Yearnings: A Paranormal Romance Box Set (90 page)

“
Eliza. What did you say?”

“
Just that she must know how it is with children. How much a handful children can be. Oh, now don’t you get upset, too. I just wasn’t thinking. I didn’t mean to be callous, I swear it.”

Eliza never
meant
to be callous. She fell into it an awful lot, though. From asking about his father’s arrest in front of his entire rugby team in college to demanding Grant kiss her for New Year’s Eve—right in front of her fiancé. “You’ve been abroad so long as to miss all the gossip mills and reports, then?”

“
That isn’t fair.” She kept her voice low as an older gentleman passed, tipping his hat their direction. “Of course I know what happened. It’s a mother’s worst nightmare. My family has been distraught for yours. My mother said she reached out. Didn’t she? I know I should have, too.”

Everyone had reached out. Then one by one, the reaching out fell away, and Beatrice was left to her own sorrow and her own driving need to find the truth, to find Tristan. “I can’t join you for dinner.”

“
Now you’re angry with me, too,” she said.

From the pout in her bow-shaped lips to the widening of her eyes, Grant knew the look. He’d been a sucker for it most of his life, handing over his dessert, or losing a tennis match in her honor. Then he’d grown up, and learned to see the manipulation. “No. Not angry. I simply have more pressing matters to attend to.” Namely Leigh. He wanted to see the freckles on her nose and the guileless way she stared him right in the eye. “Perhaps another night.”

“
What could be more pressing than an old friend, catching up on lost time?”

“
Where is your husband, Eliza?”

Her lips thinned for the briefest moment before she smiled. “He’ll join us next month at home. Business matters. You must know how that is.”

If she meant he knew the life of a father who was rarely home, often on business, then yes. He knew. He sensed she meant something else, though. “I never took over the firm.”

She gaped. “Why ever not?”

He didn’t buy it that she didn’t know everything about the last seven years, even living abroad much of the time. He didn’t keep up with the gossip mills, and he knew plenty. That she’d married Pierce Rogers. Had two little girls and lived half the year in Europe. “I hope you enjoy dinner, Eliza. If you’ll excuse me.” He bowed and headed for the stairs, leaving her mouth hanging.

Eliza wasn’t shallow. She’d take him in off the streets if he ever asked, and at a point in his life, he almost did ask. No, it wasn’t that Eliza was spoiled, either. She just had a difficult time seeing people for who they were.

Or maybe she couldn’t see beyond herself and her own wishes.

His appetite gone, Grant went to Bea’s room. For once today, his knock was answered right away. A butler let him in where Beatrice, Nick, and Leigh all stood, greeting him.

“
Hungry?” Leigh asked, going to the small table attached to the wall. It had been turned into a sideboard full of food.

“
I could eat.” Her long skirt covered her calves, but his gaze went there anyhow. His memory conjured up their shapeliness. Color showed in her cheeks. How could the sight of a person create such a physical relief? Had to be because of his questions. His mind must be eager to get the answers it craved. Leigh had answers. Now, how to convince her to share them? “You don’t have to do this, Leigh,” he said, taking the plate. In the limited space, it seemed easier to stand and eat, as Nick did.

“
I don’t mind.” She glanced at Beatrice and Nick in quiet conversation across the small room. “Consider it a peace offering.”

He swallowed the mouthful of creamed potatoes. “I didn’t mean the plate. Thank you for it, but I actually meant reading for Bea.”

She nailed him with her startling green eyes. “I know.”

Oh. He shifted the plate. “A peace offering, huh? I didn’t realize we were at war.”

Offering him the bread basket, she quirked an eyebrow. “You’re as friendly with everyone as you have been with me?”

“
These days, even less friendly.” He took a crusty roll. “But I accept. Peace it is. After today, I’d know better than to tangle with you, anyhow.”

“
Scared I know your secret and that I’ll run to the nearest ear willing to hear it?” she said, glancing at Beatrice and Nick a few feet away, engrossed in conversation themselves.

