11. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Lachlan

Quinn and I were seated at a table Saturday evening, in my favorite restaurant. Quinn had been waiting for me outside when I'd arrived, looking breathtaking in a pair of charcoal dress pants that hugged his ass to perfection, and a plum button down, paired with a black leather jacket. He looked mouth wateringly sexy.

Once we were seated at our table, I immediately ordered a bottle of my favorite red wine. I'd be okay with a glass or a glass and a half, since I was driving, and if needed I could always call my car service to come get me. The waiter filled our glasses, and then turned to me to take my order. Once I'd ordered my favorite steak and potato sides, the waiter asked, "And for the young omega, Sir."

I pursed my lips, trying not to smile. While this was one of my favorite restaurants, serving excellent steaks and a wide variety of seafood, they tended to be a bit on the old fashioned, conservative side, when it came to alpha and omega roles. Just like I'd been, until a few days ago.

Quinn bristled. "This omega can speak for himself, thanks so much. "

I lost the battle within myself and smiled. I waved a hand towards Quinn, and nodded to the waiter, who sputtered. "Of course, alpha, I meant no harm."

I gave him a warm smile. "None taken, but my date is perfectly capable of deciding what he would like to eat, without my input."

The waiter turned to Quinn then, a blush forming on his cheekbones. "Of course, and for you, Sir."

"I'll have the lobster ravioli, with a side of lobster mashed potatoes, and instead of a house salad, I'll have the lobster bisque." The waiter nodded, writing down the order, and hurried away.

I grinned across the table at him. "I hope you didn't order all that because you're allergic to seafood, and you want an easy out."

He snorted, merriment lighting up his eyes. "I'm a little disappointed that I've never thought to do that before. I love seafood. Absolutely love it."

I took a sip of my wine, observing him over the rim of the glass, "So, tell me about yourself."

This was usually the part of dates I despised, the small talk, the getting to know you, routine boring questions. With Quinn I found I wanted to know absolutely everything about him.

Quinn shrugged. "What do you want to know?" He took a sip of his wine, then swallowed and sighed, "Oh, that's good."

"It's one of my favorites. I'm glad you're enjoying it."

I took another sip, as salad and soup were placed on our table. I really despised salad, but I always ordered it to try to counterbalance my love of carbs and my out-of-control sweet tooth. "Any siblings?"

Quinn took a sip of his bisque, closing his eyes and savoring the taste on his tongue. "Only child. I think my parents wanted more, but it just didn't happen for them. "

"Who's the leopard in the family, mom or dad, or both?"

"My mom. Dad's a wolf shifter."

"Really?" I hadn't picked up on a wolf scent from him. The leopard gene must be the dominant of the two in their family. If we had pups, I wondered if they would be leopards? I wouldn't mind that, but with my family history, chances were we'd have wolf pups.

"Yep, my grandmother, Gigi, my mom's mom, is also a leopard. Mom's dad was a wolf shifter. We come from a long line of leopard/wolf matings. Dad's full wolf."

The name Gigi struck a memory in my head. "Ah, so that's the Gigi Wade said was his secret weapon."

Quinn snorted. "Yeah, Gigi loves Wade like he's her other grandson, and well…she's not your normal grandmother. I wouldn't put it past him to have gone whining to her, and I'd never hear the end of it. Gigi is terrifying." He was deadly serious. "But I adore her."

"I never knew my grandparents," I supplied, hearing the slightly wistful tone in my voice.

"I only ever knew Gigi. My dad's parents had passed before I was born, and my grandfather died when I was little. I don't really remember him."

We ate in silence for a few minutes, then Quinn asked, "So, what's it like to be a Sinclair?"

I steepled my fingers under my chin. I'm not sure I'd ever been asked that before. "I guess I don't really think about it too much. It just is who I am. Though it does have its perks, I guess, and its drawbacks."

While we'd never wanted for a single thing, I'd never felt like I'd had the luxury of just doing whatever I wanted. To just let loose and have fun, for the hell of it. There were certain things expected of me, certain behaviors I had to adhere to. Regardless of what I may have wanted .

"Tell me about your brothers." He seemed genuinely interested. "I know there are four of you. And you're identical?"

"We are. We looked more alike when we were younger, I think. I think anyone that knows us doesn't have trouble telling us apart. Our hair is different, as well as our personalities. There are exactly fifteen minutes between each one of us. I'm pretty sure that's why our parents never had any more. I think my mom was done at that point."

