CHAPTER ELEVEN - Mariska
I should have insisted on going with Miss Eloise.
Not to help with the kids next door, because she would be able to handle them just fine, but to get away from the jerk of an Alpha who escorted me into Lindy Lou’s Bookshop and Café.
If not for the fact I needed the pack to help me through my heat, I would have slapped his smug face and walked away.
The bookshop was a sleepy place just off the main downtown street. It wasn’t flashy to attract tourists, but the locals all knew the secret in the back. I’d been in only ever once to pick up some donuts for work, but apparently Jasper was a regular.
He greeted Lindy who glanced up from the book she was reading and waved as we headed to the rear of the shop where the back wall was occupied by full shelves.
He went to the second shelf from the right and reached to tug on a thick copy of Edgar Allen Poe’s complete works.
There was a click, and he pulled open the shelf with a quiet swish.
“After you, my lady.” Jasper smoothly motioned for me to go ahead of him.
I might have paused to admire him in his black blazer which hugged his wide shoulders and black jeans that made his legs look so long.
The top two buttons of his white button-up shirt were undone.
No tie, just a casual GQ man who at the same time pissed me off and made my knees weak.
No one I knew had ever been to the Whisper Room.
Omegas didn’t go out for a night on the town on their own after all.
It was a small bar dimly lit with Edison bulbs.
Three stools stood empty in front of the counter, and about six small tables for two were positioned in the small space along with a vintage couch opposite the bar.
It was designed to look like a 1920’s speakeasy done up with red, black, and gold.
Vintage Christmas decorations sparkled adding a garish trim.
Classy and forbidden, like a place you’d meet a handsome devil to sell your soul.
Four customers crowded around a table in the far corner, drinking and playing cards. Lindy’s twin sister, Lauren greeted us from behind the bar. While Lindy was sweet and angelic, Lauren was sexy as sin in a red flapper’s dress with lipstick to match.
“Hey Jasper. Good to see you as always.” The way she smiled suggested that she had seen much more of Jasper than just as a customer.
I clenched my jaw and turned away from Lauren so I wouldn’t shoot her a death glare. I had no right. What Jasper did was his own business, just like why I didn’t like Christmas was mine.
“You too, Lauren. Could you bring us over two cranberry gin rickeys and add them to my tab, please?” Jasper herded me to the table farthest away from the other people and pulled out the chair for me with one hand. The other helped ease off my coat and draped it over the back of the seat.
“A tab, hm?” I smoothed out my dress and sat, crossing my legs at the ankles. “I guess I don’t need to ask if you come here often.”
“I like the ambiance.” Jasper undid the one button of his jacket and sat with an arm resting on the table.
Lauren sashayed over. The fringe on her dress swayed as she walked and set the drinks on the table. The ice clinked and the lime slices bobbed down then up again. “You’re Mariska Belmont, one of the Primrose House girls, right?”
I didn’t like that she knew my name, but having never met her, I’d known who she was too. Small towns allowed for no privacy. “Yes. This place is really cool. Would you mind if I took a few pictures later and shared them with my friends?”
This time when she smiled, it was the sweet mirror of Lindy’s. “Thank you, and yeah, go ahead. Just as long as you don’t post anything to social media. This place is just for the locals.”
“No problem.” I’d heard about the rule before as I’d been told Jack went there a few times to meet girls he was cheating on me with.
Ugh. I had to deal with Jasper right now. I didn’t need to be thinking about my stupid ex.
“Enjoy your drinks.” Lauren winked at Jasper and left us with our drinks.
“You like the ambiance.” I snorted and picked up my drink, sipping it from the straw. I rarely drank, but I couldn’t taste the alcohol in it. It was sweet like cranberry juice but without the sharp tang at the end.
“Lauren’s an old friend. I was in high school with the Hill sisters.” Jasper’s gaze fixed on me as I took another gulp. I could have sworn he was staring at my lips. “And because you’re wondering, we never dated. She has a long term girlfriend.”
Heat rushed into my face and I sucked down too much too fast, making me cough. I still had to force out, “I wasn’t wondering.”
“She likes Omegas, you know, and you’re just her type,” he purred.
As if my face couldn’t get any hotter, it felt like I was a boiled lobster.
