His Undercover Wolf: A Monster Brides Romance

Chapter Five

Otsana

I muttered beneath my breath the entire walk back to my car which was parked two blocks away. Who in their right mind had their office in the middle of the city? It seemed to me that Xavier’s office could have been anywhere. Parking was a fucking nightmare, and God forbid you wanted a coffee or something to eat. Apart from the crush of people on the sidewalk, all single-mindedly heading to where they needed to be with no regard for others, once you managed to reach the café, it required you joining the queue that extended through the door and along the already crowded sidewalk. If you’re lucky, you reach the counter and place the order in time to rush back to the office and devour the fare at your desk so fast that indigestion is a given.

Every time I came into the city, usually a summons to headquarters that I couldn’t avoid, I was reminded of how fortunate I was to work in an obscure building out in the suburbs a mere ten minutes’ drive from my home.

Back to the other reason for my muttering…Why the fuck had I accepted Xavier’s invitation to dinner? Clearly my brain had vacated the building otherwise known as my head for a few seconds.

From the moment I laid eyes on the man wearing a pale gray suit that hugged his body like a glove, it was all I could do not to drool. Xavier was a walking poster for fitness companies. Thick thighs were hugged by his pants, and with his suit jacket left open, the white shirt did nothing to hide the muscles of his wide chest. He was a good six inches taller than me, and his immaculately groomed black hair showed threads of gray at his temples confirming the fact he was fast approaching forty years of age. Yes, it…No, it wasn’t in the file. I was interested and googled his background…So sue me for being curious.

The images online did not do him justice, and certainly didn’t prepare me for the effect of his electric blue eyes focusing on mine. His skin had a healthy, golden glow which had me suspecting the majority of his athletic build was accomplished through running outdoors. Apart from a few shallow frown lines across his forehead and spreading from the corners of his eyes, his skin was clear and unblemished. Being honest, the man was by far the most handsome I’d ever encountered and deserved to be on the cover of a fashion magazine.

The jolt of…whatever it was when we shook hands almost knocked me off my feet and I swear to fuck I almost experienced an orgasm on the spot.

I climbed behind the wheel of my car, pulled the seatbelt around me and clipped it into place, turned the key and started the motor.

Attempting to exit the parking lot, I waited for half the vehicles in Langer Falls, or so it seemed, to pass, before finally being able to ease onto the road. It was almost 5 pm and I was smack bang in the middle of peak hour traffic. Although in fairness, peak hour lasted pretty much from sunrise to sundown. The traffic moved slow enough for even a snail to slide past.

My thoughts ricocheted back and forth, before zeroing back in on dinner. Zorollos was about a five-minute drive from where I lived in Casantra, and I wondered if Xavier lived in one of the stately mansions high on the hill that had views over the state park where the pack and I often played. The homes were huge, and my small period home would have probably fitted into the living room of one. Most were painted white and perched on the hilltop, they seemed to lord it over us mere peasants below. If it was where Xavier called home, why did he want to slum it by having dinner with me? He would be well aware that my lowly annual police salary was only as much as his company earned every hour of every day. Maybe he had some strange fetish and mixed with us commoners to remind himself how much more successful he was, although I didn’t think he was that kind of man.

I indicated and turned onto the highway leading out of the city toward home and settled into the heavy, but steady moving traffic.

“Dial Zarina,” I commanded my voice activated phone.

“Hey, Boss, on your way from the city?”

“I’m not your boss, as I keep telling you, and I have no fucking clue what I should do.”

“Uh oh, explain.” Zarina sounded curious.

“I met with Xavier and Cillian as you know and gained a lot of information they’d denied the previous team.”

“Not seeing a problem.”

“Those pictures I told you to take a look at this morning…”

Zarina had freakish instincts and could pick things that were out of place from the tiniest hint in an image.

“Still not seeing a problem. Xavier and his bestie are fucking hot, I’d lift my tail to either one of them. Hell, I’d lift it to them both at the same time. By the way, they’re not involved in the insider trading.”

“Zarina, focus!”

“Sorry…but I’m not seeing your problem.”

“Bennett is even hotter than his pictures and Cillian is not bad either. When Xavier and I shook hands, I was almost thrown off my feet by a powerful jolt that passed between us. He felt it too and gave me a strange look, and there was no doubt he was as confused as me.”

“Energy exchange, he’s your soul mate. So we’re back to me not seeing the problem…Lift your tail, rub all over him…Hell, jump his bones.”

“Zarina, he’s not my soulmate and get your mind out of the fucking gutter.”