“
Nah. No one would believe you.” He gave her a crooked grin. “Between how you handled security, then defended Bea, I’ll take peace.”

“
Defended Bea?” She knit her brow. “What...oh, I see. You ran into Mrs. Rogers.”

He chuckled. “You could say that.”

She folded her arms under her breasts, giving him a peek at the valley between. They were fuller than he remembered. How was that possible? Visions of his face buried in pink flesh flashed in his mind. He had no business seeing her that way. None. Grant focused on his plate.

“
Did Eliza swoon at your feet before or after bringing up my name?” Leigh asked.

He’d struck a nerve. He liked it. Too much, in fact. A voice inside him warned he had more critical things to be focusing on. Flirting with her was playing with fire. A low chuckle escaped him anyway.

Leigh rolled her eyes, jutting her chin up with a huff. “That woman either has no good sense or is just plain mean. Which is it?”

The line of her neck drew his eyes. How soft would the skin there feel on his palm as he laced his fingers into her hair, pulled her close and claimed her mouth? No bow shape to her lips. Just two full, wide lips, parting as she regarded him, waiting for him to speak. “Eliza is...well, she’s Eliza.” He had no other explanation, and secretly loved that she clearly wanted one. More than that one, at least. She wanted to ask about Eliza. He could see it burn an emerald fire in her eyes. “Some find her rather endearing.”

Leigh looked at Beatrice, and looked back. She shrugged a shoulder. “She’s vile.”

Grant laughed out loud.

“
Truly. Vile.” Leigh nodded, fighting a smile.

“
Yes, well, she’s Eliza. She grows on you.”

Her grimace was priceless. Smiling wide, he shook his head. He couldn’t say how much he loved that Leigh had come to Bea’s defense. People rarely stood up to Eliza’s subtle push and shove. Today’s insult went beyond jabs about the right color dress or debatable horse siring. He cleared his throat. If she could be so honest about Eliza, she could be about that note. “Leigh, I need to know about the note.”

Leigh’s gaze shifted. “I was hurt and angry.”

“
You named me.”

“
I didn’t have another name.”

“
Not good enough. Who is Henry?”

“
Nobody. A single mistake I’ll never make again, and that I’d like very much to forget. I didn’t mean to insult you. I didn’t think anyone would ever see it.”

Insult? Is that what she thought? Claiming Grant thought she lit the sun and stars was no insult, even if he could never let that be true. “You misunderstand me.”

“
I do?”

“
Yes.” Jean-Paul, that glow. His logic kept trying to connect it to the note. Leigh had claimed Grant made her glow from her hair to her toes. So close to what he saw that it couldn’t be merely coincidence. Could it? Maybe she’d seen the glow in a vision. But how did he articulate what he couldn’t define? “My family name is well known in the San Francisco area. I don’t want Beatrice going through any more scandal.”

“
You think I was trying to link your name to mine? Out of some attempt at self-importance? I didn’t know your name is well known. How would I? How would Henry? He couldn’t care less who you are.”

“
Fine. Good.” He sensed Bea’s attention shifting their way. “I was actually more interested in something that you said. It caught my attention.” He wanted to trust her. He did. But Bea joined them before he could ask about the glow. “Thank you for thinking of me,” he said, gesturing at his food.

“
You’re welcome, but I didn’t actually. Nick ordered the food.”

“
All events considered, I figured you’d have a wolf-sized appetite,” Nick said, coming to stand next to Beatrice.

Beatrice smacked Nick’s arm.

“
What? If you’re worried about Leigh running the other way, I’d say we’re well beyond that point. Wouldn’t you?”

Leigh managed a smile. “I’ve seen odder things than a man becoming a wolf.”

“
Probably seen a naked man or two in your day as well,” Nick said, eyes twinkling.

Color flushed Leigh’s cheeks. “One or two,” she said, sarcasm singing in her tone.