I covered it with a hand and wished I had my hair down to hide behind like Emberlee often did.
If only my friends were here with me now.
Lyla was the witty one and Emberlee would probably scold Jasper for saying such a thing.
I couldn’t manage to get my tongue to cooperate to say anything.
Jasper’s fingers rested on his glass, picking it up now and then to slowly swirl the ice around. When the embarrassment was nearly out of my system, he tipped his head to the side to regard me. “So why don’t you like Christmas?”
Everything I’d been feeling before was whacked away by my anger. We were not going back to this shit again. “Why are you such a jerk?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “You want us to help you. It’s no small favor.”
“No, I get that. But Balthazar and Lucian didn’t seem to have an issue with it.” They had other expectations, but I didn’t want to get into that either.
“Because they’re thinking with their hearts and not nearly as much with their dicks.
” Jasper said it with a straight face. No trace of humor.
My eyes widened, and I started to protest, but he shook his head and cut me off.
“No, that’s what they’re doing. Since I’m the only one with a clear head, it’s my job to make sure you aren’t trouble wrapped in a cute little package. ”
“I’m not trouble!” No one in my life had ever called me that. I was responsible and level-headed. Taking another drink of my gin rickey, I huffed. “And why does me not liking Christmas have anything to do that?”
“Since you feel very strongly about it, it lets me see what type of person you really are. You say you’re being completely honest and you aren’t looking for anything out of this other than help with your heat, but are you the type to fool with an Alpha’s heart?
Dip your hand into his wallet? Or just generally fuck up his life.
” Jasper’s expression hardened as he kept talking, and the seriousness of his tone had a queasiness rolling in my stomach.
“Because this is my pack. No one fucks over my pack and gets away with it.”
He glared at me accusingly, but something tightened between my legs and made me ache for him. Not sure what to say, I had another sip only to realize that I’d finished my drink. Was I reacting to the gleam in his gorgeous eyes or his protectiveness over his pack? Oh God, both. It was both.
“You should slow down with the gin. I don’t want to have to carry you home.”
Maybe I wanted him to. Snuggled against his hard body, breathing in that very male scent as I nibbled his neck. My nipples hardened, and wetness soaked my panties. Fuck. Was that slick?
“What kind of person are you, Mariska?” Jasper pushed onward, and I gasped as if he just thrust into me. His eyes widened and darkened, leaning toward me.
I pushed backwards, sitting as far back in my chair as it would allow.
“I don’t want to cause any trouble. I don’t want a pack.
I was clear on that. I’ve never played a game with anyone’s feelings before in my life.
That’s just cruel.” Except my own. So many times over the years I tried to convince myself of certain things with my family and Jack and even the stupid Blue Skies board, but that was just me.
Was Jasper staring at my breasts now? Determined to prove myself, I kept rambling.
“Christmas reminds me of family. A family that emotionally abandoned me after my grandmother died when I was a kid. I was swept away to Omega school and none of them ever thought about me again. I was alone. Alone every holiday.”
Tears started to form, and I blinked rapidly.
No way was I going to cry. “I don’t want a mate, so I’m not going to mess with anyone’s heart.
I don’t need anyone’s money. I’m financially secure on my own.
If you still think I’m going to fuck with your pack, just say so and we’ll call all this off.
I’ll deal with my heat alone as I’ve dealt with every other big thing in my life. ”
Pushing back from the table, I put a stranglehold on the threat of tears and started to stand. “Yeah. This is too much to put on someone else. The deal’s off. I’m going.”
I stood and swayed slightly. Shit. I really had downed that gin rickey too fast.
Jasper was fast on his feet and took my hands in his. Fire roared through my body, and I may have whimpered. “Sit down.”
I sat back in my chair. No hesitation.
He released one hand but not the other. His fingers weren’t tight but firmly embraced my smaller hand. I could feel every point of contact. My breaths came faster and my heart thumped hard.
“Lauren, bring over a plate of canapés, please.” Jasper returned to his seat and scooted it closer to mine. He lowered his voice, but it was twice as intense. “You’re not calling off the deal. No one is abandoning you during your heat. We’ll help any way you need us to.”
“But you said…” He’d said a lot of things and they were jumbled in my head along with my hormones screaming for him to touch more than just my hand. “Balthazar and Lucian… they want…”