Barlow’s wolf woke him with an agitated howl. Not the greatest morning person – even after all his years in the army – he growled and snarled his way to wakefulness.
His eyes still half-closed, he swung himself out of bed and stretched his long body, reaching towards to the ceiling.
“Eep!”
Barlow’s eyes snapped open to find a hotel maid staring openmouthed at his man parts – at his considerably large man parts, hence the open mouth.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured, though her eyes didn’t move. She wasn’t even blinking.
Barlow inhaled, and on finding a lack of magnolia blossom, he glanced around the room to have his suspicions confirmed. No suitcase, no makeup, no wayward panties – yep, his little human was gone.
“Where’s the female who was registered to this room?” he asked the sheepish looking maid.
“Oh, ah, she, um, checked out. She warned us you’d be here, but I need to get the room ready for the next occupant. I’ll give you some privacy.”
She moved into the bathroom, though she didn’t close the door, and he could see that she was still staring at him in the reflection of the bathroom mirror. Meh. He had nothing to be ashamed of, and besides, he had more pressing matters. Namely, where the frak was Susie?
On closer inspection, he discovered a note on his bedside table.
Thank you for a wonderful night. I had a great time. You should be really proud of your skills. I know I will never forget them. All the best, Susie.
A thank you note for sex?!
He didn’t know whether to laugh or growl.
*
Susie stared at the calendar on her desk.
Three days until she was supposed to go to Jules’ wedding.
Three days until she would have to see Allen again, along with his new mate and mother of his cub, Helen aka Skankarella.
Three days to come down with some kind of contagious disease.
Four days since her Vegas hookup had rocked her bed and her world.
Susie automatically blushed, and her hand instinctively went to her phone. No, bad girl, she chastised herself. She would not look at that photo again – she would only do it as a treat, a pat on the back for sticking to her diet and losing those last few niggling pounds before the wedding. But maybe one little peek could not hurt.
Barlow had just looked so sexy while sleeping. Before she ran out on him, she couldn’t resist a quick pic, something to remember him by, because she couldn’t imagine hooking a guy hotter than him. She was convinced men hotter than him did not exist. If she really concentrated, she could still feel his lips on her stomach. One little peek…
No. Ignore the urge she told herself in a firm voice. She forced her hand away from her pocket and considered less desirable topics – like Jules’ wedding.
She wanted to be there, she really did. She loved Jules; her family had always been there for Susie since she moved to town. Susie moved there to live with her grandparents when she was five. Her grandmother was lovely, but while dealing with her own diabetes and partial sight, she not quite up to mothering a child, never mind a grieving child.
It was Jules who befriended her and Jules’ wonderful family who helped take care of her. Susie needed to be there for her, no matter what. She was maid of honor after all, and she had forked out a hundred dollars for her dress. That was how much she loved Jules.
She was just grateful that Jules’ dad had insisted on paying for her hotel room. The wedding was taking place at a swanky mountain resort – one that pack members often frequented so they got a discount. Susie had been there a couple of times with Allen, but Allen insisted he pay on those visits.
Susie wasn’t above accepting a helping hand, and the resort was a little out of the price range for a deputy in a small town. The dress she could manage. She managed to swing Vegas thanks discounted plane tickets from Jules’ dad. But a fancy lodge hotel room along with all the planned wedding activities would have been too much for her salary. Susie was one of a handful of deputies in the small town of Rose and…
“Are you listening to me?” snapped Mrs. Martin.
Susie put on a patient, professional look. “Of course.”
Mrs. Martin’s nostrils flared as she pursed her lips in disapproval. “What did I just say?”
“You were telling me that you wished to make a complaint against your neighbor because he keeps parking his car an inch over your property line.”
She had been listening; she was also just thinking of other things at the same time – she could multi-task. It was easy, especially with Mrs. Martin. The elderly human came in to complain at least once a week, and it was usually about nothing more important than the fact that she was convinced her paperboy was trying to get a look at her naked. Susie was glad she hadn’t taken the report on that one – she wasn’t entirely convinced she would have been able to keep a straight face. Mrs. Martin was a terrible gossip and generally disapproved of anything anyone ever did.
Mrs. Martin looked mildly taken aback by Susie’s response before the scowl returned. “No.”
Susie’s eyebrows raised. “No?” She could have sworn she was spot on.
“No. I said it was two inches and I said I wanted you to arrest him. Mr. Maguire owns the house, but he isn’t there. I don’t know where he is, but he has apparently left town and is allowing someone else to live in his house – without telling me!”
The nerve.
“And now some giant lout of a man is living there – I think he’s some kind of shifter. He certainly looks like one given the size of him and all those unsightly tattoos.”
Susie felt a twinge down below as she thought of another large man with tattoos. But those were not unsightly – no siree. In fact, she had enjoyed kissing every inch of them…
“I apologize,” said Susie, “but this really isn’t something I can arrest him for. Have you considered talking to him and asking him to be more careful?”
She sniffed. “I already have, but he won’t listen to reason.”
Yes, Susie could imagine the way in which she tried to be reasonable. It probably started with her shouting at him to move his damn car, and got worse from there.
“I will speak to him and ask him to be more careful,” said Susie.
Mrs. Martin pursed her lips. “Yes, I think that’s the least you can do.”
She gave one last sniff and left.
Susie leaned back in her chair and called, “She’s gone, you can come out.”
Cain lumbered into the room. The seven-foot bear shifter had not got off on the right foot with Mrs. Martin – by barging into her house and ransacking it in the misguided belief that she might be harboring his mate. Oddly, things had only gotten worse between them since then.
“Has anyone ever thought about just asking her to move?” grumbled Ford, entering behind Cain.
Susie glared at the two males – a bear and a wolf shifter, and they were afraid of an elderly human. Wussbags.
Ford was a member of the local wolf pack. Like her old town, it was predominantly a pack town. Jake, the sheriff was a member of the pack and so were most of the deputies, like Delilah, Ford, Gabe and Cain too - by mating a member of the pack. While Susie and a bobcat called Deanna were non-pack deputies. It was the same in her old town, though back there she had always been kind of an honorary member of the pack through Jules and because everyone thought she would eventually mate Allen. Now, she really was on the outside.
Susie grabbed her coat.
“Where are you going?” asked Ford.
“To talk to her neighbor.”
“No, stop, let me,” said Ford in a lazy voice. He sat down and raised his feet to the desk.
Susie rolled her eyes. “Thank you for the completely genuine offer, but I got this.”
Cain dragged his huge frame to his feet.
“Seriously, big guy, I don’t mind.”
Cain grinned. “Actually I was going to see my mate.”
Susie smiled indulgently while Ford made a whipping noise
“You’re right,” she said, “it’s only been an hour, I’m sure she’s getting withdrawal symptoms.”
Cain inflated his already considerable chest. “Just want to make sure my cub’s safe.”
Yep, it was very early days for his mate, Carly’s pregnancy, but Cain had already gone into overprotective overdrive. Luckily, little Carly was the sweetest wolf shifter on the planet who happily put up with her mate’s behavior no matter what
“Just bring me back a nata tart.”
Carly owned a cake shop and had started making Portuguese custard tarts – they were delicious beyond belief, and besides, she was guessing she would need one after this.
She waved goodbye to Delilah who was manning the front desk and set on her way.