“Yeah, yeah. Heard it before…Princess Prim doesn’t believe in soulmates and doesn’t fuck humans. What the hell do you want from me?”

I sighed, beginning to wonder why I’d called my best friend…My very unstable best friend who I loved like a sister regardless of her faults. God knew, I had plenty of my own.

“I’ll behave. Tell me what’s bothering you. You called me so you obviously think I can fix it for you.”

I indicated and guided the car down the off ramp leading into Casantra and followed Villax Road toward my home.

“Xavier asked me to dinner at Zorollos tonight.”

“No fuck? What did you say? Please tell me you said yes. How the fuck did he get a booking? I know from experience you can wait months to get a table there and then they’ll only consider your request if you’re from the right side of town.”

“Zarina, think about it…”

“Oh…”

“Exactly. When you’re a billionaire people fall all over themselves to have you in their establishment. He probably has a permanent reservation and table set aside for him.”

“True. So…Did you say yes?”

“I did and now I’m panicking. What the fuck am I going to wear to such a fancy place? I was hoping you could loan me something.”

“What about the red number I wore to that music awards ceremony?”

Zarina’s father was a wealthy politician, and as his only child, she benefited from the trappings of money. She only worked because she loved taking care of people.

“No! That dress left nothing to the imagination. I don’t know how you had the guts to wear it in public.”

Zarina laughed. “It did turn heads and I was handed a lot of cards with phone numbers throughout the night. How about the emerald?”

“Hmm, that or the royal blue covered in sequins.”

“That dress was a pain in the ass. I gave it to Goodwill after the sequins kept grabbing onto everything I walked near, including the mayor whose wife was not impressed.”

“Shame, it was elegant and demure for you.”

“I have a new pale pink dress I think would be perfect for you.”

“Have you worn it yet?”

“No. I decided it wasn’t my color when I got it home. If you like it, it’s yours. I’ll bring the emerald and pink over and be there in half an hour.

“Thanks, Zarina. You’re a life saver.”

I disconnected the call as I turned into my driveway and pushed the button on the remote control to raise the garage door. After driving inside, I hit the remote a second time and it lowered.

I sat for a few moments, thinking about what Zarina had said about Xavier being my soulmate and the consequences of becoming involved with him. He was a…client. I guessed it was one word for who Xavier was at the moment.

“Get real, Otsana. You are turning into Zarina with all your thinking about soulmates. Xavier is taking you for one dinner, not proposing marriage.”

I grabbed the Worlds Apart file from the passenger seat, my purse, and cell phone, and pulled the keys from the ignition before climbing from the car and entering the house through a door leading from the garage into the kitchen.

I dropped everything on the nearest counter and glanced at the clock on the wall. It showed 5:27pm, I had a little less than an hour and a half before I’d need to leave to drive to the restaurant. I jogged upstairs to shower while I waited for Zarina to arrive with the dresses. She had a key to my place and could let herself inside if necessary.

***

“Your savior has arrived!” Zarina shouted from downstairs, presumably as she entered the house since seconds later the front door slammed shut causing me to raise my shoulders as I cringed. I swear the woman had no clue how to close a door without causing the windows to rattle.

“Upstairs…Bedroom!” I shouted back while packing away the makeup I’d been using.

My hair was tied up in a knot on top of my head, necessary so it didn’t become wet in the shower. I’d deal with the thick, curly mass after I decided on a dress.

I walked out of the bathroom adjoining my bedroom at the same time Zarina breezed through the door with a plastic suit bag draped over one arm.

“Lose the bra,” she commanded after checking out the matching white lacy panties and bra I wore.

“Excuse me? I’m not going anywhere without a bra.”

Zarina laid the bag flat on my bed and faced me with both hands jammed on his hips. Leaning forward a little, as she was taller than me, she pinned me with her stare.

“Honey, your boobs are no bigger than swollen bee stings and the pink dress is strapless and doesn’t allow for a bra which is why it will be better on you than me.”

Zarina straightened and made a sweeping motion over her chest. “These babies were too heavy and kept escaping out of the top which, apart from not liking the color on me, is why I decided against wearing it anywhere.”

The lady was very well endowed, and I swear four of my breasts would have equaled one of hers. I allowed my thoughts to drift back to when we were only young girls.

We’d begun to mature around the age of eleven for Zarina, and twelve for me. I’d been jealous as hell of her shapely body and developing boobs. When I reached thirteen, and still had fuck all growing out of my chest, I’d talked my mother into taking me to the store for padded training bras and had proudly paraded around in low cut tops that showed off my newly found cleavage.

