Celebrity Alpha Series: Book one: The Billionaire Alpha's mate.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Early the next morning, Mia and Maria set off to the park for their routine jog. After jogging for thirty minutes, they paused to catch their breaths and Maria went across the park to talk to some of her friends from school. Mia watched them as they giggled and whishpered. Probably talking about their boyfriends and annoying older sisters, she thought. She watched as Maria smiled, her chubby cheeks dimpling in a way that Mia had not seen in a long time. Her sister looked genuinely happy here. She mentally crossed her fingers, praying that the evil and danger from their past would not follow them down to Sacramento.

A thought suddenly coming to her mind, Mia pulled out her cellphone and dialled the Anderson mansion home number. Since the staffs were given a week off, she knew Cole would answer the phone and he did, sounding groggy, like he had not had much sleep. Good, Mia thought, because she had not slept much either, erotic scenes with Cole playing havoc on her mind all night.

"Hello?" Cole's husky voice came through the line, sending hot thrills down Mia's person.

"Hello? Cole, is this a bad time?"

"Ya think? What in the goddamn blazes do you want so early."

Man , he sounded pissed. Less than happy to hear from her. Surprisingly, that dampened Mia's mood, just a little. She couldn't help goading him though.

"You sound cherry this morning"

Cole was growing impatient.

"Cut the smart mouth crap Mia and go straight to the point, I could reduce your wages for this."

Mia rolled her eyes,

"Okay, Mr Anderson, can I bring my sister to work today?"

Cole paused for a moment.

"I told you last night to call me Cole, that's my name."

"Well, Mr Anderson, I can't really risk going against my professional etiquettes.'

Cole heaved a long sigh,

"I'm not up to this, it's too early. Why do you want to bring your sister to work anyway, is she some kind of juvenile delinquent?"

Okay, now Mia was mad,

"Hey, watch it Mr Anderson. My sister is not some insane, teenage maniac. She's just seventeen and she's very sweet and nice and..."

"Calm down, jeez. No."

"No? No what?"

"No you can't bring your sister to work today...or any other day."

Mia smiled, knowing that she was about to get on Cole Anderson's nerves. For a seasoned billonaire, he was really cocky.

"Sorry, you can't do that."

"I can't do what?"

Mia sighed,

"You can't stop me from bringing Mia to work today."

She could swear that Cole actually growled, he sounded like an angry wolf. Don't go there Mia, you'll just make your self dizzy with fear.

"And why can't I?" he rasped, "It's my f*****g house so I dictate who stays and who dosent, and right now, my mind is telling me to fire your ass."

Mia stilled, she couldn't get fired, memories of the abuse she'd had to endure in the past to feed Maria assailed her. She couldn't go back to living like that.

"No...no, that won't be necessary. I just meant that I spoke to Zach already and he gave me the go ahead to bring her over."

"So now you're using my Grand father to plot against me? If you knew that you would bring her anyway, why did you bother calling me at six in the morning?"

Mia wanted to rub it in his face that she'd managed to get him pissed so early in the morning, but his threat to fire her was still fresh in her memory, and now she liked him a little bit less.

"Well...I...uh was thinking..." her voice trailed off.

"Oh, I get it. You wanted to rile me, Mia. You thought that you could affect my feelings, make me angry. Well it worked, but let me tell you something, Mia, you seem to forget that you're my housekeeper and I'm your boss. You do not get to take such obscene liberties ever again. You have absolutely no right to call my home and spew a bunch of nonsense from those goddamn lips. Do. You. Understand?"

Mia was stunned, shocked and worst of all, she was hurt. Cole's words had cut her deeper than she expected it to. His voice came back again, louder this time,

"Do you understand me, Mia Rodriguez."

Mia tried not to sniff,

"Yes, yes I do."

Then she disconnected the call. She was so stupid. For a moment there, she had forgotten her place in the Anderson's mansion...and in Cole's life. She was only his housekeeper and nothing more and she had to start acting like one.

**************************

Cole rubbed his hands over his tired eyes, feeling like s**t for what he'd just said to Mia. His wolf prowled restlessly beneath his hot skin, "we're trying to get her into bed with us you moron, but you keep pushing her away."

Cole let out a low bellow as he tried to block out the sound of sniffles that Mia had been desperately trying to hide from him. He lifted his desk chair and threw it against the wall. This woman affected him way too much for his comfort. If it had been any other woman, they would made it a point to bring Cole's attention to their tears, to draw the billonaire celebrity's sympathy, but Mia had made it obvious that she did not want his sympathy. Hell, she didn't even want him to know that she'd been hurt by what he said.

