Page 36 of Protected By Her Mate

Chapter 14

The Heat

LENNOX

Arriving at Charlie’s apartment building for our date, I take the stairs two at a time until I’m outside Charlie’s door.

What should I tell Charlie about Edie? Everything? Just the necessary parts? Will she condemn me for my part in Edie’s grief? Surely she’ll understand it was a different time.

I’m so distracted by my thoughts, I knock on her door before I realize something is terribly wrong. My sensitive hearing should have picked up on it.

I back away, preparing to flee, but the door is opened before I can run and I’m faced with half a dozen people of various ages piling into the doorway. Looking past them, I see about fifteen more.

Charlie’s family. All of them.

“You must be Lennox.” Male. Hard stare. Arms crossed. Lips in the signature Lopez line. Her father.

“Uh, yes.” I clear my throat and offer my hand to the man, telling myself the adrenalin rushing through my veins is anticipation, not fear. What would a shifter with a gun have to fear from a relatively small human? “You must be Alfredo Lopez.”

“I am.” He squeezes my hand, but instead of letting go, turns me to face the tribunal lining up in the living room. Gesturing to a woman a few decades older than Charlie but clearly related, he says, “This is Charlie’s mother, Annalisa.” He releases my hand so I can shake his wife’s, but continues to stand close to me, pointing out everyone in the room. “You’ve met Maria and the kids. That’s her husband, Chris. This is my son, Jorje, and his girlfriend Catalina. Then there’s my other son, Felix, and his partner, Hutton; their children Dallas and Alex are in Luke’s room; next to Felix is my youngest daughter, Ariana, who’s in her third year at Yale.” His chest puffs with pride and Ariana beams. “Then we have Charlie’s grandparents on my side, Jorje Senior and Patrice. This is Anna’s father, Luis.”

Luis’s handshake is strong, his expression unsmiling as he says, “Anna’s mother couldn’t make it. She’s on vacation in Florida.”

“With her yoga instructor, Benny from Queens,” Ariana whispers and Maria giggles before hushing her.

Thinking the introductions are over, I’m about to make an awkward attempt at small talk when I’m shoved toward the kitchen where there’s another four adults and a baby. “This is Anna’s sister, Lynn, her husband, Kevin, their daughter and my niece, Evie, her husband David, and their baby, Ingrid.”

Overwhelmed, I say a general ‘hi’ to no one in particular as Lynn grabs hold of my face, forcing me to bend toward her. She gets so close I think she’s about to kiss me, but instead she squints. “He’s cute,” she declares, letting me go.

“Ma, leave him alone.” Evie grins at me. “Sorry about all this. The Lopez clan isn’t known for subtlety.”

“You’re not even a Lopez,” her mother points out. “That’s why we were shoved into the kitchen. So the real Lopezes could get first crack at Charlie’s new man.”

“You bee-lined for the fridge when we got here, Lynn,” Kevin teases her, squeezing her waist. “We were invited to meet him, same as everyone else. If you want me to take your maiden name, just say so. I never wanted to be a Finkelstein anyway.”

“It’s better than Finkelstein-Funk,” Evie gripes, lifting Ingrid from her highchair and bouncing her on a hip.

“Maybe we should all take your mother’s maiden name,” her husband jokes.

I’m starting to feel like a zoo animal at a very popular exhibit when Charlie’s musical voice calls out to me. “Lennox, are you in here somewhere?” Like a flotation device being tossed to a drowning man, I desperately search her out.

Moving toward her voice, I try to gently maneuver past her family without committing the grave error of accidentally pushing one of them to the floor with my bulk. I’m about a foot taller than nearly everyone in the place except Kevin who looks to be about an inch above six feet.

“I’m here.”

She pushes between her two sisters, not bothering to be as polite. “You made it.” She’s so beautiful, I’m frozen in place despite being bumped by the jostling bodies all around us. A few phone cameras are whipped out to document the moment.

Charlie is wearing a long-sleeved thigh-length black dress that hugs every mouthwatering curve. The scooped boatneck collar gives glimpses of a pendant nestled against her cleavage. I’ve never seen her wear makeup like she is now, but her eyes look larger, more almond shaped, and her lips are a deep shade of brown.

She scoops up her purse from the coffee table and shouts at the group, “Thanks for babysitting!” Then she shoves me toward the door.

A chorus of disappointed voices rises around us.

“You can’t just leave!” Ariana whines.

“We didn’t get to threaten him yet,” Felix points out.

“Should we really be threatening a shifter police officer?” his husband asks in return.

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