Quinn nodded. "I can't imagine having one baby, let alone four at one time. No thanks."

I frowned. Did Quinn not want any children, ever? Or just not right now? He was young. I didn't know how old he was, but if he was the same age as Wade, that put him around twenty-three or twenty-four.

I knew without a doubt that I wanted children. I'd always known I wanted them, and I wanted them soon. I wasn't getting any younger. It was probably too soon to bring up the children conversation. Quinn was already on the skittish side. That was a talk for a later date.

"Brendan is next after me. He runs the department store." The store that had been in our family for generations wasn't my thing, but Brendan loved it, and he was excellent at running it. "He and I probably look the most alike, except he has tons of gray in his hair, and sometimes wears glasses."

Quinn nodded. "Gigi loves that place. It kinda reminds me of the department store in that old movie ‘Mannequin' ."

The waiter delivered our entrées and I agreed with him. "It does. We try to keep it affordable, but still a step up from the big box stores, or the normal shopping malls." I sighed. "Did that sound pretentious? I feel like it did."

Quinn smiled, showing off the dimples beside his cheeks, his emerald eyes shining. "Naw, I get what you're saying. It is better than a mall, and it's nice to have something like it here in Sweet Alps. "

I cut a piece of my steak off and popped it in my mouth, chewing. "Next is Finn, he's a doctor and has his own practice. He's an omega OB/GYN."

Quinn grimaced. "I've heard about him from Wade. He's not a fan."

I nodded. "Yeah, those two are like oil and water. I'm not sure what started it, or if it was just a mutual dislike from the beginning. Finn can be a bit…" I paused, looking for the right word. I loved my brother, but he was wound very tight, "serious." I finally landed on a suitable word to describe him.

"Wade can be a bit over the top." Quinn nodded in understanding. "I love him, he's my best friend. Hell, he's family, but he can be too much for some people."

"He's a damn good assistant," I told him. "I'd be lost without him. Please, don't tell him I said that. I like to pretend I don't rely on him as much as I do."

"Your secret is safe with me." He winked. I liked this version of Quinn, relaxed and flirty. Maybe it was the wine, but I hoped it was my company, and the ease he felt with me, that was allowing him to show me this side of himself.

"Jamie is the baby, and he moved back about four years ago, now. He owns a club, Sinful Playgrounds." I waited, my eyes watching Quinn's face for his reaction.

"Wade goes there," he finally said, not offering his opinion of the kink club.

I nearly choked on the piece of baked potato I'd just put in my mouth. "He does?"

He nodded, his russet curls bouncing with the movement. "Yeah, he's into some…stuff."

I licked my dry lips. "Are you? Into stuff? Have you been there? "

I could feel my heartbeat pick up, my breath hitching a little in my chest, as I waited for him to answer. He looked down at his plate, then up at me through his dark lashes. "I went once. With Wade. It wasn't my thing."

"There's lots of ‘things' there."

"It just wasn't for me." He shrugged. "I guess it was too public for me. Too extreme, maybe. I don't know, it just wasn't my thing."

I sighed, secretly glad. "It's not my thing either, even though Jamie gave us all memberships. I think I'm too boring for it. Jamie says I'm too vanilla. Guess we can be vanilla together."

Quinn stared at me across the table, and gave me a little smirk, his eyes gleaming in the candlelight on the table. "I didn't say I was vanilla, Lachlan. I said it was too public for me. I only like vanilla in my baking." His voice had gone low, and a little sultry, and it sent a shiver down my spine. "I like to do certain things, and I like to do them without an audience. Truthfully, most alphas aren't into what I like."

My brain was spinning out of control. What did he like? What was he into? Would I be into it? Fuck, I didn't really know what I was into. I liked sex, scratch that – I loved sex, but I hadn't really experimented much. Or, at all. I did know I wasn't into half the stuff that went on at the club. I didn't judge, but I just knew it wasn't for me. But I wasn't opposed to trying new things.

Experimenting. With Quinn.

There were things I wanted to try, fantasized about. Things I thought of when I was jacking off in the shower. I needed to change the subject, and pray my rock-hard cock deflated before the check came.

"So, baking?" Pretty sure I would never look at vanilla the same way, ever again. "How did that start? Did your mom or dad bake?"

Quinn smirked at me, like he could read my mind, and knew exactly what was happening with it, and in my pants. "My dad's a financial planner. He's great with numbers, stocks, risks, and making money make more money. Very organized and analytical."

