AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m her consort,” Holden said, a victorious tone in his voice. Lucas was a king; he wouldn’t miss the meaning of the word.
Unfortunately, according to Lucas, I was still his queen, so—
“Who are these people?” A twenty-something woman with a familiar face came up to Lucas’s side and threaded her arm under his. “Luke, who are your friends?” she asked again when he didn’t reply right away.
Luke? Only Kellen, Lucas’s younger sister, had ever called him Luke. I was used to people treating him with near-reverential respect because of who he was. This girl clearly had no idea.
“Willow, this is Holden Chancery. ” He spit the name out like it was poison on his tongue.
“Charmed,” Holden said with a doozy of a smile. He took Willow’s hand and brought it to his lips, placing a kiss on her knuckles.
If he didn’t turn down the charm a few notches, there wouldn’t be a dry pair of panties in the whole hotel.
“Do I know you?” Willow gave Holden an intense stare. “You look familiar. Did we do an indie awhile ago?”
“An…indie?” He was usually quick on the uptake with most twenty-first century lingo, but the term had apparently evaded him.
“An independent movie,” I whispered.
“Oh. No, I’m not an actor. ” If I wasn’t mistaken, there was a gleam of pride in his eyes at being mistaken for one, though. He was a vain creature to the core.
“What a shame. Cheekbones like those. ” Willow gave him a once-over that was equal parts sexual and predatory. I’d seen the same expression on serious antique collectors who desperately wanted to possess something. She wasn’t looking at him like he was a person, but rather a thing.
Her comment about films made my recognition of her face click. “Sorry, you’re Willow Chalmers?”
She beamed like a thousand-watt spotlight at being recognized. “Guilty as charged. And you are?” The cursory glance she gave me wasn’t nearly as interested as the one she’d given Holden.
“Secret McQueen. ”
The initial curl of her lip when she heard my name was a common enough response. People had a lot of trouble taking my name seriously, and it was a burden I’d learned to live with. Especially after finding out my mother had wanted to name me Harmony. Ick.
But getting such a dismissive look from a girl who shared her name with a tree, a television witch and a dwarf? Come on.
“Secret…McQueen?” She repeated my name back to me as if to say, Are you sure that’s what you want to go with? Then she seemed to process it and looked from me to Lucas. When her gaze returned to me, her mouth had gone slack.
I guess the gossip columns out west had liked my story as much as they had in New York.
“You’re Lucas’s ex. ”
“I am Lucas’s ex,” I said almost gleefully, leaning hard on the last word when I met the wolf king’s gaze. “The one he ditched at the altar. Without so much as a phone call. Yup, that’s me. ”
Now that she knew who I was, she didn’t seem sure of how to respond. I was guessing if I’d been just any other girl, she’d have pawed at him a little to make it clear he was hers, but I didn’t want
him and that confused her.
Who didn’t want a beautiful, charming billionaire, right?
Me, for one.
But I also knew Lucas, and I knew this girl was going to end up one more notch on his bedpost. Willow Chalmers was human. There was nothing special or supernatural about her, and because of that she couldn’t be a permanent fixture in his life.
I almost felt pity for him, cavorting around with this poor human girl to fill some empty void inside. A void he’d probably claim I left him with.
I wrapped my arm around Holden’s waist and leaned my head into his shoulder, smiling at Lucas. “Lovely to see you. We should be going, though. ”
“Oh. ” Willow seemed surprised we didn’t want to stay. “We were just heading to the restaurant for dinner. There’s a guest chef in from South Africa who makes the most orgasmic quail. ” Her attention shifted to Holden when she said orgasmic. “Won’t you join us?”
That’s the worst idea I’ve ever heard.
