The Gamma's Reluctant Mate -The Wolves Of Winter Valley Bk 3

Chapter 4 - Let The Game Begin

Megan POV

Within days of my father’s passing, I was delegated to working every Sunday in Bonnie’s stead, and it didn’t take long for me to figure out why. Sunday brunch was our busiest time, and it showed in the cyclone-style mess that was always left behind, despite the exhaustive efforts of the entire staff to keep up with the heavy volume of dirties and trash. Bonnie detested manual labor and was little more than a hostess when she did work.

Everything that she loathed doing was passed off to me or one of the other employees while she wandered around chatting up customers and flirting with those men she’d tagged as wealthy and available. The only actual business-involved task she insisted upon handling herself was the restaurant finances, and I strongly suspected it was so she could skim from the profits undetected.  

After sending Missy and Neveah on their very well-deserved break, I grabbed an empty rubber tub from the kitchen and started clearing tables. Emma still had two full tables in her section, but she picked up a tub herself and cleared when she had a free moment.

“Oh, mama.” I heard Emma mutter under her breath and looked up to find her standing frozen at the end of the bar, an empty tub dangling from her fingers. She was staring past me toward the door of the restaurant.

I turned, following her gaze, and nearly collided with a massive tree of a man. My eyes slowly climbed up…and up…and up from the impressive muscular chest, not at all concealed by the navy-blue t-shirt he was wearing, until I was craning my neck to look into the darkest blue eyes I’d ever seen. The man grinned, and I had to squeeze my full tub into my chest to remind my lungs how to function.

Holy s**t.

Bit by bit, recognition penetrated the shock and slapped me hard across the face. Adam Keller. My mother’s latest infatuation and the man who thought he was going to have a little fun at my expense. I took a significant step back and started looking around him with my brows pinched together, feigning concentration.

He mimicked my search, looking confused. “What are we looking for?” he asked.

“The beanstalk,” I answered and smirked when his smile slipped. Score one for me.

My victory was short-lived as he recovered quickly. “Giants are a lot bigger than I am,” he said casually as if mythical creatures were a common topic of conversation, and sauntered over to one of the tables I’d just cleaned.

I walked over to the bar and set my tub down, then—since there was no one else—I followed. “What can I get for you?” I asked, pulling my order pad and pen from my apron pocket.

“What do you recommend?”

“Tommy’s frittata is to-die-for and comes in two versions, the southwestern and the mushroom and spinach. It’s served with home fries and your choice of bacon or sausage,” I recited as I had numerous times throughout the morning to every other customer who asked.

Adam grinned at me, and my heart fluttered wildly. Irritated, I contorted my features into a scowl in response. “The southwestern sounds good with bacon. Coffee to drink… Why don’t you order two and join me? You look like you could use a break.” I jotted down his choices and stuffed the pad back into my pocket.

“Thanks, but no thanks. I have two servers on break, a dining room that needs to be cleared for the dinner rush, and nearly my entire supply of dishes to wash,” I answered, pivoting away. “I’ll be back with your coffee.”

He caught my hand before I could walk away, sending a light tingling sensation skittering up my arm. “I’ll make a deal with you,” he said and waited until I looked back over my shoulder. “If you sit down and let me buy you lunch, I’ll help you get ready for the dinner rush.”

Stunned, I studied him. No one else had ever volunteered to give up a part of their day to clean the restaurant just so I’d have a meal with them. Even to me, that seemed like too much effort to put into a joke. And I doubted this guy was just after dipping his pen in my ink. A man that looked as good as Adam didn’t need to put so much effort into satisfying those primal urges, and he wouldn’t bother with a woman who looked like me. For a brief moment, I wondered if the interest he’d expressed to Carla had been sincere.  

No.

That’s how they suck you in. They pretend to be interested, then when you finally decide to trust them, they reveal their true selves and destroy you. There was precious little left of me to destroy, and I would keep that part intact if it killed me.

“You don’t work here,” I pointed out, tugging my hand free.

“And you don’t have to pay me. I’m volunteering my services.”

