The Beast in Him Read Online Free Page B

look, she was over her little “wait until he sees me now” moment.
    Christ, though, the man did look good. Tall with mile-wide shoulders and his entire body rippling with muscles under his black midlength leather jacket, black turtleneck, and black jeans. And those watchful, amber eyes staring out under that dark brown hair, most of which reached to his collar. Probably a relief after so many years in the military.
    Yeah, the man still looked damn good.
    She wished she could say she truly had no idea he’d be attending this party, but her Pack never did business with anyone they hadn’t thoroughly investigated. And although she knew Mace through his sister and their mutual charity activities over the past five years, it wasn’t until Danny gave her the information on his business that she saw Bobby Ray Smith’s name listed as his partner.
    At that point, she knew what she had to do. As childish and ridiculous as it seemed even to her, she couldn’t resist. And, as always, her Pack had been more than willing to join in.
    But now it was over. She’d showed him exactly how far she’d come, and it felt great. Yet, she had more important things to deal with now, moving Bobby Ray Smith officially into her past.
    Although there definitely remained a part of her that still wished she’d gotten a chance to kiss him that night in the gymnasium. Just so she could stop wondering what it would be like. By now she felt certain she’d built it up to gargantuan proportions the poor man could never live up to.
    The passenger side door opened and Jess grabbed hold of Danny’s hand so he could help her from the huge vehicle. Now that she was back in her normal footwear, she didn’t need the help, but she wouldn’t turn it down either.
    Laughing and happy, the Pack walked into the diner to feed.

CHAPTER 2
     
    Smitty sat back and watched the high-powered activity of the busy kitchen. He always loved hanging out at this restaurant. The chef, first cousin of the Van Holtz Pack Alpha Male, always made him feel welcome and, more important, fed him.
    “So how’s the business?” Adelle Van Holtz asked as she handed a waiter two plates of food.
    “It’s okay. We’re getting more clients. Had a big job last night that worked out well.”
    “Good. Good. I told my brother about you guys. He may have some work for you.” She reached around him and grabbed a bottle of water. “As you know, the Van Holtz Pack doesn’t like to sully our fingers with common wolf activities.”
    “The Smiths are all about the common wolf activities. And being sullied. So we’re more than happy to help. Especially if it involves my favorite restaurant,” he finished with a wink.
    The Van Holtz Steakhouse restaurant chain had been neutral ground for shifters for years, although cats didn’t come by very often. Yet every breed of wolf or canine could come and indulge their need for rare steak and hang with the other wolves. Only problem, the Van Holtz Steakhouse was in no way cheap. So Smiths didn’t come very often since they didn’t exactly roll in money like the Van Holtz and Magnus Packs did.
    “I’ll keep that in mind,” Adelle said with a smile. “Now tell me what’s wrong, baby boy?”
    Smitty liked Adelle a lot, the two of them becoming impossibly tight after she’d hired Smitty to beef up her restaurant’s security and figure out which of her staff had been stealing from her. It turned out to be the arctic fox busboy.
    At least twenty years older than him, Adelle wasn’t as snobby as most Van Holtzs, and she really knew how to cook up a steak. She had a mothering streak a mile long, and she loved to baby Smitty. With his momma in Tennessee and his sister a pain in the ass, he sometimes needed that.
    “What makes you think something’s wrong?”
    She reached up and stroked his cheek. “You know you can’t hide anything from me. Is it a She-wolf problem?”
    “Nah.” He kind of wished it was. She-wolves were real simple to