Kate tried to contain her grin as the truck bumped along the gravel road between the cabin and the main house. Ryan had nearly carried her to the truck. In fact, she was trying to remember if her feet had touched the ground at all. Her wolf had almost done a back flip in glee over the attention. The way he’d thwacked his brother’s hand off her shoulder.

Yep. He was a goner. And he knew it.

She leaned toward the center console of the truck and rested her elbow on the raised section. Her shoulder didn’t quite touch his arm, but it put her so much closer. His scent filled her lungs and her mind wandered back to her daydream about leisurely licking her way up his cock.

“Stop making that sound,” Ryan snapped.

“What sound?” She looked up at him and batted her eyelashes playfully. She wanted him to say it. Wanted to hear him admit that the pull between them was Fate. Wanted him to choose her.

“You know what I’m talking about,” he ground out between gritted teeth.

His jaw flexed and she wondered what it would feel like to have his scruffy five-o-clock shadow on her skin. Between her legs. Yep. She’d gone there. She wanted him all over her. She let another little moan slip between her lips and crossed her legs, squeezing her thighs. Her body was thrumming and needy, but this game required big-picture thinking. She not only wanted Ryan, she also needed the job with his pack.

Two missions. Totally doable for a good multi-tasker.

“Seriously, Kate. Stop.”

“Or what, Mr. Rodeo? Your alpha said if I get your pack the horse, I get the job. Won’t that be great? We’ll get to see each other every single day. It’s gonna be awesome.”

“You still have to get the horse,” he muttered.

“Adam’s single, which means he’s susceptible. Plus I look a little like Dee, so I already know I’m his type.”

“You’re not. I don’t want—”

“Ah, but that’s your problem, Mr. Rodeo. I am. And you do want.” The poor man was trying so hard to fight Fate. So hard to stay away and keep her away from others at the same time. Kate pushed up the console and slid into the folded down center seat, bumping her thigh against his and her breast against his arm. The leather wraps on the steering wheel squeaked under the pressure of Ryan’s hands, making Kate feel that much more sure of her impending victory over his willpower. She didn’t miss the bulge in his jeans either. She licked her lips and leaned even closer, putting her mouth near his ear.

“I’m all yours. Right here. Right now. Wherever you want me.”

A growl rumbled in his chest, but he didn’t respond and he didn’t take his eyes off the road. Kate flicked out her tongue and licked the edge of his earlobe. The shudder that followed spanned the length of Ryan’s tightly wound body. She went a step further and bit the tip of his ear, leaning against him so that her left breast dragged across his arm. If she could just get him past this whole I have to be single shit, she would not only have the perfect way to escape her conniving grandparents, she’d also have a mate Fate had chosen for her. She couldn’t help but feel a bit of unadulterated glee at that prospect.

She moved her mouth down from his ear to his neck, licking and nibbling as she went. Damn. He tastes good. Like grass and salt and man. She was quite sure tasting him from head to foot needed to be on her immediate agenda. Her hand went to the top button of his shirt and she undid it, slipping her palm inside and rubbing against his rock-hard chest. She didn’t usually get this handsy this fast with anyone, but the whole mate-pull magick mojo just about had her coming out of her skin.

“We can’t do this,” Ryan growled.

“Sure we can. We’re doing it. And the world isn’t ending.” She kissed his cheek and then his chin, moving closer and closer to those tightly drawn lips of his.

“Kate. Stop.”

She drew back immediately, removing her body from its proximity with his. She slid back over into the passenger seat and sighed. “Fine. Your loss.”

Eventually he was going to lose control and take what was his and she was damned sure she’d enjoy the implosion. She resituated her aching breasts in their lace confines and couldn’t help but notice him sneaking a look. “It’s not your fault, girls,” she said patting her boobs back into place. “He’ll eventually realize what he’s missing.”

“Who are you…are you talking to—” He met her gaze for a moment, disbelief and desire warring in his pretty blue eyes. “Never mind.”

She didn’t even attempt to hide her grin and thoroughly enjoyed the way his cheeks reddened through his tan. “If you’re feeling left out of the conversation, you’re welcome to touch. Or come closer. Or just come. I’m flexible,” she said, letting her grin widen even more at the purposeful innuendo.

“Stop,” he growled again. The standoffish, stick-up-his-ass Ryan was back in control. She sat back as they pulled into the clearing. No matter. Eventually, he’d realize that Fate didn’t make mistakes, and he would choose her.

She could wait.

He parked the truck in the growing line of SUVs and dually pickups. A couple of cars, sport and coupes, were parked on the driveway, but otherwise it was Tonka trucks as far as the eye could see. One might make the mistake of thinking it was a guys’ retreat, but just as many women climbed out of the pickups as men.

She slithered out of the truck and crossed the field toward the back porch, where people were gathering around a massive outdoor kitchen set up. Picnic tables were scattered around the lawn. Everywhere she looked, people were laughing. Red-shirt-hottie-in-glasses was standing around with a few other guys. She was close enough this time to see that he was a wolf.

A burst of magick slid across her body and she heard Ryan come up behind her. A devilish plan started to form. “You said that guy’s a VonBrandt, right?”