The restaurant’s door opened, admitting Missy and Neveah. Both smiled as they made a beeline straight for me. Missy held out a white paper bag. “Your turn, boss lady. And to help you enjoy the few minutes you allow yourself, I got you a treat.” I peeked into the bag. “Kettle fudge! Milk Chocolate with walnuts, your favorite.”

“Thank you, Missy. That was sweet of you,” I said, refusing to meet Adam’s gaze. I could just imagine what nasty little thoughts were rolling through his mind.

No wonder she’s fat.

Eat a carrot, heifer.

May as well just dump a whole bag of sugar in your face.

“Looks like you have time for a break now.” Adam’s voice pushed its way into my mind. I sliced a quick glance in his direction. He was grinning again, and my knees wobbled slightly.

My fingers tightened on the fold of the bag in my hand.  “I’m not having lunch with you, Mr. Keller.”

Missy and Neveah both gasped. “Why the hell not?” Missy asked, openly staring at him.

“Because I’m not. Would you excuse us, please?” I said, turning my narrowed gaze on the two slack-jawed women.

They stumbled away, bouncing off each other as they continued to stare. Adam chuckled. “Come on, Megan. What harm could it do?”

“More than you know.”

This time when I started to walk away, he stood up and took me by the shoulders. “Your mother isn’t here, Megan, and I’m certainly not going to tell her that we had lunch. I doubt anyone else in this restaurant would either. No drama will come from it, I promise.”

My mouth opened and closed repeatedly and soundlessly. I hadn’t told him that Bonnie was my mother. Carla hadn’t told him. How did he know? Oh, Bonnie was going to be pissed when she found out. And she’d blame me like she always did. “How did you know that Bonnie was my mother?” I asked and grimaced hearing the tremor in my voice.

“Lucy Brighton is a friend of mine.”

“Lucy? You know Lucy?”

Adam released my shoulders. “She’s staying in my village helping another friend of mine who just gave birth not too long ago. You may have met her. She used to spend a lot of time up here in Lucy’s shop.”

“Isabella?”

He nodded. “Izzy and I are really good friends. That blonde guy I was with yesterday was her fiancé.”

I scratched my head. “Wow, a baby and a fiancé. Guess it’s been a lot longer than I thought. Huh…” I backed up another step. “I better get your lunch ordered.”

“And yours, Megan,” he called after me.

This guy was not going to give up. Picking up the tub of dirties from the end of the bar, I pushed into the kitchen and sighed. Adam wasn’t wrong. I was hungry and needed to sit down; eating just wasn’t something I did in front of other people. In high school, I read through my lunch period and ate when I got home. When I managed the restaurant alone, I took my meals in the office, so customers and employees wouldn’t see me. When I worked with Bonnie, I took my meals upstairs in my apartment where I could eat in peace without her criticizing every morsel I put in my mouth. Now, this ridiculously good-looking man wanted me to eat in public with him, and I couldn’t think of a single polite way out of it. I had plenty of nasty and rude ways out, but he was a friend of Lucy’s. I’d known Lucy my whole life. I’d played with her kids growing up. She would take it personally if I were deliberately vicious to someone she cared about.

Adam POV

I’d half expected Megan to come back out, give me another excuse, then hurry off to hide until I left. While her attitude seemed to lessen considerably when she learned that Lucy and Isabella were friends of mine, I could still see the wariness in her eyes. So, I was thrilled when she returned to the dining room with two plates in hand and sat down.

The frittata looked incredible, and I dove right in with gusto, then I glanced across the table and frowned. Megan sat stiffly with her eyes locked on her plate, picking at a salad with no dressing. I watched her for a minute, then returned my attention to my own meal. I had a feeling if she wasn’t eating with me, she’d have ordered something different. The temptation to mention it was there, but it had taken work just to convince her to have lunch with me. I didn’t want to run her off by commenting on what she chose to eat.

“So, I guess I should have asked before pushing you into having lunch but are you seeing anyone?” I asked, jolting her out of her thoughts.

