Page 4 of Purrfectly Trapped

He left the Neta’s office and headed to his room. Glancing over the schedule he’d just received, he noted the next day was going to be a busy one. The Nari was expecting a guest. The elderly Witch was quickly becoming a regular at the Pride House. Uzzi Stregovich had introduced the ruling couple and was treated like family ever since.

Reg had no opinion on the man either way. He was fair, he supposed, and kind, and that was good enough for the Tiger. He scrolled ahead and saw the Nari had some appointments over the following weeks, but not much. Who knew part of being a guard would mean he’d have administration duties as well?

He shrugged and tugged off his shirt. Oh well, at least they would be staying at the Pride House for the most part.

Maybe he could tempt the Nari into staying and practicing the authenticcioppinorecipe he’d scrounged up for her after emailing some distant cousins who lived off the Amalfi coast. He could have a fresh fish delivery brought to the house for the delicious Italian fish stew.

Elissa was a chef. She loved to cook. And as it happened, the Tigers of the Pride loved to eat. Reg included.

It was a perfect plan to keep her safe and his Neta happy. Then maybe everyone could stop looking at him as if he were still a traitor. Reg knew the men didn’t think he was aware of it, but he knew. The second those words had left Hunter’s mouth that they were looking for someone who’d betrayed them, Reg had felt their eyes on him. No matter that he'd apologized and tried everything he could to make up for his actions, they still doubted him.

It hurt Reg that they still did not trust his motives. But he wasn’t a child. He was a Tiger. And he would prove himself by being devoted to his job and Pride duties.

They would trust him again. All of them.

I swear I will do everything I can to make it right.

ChapterOne

“That’s the last one!” Gretchen shouted, stretching her sore back.

“Ohmygawd,Gretch! I don’t know what you were worried about,” Elissa huffed, sitting down on a plastic covered chair, and rubbing her protruding belly.

The shipment of bright orange, faux leather chairs had only just been delivered, and Gretchen had yet to unwrap them all.

“Do you need a bottle of water?” Gretchen asked her bestie. She hardly recognized Lissa these days.

Her former roommate was practically glowing. The pregnant blonde was radiant. So much so, she was practically bursting with happiness, and Gretchen was truly glad for her. If only she wasn’t so dang lonely herself, she thought sadly, reaching into the off-white, antique fridge for a cold water.

“Oh yes, please,” Elissa gasped, chugging from the proffered bottle greedily.

Gretchen sighed and shook her head, looking over the chairs and the small magazine table that had just been delivered. They were arranged in anLshape, nine in total, and were perfect for the waiting area at the front of the salon.

Colors were her jam, the brighter and happier the better. And not just as far as interior design went. Heck no! That included hair, nails, tattoos, and makeup too. So far, her salon had been repainted with new lighting installed, and she’d ordered the orange, well more like tangerine colored chairs almost immediately. The walls were a creamy white for the most part, to make the most of the space since mirrors abounded anyway. But all the accents were tangerine or pink, including the moldings.

Cut It Outwas truly taking shape and Gretchen could scarcely believe it was hers. Back home in Iowa she’d been a chubby little nobody living with her elderly uncle and mean spirited cousins. The Kaepernick’s weren’t known for having much in the way of compassion, but they’d taken her in when her parents had died tragically in an automobile accident.

Iowa was as far away now as she wanted it to be. Her memories were nothing good. No, life had only truly started for her when she’d arrived in the garden State after being certified as a stylist. She’d found an apartment to rent with Elissa and had managed to save enough to complete her business degree through online courses.

She did not want to spend her life working for peanuts for other people. Whoever said hard work paid off was not lying, she thought and looked around at the space she was already starting to love.

"It wooks gweat, Gwech,” her bestie said with a mouthful of chocolate chunk cookie.

Gretchen understood and beamed at her bestie’s praise. She sat down next to Lissa and hugged her around the shoulders, the two of them squealing like they did when they lived together and something good happened to either of them. She had to be careful though because of Elissa’s condition.

Gretchen just could not believe it. Elissa was having a baby! Her rounded belly was peaking slightly over the tie-dyed waistband of her yoga pants, but Gretchen’s BFF was rocking that bump. The smoldering looks Elissa got from her total hottie of a hubby the last few days she’d been around them were proof of that.

Yowza!

It was enough to make a girl blush. Well, a girl who hadn’t seen anything resembling a penis in far too long. She was not promiscuous by any means, but Gretchen had always had a healthy appreciation for sex.

Not that she’d had any kind of sex in a long,long, very longtime. Anyway, wasn’t Hunter a doll to have his buddy Trigger drive Elissa over to see her? The cute guy had even offered to go out and grab them all some lunch.

“You sure trigger’s got a girlfriend, Jessica?” Gretchen asked Elissa’s sister-in-law who’d come by to help along with her pal, Kylie.

The big man in question had just gotten out of his truck and was heading for the door with a sack of sandwiches for the women.

“Yep. Going on five years,” Elissa answered for her, and turned her head with a wide smile for the man himself. “Thanks, Trigger. I’m starved.”

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