Chapter 3
Chapter
Three
It wasn’t long before they’d polished off the second bottle of wine. At some point the waiter reappeared with a dessert menu, his snooty expression replaced with a fawning, solicitous air. Mallory guessed that James had finally had a word with him. It had been inevitable.
She managed a smile in his direction and declined the menu even though her stomach grumbled loudly at the thought of Vallese’s delectable chocolate torte.
She wasn’t here on a jolly, though she was certain MacTire noticed the audible manifestation of her hunger because he wordlessly handed her the remainder of the bread to finish off.
She felt a trace of guilt at her earlier irritation. Perhaps he wasn’t so bad. Kit certainly seemed to like him well enough, and Mallory knew enough about the cat lady to trust her instincts.
She was amused when Kit had to drag a vow out of MacTire not to repeat any of what he’d learned about silphium.
When the same request was put to her, Mallory capitulated in an instant.
‘You have my word, Kit – of course you do.’ She grinned.
‘For one thing I’m a squib, so silphium’s magical properties are no use to me.
And I don’t need money. It doesn’t interest me. ’
Unsurprisingly, Alexander MacTire didn’t believe her. ‘Really.’ His voice was heavy with sarcasm.
Mallory didn’t miss a beat. She offered him a sunny smile in response. ‘Really.’
Kit interrupted before their temporary truce was broken and put a polite end to proceedings. ‘Thank you, both of you. Please allow me to pay for dinner.’
‘Not a chance,’ MacTire growled. ‘I invited you here.’
‘Then let me pay for Mallory’s share of the wine.’
‘No.’
Before Mallory could interject, the waiter returned to their side. With his hands neatly folded in front of him and his head bowed, he cleared his throat. ‘Your evening has already been taken care of.’
Mallory bit her lip. Oh. She would have preferred to avoid this scenario.
‘What do you mean?’ MacTire asked.
‘Compliments of Mr Vallese.’ The waiter bowed to Mallory.
‘He hopes you enjoyed your evening, Ms Nash, and reminds you that you are always welcome to dine here with any of your friends.’ With that, he backed away, a faint red flush staining his cheeks.
He’d screwed up earlier; now he knew she was a valued friend of his boss, he was keen to avoid her gaze.
‘Wait.’ MacTire was clearly confused. ‘What?’
Mallory had to admit that his reaction was entertaining. Maybe now he’d believe that she was far more capable than she appeared. Victor Vallese, the head chef and restaurant owner, had been a client of hers on several occasions and he’d always been delighted at the outcomes she’d achieved for him.
Kit was clearly enjoying the werewolf alpha’s surprise almost as much as Mallory. She pushed back her chair and stood up. ‘I need to get home. I promised my cats that I’d be back before midnight.’
‘Thank you for your company.’ MacTire got to his feet. ‘It’s been a wonderful evening.’
‘Indeed.’ She kissed him on the cheek in a perfunctory manner. ‘Let’s never do it again.’
‘Deal,’ he said.
Mallory also stood up and extended her hand. ‘If you need anything else, Kit, you know where I am. And if you don’t hear from me in the next eleven months, you are free of any further obligations.’
‘Oh, I’m certain I’ll hear from you,’ Kit said. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll fulfil whatever favour you require whenever you require it.’
Mallory had no doubt that she would because she’d signed a blood contract to that effect and that was as binding a promise as could be. They shook hands then Kit raised a hand in farewell and left the restaurant.
Mallory turned to MacTire. ‘It was nice to meet you,’ she said politely. It was doubtful their paths would cross again. That was probably a good thing.
‘You’re leaving?’ he asked.
Hell, yes. ‘The kitchen is closing,’ she pointed out. ‘And I have a busy day tomorrow.’
‘So do I.’ He gestured to the now-empty bread basket. ‘We both know that you need more sustenance in your belly than focaccia. Your tummy has been growling at me for the last hour.’
‘Well,’ Mallory retorted, ‘you’ve been growling at me. It’s only fair.’
Surprisingly, MacTire’s expression became rueful. ‘I deserved that. If you have plans to meet someone, I understand.’ He raised his eyebrows. ‘Do you have a partner?’
‘No.’
Something flashed in his eyes.
‘And I’m not looking for one,’ Mallory added firmly.
He laughed. ‘Fair enough. Well, as it appears you’re on your own, you should know that Glynn’s Hot Dog Stand will still be open.
Allow me to make up for my earlier rudeness by buying you the best food to keep those hunger pangs at bay.
It’s the least I can do. After all, I didn’t have to pay for dinner. ’
‘That’s kind of you,’ Mallory demurred. ‘But I ought to head home.’
MacTire’s eyes gleamed. ‘Are you afraid of me?’