Grant suspected she was doing all she could to avoid his eyes. And his body. Which made him want her attention all the more. He shifted, reaching past her to set the plate down. His bicep brushed her back. She jumped at his touch. “I beg your pardon,” Grant said, being sure to graze her arm on the way back up. Oh, she was too much fun to tease. He never would have guessed.

That voice in him warned again. Not this one. Leigh Hamilton was off-limits. Miles off-limits. Her knowing—hell, witnessing, his switch into a wild animal—and not treating him like Satan himself sat far too well with the wolf.

The wolf adored her. The wolf wanted to never leave her side.

He couldn’t let that happen. Finding Tristan was what mattered, the only thing that mattered. Not the wolf, not what happened in that alley with Jean-Paul, and certainly not the bewildering way his thoughts circled around this woman.

“
Shall we begin?” Beatrice asked, breaking the awkward silence pressing around them.

All eyes went to Leigh. The freckles on her nose barely showed in the low light as she took in the room around her. What was she looking for? Her eyes settled on one corner of the room. Something unreadable passed over her eyes. A sort of resolution. Grant looked at the corner. He blinked, thinking he’d glimpsed movement there, but nothing moved as he focused harder. Nothing but shadows.

“
What do you need?” Beatrice asked.

“
Nothing really. Just a chair.”

Nick offered her one, making a circle of the other two in the room and fetching a fourth from the bedroom. Grant decided to stand. If he got too close this time, who knew what he would do? Leigh settled in, leaning back and taking a deep breath. She closed her eyes. Another breath. Her hands twitched.

“
Whatever happens,” she said, her eyes opening, she looked straight at Grant. “You cannot touch me.”

~~~

Chapter Ten

That odd exchange with Grant sparked the hope that he cared, too. Grant might not dislike her so much after all. She’d made him smile and laugh. All thanks to Eliza. She needed to focus, though. Forgetting Eliza and Grant altogether was the answer. Inhaling deeply, she imagined the color white, letting her thoughts vanish into the white. She listened and felt for Jacob.

His hand brushed hers, sending a tingle of energy up her arm. Leigh let another breath ease out of her chest. “There you are,” she said to him. She kept her eyes closed and saw him and her, sitting in the white. Jacob scooted closer. “You seem calmer.” His thumb ran over her hand and fingers, nodding. “What did ‘run’ mean, Jacob? What were you trying to tell me?”

“
The wolf needs to run.” His voice came through so clear. His face showed in her mind’s eye, so detailed that the shadow along his unshaven jaw gave her pause. She reached out with her other hand, but his captured it before she could touch. “It saw me, Leigh.”

Leigh knew “it” meant the wolf. Her pulse quickened. The wolf saw Jacob. They really had connected. “The wolf is telling you to run? What does ‘run’ mean?”

He pulled her hands, drawing her closer. He whispered in her ear. “It wants control. The wolf has found something.”

Leigh shook her head. “Jacob, I need you. The wolf connected with you, but—.”

“
No, not just connect. He
saw
me, Leigh. Me.”

Again, reached out to touch his face. The stubble was so visible that she swore she’d feel the roughness of it on her fingertips. He pulled away. “That scares me, Jacob.”

“
No,” he said, and his hands jerked in hers. “You have nothing to fear. From the wolf or from me.” He brushed her knuckles against his chin. “You fear something else. I can feel it inside of you beating faster than a rabbit’s heart.”

She felt the stubble! Trying not to gasp, Leigh swallowed. She didn’t want to lose the connection and held very still, wonder racing through her. Would Grant’s face feel like this? Jacob’s hands fell still. He pulled her hand away. “I feel the butterflies flapping in your belly, Leigh.”

“
I’m sorry.”

“
No. Never be sorry. But it makes it...”
Hard
.

“
Please, Jacob, stay. I need to find Beatrice’s son, Tristan. I can’t do it without you.”

Stay
.

His image faded in her mind, and then swam back into focus. Then, at her ear, he said, “Tell me what you want.”

She didn’t know what to think of this new ability to speak so fluidly, or of the levels of his visibility. “I want to know if Tristan is alive.”