Page 6 of The Bear's Fated Mate
Alex tipped back in his recliner with a glass of really good whiskey in hand as he mentioned his current worry. “You think Gramps is going senile?”
A snort sounded, followed immediately by gasps for air. James, the youngest of the three brothers, leaned forward and pounded a fist against his chest, obviously having swallowed wrong.
Cooper eyed him from the comfort of his own oversized leather chair. “I take it that’s a no?”
A rasping laugh broke out from James, now blissfully mated to his best friend, Kaylee. “Grandpa Giles might be annoying, but he knowsexactlywhat he’s doing.” James gave one final cough against his fist before examining the swirling amber liquid in his glass thoughtfully. “Maybe we haven’t given him enough credit. He’s got some good ideas.”
“You mean his ultimatum to not avoid the mating fever this year or else? Just because it turned out well for you doesn’t mean that’s a given for us,” Alex reminded him. “Neither Cooper nor I have best friends we’ve spent years pretending not to be in love with.”
A soft shrug lifted James’s shoulders before he met Alex’s gaze. “I wasn’t pretending. I really didn’t know. If it hadn’t been for Grandpa Giles’s edict, Kaylee and I would still be waiting instead of enjoying a relationship that’s mind-blowing and life-changing.”
The leather creaked on Cooper’s chair as he adjusted position, his expression softening. “I take it mated life is going well?”
James’s immediate ear-to-ear grin was easy enough to read. “Kaylee’s amazing. She’s brave, and she’s beautiful, and oh my God, the sex is—”
“Yeah, great. We don’t want to hear about that.” Cooper was the one who said it, but Alex wholeheartedly agreed.
There was nothing worse than having to sit through gloating, especially on their younger brother’s part, when neither he nor Cooper was currently attached. And it wasn’t as if sex wasn’t on his mind…
Go see the wolf,his bear suggested.She’s hot.
Alex leaned forward and put his empty glass on the table so he could use both hands to rub his temples.Shut. Up.
His bear didn’t say anything. Just cheated outrageously and sent a vivid mental image of Lara. An instant replay, as it were, of the night he’d stupidly given in to desire and kissed her senseless. Her lips were swollen from contact with his, the buttons of her shirt undone far enough to reveal the top swells of her breasts. Her chest moved rapidly as she all but ate him up with her eyes.
A groan escaped before Alex could stop it.
“Oh, hey. You two had better not be backing out of our deal.” Annoyance tinged James’s voice. “Just because something unexpectedly good happened to me doesn’t mean either of you are off the hook. I was willing to do whatever it took, like we all promised.”
Alex lifted a hand to cut off the rant before it went any further. “Not backing out of the deal,” he assured his younger brother.
Although Alex was going to do his damnedest to not end up mated, and he was starting to have some wonderfully sneaky ideas regarding exactly how to manipulate the system.
“I’m not backing out either,” Cooper assured them both. “To get back to your original question, Alex, I don’t think Grandfather is senile. I think he’s a sly old fox, but in the end, his wily ways don’t change anything. He can’t trick his way into all three of us becoming mated this year. If we follow the letter of the agreement, we win. And the only thing he demanded was for us to not avoid the mating fever.”
James nodded, pacified by their recommitment. The three siblings fell into an easy chatter. Just a good time with family and a lot of teasing aimed toward James for having mated with the woman who’d been under his nose for years.
“By the way.” James glanced between the two of them. “I’m taking Kaylee with me in a couple of weeks when I head to the London Diamond Festival. We’re staying on for a few days to have an actual honeymoon.”
“Sounds great. Have fun,” Cooper said, a wry smile on his lips. “It’s bound to be a whole lot more entertaining than what I’m doing, which is heading south to take a couple of refresher courses and then renewing my law license.”
James bumped a hand against his forehead. “That’s right. I forgot you were busy. I guess that means Alex is my lucky replacement while I’m gone.”
They all helped in different capacities for Borealis Gems, but James handled most of the publicity.
Alex hated publicity work. “You knew you were going to London. Why’d you book something else for the same week?”
“Don’t be such a wuss about having to go out in public and smile,” James rumbled good-naturedly. “And I didn’t double-book, thanks so much for trusting my abilities. I’m booked for an event on October fifteenth that the coordinator suddenly decided we needed to have a rehearsal dinner for onAugustfifteenth.”
Alex sighed. “Which means no way you can put them off until you’re back.”
“None at all. And if you think I’m cutting short my honeymoon because you’re feeling antisocial, you’ve got another think coming.” He dug in his pocket and pulled out a business card, spinning it across the room.
Alex caught it in midair.
“Contact information for the coordinator of the event,” James told him. “Friday night. Give him a call and see if you’re supposed to pick anyone up along the way. I’m not sure who else is invited.”
Alex eyed the card. “Table Talk?”
