BLue Moon (7 page)

Ralph glanced at the dark sky overhead after parking in the city parking lot. He smelled rain in the air, and the cold chill made it possible the weather could turn nasty. He buttoned up his coat and hurried toward the courthouse.

Voices and people moving around echoed throughout the old building. Ralph climbed the stairs to the main floor and headed toward the meeting room.

“Good afternoon, Ralph.” A pretty young werewolf who worked in the mayor’s office grinned flirtatiously at him.

He couldn’t remember her name but winked, which produced a broad smile on her face.

“They’re expecting you.” She sauntered in front of him, shaking her ass nicely in what he might assume was an invitation.

“Thank you, sweetheart.” He smiled again and opened the large door where a handful of officials had already gathered.

He noticed Beth Parks behind him, her secretary in tow, and held the door for the two ladies. Beth scowled at him and he got a strong whiff of irritation when she walked past.

“This shouldn’t take too long.” The mayor glanced at his two armed security guards and Ralph did the same. “I think from what I’ve heard we all want the same thing.”

Ralph didn’t sit but stood behind Beth, his ears tickled by her whispers with her secretary.

“We’re asking for an ordinance to be passed that states where werewolf children will be allowed to trick-or-treat.” Frank Hoffman, who Ralph knew had recently been voted on to the city commission, passed papers around the table while he spoke. The young human’s hands shook slightly while he spoke. “I think we’ve split the town equally so that both human and werewolf children can enjoy the holiday.”

He smiled at Beth. Ralph guessed the nervousness in the room came from him. Beth took the papers, glancing over them quickly.

“Most of our pack lives in the same area.” She addressed the mayor. “I don’t want to see any child shipped out of their own neighborhood in order to trick-or-treat. We need to keep in mind that this holiday is for their enjoyment.”

“Exactly.” Hoffman cut her off, and Ralph smelled her annoyance immediately. “And it’s imperative our children be safe.”

“Your children have been trick-or-treating alongside werewolf children as long as the holiday has existed, Mr. Hoffman.” Beth stood abruptly, tossing the papers Hoffman had given her on to the table. “Mr. Mayor, I will advise you of the neighborhoods the werewolf children will be trick-or-treating. But I won’t have any child segregated over the holiday.”

She turned to leave while her secretary hurried to gather together papers. “I’ll have something to your office later today.” She glanced at the proposal that Hoffman had suggested. Her secretary slid it into the file along with other papers. “That is unacceptable. And if your office passes any similar ordinance without consulting me, you won’t like the legal mess I’ll create for you.”

She left the room, her shoes clicking against the tiled floor as she hurried toward the hallway that led to her office. Ralph heard immediate whispering but didn’t stay to hear what was being said. He left when Beth did, closing the door silently behind him.

“It was nice to see you again.” The secretary who had given him the eye before, sounded a bit too flirty this time. More than likely she tried to make the other women in the office believe she had something going with him.

He nodded and smiled. She didn’t hold a flame to Sandy.

“Mr. Hipp.” Beth’s sharp tone wasn’t missed by anyone listening.

Two people walking across the foyer area turned to look at him, their looks making it clear they wondered what terrible thing he’d done to earn the wrath of the successful young Beth Parks. He wondered the same thing.

He walked across the open area, more than aware of more than one person watching him. “Call me Ralph,” he said, maintaining his smile against her hard gaze.

“I want to speak to you for a moment,” she turned and headed down the hallway. “In my office.”

He got the overwhelming sensation that he’d just been called to the principal’s office.

“What can I do for you, young lady?” Ralph asked, after closing the door to her office behind him.

Beth dropped into her chair behind her desk and glared at him. Her animosity was more than apparent.

“Cut the crap.” She leaned forward, giving him a look she was sure had made more than one werewolf quiver in his time.

He imagined Ethan had a time with her when the two of them were alone. She didn’t appear to be the type of female that did anything she didn’t want to do.

“I want you to keep your paws off of my mother,” she hissed.

Ralph raised an eyebrow, realizing he suddenly tread on thin ice. Say something to upset the daughter, and he would have the mother to deal with.

“Has she said something to you?” He hadn’t had time to speak with Sandy today. It hadn’t crossed his mind that she might be upset after last night. And it sure never entered his mind that she would discuss it with her daughter. He wondered how much Beth knew.

Beth sighed. She stuck her lip out, running it slowly over her top lip. For a brief second, she looked like her mother.

“Mr. Hipp,” she began.

“Ralph,” he corrected her.

The look she gave him bordered on outright hostility. “We are not establishing a friendship here,” she hissed. Anger filled the room with its hot, spicy fumes. “You are a womanizer and you will stay the hell away from my mother. Is that clear?”

Something churned deep inside Ralph. The urge to set this little lady in her place almost got the better of him. His two cubs had been gone from the den now for so many years, and he seldom saw them since both of them had moved to packs back east. He’d forgotten the defiance one’s own cubs could show.

And although Beth wasn’t his cub, she was Sandy’s daughter. He didn’t know the young lawyer that well, other than her outstanding reputation that spoke wonders about her. But she would be part of his life if he continued to see Sandy. And he had every intention of doing that.

“I’m afraid that isn’t possible.” He spoke just as someone tapped on Beth’s office door.

“What?” Beth almost yelled while glaring at Ralph.

Sandy opened the door, looking at each of them with curiosity and concern covering her expression. “Am I interrupting something?”

“Not at all, Mom.” Beth forced a smile although her anger filled her office. “I think my point is clear, Mr. Hipp. You may go now.”

He’d been dismissed. Sandy gave him a rather amused look. He knew she was guessing what had just transpired here. He glanced from mother to daughter and then slowly left the office. But he had every intention of waiting for Sandy.