Things hadn’t changed much as Zarina had alluded to and men I’d been with in the past suggested I consider implants if I wanted a long-term relationship. Needless to say, the men had been shown the door, and a year and a half earlier, I’d given up on finding a man who would want me for who I was…both of me, and I’d quit dating. It hadn’t been a difficult decision since the dating pool was shit. I was happy on my own…Wasn’t I? Although I wasn’t really on my own, Zarina was always there when I needed and we’d stalked movie theaters for all the latest releases, went out for dinners, hung out at the beach, and had even spent a week cruising the Bahamas. Not to mention the hours we spent playing in the state forest as wolves.

Zarina was a man magnet, and always had been. She was a beautiful, confident woman who played men like a musical instrument and soon had them falling at her feet and worshiping the ground she walked on.

Like me, Zarina had been hurt by a man she loved, but where I’d since avoided men…until Xavier, Zarina lured them to her and played with them like a cat plays with a mouse. Once they gave their heart, she tossed them aside, leaving a lot of broken hearts in her wake. I didn’t agree with her actions, but nobody, including me, meddled in my friend’s life and remained her friend.

Zarina unzipped the bag and pulled out a pink satin-blend dress, holding it up for me to examine. The strapless corset-like bodice was made from fine lace with strategically placed pads underneath to cover the nipples. A wide band of fabric circling the waist held the skirts in place. The left side hugged my curves, draping to just below the knee while the right side fell in waterfall folds. A deep split reaching the top of the thigh allowed the one to walk, dance, or sit without hindrance. Beneath the light of my bedroom, the fabric shimmered with an opalescent glow. The dress was gorgeous but daring and not like anything I would have considered buying.

“Come on, Otsana. Just for once in your life let me show you what a beautiful woman you are. You’ll have Xavier’s tongue hanging out of his mouth from the moment he lays eyes on you.”

Is that what I wanted? There had certainly been an unusual and unique connection between me and Xavier when we’d met. Did I want to explore what the connection was and where it could lead? Was I ready to take a leap of faith and plunge back into a life which included dating a man?

“Stop thinking so hard, Otsana. Nick was an asshole. He always was and always will be. I’m sorry he abused your friendship and relationship but it’s time to give someone else a chance. You can’t hold a grudge against all men forever.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Um…Pot, this is kettle.”

“I know but out situations are different.”

“Yeah, you didn’t arrive home to find the man you thought you were going to marry in bed with another she-wolf,” I retorted.

Zarina laughed and I glared at her as she argued, “You have to admit it was pretty funny that they were knotted together and couldn’t get apart for a good ten minutes.”

I laughed. It had been pretty funny at the time. Nearly two years had passed since Nick’s betrayal, and I still blamed all men for his failings.

“I’ll never forget standing there while they thrashed around attempting to get apart. By the time Nick did get free, his dick was fire engine red, and a layer of skin had been rubbed away. I hope he was in agony for at least a couple of days.”

“Couldn’t have happened to a more worthy dickhead,” Zarina laughed before becoming serious. “Honestly, Otsana, you need to stop allowing Nick to live in your head rent free and give Xavier a fair chance without comparing him to Nick. From what you said earlier, I believe he could be your life mate. Wear the dress for me? The emerald one is gorgeous, but this is you.”

“Why for you?”

“Because I want to watch my best friend walk out of the house looking like a princess who is going to meet her Prince Charming.”

I smiled, wondering what I would do without Zarina’s wise words and support. “Help me dress and then do something with my hair.”

Zarina mock bowed with one arm sweeping before her. “Your wish is my command.

Half an hour later, I studied the woman in the mirror. It was difficult to believe the beautiful lady looking back was me. Zarina placed her hands on my bare shoulders and looked over my shoulder, meeting my eyes in the mirror.

“You look even more beautiful than I envisaged.” It surprised me to see her eyes welling with tears.

I covered one of her hands with mine. “Thank you for everything.”

“Go and knock the chainmail off your knight. I’ll be waiting to hear all about your date.”

We linked arms and headed downstairs.

“Let me give you a lift, I’m sure Xavier won’t mind bringing you home.”

“Why not, but I won’t be doing anything stupid like inviting him in and jumping his bones.”

Zarina laughed and I locked the door to the house after we left before we climbed into her Porsche that was parked in the driveway.

Nerves fluttered in my stomach as Zarina drove the short distance to the restaurant—Nerves of excitement tinged with just a hair’s breadth of nerves.