"And your mom? Is she a financial planner also?"

Quinn snorted. "My mom's a flake. I love her, but she's a flake."

I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped my mouth at his tone, full of annoyance and an overwhelming amount of love.

"My mom is an artist. They met in college. Dad says he saw her across the quad and was done for. They both believe in that fated mates bullshit. They are so opposite, I can't even wrap my head around how they have managed to make it work between them. She does great abstract paintings, and wonderful sculptures. She just would forget to feed us sometimes."

"Dad is shit in the kitchen, and I finally got tired of being hungry. Mom was working on a piece, dad was at the office, and I was tired of ramen. Which was about the only thing I could make by myself at the time. I think I was about ten. I started with scrambled eggs, and went from there. Baking, though, has been my passion since the first time I made a batch of cupcakes. It's usually my stress reliever, except lately."

I grinned. "Well, I for one need to thank your parents for you turning into the incredible baker you are. My waistline doesn't thank you, but my sweet tooth adores you."

He gave me another hot, assessing look, and my cock grew harder. "Your waistline looks fine from here."

"I run," I told him huskily, my gaze turning just as hot as his. "A lot."

Quinn's line of sight moved over my shoulder, and his whole body tensed. "Fuck me."

I blinked, then tossed my napkin down. "I'll get the check." My dick and I were ready to finish dessert anywhere else.

He shook his head, giving me a ‘what the fuck are you talking about' look. "Lachlan, I'm truly sorry for what is about to happen. "

Just then, I noticed two people in my peripheral vision, and I turned. My eyes landed on an alpha a few years younger than myself, his arm around the waist of a waifish, but heavily pregnant omega. The omega was beautiful, in an ethereal, fragile way, very short and petite. The alpha was good looking, but his belly was starting to show some roundness.

"Quinn, I couldn't believe it was you when I looked over. I thought surely that is not Quinn Rafferty in such an establishment."

The words were said nicely enough, but held a haughty tone I didn't appreciate. I instantly took a dislike to him. His words, while said sweetly, were full of venom, and my shoulders tensed. I heard the dig aimed at Quinn. How dare this alpha insult my omega, with me sitting right next to him. I was too big for him to miss, so he was doing it deliberately, and that pissed me off.

Quinn rolled his eyes so hard I'm surprised he didn't give himself a headache. "It's a restaurant, Leo, not the Vatican. Don't be so bitchy."

"Isn't it past your bedtime?" he sneered, and the omega on his arm just looked bored. Maybe that was just his face. It was hard to tell.

"It's Saturday, I don't turn into a pumpkin until after midnight. Who's your friend?"

"This is my fiancée, Justin." The alpha – Leo – turned to me, holding out his hand. "Leo White, and you…oh, you're Lachlan Sinclair!"

I nodded, standing just because I wanted the pleasure of towering over him, and grasped his hand in mine. If I squeezed a little harder than necessary, I wasn't sorry, even when he grimaced in pain. I looked down at him, because while he wasn't short, he didn't come close to my height. In fact, I was pretty sure Quinn towered over him by several inches. "I am."

Quinn had narrowed his eyes, and he was staring at the omega hard – Justin – no, he was staring at the man's pregnant belly .

"How far along are you?" There was something in that narrowed gaze, that hard tone in his voice, he was trying to work out. I could see the gears of his brain whirling.

"It doesn't matter." Leo rushed, at the same time Justin said, "Six and a half months."

Quinn smirked, nodding his head. "Of course, you are. You're such a dick, Leo."

"Quinn," I said quietly, "What's going on?"

Quinn wrinkled his nose, like he smelled something bad, and laughed a little bit, the sound high pitched and without merriment.

"This is Leo, my ex. My ex, who tried to sell my bakery without my knowledge, so we could get married and have babies. That was four months ago. Four." He held up four fingers to make his point, ticking them off one by one. "But Justin here is six and a half months pregnant, damn near ready to pop. The math is just not working for me on this Leo. Care to explain?"

Leo's voice dropped, and was hard. "I don't need to explain anything to you. You left me, remember?"

"You tried to sell my business out from under me, dickhead. So we could do something I had no interest in doing. Especially with you. Something you were apparently already doing with someone else."

I sat back down, and reached for Quinn's hand, enfolding it in my larger one. I could feel his fingers trembling, and I had a good idea that it was from rage and not fear.

