and if he didn't get a hold of himself, he might turn into a literal beast at the office. That probably wouldn't be great for their stock price.
For the sake of his and his employees’ sanity, he had to find a way to control his dragon, which meant giving it what it wanted. Or rather, who it wanted.
Mine. Mine.
He had to laugh at the irony. Women had been throwing themselves at him most of his life. And now, the one woman he was desperate to have wanted nothing to do with him. More determined than ever, he thought he'd put the wing-it plan in motion.
But he didn’t expect his brother and his friends to be at The Den. He couldn’t even walk away and pretend he didn’t see them.
This complicated things. Well, not really, but he couldn’t count on them to not be assholes about the whole Catherine thing. Jason would probably rib him the hardest.
“Well, look who’s here,” Jason said as Matthew walked up to their usual table. “The prodigal son returns.”
“I don’t think that’s how the story went,” he said wryly.
"I thought now that you're CEO and everything, you'd forgotten about us," Nathan said in a mocked miffed tone. As usual, Luke remained silent but gave him an acknowledging nod as he sipped his beer.
“Aww, c’mon, maybe he needs some stress relief or somethin’,” Ben said. “Want a beer, bud?”
Matthew nodded. “Sure.”
Ben signaled the waitress and ordered a round of beers. Matthew followed her as she walked back to the bar. Maybe he’d misdirect them and make them think he was looking at her. But, really, his gaze was fixed on the bartender.
There she was. Catherine, as usual, was standing behind the bar. She took their waitress’ orders with a quick nod and hurried back to the people waiting for their drinks.
“Aww, Nate, no,” Jason said with a groan. “She’s said no to you, like, a million times already.”
“Just five times,” Nathan said, rolling up his sleeves. “I’d say sixth time’s a charm.”
“Sixth time for who?” Matthew asked.
"The bartender," Jason said, nodding his head toward Catherine. "He's asked her out five times. She turned him down flat every single time. Jeez, even I know when to give up."
“That’s because she hasn’t heard the rumor about how my dick’s bigger than all of yours. When she sees—” Nathan didn’t finish his sentence because Matthew grabbed him by the shoulder and slammed him against the wall. “What the hell, man?!” Nathan quickly composed himself and hunched forward. His eyes glowed an eerie green, indicating the presence of his wolf, but Matthew didn’t care. His dragon roared inside him in anger.
“Matt, what the fuck man?” Jason pulled him off, then stood between him and Nathan, probably knowing Matthew would never hurt his own brother. “You need to calm down; you’re putting everyone on edge.”
He looked around, and most of the shifters were looking at him warily, probably fully aware of the presence of his dragon. Even Tim, who was across the room, narrowed his eyes at him.
“I’m fine,” he said, then turned to Nathan. “You stay away from her from now on,” he warned.
Nathan’s face scrunched up. “Yeah, man, whatever. Bros before—” But he didn’t finish his sentence as Matthew let out another snarl, then turned away.
Matthew dragged his fingers through his hair. What the hell was the matter with him? Nathan was like a brother to him, and the Lennoxes owed a lot to his family. But he had nearly ripped the wolf shifter’s head off just for trying to ask Catherine out.
He walked over to the bar where two guys were hanging around, chatting and flirting with her. She seemed to enjoy the banter. Her laughter was like tinkling bells.
“Excuse me,” he said through gritted teeth.
Two pairs of eyes swung over to him. He was getting ready for a fight, but their eyes widened in recognition.
“Hey, Jason!” one of them greeted. A young kid, maybe no more than twenty based on the soda in his hand. “Wow, I didn’t think you’d hang out in places like this!” He stood up and shook his hand.
“Uh yes …”
"It's us! Colton and Jimmy." He gestured to his friend. "We work for you up in the mines. You welcomed us this morning; told us we were doing a good job."
"Oh right, yes." He nodded. Jason was scheduled to work in the mines today; that's probably why they thought he was his brother. He scented fur from the two men … hmmm … the big one, Colton, was probably a bear, and his friend smelled like a feline. Mountain lion or panther, he'd guess.
“Really glad to be part of the team,” Jimmy said.
“Uh, yes … same here.” He shook hands with both of them, unsure of what to do now. He was ready to fight them off, but they seemed to be good guys. His guys, apparently. “Yes, well, do you mind?” He gestured to the bar.
“Of course not! Can we get you a drink?” Colton called Catherine over. “Hey Cat, one beer for the boss over here.”
Catherine’s jaw dropped, but she just shrugged and said nothing as she reached for a beer in the cooler.