She intrigued him, amazed him, turned him on and pissed him off all at the same time. He couldn't remember any of his dreams from last night but he was sure that she'd featured in all of them, leaving him wet, heavy and achy this morning. He needed to get laid, but the very thought of sinking into any other woman that was not Mia did not sit well with him at all.

He stood up, but still feeling groggy, climbed back into the bed and pulled the comforter over his head. If he was going to face his hot housekeeper today, he needed to have a good sleep and a clear head.

****************************

Mia dropped an open mouthed Maria at the entrance of the Anderson Mansion's garage while she drove in to find an empty slot amongst Cole's numerous cars to park her truck. Why did a person have to own so many cars anyway? Her one and only truck fitted her just fine. Thankfully, she found a parking space and did not have to drive too far into the garage. She got out of the truck, retrieved her bag and walked out to the entrance to find a still open mouthed Maria staring inside.

"Wow, Mia. Get a load of all these expensive, sweet rides. The Rolls Royce, my all time favourite. The Lamborghini, every man's bad boy, the Range Rover, classy and suits every occasion, the..."

Mia broke in,

"Will I have to stand here and listen to you point out and describe every single last one of Cole Anderson's cars? I kinda have a job to get to."

Maria pouted,

"You're such a spoiler. Mia this place is beautiful. If punishing me means I get to follow you to work, I'll literally burn down our apartment."

Mia only smiled and shooed her sister out of the garage.

"You will do no such thing. But if you try it, I could always kick you out to live on the streets or under a pretty bridge."

Mia had apparently stopped listening to her. She gazed at the lush garden with it's wild, exotic and expensive flowers growing everywhere. They progressed slowly towards the porch and that was mainly because Maria had stopped and stared at things every now and then. When they finally got there, Maria's still open mouth dropped open a notch wider... if that was even possible.

"Ohmygod! This is the most beautiful and luxurious front porch that I have ever seen."

Mia rolled her eyes, drama queen. Maria's wide eyes took in the glassed in porch with its vases overflowing with colourful flowers, the beautiful porch chaise lounge, the gleaming wood floors and sleek silver stair banisters and the huge, built-in TV on the East wall.

"Sis, the porch even has television. I bet it's cable TV." Maria turned to her,

"Can we stay here and never go back home?"

Mia knew that compared to her apartment the Anderson's mansion was more beautiful, more elegant and basically top notch. Man, there was a damn television in the kitchen!

Through out the night, she'd dreamed of living here with Cole, making love in the garden . But the morning had brought her back to the harsh realities of life, she couldn't get involved with him, no matter how much she wanted it. She did not want to put him in danger because she knew that the rogue werewolves that murdered her parents were still looking for she and Maria and she might have to go on the run again...soon.

Now was not the time to be getting romantically involved and anyway, Cole had made her realize her place this morning. She was just the maid and nothing more. Because that stung, she turned to her sister,

"Maria, you know we can't live here. We might have to live soon."

Maria heaved a sad sigh,

"I know, Mia, I was just kidding. Come on, why don't you show me inside."

Mia gave a silent prayer of thanks that Maria was so brave. She wouldn't have known what to do if her sister was a cry baby.

Mia swiped her employee card on the door and led her sister past the brilliant porch, past an elegantly decorated waiting room and into the sitting room...one of the sitting rooms really. She turned and was not surprised to see the stricken look on Maria's face again. Walking into Cole Anderson's sitting room was like walking into another world. The house was ever filled with flowers and...

"Jeez, Mia. Cold Andy has a water fountain in the middle of his sitting room. I wonder if it's up to ten feet."

Mia smiled patiently.

"Yes, yes. Mr Anderson has a water fountain in his sitting room. There's one out back and another one that forms a cute little lake in the garden. I'll take you later."

Maria beamed,

"I might actually forget that I'm a grown up teenager and do the happy dance."

"You are very free."

Mia heard movements from behind them and turned to see Cole's Grand dad coming in their direction.

"Howdy ladies." He kissed Mia on both cheeks and turned to Maria, "And who might this angel be?"

"Grand pa Zach this is my sister Maria, Maria, this is Zach. He's Mr Anderson's Grand father."

"Nice to meet you, Mr...Grand pa Zach". Maria was actually flustered, she was meeting a celebrity for the first time after all. Grand pa Zach however took Maria's hands in his and gave her a warm smile.