"That would have been a shame." I glanced at Leo, giving him what was referred to as the Sinclair frown. People usually knew to shut their mouths when that frown graced my face, or run in the opposite direction. "I would die without Quinn's baked goods. His coffee is almost orgasmic. I can't start my day without it. Can I, babe?" I placed a small kiss on the palm of his hand .

"I wanted to marry you, Quinn," Leo stated, as if that explained his criminal behavior, which also included cheating, by the size of Justin's belly.

"You wanted my trust fund," Quinn bit out, blandly. "I'm not stupid Leo, I know your business was in trouble. You went through my personal papers, when I wasn't home, with a key you made without my knowledge. You're lucky I didn't give a shit enough about you to press charges."

Leo sniffed. "Well, yes, but we've actually applied for a business grant with the Sinclair Foundation." He turned his eyes to me, a hopeful gleam in them. He ignored all the rest of the frankly disturbing, and illegal activity, that Quinn had pointed out.

I brought Quinn's hand up to my lips, and kissed it again, feeling his warm skin, his pulse beating faster. The scent of him filled my nostrils, and my dick hardened to an almost painful level. Just being near him, smelling him, touching his skin, had that effect on me. We needed to leave, and soon.

"Did you?" My voice was cool, my eyes never leaving Quinn's. His pupils were a bit dilated, his pulse fluttering like butterfly wings against my fingers. He was as affected by me, as I was by him.

"Yes, we're waiting to hear back." Leo seemed unaware of what was happening between Quinn and me.

I turned to stare Leo down, a shark-like smile on my face, that would have made Jamie proud. "I wouldn't count on hearing anything from us – I'm sorry what was your name?" I lied smoothly. You'd better believe I'd be looking Mr. Leo White up, as soon as I could get to a work computer. And making sure I had Wade shred the man's application, and flag him in the system.

"White." Leo repeated, eyes wide. "Leo White."

"Well, that will be easy for me to remember. I'll be sure to have my PA pull your application, and shred it. Are you ready to get home, baby?" I asked Quinn, picking up the check the waiter had stealthily slid to me on his way past the table.

Leo sucked in air like a fish out of water. Justin stood looking between us all, his eyes wide and vacant. Leo leaned down, right next to Quinn's ear, and my wolf rumbled in warning. He had one hand on Quinn's shoulder, and the other on the table, blocking him in, and my wolf was about to lose his shit. "He'll never truly want you, Quinn, not when he finds out what you like. You're just a hot, tight hole for him to get off on for a night, nothing more. Enjoy it now, because he'll get tired of that mouth of yours, and that attitude. I did."

The words were whispered, but my wolf hearing picked them up, loud and clear. When he dared to brush at one of Quinn's curls, pushing the strand behind his ear, my wolf and I both saw red. I didn't remember moving, but suddenly I had Leo pinned against the wall by his throat, feet dangling in the air. Justin let out a gasped meep, and Quinn was on his feet so fast, his chair clattered loudly to the floor behind him.

"Don't you ever put your hands on my mate again!" I snarled, feeling my canines begin to elongate. I wanted to rip this little fucker's throat out.

"Mate?" Leo choked out in a garbled croak.

"My mate," I reiterated, softly, deadly.

"Put him down, Lachlan." Quinn's order was soft, but as loud as a gunshot in my ears. I looked over my shoulder at him, standing with his arms crossed over his chest. Shooting me an annoyed glare. Justin looked ready to faint, and all the eyes from the dining room were focused on us. On me.

For the first time in my life, I didn't care who was watching me. This asshole had dared to not only insult my mate, but to touch him. To put his hands on him.

"Lachlan!" Quinn's voice was full of bite. "Down! "

I let the fucker drop like a sack of potatoes. He hit the ground in a heap of tangled limbs.

Quinn huffed loudly, a sound I was quickly becoming accustomed to. "If everyone could put their dicks away, that would be great!" He shouted to be heard over the growls that were coming from the back of my throat. I took a deep breath, my hands clenching and unclenching at my sides.

Quinn's eyes were a darker green than I'd ever seen them, as he held out a graceful hand to me. "Remember when I said to fuck me?"

My nostrils flared, and I smelled him, his slick, his scent, his desire and need. It filled my senses, clouding my brain. "I do."

"Take me home and fuck me, Lachlan," he ordered. "Right. Fucking. Now."