"Hey, no need … uh, thanks," he said as Colton handed him a cold bottle.
“Of course! Anything we can do for you, just say it.”
Hmmm. “Well, boys,” he said, as he sat down at the bar. “There is one thing.” He winked at Catherine. “Would you mind giving us some privacy?”
"What? Oh yeah, sure thing!" Colton said. As he turned away from Catherine, he gave Matthew a wink and mouthed good luck. He gave him a pat on the shoulder as both men walked away.
“Wow, must be good to be the boss,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“Why yes, it is,” he replied.
“You get free stuff even though you’re already rich, and you can tell people to go away when you want to.”
"Hey, they gave me the beer," he said, putting his hands up. "And as for the other thing … well, I wanted to talk to you. Have dinner—"
“I thought your name was Matthew,” she interrupted. “Why did they call you Jason?”
“Oh you know, we get mixed up all the time.” He shrugged, not really wanting to talk about his brother.
She frowned. “People here are strange. I thought shifters were supposed to have good eyesight or something.”
“Huh?” What was she talking about? “Listen, I want to ask you—”
“Sorry,” she nodded to the people who sat at the bar, “I’m working.” She walked over to the waiting customers.
Matthew peered at them. Unfortunately, he didn’t know these guys and couldn’t just ask them to leave. But maybe he could persuade them.
“Good evening, gentlemen,” he said. “Can I buy you your drinks?”
“What?” one of them said.
“Sure!” another interjected. “What do you want in return?”
“Nothing. Just … take your drinks and go.” He put his black card on the table and slid it over to Catherine. “Just put it on this one, sweetheart,” he said, giving her a wink.
She frowned at him, but took the card and ran it. "Here you go," she said. When the group walked away with their free drinks, he gave her a smirk. "Are you planning on buying everyone's drinks?"
“I wasn’t, but now that you mention it …” Sounds like a plan.
“Arghh!” She threw her hands up and busied herself in the far corner.
Matthew interrogated every person who came to the bar, took their drink order, and passed it along to Catherine, ensuring none of them talked to her. Most of the guys shrugged and went on their way, but the few who tried to protest usually went away with their tails between their legs when he gave them his most intimidating I-can-literally-eat-you-whole look.
“You have to stop this,” Catherine said. “You can’t keep doing this. I’m going to talk to Tim.”
“He’s still making money,” Matthew pointed out. “And I made sure to tip you double each drink.’
Her pretty face went red. “Take it back.”
“Only if you go out—”
"No!" She slammed her hands on the bar. Her eyes went stormy, and her chest heaved with each breath. The only thing he could think of was reaching over and grabbing her for a kiss.
“Hey now, what’s going on here?”
Christ.
Jason.
“I heard you were buying drinks for everyone,” Jason said with a lopsided smile. He slid onto the stool next to him and put an arm around him. “Mighty generous of you, bro.”
“Will you tell him to please leave?” Catherine said, her eyes pleading.
“Is my brother bothering you? I’m shocked,” he said, putting his hand on his chest like a scandalized debutante. “Normally, I’m the troublemaker. Which is why I love pretending to be him so I can get away with shit.”
She let out a laugh. “Pretending to be him? How would that work?”
“Well, I know he doesn’t have the best fashion sense, but I just wear the same clothes, like when we were young.”
Her brows knitted. “Your mother dressed you alike when you were young?”
“Yeah, you know. Twins and all.”
Her eyes darted from Jason to Matthew, her mouth open. "You're what?"
“Twins,” Matthew repeated.
“People say I’m the better-looking one,” Jason added with a smile.
“You guys are kidding, right?” She shook her head. “This town must really be mental.”
“Wait a minute …” Jason’s eyes narrowed. “Are you saying … we don’t look alike?”
“Look, if you guys want to pretend to be twins, that’s none of my business.” Catherine untied the apron from her waist. “I’m taking my break. Tim!” she called to her boss, signaling that she was heading out.
Matthew watched her walk to the back room. What the heck was she talking about? Pretend to be twins?
“Oh. My. Fucking. God.” Jason’s eyes were wide as he looked at Matthew. “She’s the one, isn’t she?”
Mine.
“How the fuck …” Did Jason feel it, too? Shit, he didn’t want to fight his brother for Catherine, but he would if that’s what it took.
“Shit!” Jason slapped his thigh and let out a hoot. “She’s yours. That’s why you were going all caveman on her? Chasing off those guys?”
“How the hell did you know?” He sulked.
“Dude,” he put an arm around his shoulder, “don’t you ever listen to what Mom says? About girls?”
“You take girl advice from Mom?”
