“I have lawyers flying in from Reno. Werewolves. We’ll go over the details this afternoon, and be in court tomorrow at nine a.m. I’m getting a paternity test today – the results will be back in a couple of days.”
“How will we pretend I’m Jenny?”
“I’m getting new ID made up for you and that’s what you’ll show them at the courthouse. We’ve contacted the coroner’s office and explained that there was a mistake. Jennifer was burned beyond recognition, so we’ll tell them that your car had been stolen and you didn’t report it because you owed a bunch of money in parking tickets. We’ll tell them you only recently found out about the accident.”
Jennifer was a terrible person and she’d hurt Jeffrey to the core with her neglect, but still, thinking of her like that…Celeste felt sick. Grant must have seen it on her face, because he reached out and brushed his fingers over the back of her hand. The touch felt comforting. Reassuring. Right. She pulled her hand back anyway.
“When you’re in the courthouse or around the CPS, you’ll answer to Jennifer. And we’ll work with Jeffrey today to go over what he tells CPS. I hate to ask him to lie, but it’s for a good cause. I’m also going to work with him on staying calm and under control, so there’s no risk that he’ll shift in public.”
Celeste grimaced. “He’s all too used to lying, I’m afraid. So at least he’ll be good at it.” Then she met his gaze. “Worst-case scenario. Let’s say we’re at the courthouse and they try to take Jeffrey. That CPS bitch really seemed to want to take him into custody. And you never know what kind of judge you’re going to get.”
He nodded, his expression going grim. “I’ve anticipated that. My lawyers are bringing backup. I’ll have a helicopter on standby. If the judge orders him taken into custody, I’ll fight our way out of there if necessary. We’d flee the country and go somewhere the U.S. has no jurisdiction. It’s not just that I don’t trust social services to take care of him, it’s the fact that he’s a werewolf and they’d figure that out quickly. He’d end up in a government testing lab. I will kill anyone who tries to take him from me.”
“You’re hairy again,” she said, reaching out without thinking to stroke the fur on the back of his hand. “Ooh. Silky.”
This time he was the one to snatch his hand away.
“Sorry,” she said, hurt.
“It’s okay, it’s just…when you touch me, it has a certain effect on me.”
“What kind of effect?”
“Don’t look down.”
So of course she looked down. “Oh my God. Is that…a werewolf thing? Are you all proportionally huge?”
“Gah! I said don’t look down! And also, I don’t know, it’s not like I go around checking out human dicks and comparing them for size!” He moved behind a chair.
She stifled a smile. “I can still see you between the slats of the chair. Wow. Sorry, that’s totally crude of me. I’m ashamed of myself.”
“And yet you’re still staring.”
“I can’t help myself. It’s mesmerizing.”
He moved from behind the chair. “Is it really now. Tell me more.”
She felt warm all over. He was going to kiss her. Would she let him?
Could she stop him?
He stepped closer, his eyes intent on her mouth, moving with sleek predatory grace that made her heart beat faster. The heat in her face told her she was blushing and all of a sudden there seemed to be too little air in the room.
Did shewantto stop him?
There was a huge crash outside, and the shrill sound of a car alarm.
“Jeffrey!” Grant spun away and ran for the door. Celeste ran after him, taking the steps downstairs two at a time, racing across the expensive Oriental carpets, and out the front door.
When they got there, they found that the shiny black Range Rover that had been parked in the roundabout was now upside down.
Jeffrey was jumping up and down with excitement. “Do it again! Do it again!” He cried out. “Da— I mean, Grant! Look what she can do!”
Mandy smiled sheepishly at them as Grant glared at her. “Oops. That one’s on me.”
Chapter Seven
They had a full day ahead of them. Grant took them into town to shop, and also, reluctantly, bought them the Kitchen Sink pizza at Greasy Gus. He even ate a slice, although he shot dirty looks at Celeste in between every bite.
