Beauty and the Wolf (10 page)

“I'm starting to wonder if any of you boys will ever get married and give me great-grandchildren to take fishing,” Jack growled.

“What?” Startled, Eli's attention snapped back to his grandfather. Had the old man been reading his mind?

“I'd like some kids in this family,” Jack told him bluntly. “It's been too long since we've had little ones around.”

“Justin's dad felt that way and tried to force his sons to marry and have kids,” Eli reminded him. “Don't take a page from Harry's playbook—he's lucky his sons are still speaking to him after he threatened to sell HuntCom.”

“Wouldn't work with you and your brothers,” Jack said regretfully. “You've already inherited your dad's sixty percent of Wolf Construction.” He eyed Eli speculatively. “I suppose I could threaten to sell my forty percent to an outside party if you four don't get married soon and have some babies.”

“Don't even think about it,” Eli said mildly, sipping his coffee.

Jack laughed. “Might be worth it, just to make you all a little crazy.” His eyes twinkled.

“Connor might have a heart attack,” Eli told him. “Just remember—” he pointed his index finger at Jack “—paybacks are hell.”

“That's true.” Jack heaved a loud sigh and took another doughnut from the bag.

“Damned straight.” Eli nodded emphatically. He wondered why the thought of getting married and having kids didn't seem as inconceivable as usual.

He doubted it was coincidence that listening to Jack talk about marriage and babies led directly to Technicolor mental images of Frankie.

Eli could handle lusting after her. Any healthy male with a libido would react the same to the beautiful blonde.

No, what shook him were the unfamiliar feelings of possessiveness and the gut-deep need to claim and protect.

He'd never felt this level of emotion for a woman before. If he were a man who believed in fate, he'd suspect he'd met his match in Frankie Fairchild and life as he knew it had been changed forever.

O
n Sunday afternoon, the day after biking in the park with Eli and Ava, Frankie met two of her sisters to shop at Pacific Place in downtown Seattle. Tommi was busy with Max and couldn't join them, but Bobbie, Georgie and Frankie happily browsed racks of sweaters, slacks and jeans, then tried on shoes before gathering for lunch at one of their favorite spots, the Nordstrom café.

“It looks like Bobbie has the most bags,” Frankie said, stowing her single bag containing a lime-green cashmere sweater with matching hat and gloves under her chair.

“I found shoes on sale,” Bobbie replied, delighted. “Fabulous prices—I couldn't resist.”

“I bought a pair of black heels,” Georgie put in. “I'm
looking forward to shopping in New York and didn't plan to buy a thing today but I couldn't resist them.”

“I also hit the lingerie section.” Bobbie swung a light bag from one finger, her smile slightly wicked. “Gabe is going to love what I bought.”

“Show us,” Frankie demanded, knowing her sister's smile meant she planned to seduce her fiancé.

Bobbie opened the bag and tugged out just enough black lace over cream satin to make her sisters ooh and ah before tucking the bag beneath her chair with her purse.

The waiter arrived with their order, placed earlier at the long counter in the entry room, and it was several moments before conversation resumed.

“Can you believe Mom?” Frankie asked, stirring a teaspoonful of sugar into her tea. “I wonder if she's serious about the golf pro at the club?”

“I doubt it.” Georgie shook her head.

Frankie wasn't so sure. She noted the unconvinced expression on Bobbie's face and looked back at Georgie. “Why don't you think this might be serious—is it because he's so much younger than her?”

“That—and I can't see Mom remarrying,” Georgie said. “Look how long she's been single.” She took a bite of her club sandwich.

“I don't know,” Bobbie put in. “I'm a firm believer in a woman's right to change her mind about living alone. Tommi and I did.”

“Yes, but you're a lot younger than Mom,” Georgie pointed out.

“True,” Bobbie conceded.

“But Mom looks and acts so much younger than her real age,” Frankie argued. “I swear, she seems younger than most fifty-year-olds.”

“Which is probably why Greg is so taken with her,” Bobbie pointed out.

“I wonder if Mom realizes she's now doing what she always told Harry he
shouldn't
do when he dated younger women,” Frankie said with a grin, filled with amusement that sixty-six-year-old Cornelia was dating a man of forty-nine.

“I'm not brave enough to tell her.” Bobbie's eyes twinkled as she sipped her green tea.

“Me, either!” Frankie said promptly, her words immediately echoed by Georgie.

“Speaking of dating,” Georgie said, fixing Frankie with a curious look. “I hear you went out with Eli Wolf.”

Frankie nodded, well aware that Bobbie had stopped eating and was staring at her with surprise.

“I didn't know you were going out with Eli,” Bobbie told her. “When did this happen?”

“We went to the Children's Hospital fundraiser last Saturday,” Frankie said.

