Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

"Mind if I catch a ride with you out to the winery?" I asked Jax as I climbed out of bed and pulled on my robe. The minute we'd gotten back to my house, I'd followed Jax into the shower, and then we'd spend the next hour in bed, exploring each other's bodies until we were both sufficiently satisfied.

"We're going to need to shower again," he said with a smirk. "Those wolves will scent us the moment we step on the property."

I groaned. They'd immediately know what we'd been up to. "Fine. But we'll take turns this time. I have no confidence that we'll be able to keep our hands off each other for even ten minutes."

"You're no fun," he said with a smile as he lay back on the pillow with his hands behind his head.

I paused and let my gaze roam over his well-defined chest and wondered if I was crazy. Who cared if we couldn't keep our hands to ourselves? We would be in the shower after all.

Jax let out a rumble of laughter. "Go, before I follow you in there and we never leave this house again."

While that didn't sound half bad, I did as he said, and when I slipped under the spray of the hot water, I decided that solo showers were highly overrated.

"Jax, Marion," Kai called as we jumped out of Jax's truck. "I didn't expect both of you this afternoon."

"Marion has matchmaking business to discuss with you," Jax said, placing his hand on the small of my back as we walked over to the alpha.

"You do? Did you get that mixer set up?" Kai asked.

"Nope. It's a date," I said. "But we can talk about that after you and Jax are done with your business. Do you mind if I just take a look around?" I gestured to the gorgeous vineyard behind me. "I promise to not steal any grapes."

He laughed. "That thought never would have crossed my mind. Sure, take a look around. We'll talk before you go."

Jax kissed the top of my head, and then the two men wandered off toward an old stable that had seen much better days.

I turned toward the grapes and couldn't help walking toward them. I'd always thought California vineyards in the fall were what heaven must look like. The golden hues of the leaves reminded me of a spectacular sunset that lasted for three months. I could have stood at the end of the row of grapes, transfixed forever. I might have, too, if a man's voice hadn't broken the spell.

"Can I help you, ma'am?" he asked in a Southern drawl that made me question my reality. We were still in Premonition Pointe, weren't we?

"Ma'am," I said, shaking my head as I took in the tall, lanky young man who couldn't have been a day over twenty-five. "When did I become a ma'am?"

"I told you to stop saying that, Evan," another man chastised as he appeared from behind Evan. The new arrival had sun-bleached blond hair, bright blue eyes, and a charming, easy-going smile. If there was a picture in the dictionary next to the phrase surfer dude , this guy would be there. "The women around here don't like that word."

The Southern boy frowned. "It's a term of respect. It's not meant to insult anyone."

"I know," I said quickly and held out my hand. "Hi, I'm Marion. I'm meeting with Kai a little later when he's done discussing barns with Jax. And you are?"

He took my hand and held on tightly as he said, "Evan Abernathy, from the Louisville, Kentucky, Abernathys. It's a pleasure to meet you, Marion."

The surfer let out a snort of laughter. "You know she's Jax's woman, right? Flirting with her will only get you roughed up."

"I'm not flirting," Evan insisted. "I'm just minding my manners like my grandmother used to say."

"It's fine," I said, chuckling. "I'm not offended." Sort of. While it hurt my ego to be thought of as a ma'am, I certainly understood that the young man was just being polite. I turned to the surfer dude. "And you are?"

"Ryder."

"Of course, you are." I shook my head. What could be more appropriate than that?

"Sorry?" he asked, looking confused. "Do we know each other?"

"No. I just… never mind. It's not important. How about you guys show me around the place?"

"Sure," Evan said. "Come on. We'll give you the tour."

I spent the next half hour following Evan and Ryder around the property. They showed me all the grapes they were growing, the bunkhouse where they stayed, the new stables where they boarded a number of horses, and then finally the old stables where Kai's office was and where they kept some of the farming supplies.

"Right now, all the grapes go out to a processer," Ryder explained. "But once the barn is built, Kai is going to start processing our grapes in house. Gray Wolf Wines."

"It's gorgeous," I said, opening my arms wide and indicating the entire property.

"It really is," said another man who looked like he might be Ryder's twin as he rushed up to us and play-tackled Ryder. The two of them went down in the dirt and started wrestling while three more men appeared from the fields and started taking bets on who would pin the other one first.

Their cheers were loud and raucous, and I found myself being pulled away from the excitement by Evan.

