Chapter Three
The next day, Gideon pulled up in front of the Arnolt house. He had debated about coming all morning, but he reminded himself that she might be his only option. Besides, he wanted to test out his theory that she might be his mate.
He knocked on the door and then tried to act like he wanted to be there when Edward opened it and smiled broadly.
“Come in,” Edward said after shaking his hand. “Bambi will be down shortly. Until then, we can talk in my office.”
Gideon froze, and his heart sank when his wolf howled inside of him, and his cock got harder than ever before. Hell, he couldn’t deny it. She was his mate. He took a deep breath, nodded, and followed him.
Edward walked to a small bar. “How about a drink? I know it’s early for some.”
Oh, thank God. “Sure, I’ll take one.”
Gideon sat on the sofa and sipped his scotch. Then they spent the next thirty minutes talking business. He was getting ready to make an excuse and leave when Bambi strolled into the office.
“Oh, there she is,” Edward said and chuckled.
Like the night before, she was all in white. White dress pants and a silk shirt. He was afraid to touch her because he might get her dirty. Everything about her was high-class and cold. The look on her face told him she wasn’t excited to be there.
Edward wrapped an arm around her waist. “Are you ready to eat, sweetness?”
She shrugged. “Sure.”
Gideon fell in behind them. He tried to ignore the two whispering, but the whiny tone of her voice made it hard to ignore.
The table was set when they got to the dining room. He took a seat on Edward’s left side, and Bambi sat across from him.
It amused him when she tried to ignore him, but her father wouldn’t let her.
Edward asked him several questions while they ate. By the end, Gideon knew that he’d rather find someone off the street instead of the clueless, frigid woman in front of him who could be his mate.
After the meal, Gideon was exhausted and just wanted to go home.
“Let’s go out to the patio and have another drink,” Edward said as he stood up.
Gideon held back a sigh and promised himself he’d be out of there soon.
Bambi stopped her father.
Edward looked at Gideon and nodded. “Go on out the French doors. We’ll be there shortly.”
Gideon nodded and walked out into an oasis of flowers and bushes. He’d never seen anything so pretty in his life. There was an abundance of color and texture everywhere he looked. It was a place where he could see himself relaxing after a hard day at work.
His body turned rigid as a fresh wave of mating scent hit him hard. What the hell? Before he could look around more, Bambi and Edward walked out. He nonchalantly took a whiff of her and realized it wasn’t as strong as what he felt at the moment.
He could tell by the way her father had a hold of her upper arm that she’d been trying to run away, and he wished he had let her go so he could leave.
“It’s nice out today,” Edward said.
Gideon nodded. “This is the most beautiful garden I’ve ever seen.” He turned to Bambi when she snorted. “What?”
“She likes doing this,” she said and crinkled her nose.
“Who?”
“My sister.”
Gideon’s eyebrows rose. “I didn’t know you had one.” He’d never heard anything in all the years he’d known Edward.
He caught the look of embarrassment on the older man’s face, but then he smiled. “I have two daughters, but this one is my pride and joy.”
Jesus, what a prick.
“I’m so sorry. It looks like you’ll be meeting Jessica,” Edward said and pointed over his shoulder. “I hate that she likes to play in the dirt. Maybe if she tried to be more like her sister...”
Gideon spun around, and the world seemed to stop, and every molecule in his body expanded. This woman was the one who was his mate. The scent on Bambi had only been there because the two lived together in the same house, so it rubbed off on her.
He noticed Jessica seemed to feel something similar from the look in her eyes and the way her body didn’t move at all.
The sound of Edward’s voice finally seeped through.
“This is my youngest, Jessica.”
After he’d finally gotten over the shock, he studied her.
She was several inches shorter than her sister, Bambi, and had curves that made his mouth water.
She had a light tan, probably because she spent a lot of time outdoors.
Her hair was long and very dark, and her eyes made him think of topaz.
They were piercing and pretty. Everything about her turned him on.
“Why is it that we’ve never known about her?” Gideon asked as the woman slowly made her way over to their group.
“Because look at her,” Bambi said loudly enough for Jessica to hear.
When he looked at her casual expression, he didn’t know if it was because she seemed to be used to the way her sister talked about her or if she was good at hiding her feelings.
He heard Edward grunt behind him and turned to look at him. The distaste on the man’s face as he looked at his other daughter made him furious.
“What about her?” Gideon asked.
“She’s always dirty, and she doesn’t have anything feminine about her.” Bambi turned to her father. “Right, Daddy?”
“You’re right, sweetheart.”
Jessica stopped a few feet away from them and tried to smile. “Bambi takes after my father’s side of the family, and I look like my mother.”
“She must have been very beautiful,” Gideon said.
He almost laughed at all the different expressions on everyone’s faces.
Jessica was surprised, but her skin turned rosy with happiness.
Edward stiffened and shook his head, muttering to himself.
Bambi had a look of pure shock, then confusion and disbelief.
He surmised that Bambi hadn’t heard people talk nicely about her sister.
Gideon held out his hand towards Jessica. “It’s nice to meet you.”
A look of embarrassment came over her face when she held up her hand to show it covered in dirt.
“Oh, my God. That’s disgusting,” Bambi said, horrified.
For fuck’s sake, it was only dirt. To everyone’s surprise, he took her hand and held it for a long moment. He tightened his grip when she tried to pull away. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Jessica cleared her throat and licked her lips. “It’s nice to meet you, too. I’d better go clean up. Have a nice day,” she said and walked away.
The fact that it felt like she was taking a huge part of Gideon with her wasn’t lost on him. He hadn’t known he was staring at Jessica’s back until Edward made a sound.
Gideon turned to see distaste on the man’s face and speculation on Bambi’s. He almost laughed when he tuned into her thoughts. There was a sudden burst of static, then anger and jealousy.
She didn’t want him because he was too big and rough, but the thought of her sister getting him was pissing her off and made her feel slightly conflicted.
He wanted to tell her to just forget about him because he had already dismissed her as a possibility. There was no way he was letting his true mate get away.