Chapter 3
Wayne
Slamming my truck door shut, I adjusted my reusable shopping bags in my arms and headed for the cart corral.
Bianca’s father had called me this morning and said he wanted to add on weekend meal prep for Bianca since she’d been crazy about the meals I’d made for her.
Originally, he’d planned to leave her to fend for herself on weekends, or maybe he’d intended her to eat at his place.
I wasn’t sure. But I wasn’t one to turn down a job, so I’d said yes, and was stupid enough to tell him I’d start today, though it would be late in the day.
I had just enough time to get over there and get her meals put together before going to my mom’s house for dinner.
We tried to always have dinner as a family on Fridays, and I didn’t want to miss it, so I’d planned meals I could take to Bianca’s apartment and put together and shove in her freezer.
Her father had said she was really a hopeless cook, so it was all easy stuff like sheet pan chicken and broccoli and a slow cooker roast. I’d double-checked earlier that she had a slow cooker, so I was good to go.
As I selected onions, someone cleared their throat behind me, pulling my gaze away from the pile of vegetables in front of me.
Damn it. It was Ms. Parker. “Hello,” I said stiffly, then turned back to my selection.
“Wayne,” she said in a disappointed voice. “I’ve been considering what happened, and when you’re ready to apologize, I’m willing to let bygones be bygones and have you back to the house to cook again.”
I put the onion in my hand in the cart and turned slowly to look at the old bat. “You’re joking.”
She sniffed and shook her head. “I can be the bigger person, and I’m sure you need the work.”
This old biddy. “Actually,” I said, “I’m swamped. I just took on another job, and I’m barely able to squeeze it into my schedule. So, thanks, but no.” I made sure my voice was flat enough to indicate I really didn’t mean my thanks at all.
“That won’t last,” she hissed. “You’re a private chef because you weren’t good enough to work in a real restaurant. You’d better take any work you can, son.”
My blood boiled, but this was still a member of my pack.
And while I didn’t have to like everyone in my clan, I also didn’t want to create some sort of feud.
So instead of yelling at the hateful woman at the top of my lungs, I kept my voice low and even.
“Ms. Parker, I chose not to work in a restaurant. You’re only saying that to try to get under my skin.
You know and I know that my food is delicious, and I could work in any restaurant I wanted to.
Now, keep your dignity intact and walk away, and let this mess go before it causes a problem in the clan for us both. ”
She sniffed and opened her mouth, but I held up a hand. “Seriously. Just let it go.”
Letting it go was the last thing I wanted to do. If I gave in to my dragon’s instincts, I’d go to Anthony and have him publicly chastise her and old Ms. Dottie, but that would create a headache for Anthony, and there would never be peace between me and the old lady crew. Better to let it go.
And that was being a bigger person. I put more onions in my cart and kept walking, leaving Ms. Parker to stew in her pettiness.
As I made my way around the store, I tried to let it go and settle my anger, but no matter how deeply I breathed, I was just pissed and in a sour mood.
If I had time, I would’ve headed for the woods and shifted to let off some steam, but time was a bit short. I could shift after my family dinner. That would have to do.
With everything on my list, I headed to Bianca’s apartment to get her settled for the weekend really quick.
After this, I’d start planning seven meals for her weekly drop-off, but at least her dad had offered a nice tip for this special trip.
It made it worth it. Too bad I was in such a shitty mood now.
She let me in with a smile, and the urge to yank her into my arms and kiss her senseless made my mood even worse.
I didn’t want to want to do that. If I had my way, we’d be friends for a long time, get to know each other through these weekly visits, and then maybe in like a year or two, we could take it a step further.
Fighting the urge to throw down the food and yank off Bianca’s shirt threw a big wrench in my plans.
“Okay, so I’ve got the stuff to throw these meals together,” I said. “These are pretty simple, but after this weekend they’ll be just like the others I bring, and I’ll do seven meals a week instead of five.”
She nodded and smiled with her hands behind her back.
As usual, her gorgeous face distracted me from what I wanted to say, but I powered through.
“Do you have a permanent marker?” I asked.
“I’ll jot down the instructions on the lids.
” I’d bought throwaway containers just for these meals while I was at the store.
I had some at home, of course, but I’d walked out without grabbing them.
She blinked twice before shaking her head. “Yes, of course. One second.”
As Bianca scurried from the room, I had to force my gaze away from her backside. Her perfectly toned backside.
Damn it.
“Here you go,” she said and held out a pen.
