ROMANCE: Mason (Bad Boy Alpha Male Stepbrother Romance Boxset) (New Adult Contemporary Stepbrother Romance Collection) (220 page)

Jenna laughed and looked at the other two girls again. They were listening, smiling. But they were quiet. Less gossip but somehow it felt judgmental instead of respectful.

“We’ll see how it goes, it’s not like we’re official or anything. I just agreed to a date Friday night.”

Carla made a hoot sound. “That sounds pretty official to me,” she said.

Jenna rolled her eyes. In a place as small and personal as Williamsburg that was something that looked official. But she just wanted to spend time with a guy, find out what she wanted. Find out if there was something else she could want.

The day dragged on. It never felt as long as it did that day, and by lunch time Jenna was relieved to escape the salon and the bustle and hum of women’s gossip and chatter. She walked across the road to the convenience store and waved at Murray behind the counter. He’d been a close friend of her father’s and he knew her well. But then again, in a town as small as Williamsburg everyone knew everyone well.

She bought a sandwich and an orange juice.

“How are you holding up?” Murray asked when she paid for her food.

“I’m okay,” Jenna answered. “I’m just keeping busy.”

“The best way to do it,” Murray agreed, putting the sandwich and the juice in a small paper bag. “And surround yourself with people that will help you get through it.”

Jenna nodded and smiled. “Exactly,” she said and waved before she left the store. People that would help her get through it… who would that be now?

When she stepped out of the store Bruce was suddenly next to her and she jumped.

“Bruce,” she said when she recognized him and clutched a hand to her chest. “You scared me.”

“Sorry,” he said but he didn’t sound sorry. He sounded annoyed. His dark eyes were darker than usual and there was something intense about them.

“Are you okay?” Jenna asked, frowning. Bruce was usually very laid back and easy-going. The intensity was out of place.

“I’m fine,” he said, and again she didn’t believe the words that came out of his mouth.

“What’s up?”

Bruce looked like something was wrong. He had dark circles under his eyes and he moved like he was nervous, like he was stopping himself from looking over his shoulder. He seemed alert, too. Like he was listening and watching and waiting. For what, Jenna didn’t know.

“I wanted to talk to you,” he finally said and it was the first full sentence.

“Okay,” Jenna said. “I just bought lunch, we can sit somewhere and talk if you’d like.” She was nervous about what he was going to say. He’d never talked to her like this before.

“I don’t want to spend that much time together,” he said, and then squeezed his eyes shut like he’d said something he shouldn’t have.

“You’re freaking me out, Bruce,” Jenna said. He took a deep breath and blew it out with a shudder.

“I saw you and Drew together this morning,” he said. They were standing in the middle of the road, and his words hit her like he physically punched her. Those were the worst words to hear from someone – that the one man had seen you with another. But Jenna wasn’t doing anything wrong. She pushed the hollow feeling that had opened up in her chest away, and lifted her chin a little.

“And?” she said.

Bruce’s eyes got even darker, if that was possible, and there was something wild about him. He’d always been rough around the edges, but this was worse than anything Jenna had seen before. It scared her a little. It was like there was a side to him she just didn’t know, and she was seeing a glimpse of it.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“What are you asking me?” she asked. She wanted him to say whatever was bothering him outright. Jenna hated guessing games, it was the one way you could destroy relationships of any kind.

“You said you didn’t want to be with him.”

“I said I wasn’t sure if I should be with him, but that I was considering it. You were the one that said I shouldn’t be with him because I don’t love him.”

“So why are you with him then?” Bruce asked. His voice was harsh and he was hunched in on himself, like he was trying not to wrap his arms around himself. Jenna felt torn. Half of her wanted to reach out to him and try to fight whatever he was struggling with. And half of her wanted to back away from the stranger in front of her, push him away so that he wouldn’t seem so suddenly judgmental about her personal life.

Jenna sighed. “I’m not with him, I just want to see where it will go. And I’m tired of being alone. Surely you understand that? I know you have Tara now, but it hasn’t been that long. You know what it’s like to be the only one. I’m the only one now, after my mom…” She took a deep breath and blew it out with a shudder.

“I think you’re making a mistake,” Bruce said softly before she could pull herself together enough to finish her sentence.

“Why?” she asked.

He looked at her, looked like he wanted to say something. She waited for it, but it didn’t come. Finally he just shook his head with such a small movement Jenna was almost unsure if she’d really seen it.

“You have Tara, Bruce. You have someone. I want someone. And Drew isn’t a bad guy. I’m not going to stand here and let you tell me that I’m not supposed to be happy. We’re all just trying to make a space for ourselves in this world.”

“That’s not your space,” Bruce said.

“So what is, Bruce? Who do I belong with if it’s not with him? You’re so sure of everything, you tell me what has to happen then.” She was upset. She could feel the anger creep in and it was a foreign feeling to feel towards Bruce.

Bruce just looked at her again, and she’d had about enough. She wasn’t going to stand there and have Bruce tell her that she couldn’t be with the one person that was actually interested.

“Look, Bruce. I appreciate the concern.” If that was even what she could call it. “But I’m a big girl and I think I can figure this out.” She turned her back on him and started walking away.

“What about us?” he called after her and her stomach lurched. She stopped and turned to look at him.

“I mean, our friendship,” he added, and her stomach sank. She kicked herself for taking that sentence wrong. But she was quick enough with an answer so that her emotions didn’t show.

“Your girlfriend doesn’t want us to be friends, Bruce. Remember that?  My choices didn’t get between us.”

With that she turned and walked away from him. She didn’t know what she expected – for him to call after her, to ask her to come back, to say something more. There was nothing, and she was disappointed that whatever it was hadn’t come. But it just strengthened her resolve in her choices. It just proved that she couldn’t keep waiting for something that was never going to come.