“What?”

“Red shirt and glasses?” she asked, nodding at him.

“Yeah. He’s a VonBrandt.”

“Adam VonBrandt?” Kate raised a brow and her insides tingled as a jealous look passed over Ryan’s rugged features. She loved watching him get all growly like that.

Gods, he was hot.

“Well…” Ryan paused, and looked back and forth between her and Glasses Guy.

“Yeah, you can’t hide him from me, Ryan. Just because you don’t want me to get the horse.”

“Kate…” There was a hint of something dark his voice. Probably just annoyance that he was sending her off to flirt with another man when he’d much rather have her for himself. Too bad. So sad.

She approached the little group of men and Glasses Guy made eye contact with her. His gaze slid up and down her body. He looked like he was about to say something, but she could feel Ryan looming over her shoulder.

The VonBrandt man nodded at her, then returned his attention to his friends. Another one of them eyed her, but one look at Ryan was enough to make him avert his gaze.

Dammit. She was going to have to get Ryan to leave her alone if she was going to be able to do any real flirting. He was a cock-block of magnificent proportions.

“And you saw Allan come back with that chick from New Orleans? Shit, she was hot,” one of Glasses Guy’s friends was saying as Kate turned around to tell Ryan to leave her alone.

“Maybe the real action is at Joe’s Bar tonight, then,” said another of the friends.

“Why don’t we head over there after the summit meeting?” said another. “Aaron said it’d be a short night.”

Ryan’s eyes were on the group of men, and Kate watched his face go darker and darker. There was something going on behind his eyes. She couldn’t quite figure out what it was, but she wanted to handle all this junk with Glasses Guy—with Adam—before she started back in on Ryan.

For now, she just needed him to vamanos.

“Kate,” a familiar female voice called from behind her. Kate whirled around to find her cousin Gretchen walking across the drive toward her. There was a clear resemblance between all the Quades, but Gretchen was widely acknowledged to be the most beautiful of the young female wolves. She even managed to make the all-black-all-the-time look hot. Their cousin Helena Quade followed Gretchen, only a few steps behind, her arms filled with notebooks. That girl never went anywhere without her planners.

“Hey girls,” Kate called and waved. “Where’s Jessa?”

“In the last car. Chica, you got here wa-a-ay faster than us,” Gretchen said, enveloping her in a big hug and giving her a hard squeeze. “When did you leave?”

“Really early,” she said, hoping her cousin wouldn’t push for more.

“We left at 7 a.m. How early could you possibly have gotten up?” Gretchen noticed Ryan and smiled. “Hi, I’m Gretchen Quade. I better introduce myself since my cousin has failed to do so.”

Ryan shook her hand and nodded. “Nice to meet you. Ryan Travis.”

“I knew you looked familiar,” Gretchen said, giving him a wide smile.

Kate’s cheeks heated. A little with embarrassment and a little with jealousy. She didn’t like the assessing glance her very pretty cousin was giving Ryan from behind her bright, toothy smile. Gretchen was known for sinking her teeth into anything and everything she set her sights on. But she needed to pick a different target this time.

“Dibs already,” she whispered into Gretchen’s ear.

“No prob, cuz,” Gretchen said, keeping her voice very low. Gretchen stuck out a pinky finger and Kate couldn’t help the giggle that rolled from her throat. She wrapped her pinky around Gretchen’s and they shook on it. Just like they’d been doing since they were twelve.

Movement on the porch caught Kate’s attention. Red shirt—Adam—was on the move. He and his friends were on their way inside the big house. Dammit. This wasn’t going to be quite as easy as she’d thought. But if she could get to the bar before him…and then be waiting…hmmmm…

“Hey, Kate,” Helena said, finally having made it across the drive with her stack of notebooks.

“I have to go inside. The meetings are starting soon.” Ryan walked off, not pausing for even a second so Kate could introduce her other cousin. Rude.

“Hey, Helena.” Kate hugged her with a smile. “You doing okay?”

Helena nodded. “I need to head inside, too. I’m sure Grandfather will want me taking notes for him during the meetings.”

“Okay, I’ll check on you later.”

Helena nodded and hurried past them, leaving her and Gretchen standing together alone.

“So what’s the plan, Chica? I know we are not going to just wait around while all these men gab about unbonded wolves and how it’s going to wreck our pack culture if they don’t fix it.”

Kate laughed. “Actually, I need to talk to a man about a horse.”

“Grandfather wants to buy a horse from the VonBrandts? He usually gets all his stock from the Hiltons.”

“Nope. This horse is for the Trewitts. And the man I need to see about it is planning to whittle away the night at a cowboy bar in town called Joe’s.”

“Mmmmm, been planning some plans?”

“Just a few,” Kate said. “I can’t really say right now.”

“No worries. You had me at cowboy bar.” Gretchen laughed and pulled a set of keys from her jean pocket. “Go find Helena and drag her out of that boring ass meeting so we can go have some fun. I’ll get the car.”

“Now that sounds like a good plan,” Kate said, giving her cousin a wave before heading for the patio door.