I stared at the black ink pen. “This won’t work.” My irritation rose. She wasn’t even listening. Was I doomed to be with a mate that didn’t have a brain in her head? Was that how this was going to go down?
Bianca’s face fell. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I have a permanent marker. Can you just write down the instructions on a piece of paper? I won’t lose it.”
I sighed and nodded. Her eyes softened, looking a little hurt as I looked at her, waiting for the piece of paper. “Do you have paper?”
With a squeak, Bianca ran from the room again, returning seconds later with a small tablet. “Here, sorry.”
“Okay, so these are super easy. The chicken I’ve already cut up for you, and you just put it on a sheet pan—”
“What’s a sheet pan?” she asked.
“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath as I leaned over the stove, clenching my fists against the side of the cooktop.
But I miscalculated how loud I spoke. When I looked up, Bianca had tears in her eyes. She’d heard me. Shit. She wasn’t Kaylee. Kaylee would’ve told me to shove it and moved on. But I’d hurt Bianca. “I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “I didn’t mean to be short with you.”
“It’s fine,” she snapped. “I’ll figure it out. Just leave the instructions on the counter, please.” She turned and as she walked out, said, “You can see yourself out.”
Damn it. I finished writing down the how-to, then walked out of the kitchen. I really wanted to apologize, but the loud music blaring down the stairs told me she really didn’t want to be bothered.
With a sigh, I punched in the code on her security system before I walked out the door. At least her alarm was on. I didn’t want to leave her all alone and hurt, but what else could I have done at this point? I’d apologize to her the next time I saw her.
After leaving Bianca’s, I headed straight for my mother’s place. Some time with my family was exactly what I needed after the week I’d had.
They had dinner on the table, and I pushed all my irritations away, finally, as I sat among my sisters, their mates, and my niece and nephew, and listened to their chatter.
I loved each of them, though I was truly not sure if I ever wanted any children of my own.
I hardcore leaned toward not having them, and just borrowing this crew if I needed a kid fix or wanted to go to the zoo or something.
After dinner, my sisters and their mates decided to go shift and enjoy some time while my mom watched the kids. Normally, I would’ve gone with them, but I needed some Mom advice.
“Spill,” she said after she got the kids settled with some playdough at the table. I stood and leaned against the counter where I could see them while she loaded the dishwasher. I knew better than to try to take over with the dishes. She’d slap me.
“I ran into old Ms. Parker at the grocery store,” I said with one eye on the kids.
Mom froze with a hand full of silverware halfway to the basket. “What did she do?”
“The usual. Tried to make me feel small. But that wasn’t the problem. I should’ve let it go and moved on, but instead, I let it aggravate me and I took it out on my client.”
She sighed. “Wayne. Have I taught you nothing?”
I hung my head and looked at her out of the corner of my eye. “What do I do?”
My mother didn’t yet know that Bianca was my mate. That was a big conversation for another day. She’d freak if she found out and be planning the wedding before I left the driveway. I wasn’t about to tell her until I was ready to walk down the aisle.
“Is this client one that you want to keep?” she asked as she rinsed off a plate.
“Yes, I do.” More than she knew or would know for quite a while.
Mom finished loading the dishwasher, then joined me to lean against the counter and watch the kids in the dining room. “Wayne,” she said in a soft voice. “If you don’t get your temper under control, you’re going to end up like your father.”
I sighed and leaned my head on her shoulder, which involved a lot of bending over on my part, but it was worth it to inhale her scent and feel that comfort that only a mother could provide.
She wrapped her arms around my waist. “I love you, son. And you’re not like him, not really. But you still have his temper and you’ve got to keep it under control.”
My father kept everything under his belt. He let stuff build up until he exploded. He wasn’t ever abusive toward us or anything, other than we always felt like anything we might do might make him angry.
And he didn’t mean to be that way. But he never could get a handle on his anger. Not until the day he died, after picking a fight with another shifter. A fight my father lost to terrible, permanent consequences.
“I’ll figure it out,” I said. “I know I inherited his temper, and I thought I’d done a better job of keeping it under control, but I guess I haven’t.
” With a sigh, I explained further. “I kept my cool with Ms. Parker, but by the time I got to her totally inappropriate clients, it was more than I could deal with.”
We joined the children and I worked on forming a dragon out of their clay.
Though I didn’t want to start something with Bianca right this second, I also didn’t want to push her away and ruin my chances of a good relationship with her in the future. Guilt rode me, keeping me down through my visit with my family.
I wasn’t prepared to be anything more to her than chef and client, but I’d make sure I didn’t do anything to worsen our relationship. I’d make it up to her somehow and get back on track.