A short, humorless laugh burst from her as she shook her head. “No,” she said without looking up.

“How was that funny?”

Megan’s brow lifted as her eyes met mine. “Seriously?” She waved her hand in front of herself, drawing my attention to her body.

Aiden growled.

Though her insinuation and obvious self-degradation irritated me as well, I remained quiet. “Nice shirt,” I said, instead. “I love The Stones. My parents saw them in concert the summer before I was born.”

She gaped at me, then dropped her eyes back to the salad she wasn’t eating. I watched her pick apart a piece of lettuce, then move on to another. Whatever patience I had fled.

“If you don’t like that, why did you order it?”

Fire was flashing within those haunted blue eyes when she looked up. “You don’t know me. You have no idea what I like,” she hissed.

Folding my arms over my chest, I leaned back in the booth and smirked. “Okay, fine. Take a bite, then. Not a tiny nibble of a piece of lettuce. Load that fork up, and take a big, healthy bite.”

Megan glared at me for several long, tense seconds, then did exactly as I asked. Unfortunately for her, she was unable to disguise her disgust quickly enough. I caught the slight wrinkle of that cute little pixie nose and the downturn at the corners of that slightly top-heavy mouth.

“There satisfied?” she asked after swallowing.

“Not quite.” I reached over, took the plate of greens, and set it aside, replacing it with my own plate. “Eat at least half of that, then I’ll be satisfied.”

“I’m not eating your lunch.”

“Then order what you really want and leave the rabbit food for the rabbits.”

I turned around in my seat looking for a waitress, when I saw her, I lifted my arm to signal her. Megan nearly cleared the table lunging forward and grabbing my arm. “Would you stop? I’m not hungry, okay?”

Fear flickered in her eyes a moment before she jerked her gaze away from mine. “What are you afraid of?”

She shoved my plate back across the table. “I am not afraid of anything. I just don’t like to be pushed into doing something I don’t want to do.”

“And why don’t you want to eat? And don’t tell me it’s because you’re not hungry. I can hear your stomach growling from here.”

With more force than she probably intended, Megan pushed herself out of the booth and nearly fell. I leaped to my feet and caught her against me. Slowly, she tilted her head back and stared into my face. Her eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed in confusion.

“Uh… Thanks,” she said as she steadied herself, then tugged on the hem of her t-shirt, and turned to walk away.

I caught her hand. “Your lunch isn’t over,” I said quietly.

“Oh, I think I’ve had all I can handle for one day,” she answered and tried to pull out of my grasp. I pulled her back to me and lifted her up, sitting her on the end of the bar. Several customers and her wait staff stopped what they were doing to stare at us. Her gaze darted around the room. “Have you lost your mind?” she whispered through her teeth, then shoved me back and tried to jump down. I caught her and put her back. “Do you bench press semis? What the hell?”

“Just sit still a minute,” I said, stepping between her knees and linking my fingers together behind her. “I’m getting tired of talking to your back.”

“You know what the cure for that is? Stop talking.”

I tugged her forward until she was nearly flush against my chest. Her eyes were wide, her breathing ragged. My first impulse was to kiss those trembling lips until she relaxed, but something told me that would do more harm than good. So, I laid my brow against hers instead and just breathed in her sweet peach scent. “I don’t know what’s happened to you, Megan, but clearly you’ve been hurt by somebody.” She stiffened and braced her hands against my shoulders. “I won’t hurt you. Give me a chance to prove it.” When I felt her body relax, I slipped her phone from her back pocket and held it up in front of her. “Unlock it.”

Her breath stuttered out as she swiped her finger over the screen. While she watched, I opened her contacts and added my information, then locked the phone and eased it back into her pocket, allowing my fingers to glide over her denim-clad ass. I waited for her to object or to slap me, but she didn’t move, and she remained silent. The only sound came from the shaky breaths that escaped her slightly parted lips.

“Since you won’t give me your number. I gave you mine. Call me or text me anytime. Day or night, I don’t care. Just let me hear from you,” I said, then eased back and touched my lips lightly to her forehead.