Chapter 3

Jenna wasn’t home. Bruce checked. He hadn’t seen her since the day in front of the convenience store, and he was starting to get irritated with the fact that he couldn’t reach her. He’d been out hunting the last three nights, getting more raw meat and blood than he really needed to make sure the change was kept at bay.

That morning after the fight with Tara, when he’d seen Jenna with Drew and then confronted her later, hadn’t been a good morning. He’d been on the verge of losing it. And Jenna had looked at him like he was a stranger. Or worse an animal. It was as if on some level, she’d known.

If he was still a human and just some of his animal showed, and that already put her off, how much more would she shun him if she found out what he really was? But that wasn’t going to happen. It wasn’t something he had to worry about, because he would never put her in that kind of danger. Not emotionally or physically, because she would never find out.

If she knew what he was that could cost Jenna her life. And that could cost him, too. He would lose her. He would lose everyone and everything. He would make sure they were all safe.

But still, he wanted to make sure. He never wanted to be that close to losing it around her again. Bruce was angry. Angry and annoyed. Half of it was aimed at Tara, who seemed to have disappeared after their fight which left him alone to lick his wounds and expect the worst.

Half of it was at Drew, who’d effectively stolen Jenna away from him. And there was also the fact that he’d never really had her to start off with, so she was fair play.

Bruce walked to the pub just before sundown. The chances that she would be there were slim, but he was going to try. It wasn’t impossible. His shadow was long and thin in front of him, the setting sun drawing all the shadows out so that the world looked a little skew.

He walked into the Inn and the light swallowed him, pulling him into the gentle murmur of chatter that rose over the music and the cloud of smoke that swirled just below the ceiling.

“What will it be, Brucie?” Murphy asked from behind the bar. Usually it was cool to have nicknames around town, to be a regular. It meant he fit in. Tonight it annoyed him. Brucie sounded small. And dammit, he was not small.

If he hadn’t worked so bloody hard at fitting in all the time, maybe he would have stood out enough for Jenna to give a damn.

“Where’s Jenna?” Bruce asked Murphy, not answering him. Murphy shrugged.

“I don’t know. Home? You know she doesn’t really spend time under my roof. This isn’t a woman’s place, after all.”

Bruce’s fingers tingled and he felt uncomfortable in his own skin. The clothes he wore scraped against the skin on his shoulder that somehow still felt tender even though he was healed completely.

“Sit down, have a drink,” Murphy said. “You look like you could do with one.”

“No thanks. It would be better if I could find Jenna.” His voice was hard and the town’s folk that surrounded him were starting to look at him.

“Is she in some kind of trouble that you’re so eager to find her?” Murphy asked.

“Is it wrong to want to talk to her?” Bruce asked and his voice was louder than it should have been. Murphy raised his eyebrows at Bruce the moment the words were out of his mouth. He took a deep breath and held it for three counts before he blew it out slowly.

“I don’t need that kind of attitude in my pub,” Murphy said and his face was stony. His eyes were cold. Bruce held up his hands, palms toward Murphy.

“Sorry,” he mumbled and looked around him at the other drinkers, too. They were all looking at him now, some of them frowning like he was being ridiculous. And he really was. Bruce knew that he was being out of line.

But he just couldn’t get comfortable. It felt like he was in the wrong skin. He would feel better if he could see Jenna, just make sure she didn’t think the worst of him after the other day. That was what would help, he knew it. Fridays were usually a good day for Bruce, with everyone drunk he could slip away, but it was getting very close to the full moon and he could feel her pull.

He turned his back on Murphy and the other regulars and walked out into the dusk. The sun had already set but the last light of day hadn’t drained away yet. He closed his eyes and his face turned instinctively to the moon. He could hear her song, a whine in the distance that called to him, begged him to come.

And he wouldn’t answer, because she wasn’t his mistress. Not the way she was with the wolves.

He took a deep breath and the cold evening air filled up his lungs, spread through his body. A little better. If he could just keep doing this he was going to be fine.

He started walking, anywhere his feet would take him. The night tasted of magic, like there was something in the air that wasn’t there before, and he knew that this full moon was going to be a lot more intense than the others. He would have to face Tara again, he knew he would, and he had no idea where they stood now – what she expected of him. Surely she wouldn’t just free him of his commitment to her as mate. His power was too precious.

Then again, it was precious to him too. He didn’t want to share.

He stopped between the trees that surrounded the village and looked back into town. Everywhere windows were lit up, dim lights that pushed the darkness away just a little, and the town had a pulse of its own. He closed his eyes and searched for her, sending out his feelers. He swept the town with an invisible hand – his ability to track life – and finally, he found her. She was on the other side of town, and she wasn’t alone. He could feel the warm bodies all around her, but he couldn’t place them. Her heat signature was the only one he knew without even thinking.

He started walking into town. He followed the pull of her, her heat, like a map. He could tell where she’d walked. And that, again, she hadn’t walked alone. There was another trail that ran next to hers. Bruce was irritated. He couldn’t tell who she’d been with. Usually he didn’t care, but tonight he wanted to know.

Most of the cabins around the outskirts of Williamsburg were quiet and empty. The Inn was alive with the essence of people. And the café. That was where she was. He suddenly knew, now that he was close enough. He could feel her breathing, almost feel her heart beating next to his own, and her heart beat was faster than usual.

He finally got to the café, and pushed open the glass door. Lisa, one of the three waitresses that helped run the café, greeted him.

“It’s nice to see you here, Bruce. I thought you’d be at the Banbury Inn on a night like tonight.”