“Are you seeing him again?” Bobbie asked.

“Tomorrow night,” Frankie responded. “He's taking me to his favorite bar to meet his brothers and have dinner.”

“It sounds as if the two of you are spending a lot of time together,” Georgie commented.

Frankie shrugged. “Just a few dates. I won't see him the rest of the week because he and his brother Connor are flying to Las Vegas for a business conference on Tuesday and won't be back till late Sunday night.”

She didn't miss the significant glance Bobbie exchanged with Georgie.

“What?” she demanded.

“For someone who's had only ‘a few dates,' it certainly sounds as if the two of you are an item,” Georgie said.

Bobbie leaned forward, fixing her with a sober stare. “What about the physical side? Are you compatible?”

“He's an incredible kisser.” Frankie's gaze went slightly unfocused as she remembered their heated kisses. “I haven't slept with him,” she said bluntly, “but I'm guessing it would just as amazing.”

“You haven't slept with him?” Georgie's eyes went wide.

“No.” Frankie shook her head. “Why do you sound so surprised?”

“Because you've apparently been seeing quite a bit of each other and rumor has it, Eli never dates women just for their conversation.”

“Hmm.” Frankie had heard those same rumors. “I'm not likely to get involved with a man who'll break my heart,” she told them. “Not to worry.”

Bobbie and Georgie looked unconvinced but didn't protest when Frankie asked Georgie a question about her upcoming assignment that would take her to New York City for several months.

She was relieved when the conversation turned away from her and Eli. Because the truth was, she had to admit Eli Wolf was much more than she'd anticipated—more attractive, more charming, more seductive. Added to that, she was finding she simply liked the man he was.

And that was perhaps the most dangerous thing of all.

 

The following Monday evening, Eli picked up Frankie and drove to Killoran's Pub in Ballard. Tucked into a brick side street off Ballard Avenue, the pub had been the Wolf brothers' favorite place to play pool, listen to live music, drink beer and grab a hot sandwich or pizza since they'd turned twenty-one.

“I can't stay too late,” Frankie told Eli as he held the heavy door for her. “I have an early class in the morning.”

“I'll have you home before ten,” he promised.

They stepped inside and paused, met with a wave of conversation and laughter. The yeasty smell of beer and bread mixed with the scent of pizza in the walnut-paneled room.

“Hey, Eli, back here,” Connor yelled from a table halfway to the rear of the long, narrow room.

Eli lifted a hand in acknowledgment and tucked Frankie under his arm. Together they wound their way between crowded tables toward his brothers.

Several times they were stopped when someone
caught Eli's arm, halting him to say hello and exchange a few words before they could move on.

“You know lots of people here,” Frankie said, leaning up to speak close to his ear so he could hear her over the noise.

He nodded. “I've been coming here after work for years. A lot of these guys have worked on jobs with me.”

At last, they reached the table. Eli pulled out chairs for them, seating Frankie before dropping into the chair next to her.

“Man, it's crowded in here tonight,” he commented, holding Frankie's black raincoat as she shrugged out of the sleeves.

“Michael O'Shea is playing later,” Ethan told him. “He has a lot of fans.”

“Yeah, and they're all crammed into this room,” Matt added dryly. He lifted a pitcher and poured a glass of beer, passing it to Frankie before filling another for Eli. “Have you two eaten yet?”

“No. I wanted Frankie to try the grilled Italian sandwich on ciabatta bread.”

“Good call.” Connor leaned forward to nod. “The pizza is good, too.”

“What do you say, Frankie—sandwich or pizza?” Eli asked, stretching his arm along the back of her chair and leaning in so she could hear him over the noise.

“What are you having?” she asked. Her lips brushed his ear as she spoke, and he turned his head to look at
her, blue eyes heating. Electricity arced between them, and Frankie caught her breath.

“Sandwich,” he murmured against her ear.

Frankie shivered with awareness, his breath stirring the tendrils of hair at her nape. Earlier, she'd pulled her hair up into a ponytail, donned a black cashmere sweater over pencil-thin jeans with boots and slipped gold hoops into her earlobes. The ponytail left her nape bare, and when Eli stroked his thumb over the back of her neck, she realized how very vulnerable she was to his touch.

“How about you?” he asked.

Belatedly, Frankie realized he was waiting for her to answer.

“Oh, me, too,” she said. “Whatever you're having.”

His lips curved in a brief smile, and Frankie suddenly wished they were alone. She badly wanted his mouth on hers.

On the stage behind them, the microphone screeched. The noise yanked Frankie back to awareness of her surroundings, and she sat forward, reaching for control as she moved away from Eli's disturbing touch. She picked up her glass and sipped her beer, leaning her elbows on the table as Eli stopped a waiter to recite their order and she listened to his brothers arguing.

