Wolf with Benefits
Page 23

Ask your mate.
How can you blame me for this? her mother called up.
Still not talking to you!
I see you met your mothers surprise.
Toni glanced down and realized that the dog her mother had gotten was following Toni up the stairs.
Why is this dog following me? she called down the stairs.
If you dont want her, Ill just take her back to the pound, her mother replied. Of course . . . they were about to put her down. But that shouldnt bother you.
Oh! You are just . . . Oh! Toni began up the stairs again. As she moved, her siblings were coming down, but one look at her face and they all glanced away and kept going. When she got to her bedroom, she stopped and turned. Why are you following me? she finally asked the wolf behind her.
Because we agreed. Im hanging with you today.
My father just let you come up here to my room?
Yeah. I think it was my charm.
More like Coop ran over here and told my dad about you.
He shrugged. Whatever works. So what are we doing today?
Ive got to get ready for an interview at ten.
Okay.
She stepped into her room but faced him once more before he could invite himself in.
Why dont you go downstairs and wait until Im done.
Okay. He stared at her a moment, and asked, Any chance your momma is making waffles for breakfast?
With great relish, Toni replied, Not a chance in hell.
Then she closed the door on his disappointed face and got ready for her interview.
CHAPTER FIVE
Toni had been waiting forty-five minutes for her interview, but she didnt mind. She had a book. As long as she had something to read, Toni could self-entertain for hours. It was a gift she had.
Still, she did wonder if there really was some sort of problem going on that kept Ulrich Van Holtz and the hockey teams coach too busy to meet with her. Or were they just trying to find a way to break it to her nicely that they didnt even think she could manage the office copier? Not that she blamed them. Except for the occasional volunteer position, shed never had a real job. Not anything she could put on a rsum.
Then again, she was probably just being paranoid and insecure. They couldnt all be away trying to figure out what to do with her, and even the snooty bobcat receptionist wasnt around.
She glanced over to her right.
The wolf, though, was still sitting there. Quietly. Staring at the wall across from them. He didnt look bored. Or annoyed. Or angry. Just . . . calm.
She hadnt said a word to him. Not because she was upset with him but because she was curious to see how long he could go without talking to her.Shed thought he would have gotten fed up by now and found a very nice way to leave. She couldnt see him storming out in a huff. That didnt seem to be his way. But politely finding an exit strategy? Yeah. That seemed more his style.
She finally had to ask, Youre not bored?
Not at all.
Really?
Ive found that if you wait long enough . . . the entertainment often comes to you. You just have to be patient.
Okay, but it may be awhile. I dont know when
Thats fine. Ill just keep on sittin here . . . lookin pretty. He grinned at her, showing those perfect white teeth. Enticing you with my charm.
At that point, all Toni could do was cross her eyes and go back to her book. But just as shed settled in, the bobcat receptionist returned. He charged in through the glass door, barely glancing at her or the wolf as he passed.
Toni sat up straight, not knowing if the receptionist would be part of the hiring process, and said, Hi. Im here to see
Yeah, yeah. He dismissed her with a shake of his head while he grabbed a messenger bag from under his desk. He had it in his fist and was just moving around the desk when the glass door was thrown open and the hockey player from the day before, Novikov, stood there. He wasnt in his training gear, but in jeans and a T-shirt, a duffel bag over his shoulder. And even though she didnt know the man very well, Toni could say with great confidence that he was definitely seething.
What, Novikov began, spitting out the words through clenched teeth, do you not understand about a schedule?
Uh-oh. Toni remembered her brother Troy beginning a conversation with his onetime babysitter. Afterward, the babysitter sued for medical bills and pain and suffering, plus got a restraining order against her brother. In the end the family settled with her out of court. At the time, Troy was six and weighed about thirty pounds.
Novikov was thirty something and at least four hundred plus pounds . . . so this situation could easily end up much worse.
Trying to defend himself, the bobcat began, I did what you ask
No! Novikov cut the cat off. You didnt do what I asked. Because if youd done what Id asked, Id be surprising my fiance in Chicago with the wonder that is me. And later tonight, Id be watching a bout with her and a bunch of other hot girls racing around a banked track in tight shorts and tank tops and pretending its a sport. Instead, since last night, Ive been in Iowa. Then Kentucky. Then Minnesota. None of which had my fiance, but did have grizzlies. Lots and lots of really pissy grizzlies! Who arent fans of polar bears or lion males! And Im both!