Unexpectedly Mated

6

“Are these not the most beautiful color?” Barbara had a peep toe sapphire blue satin heel in her hand.

The shoe addict inside Nic wanted to snag the beauty out of Barbara’s hand and claim it for herself. “They’re gorgeous. You have impeccable taste.”

Barbara’s throaty chuckle turned more than a few heads in the vicinity. Her blue eyes sparkled with delight. For being one of her best friend’s mother, Barbara blended right in with their group. Even though she happened to be a lot older than them, she looked fantastic. She had enough sass to keep her kids on their toes, along with the rest of Nic’s friends. Barbara slipped a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. “Cut it out. You sound like my husband. And he only says that when he’s referring to my taste in having him for a mate.”

Nic grinned while she eyed the blue shoe. She mentally willed Barbara to put it down. Instead of shopping with any of her other friends, she preferred to hang out with Barbara because she understood Nic’s love for shoes. Plus, they had similar tastes. Whenever Nic shopped with Emma or Jordan she’d end up with a new pair of trainers. And if she was out with Karla then she’d just add to her flip-flop collection. “Men are like that. They love focusing on what they want.”

Case in point: Jake Wolfe aka The Womanizer. If she caught him going around her house again without having the balls to knock and talk to her, she’d get her damn fence electrified. Never mind that it was a wooden picket fence. Maybe she’d ignored his calls for fear of what he’d say, but that didn’t give him the right to stalk her. And so what if she acted like she wasn’t home whenever he left a message saying he’d come to talk to her. It had been eight long weeks since the scent ceremony and she still avoided him unless they were in crowd.

Barbara gave her a once over and then frowned. “Got something on your mind?”

Oh no. She really didn’t want to discuss Jake with his mom. As cool as Barbara was, talking about Jake with her would be way too weird.

“No, I’m okay.”

Barbara shrugged and placed the shoes in their box. She handed them off to the person assisting them. “I’m taking these.”

Damn! There went her getting those shoes. She glanced down at the gold strappy sandals she had in her hands. They would be perfect for whenever she went on vacation or something. Except she hadn’t been on vacation in years. In fact, she should go visit her sister Leticia. The poor girl had been texting her nonstop about her new job and wondering when she’d come to visit.

“You know…” Barbara cleared her throat, understanding lighting her eyes. “Jake isn’t a man-w***e, not really.” Her face must have spoken her non-verbal shock because Barbara burst into giggles. “I mean, sure he has a club like Mase, but he’s still a wonderful man. A faithful man.” Then Barbara patted her on the shoulder. “That’s not just the mother in me talking.”

“Mason doesn’t own a strip joint,” Nic grumbled unhappily. She wasn’t a jealous woman. Okay, maybe she hadn’t been in the past. Things changed. She’d changed. Now, she disliked thinking of Jake in that club filled with cougars and hot young things doing everything in their power to grope any sexy man. Why did she have to like the one Wolfe brother who had a bunch of horny women paying shifters to strip for them? He was in that club every night with a bevy of single and married women all trying to paw at him. Just thinking about it made her want to scream.

They strolled to the checkout counter where their boxes of shoes were already being held. Barbara turned to her, her blue eyes searching for something in Nic’s face. “Are you all set for the wedding?”

“Sure, as ready as we can all be, right?” She shrugged and bit her lip.

Jordan, one of Nic’s closest friends, was getting married to Barbara’s son Aric. Though they’d been in love with each other for years, they’d put their feelings out there a few months back. Ever since then, everything that could have gone wrong did. Poor Jordan had been attacked multiple times and to make things even worse, their attempt at a bridal shower had gone awry when Aric had to fight the son of another Alpha. The other man had been trying to get his hands on Jordan. s**t had literally hit the fan.

“Maybe we should consider doing something away from here, you know?” Barbara asked, her gaze meeting Nic’s. A flash of worry dashed through her blue eyes. “I think Jordan could use a break. She might be all up in arms about taking care of herself, but no woman wants her wedding to be surrounded by death.” Barbara handed her card to the cashier and smiled. “Put it all on this.”

“What are you doing?” Nicole shrieked. “I can buy my own stuff, Barbara. There’s no need to spend your money on me.”

Barbara gave a graceful nod. “I understand that, but I wanted to gift these to you. I haven’t met anyone with tastes so similar to mine and someone fun to shop with.”

She folded her arms over her chest. “That’s all fantastic and great. If you want to get me something, buy me lunch, all these things are worth a fortune. I know I’m expensive.”

Barbara lifted a hand to Nic’s arm and squeezed. “Then you’ll be my expensive date for today. I want nothing in return but for you to enjoy yourself.”

Nic grumbled a sigh. “You’re one very hardheaded woman.”

Barbara’s tinkling laughter filled the quiet store. “Now you really do sound like my husband.” She sobered quickly and frowned. “Am I going to have to pull teeth to get you to tell me what’s wrong with you and Jake?”

Nic blinked. That was so not what she wanted to talk about. At all. Not Jake. He inhabited a place in her head where she didn’t know what to do. “Um…well…”