“…and I'm telling you there's no way that specific gaming software will run as fast as it should on your computer,” Ethan said vehemently. “You need more hard-drive capacity.”

Frankie blinked. “Your brother is a techno guy?”
she murmured to Eli. “Does he know anything about programming cell phones?”

“Probably,” Eli told her. “You have a problem with yours?”

She nodded. “I have a new phone and haven't had time to figure out how to transfer all my numbers and info from my old phone,” she explained. “So I'm carrying both of them, because my address book, email addresses, et cetera, are all stored in the original phone. I'd love to get rid of it and just have one.”

“I can fix it,” Matt put in before Eli could respond. “I'm good with cell phones.”

“I'm better,” Connor declared. “Besides, I just did that with my new cell. It'll be a piece of cake.”

“Don't let either of them touch your phone,” Ethan warned her with a slow smile. “They'll break it.”

“I'll do it for you,” Eli told her. “If you let any of them have your phone, God knows what they'll do to it.”

“Oh, come on, Eli,” Matt protested. “I programmed all the work cell phones a few months ago, and they all work fine.”

“Yeah,” Eli said, his voice dry. “And the ring tones were annoying as hell.”

Matt grinned at Frankie. “He's just mad because his ringtone was ‘Macarena.'”

Frankie sputtered, nearly choking on a mouthful of her drink. Eyes wide, she looked at Eli to find him watching her, a lazy smile on his handsome face. Within moments, though, she joined his brothers, laughing at Eli's disgruntled expression.

“I'm better than my brothers with technical equipment, Frankie. You'd better let me fix your phone,” Ethan repeated.

“No.” Eli's voice held finality. “I'll do it.”

“All right.” Frankie opened her purse, shifting through the contents until she found the two cell phones. “Here you are.” She handed them to Eli as she dropped her purse at her feet once more. “The new one is the hot-pink one. The old one is the silver.”

“Hot pink?” Eli lifted his eyebrows in disbelief. “You have a hot-pink phone? Geez.” Eli clearly was speechless. Nonetheless, he started scrolling through her menu.

As Eli concentrated on her phones, the three younger Wolf brothers regaled her with stories of the hours they'd spent in the bar and the musicians who'd appeared on the small stage—some already famous, some who had gone on to become famous. They took turns teasing each other about the women they'd met, won and lost within the four walls.

The waiter interrupted them to slide plates of sandwiches with pickles and chips on the table in front of Frankie and Eli. He deposited a large pizza, loaded with cheese, meat and veggies, in the middle of the table and set plates in front of Ethan, Connor and Matt.

Eli handed Frankie her phones.

“Are you done already?” she asked, startled.

“Yeah,” he told her. “I'll explain how I did it later.”

“Great.” She smiled at him with delight. “Thanks so much. I have no idea when I would have had time to sit
down and figure out how to transfer everything. I owe you.”

The slow curve of his lips set her heart pounding.

“I'll think of a way for you to pay me,” he murmured so only she could hear.

Flushing, Frankie darted a quick look at the others around the table as his smile widened, his eyes gleaming with amusement at her reaction to his flirting. Thank fully, the others were busy loading pizza onto plates.

“Hey, Frankie, do you have any sisters?” Matt asked, his expression hopeful.

“Yes, I do.” She sipped her drink, making him wait. “Three, to be exact. But one just got married, the other is in a relationship, and only the third is single. Unfortunately—” she picked up a chip and nibbled “—she's moving to New York City soon.”

Matt's face fell. “Damn.”

Frankie glanced at Eli. The amusement in his blue eyes echoed her own and when he winked, she laughed.

The evening flew, Eli looking on indulgently as his brothers tried to coax Frankie to introduce them to her friends, teasing her when she demurred and arguing over which one of them should be allowed to take Eli's place and drive her home.

Time flew and all too soon, it was after nine-thirty.

As promised, Eli led Frankie out of the pub early and drove her home.

“I'd love to ask you to come in,” she told him after
unlocking her condo door. “But if I do, I won't want you to leave.”

“I make a mean omelet,” he told her, bracketing her against the closed door panels by planting his palms on each side of her shoulders and leaning close. He brushed a kiss against the corner of her mouth. “And great coffee. I'll feed you breakfast in bed before you leave for work.”

Frankie closed her eyes, tilting her head back to give his warm, seductive lips better access to her throat.

“Tempting,” she managed to get out. He nudged her coat collar aside and explored the juncture where throat met shoulder. She shivered with longing but planted her palms against the soft fleece covering the hard muscles of his chest, keeping him from pulling her into his arms. “But I really do have to be at work early in the morning.”