‘No.’
He raised his eyebrows.
‘I’m not!’
‘Methinks the lady doth protest too much.’
For goodness’ sake. ‘Fine.’ Mallory shrugged. ‘Buy me a hot dog. With extra onions. I’ll eat it on my way home.’
‘I have a car,’ he told her. ‘I can drop you wherever you wish.’
He had a car? In Coldstream? She shook her head. Of course he did. ‘I’ll walk,’ she said emphatically.
Now MacTire looked amused. ‘As you wish, Ms Nash.’
They walked out of Vallese’s together. The violinist had finished up for the night but James remained in place. ‘Mr MacTire, Ms Nash, please do return at any time. Mr Vallese would be thrilled to welcome you both.’
Mallory smiled warmly at him. ‘Thank you.’
MacTire nodded. ‘Thank you, James.’
Mallory was impressed that he knew the ma?tre d’s name. It was a small act that spoke volumes because there were many werewolf alphas in similar positions of power who wouldn’t bother to find out.
They strolled down the cobbled street in the direction of Glynn’s small stand. ‘That was an … interesting evening,’ MacTire said eventually.
‘Kit is an interesting person.’
‘She certainly is.’ He glanced at her. ‘As are you.’
‘You can drop the pretence, you know. I’m aware that you doubt my capabilities.
Why shouldn’t you? I’m a squib, I have no Preternatural powers and I’m the dictionary definition of ordinary.
’ She grinned to soften her words, trying to indicate that her lack of special magic skills wasn’t something that concerned her.
MacTire was silent for a moment before he said, ‘Of all the things I have discovered this evening, the one thing I’m sure about is that you are not ordinary.’ He wet his lips. ‘And I can’t deny that I’m impressed by how much you learned about silphium in such a short space of time.’
She hadn’t been expecting a compliment. ‘I suppose you’re not so bad yourself,’ she said grudgingly.
He laughed. ‘Damned by faint praise.’
Mallory pulled a face. ‘I gate-crashed your date, sat in your chair and drank all your wine. You adapted to the situation with aplomb.’ She paused. ‘Eventually.’
‘Eventually. Touché. To be fair, Goldilocks, it wasn’t much of a date.’
‘My hair is brown, not gold.’
‘You sat in my chair and ate my proverbial porridge.’ MacTire stopped walking and turned to her. ‘Next you’ll be sleeping in my bed.’
Whoa. Back up a minute. She stared at him. He stared at her. All of a sudden, Mallory felt very hot beneath her collar. ‘Not in this life,’ she whispered.
MacTire smiled slightly, then he carried on walking.
Mallory caught up with him. ‘Don’t go to the Wolf Ball with your beta, Samantha,’ she said suddenly.
He blinked. ‘Pardon?’
Abruptly, Mallory realised how her words sounded. She cleared her throat and did her best to explain. ‘Samantha is great – amazing, in fact. But she’s also incredibly scary and intimidating. Even if your potential Miss Right doesn’t believe that you and she are a couple…’
He growled, ‘We’re not.’
Mallory nodded. ‘She might still not approach you because Samantha is—’ she searched for the right word ‘—Samantha.’
His eyes held hers. ‘Do you know her?’
‘I know of her.’ Truthfully, Mallory knew far more about the MacTire beta, whom she’d never met, than the MacTire alpha standing in front of her. Samantha was one of those people who drew attention whether she wanted it or not.
Alexander MacTire was quiet for a long moment and Mallory started to think that she must have enraged him with her advice. His expression betrayed little but his ongoing silence spoke volumes.
Finally he said, ‘I’ll think about it.’ He snapped his mouth shut and Mallory knew that the conversation was over.
The following morning, when a shaft of weak winter sunlight sneaked in through the gap in her curtains and tickled her face, Mallory could still faintly taste the fried onions from Glynn’s in the back of her mouth.
MacTire had stayed quiet until they had parted company but he’d kept his word and bought her a hot dog, which she’d enjoyed during her solitary wander home.
She considered all that he’d said then rolled over and extracted a notepad and pen from her bedside drawer to jot down a few notes.
Although she wasn’t organised enough to keep a diary – more often than not she relied on Boris to keep her straight and encourage her to be punctual – she was meticulous about noting down information about the people she came across, both as clients and otherwise.
Every scrap of information and every muttered whisper had the potential to become useful.
As far as Mallory was concerned, information about people was worth its weight in gold.
Her thick, well-worn notepad was her most valuable possession.
Mallory flicked through the pages until she reached the section marked ‘Werewolves’. There was already an entry for Alexander MacTire that she’d made after the appointment with the female werewolf who was looking to make a romantic match, but the information was scanty.