Chapter Nine

Beth was absolutely outraged. Sandy could only imagine what her daughter and Ralph had been discussing before she’d arrived.

“Ethan told me that you wanted to talk to me.” She decided her daughter could fill her in if she wanted.

“Mom.” Beth picked up her pen, clicked it open and closed a few times, then dropped it on her desk. “Ethan told me that he saw you and Ralph in our kitchen last night.”

Sandy leaned back in her chair, waiting for her daughter to say what she would. Obviously she was upset by the news. Angry—if the encounter she’d just missed with Ralph in here was any indication.

“I take it you don’t like Ralph,” she said when Beth seemed at a loss as how to continue.

Her daughter shook her head, her anger still simmering. “He’s incredible security for the pack. And his investigational skills are outstanding.”

Sandy nodded, knowing all of this already. Ralph had a solid reputation with the pack. In fact, he had a solid everything. She blinked, trying to stay focused for her cub. Grown or not, Beth needed her right now. She was upset. And Sandy understood. Beth had never had to share her.

“He’s just not right for you, Mom.” Suddenly the successful attorney was gone. Her child, trusting and concerned appeared before her.

Sandy stood up and started to walk around Beth’s desk. “You shouldn’t get yourself so upset about this.”

Beth bristled. She held her hand up, stopping Sandy in mid-pace. “I am looking out for your best interests. And if you don’t see what those are, then I guess it’s my job to open your eyes.”

Sandy didn’t like her daughter’s tone. It was one thing to be concerned. But she wouldn’t be reprimanded by Beth.

“I do know what my best interests are, young lady.” Sandy didn’t try to approach her any longer. Instead she turned toward the door. “You will not speak to me like that.”

Beth sighed. “Mom. He is a werewolf on the prowl for a piece of tail. And from what I’ve seen, he is doing okay without adding you to his list of conquests.”

Sandy turned back around. Ralph wasn’t playing the field. She was sure of it. “How could you say such a thing? I know it’s always just been you and me. But you’ve got to accept the fact that it is okay for me to date.”

Beth took her time coming around her desk. The anger no longer lingered in the air. Something akin to concern surfaced. And Beth’s concerned look worried Sandy. Her daughter didn’t know something that she didn’t, did she?

“Just be careful, Mom. I don’t want you hurt.” She reached out, taking Sandy’s hand. Her warm touch softened Sandy’s heart. Beth was really worried about her. “Sometimes we don’t see things as they really are. Just don’t do anything you might regret later. Please.”

“I won’t, dear. I promise.” Sandy hugged her daughter, and then turned to leave.

Beth’s words hit her like a brick though. Maybe her daughter did see something that she didn’t. It had been so long since she’d dated. Hell. She never really had dated after her mate died. She’d been too busy raising Beth.

But Beth had started a life of her own. And now her daughter had found a really good werewolf. Her daughter was not only the most successful lawyer in the Midwest, she was queen bitch. Her triumphs were more than commendable.

So where did that leave her? She continued to help the pack when needed. And that was almost every day. Her life was full. Or so she’d thought.

Ralph had woken something up in her. She hadn’t known how much she’d missed good sex. And maybe there would be no long-term relationship. She didn’t know. But she would prepare herself for the knowledge that being with Ralph might be casual. All she knew for sure was that fucking him had been damned good. Better than good. She couldn’t remember sex being so awesome.

Beth’s secretary was on her the minute Sandy opened the office door. Calls were holding. There were messages. Her next appointment was waiting. It made it easy to slip out of her office without more drama.

It had grown colder since she’d been inside the courthouse. She should have worn her heavier coat. Leaves blew along the ground and the skies were dark and heavy. This was Halloween weather. She loved this holiday.

Bundling up, she hunched over, hurrying to her car. It dawned on her when she reached the parking lot that she’d been so upset by her conversation with Beth that she’d forgotten to mention the reporter confronting her.

The wind blew in her face, wrapping Ralph’s scent around her. Looking up, she saw him coming toward her, his truck idling next to her parked car.

“What did your daughter say to you?” Ralph wrapped his arm around her, pulling her into the warmth of his body.

“That you are a womanizer, and I should leave you alone.” She saw him smile at her words and wondered why he found it so amusing. “What did she say to you?”

“That I am a womanizer and I should leave you alone.” He opened her car door for her and held it while she hopped in. Immediately she missed the heat from his body.

“Well, are you?” She looked up into his rugged face, those handsome features. Ralph had a body that was in better shape than most twenty-somethings. The fact that he was a bit older only made him more appealing. He reeked of experience and technique.

“Am I what?” He gripped the top of her car door, his biceps bulging when he bent closer to her.

It was suddenly hard to breathe. Just having such a wonderful eyeful of this magnificent werewolf was enough to stop her heart in mid-beat. She forced the lump of excitement back down her throat just so she could speak.

“Are you a womanizer?”

“Nope.” He spoke with such confidence, just like he always did. As if that one word would end the conversation, drop the subject as if it merited no further discussion.

He straightened. “Follow me back to the diner. We’ll grab a cup of coffee.”

Sandy opened her mouth to tell him she would check on Greta, see if she was still there, but she wasn’t sure about having coffee with him. She needed time to sort out her daughter’s concerns. Not that she would run from him because her over-dominating cub told her to. She would make her own decisions, form her own opinions of the werewolf. She just wanted time to do that.

But Ralph didn’t give her the opportunity to say that. He closed her car door and headed back to his truck before she could speak.

She swore his scent had claimed her clothing. All the way to the diner she could smell him. Her skin still tingled from the brief moments he had wrapped his arm around her, shielding her from the chilly breeze.