No, I will hear of no such 'Mr' nonsense. You will call me Zach or Grand pa Zach, okay?"

"Okay" Maria smiled, obviously liking Cole's Grand dad on sight. "Where's Mr Cole, Zach" she asked.

"Oh, you're a fan?"

Maria gave a wide smile,

"Yup, since yesterday" she winked at Mia.

"Okay then, he's probably in the gym, throwing some weights. Say Mia, why don't you take a cup of coffee to him. He hinted needing one earlier."

Mia was flustered,

"Like right now?"

"Yep," Grand pa Zach put his arms around Mia, "While I give this my lady here a tour of the grounds."

"Okay, you guys go on.

"Bye sis." Maria squealed.

"Bye, have fun."

Mia did not like this. She thought that she would have some few precious minutes to herself before facing Cole Anderson today and now, she had to serve him coffee. Breathe, Mia, she told herself. Whatever you do, do not let what he says get to you. She walked into the kitchen and began fixing a tray. Then it struck her, she did not know how Cole liked his coffee, so she put all the fixings in the tray and carried it to the gym.

As she got closer, loud music filtered through the half open door. Mia gently pushed the door open then turned to close it. When she turned around, the sight that met her eyes sent a nice little ripple through her whole body.

Cole was indeed lifting weights, shirtless and only clad in boxer shorts. The muscles on his back and arms bunched repeatedly and his eyes looked very serious. She gently dropped the tray on the near by table and coughed to announce her presence so she wouldn't startle him into dropping the enormous weights on his neck. Though she had a feeling that he'd known the instant she came into the gym because his nostrils flared and his body stiffened.

He looked up sharply, saw who it was, then abruptly went back to lifting his weights, dismissing her. Mia however was prepared for this. She simply located the source of the music which turned out to be a state-of-the-art, complicated looking stereo system, a model that Mia had never seen before. She had originally intended to turn down the volume of the music but since she did not know how to work the thing, she simply unplugged it.

Silence filled the gym at once and this time, Cole did drop his weights, but not on his neck though, bless the Lord for that. He pinned Mia with a cold blue stare but she simply skipped back to the tray and with a big smile said,

"Good morning Mr Anderson. How do you like your coffee?"

Cole stood up and began walking towards her, his serious blue eyed stare pinning her in place. Mia did not want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he made her uncomfortable. She maintained her position, wide smile still in place. He stopped directly in front of her. Towering over her, he was a tall six footed giant and she barely came above five feet. Mia saw the blue-gold flecks dancing in his eyes again. What the hell was that? It's not what you think, Mia, she silently calmed her fears.

When he saw that she wouldn't budge, he lashed out his hands, spanning her small waist in his large palms and lifted her up surely as if she weighed nothing. The smile disappeared from Mia's face and barely stopping her self from screaming, she began to buck and struggle against Cole's massive chest. She sucked in a breath and looked up at him. His blue eyes still sparked fire and his well muscled body was covered with a sheen of sweat.

As he lifted her higher, she stifled another scream and tightened her arms around his neck, hanging on for dear life. He finally dropped her with her arms still around him, he leaned in closer and his hot lips brushed against her ears, sending an electric jolt through her middle.

"Miss Rodriguez, we just met yesterday and you've pissed me off so f*****g much they if we'd met earlier, I would have drowned you in the damn Atlantic ocean!"

His fingers slid down her face, over the bridge of her nose, then stopped at her lush lips. His touch was soft and gentle, not mirroring the anger she knew coursed through him until he visibly shook with it. His body radiated an odd masculine heat that Mia had never felt around another man before, much less another human.

He lifted her higher still and Mia had no choice but to wrap her slim legs tightly around his middle or risk falling on her face. The movement caused Cole's eyes to darken with unmistakable desire. Mia felt it too, it was hot...and amazingly s****l. The very air around them cackled with fiery electricity, Mia was surprised that the gym hadn't caught fire. Mia finally found her voice.

"Put me down right now."

"No, I don't want to." he tightened his arms around her, his face coming just within inches of hers.

"Are you going to kiss me?" she asked breathlessly

"Don't you want me to?"

Her eyes slid down to Cole's lips. She was going to regret this, so she shook her head visciously which sent her dark her flying and most of it got stuck to Cole's sweaty hair, chest and lips.

"Is that a no?"

She nodded, "No Cole, don't kiss me."

"Then miss Rodriguez, I will kiss you."

Cole's lips came down on hers, so soft and filled with surprising tenderness and Mia almost forgot her own name.