Chapter Two
“He seems to like you more than Regina,” Angela observed. “What’s up with that? Are you sure you guys are ancient history?”
Regina was staring across the room in shock and dismay. Hilda was glaring at her with murder in her eyes. Mary turned her back on Jarrod and walked away, threading her way through racks of clothing and hoping that Jarrod would take the hint. He didn’t, of course.
“Mary!” he called out, and she turned around, forcing a pained smile.
“Jarrod!” she said, gritting her teeth. “What a surprise. Notice that the word ‘pleasant’ was nowhere in there. What brings you here?”
“The pack secretary asked me to come pick up some fishing lures. Even though we also make our own fishing lures. Apparently only fishing lures from this particular store will do. And apparently it needed to be the Alpha Regent who came to get them, because nobody else could figure it out.” He cast an amused glance at the assembled paparrazi, who were standing impatiently with cameras trained on him, waiting for him to go talk to Regina. Mary wasn’t news; Mary was a nobody.
Regina Van Hoffington was news.
“And you?”
“She’s here for work,” Angela interjected. She stuck out her hand. “Hi, I’m Mary’s cousin Angela. Quick but important question, because I’m new in town. Do all the Magister Pack werewolves look like you?”
“Like me?” Jarrod looked temporarily nonplussed.
“I mean totally hot.”
Jarrod laughed. “I’m not really in a position to judge,” he said. “Although pack pride requires that I say yes, there’s no one more handsome than a Magister werewolf.”
“Oooh, can we go visit the pack?” Angela begged, tugging on Mary’s sleeve. “I’m bored. Come on. Can we?”
“Angela, I’ll kill you later, I mean discuss it with you later. Don’t you have somewhere you need to be right now? Like outside the store?”
“Nope.” Angela smiled, blinking her big blue eyes in an innocent fashion.
“I’d love it if you came to visit,” Jarrod said to Mary. “I was thrilled when I heard you were back in town. It’s been ages; we should catch up.” He favored her with that slow, sexy smile that, once upon a time, had made her melt.
That had been back in high school. Since then she’d had her heart broken, lost her drunken mother to a solo car accident, gone away to college and then grad school, and finally come back home. She’d been through a lot. She was no longer the insecure, eager-to-please pushover she’d been when Jarrod had known her as a girl.
Mary coughed into her hand. “Nevergonnahappen. Sorry, something in my throat.”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure it will happen, Mary. Soon.”
“I’m pretty sure that dinosaurs will fly to the moon without rockets first.”
Jarrod put his hand on her shoulder and propelled her a few feet away from Angela. For once Angela didn’t scurry along next to Mary; she just stood back and watched, with interest.
“Here’s what’s going to happen.” His gaze bored into hers with a burning intensity. “You and I are going to finish what we started back in high school.”
She spluttered indignantly, struggling for words. Was that what all this was about? Bastard. They’d only gotten to second base in high school; he’d wanted more, she’d held back. Apparently he thought she owed him a happy ending – after what he’d done to her back then. She’d known he was arrogant, but this was some next-level douchebaggery.
“You’re going to let me take you out to a nice dinner, or cook a nice dinner, whichever you prefer. I grill a mean steak. And then we’re going to—”
Mary didn’t dare let him finish, because there was that treacherous part of her that yearned to be in Jarrod’s strong arms again. “Hey, look who’s here!” she interrupted him quickly, and pointed at Regina, who waved frantically with both arms at Jarrod.
“She’s not having a seizure, is she?” Angela asked, walking over to them and looking mildly concerned but mostly curious.
“Nah, that’s just how she tries to get attention.” Mary glanced at Jarrod. “It’s adorably quirky, isn’t it?”
“Is that what we’re calling it?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Anyway, here she comes.” Regina was elbowing her hair and makeup crew out of the way to hurry towards them.
“Yep. Amazing. She turns up everywhere I do, these days,” Jarrod drawled, with a sarcastic twist to his smile. “It’s almost like she’s stalking me.”