“Shit, no! Not the kind I’m interested in. I mean, you know, how she blathers on about her mother’s family and twins.”
Hmmm … he did remember her saying something about a legend with twins. He wracked his brain, trying to remember her words.
Jason let out an exaggerated groan. "I swear, and they say you're the smart one. She said, and I quote, ‘the one who knows you from your twin is your soulmate.' I never understood it all this time, but I guess she meant it literally.”
“Soulmate?” But humans didn’t have magic, except for maybe witches and warlocks. “That can’t be. No one else can tell us apart, not even mom.”
“Yeah, no shit.” He glanced at the back door. “What the hell have you been waiting for? Why aren’t you making her yours? Doesn’t your dragon think she’s your mate?”
“Fuck me.” That’s what his dragon was trying to tell him. Catherine was his. His mate. “Goddamn.”
“What’s the problem now?”
“She doesn’t want me.”
“What?”
"I keep asking her out, and she keeps turning me down. Fuck. I’m worse than Nate.”
“No way, dude. He’s not her mate. You are. Dammit!” Jason propped him up and gave his shoulders a squeeze, like a coach prepping a fighter for the ring. “Go out there and get her. You’re a Lennox. A dragon, for God’s sake.”
“You know what, you’re right.” He straightened his shoulders and marched behind the bar, ignoring Tim’s protests as he yanked open the door to the back room.
***
“Fucking rich boy shifters,” Catherine muttered to herself as she kicked the door to the back room shut. Oh she knew his type well. Throwing around their money, thinking they could buy anything and anyone. It was one of the reasons she hated her old life and had taken off for LA. Controlling rich men who thought they owned you.
And what was that weird thing about being twins? Were they fraternal twins, maybe? Jason and Matthew looked like distant relatives. Sure, they were the same height and had the same large frame, but Jason's hair wasn't as dark and it was much thinner, and his nose was just a bit too big for his face. His eyes were also too close together, and now that she'd seen them side by side, Jason's were a dull gray instead of bright silver.
She leaned against the wall, trying to calm herself. Was she overreacting? Why the hell did Matthew Lennox get under her skin so much? He was just a guy. She wasn’t some teenager pumped with hormones seeing her first crush. So what if Matthew Lennox was a tall drink of water on a hot day? It would never work out between them. He was a billionaire dragon CEO and she was … what? She was going to be leaving as soon as she had enough money, that’s what.
She was just in Blackstone to lay low for a while until she threw the Brotherhood's scent off. And getting involved with the biggest apex predator in the world was certainly not laying low.
The door to the storage room flew open. "I'm not done with my break, Tim," she said in an annoyed voice. But the shadow in the doorway was definitely not Tim. The hairs on the back of her neck bristled, and she recognized the man standing in the doorway.
“Excuse me, this is for employees only! Can’t you read the sign outside?”
Matthew strode toward her, his shoulders straight and back stiff. The air around her suddenly felt cold and thin as power rolled off of him. It was too much, and she backed away. He didn't stop, just kept walking toward her until he trapped her against the wall, hands planted on either side of her. Before she could protest, he lowered his mouth to hers.
Catherine stiffened, and time slowed down as their lips touched. His mouth was surprisingly soft, but his kiss was urgent. Hot desire curled out from her middle, spreading through her body as he moved his lips against hers in a slow dance that left her breathless. Her knees buckled, and, to steady herself, she grabbed onto his shoulders.
His lips coaxed hers, parting them so he could taste her. He was like a man dying of thirst, drinking from her like she was the only oasis in the desert. His mouth—God, his mouth—owned not only her lips but all of her. She was burning hot from the inside. Was this what it was like to kiss a dragon shifter? Or was it just Matthew?
Rough fingers brushed at the skin on her neck and moved up into her hair, curling around the locks. He pulled gently at her scalp, and desire shot straight to her core, making her groan. His mouth moved lower, and while she whimpered at the loss, she soon let out a gasp when his lips pressed against her neck.
“Matthew,” she whispered, lowering her eyes. His body was so close to hers, not touching, yet she could feel the warmth and power from him.
He pulled away from her, but braced his hands on the wall behind her again. "We're going out."
“Huh?”
“You. Me. On a date. When are you off next?”
“Uh, tomorrow?” Wait, was he asking her out?
“Okay then, I’ll pick you up at seven.”
Wait, he wasn’t asking. He was telling her. “You can’t—”
He cut her off with another kiss. “Don’t be late.” With that, he turned around and strode out the door.
“What the …” She blinked. She was going out on a date with Matthew Lennox. “Sonofabitch.”