"They get a little single-minded when they're like this. Kai would kill me if I let you get caught in the middle."

I glanced over at the two men rolling around in the dirt and understood what Evan was saying. They were going full bore, looking as if they were ready to crush the other one while their packmates stood off to the side, cheering on their favorites. "Does this happen often? Random fights that come out of nowhere?"

"With those two?" Evan snorted. "Yeah. But they're like brothers, so what do you expect?"

"Like brothers? They aren't?" I asked, confused.

"They're second cousins. Don't worry, everyone always thinks they are twins," Evan explained.

A loud, piercing whistle permeated the air, and all the commotion stopped at once.

"Enough," Kai barked as he joined the crowd. "I thought we were checking irrigation lines today. Did you degenerates get that done?"

Ryder and his cousin both scrambled to get to their feet. The other men groaned as they realized their bets were void and the entertainment would have to wait for another time.

"We were just getting ready to check the last few acres, Kai," Ryder said, sounding professional, but looking like he'd just been dragged through the mud. There was dirt smudged across his forehead and cheek, and his torn, mud-caked shirt looked like it should go straight into the bin when he took it off.

"Yeah, you looked like it. Go. Get it done before we lose the light," Kai said.

All the men disappeared back into the vineyard fields, and suddenly it felt as if Jax, Kai, and I were the only three people left on the property.

"That's amazing," I said. "How they all just do what you say without complaint. I know a lot of parents who'd love to learn your secret ways. Maybe you should write a book."

Kai shook his head. "Packs are different from families in some ways. The pack bond with the Alpha is something others can't just emulate. The magic exists because of the pack dynamic."

"Makes sense," I said. "Too bad you can't package and sell that. You'd be a rich man."

"Some things are worth more than money," he said lightly, and when I looked at Jax, I had no choice but to agree.

The sound of an engine roared, and the three of us watched as a red Toyota Tacoma spit gravel out from under its tires as it sped down the driveway.

Kai had his arms crossed over his chest while he waited for the driver to show themselves.

When the door opened, a tiny woman who couldn't have been taller than five feet jumped out. She hurried past me and stalked right up to Kai, shaking her finger and nearly poking him in the chest as she barked, "Ever since you wolves moved in here, it's been nothing but trouble. I knew I should have taken out that loan to buy this place. It would have saved me a major headache even if I didn't know what to do with it."

Kai sighed. "What trouble have we caused today, Fiona? Is the music too loud again? They like to listen while they're working, but I'll get the boys to turn it down."

What music ? I wanted to ask. I hadn't heard a note since I'd stepped out of Jax's truck.

"No. It's much worse. You people broke the water line, and now I have no water at my house. No baths, no cooking, no filling my ice trays. You need to fix this, Kai Gray. Do you hear me? Otherwise, I'm filing a complaint."

"With who?" I blurted and instantly wished I'd kept my mouth shut when both Kai and Jax glared at me.

"The city business commissioner," she said with a sniff. "Who else?"

Who else, indeed. Fiona wasn't playing around. Apparently she really hated her new neighbors. That must have been a character flaw on her part, because from everything I'd seen, I wouldn't only want to be neighbors with them; I'd want to adopt one or two of them.

"Fiona," Kai said patiently, "we're not digging lines today. We couldn't have broken your water line."

Fiona narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm not stupid, Kai Gray. I see your men out there working on the water lines. And then mine went out. You do the math."

"They're just hooking up irrigation lines. The above ground lines," Kai tried to explain, but Fiona was already climbing into her truck and had her middle finger up in the air, flipping him off.

"Fix it, Kai Gray. Or else?—"

"Yeah, you'll call the city. I heard you the first time." He turned to Jax. "Want to help me track down a broken water line?"

"Sure, brother." Jax glanced at me. "Want to wait here?"

I shook my head. "I'm going where you go."

His eyes flashed with amusement as the three of us headed toward Jax's truck.

Ten minutes later, the three of us were standing over an obviously cut water pipe that was about twenty feet from Fiona's house. It wasn't anywhere near the Gray property line, but Fiona was still insisting that one of Kai's boys had to be responsible.

"Ma'am," I said, stealing Evan's word. "I think you might be overreacting a little bit. Why would they do that?"

"Because they're hooligans. Why else?" Fiona was standing on her front porch, wearing dusty jeans and a bright pink T-shirt, and she had her arms crossed over her chest and her bottom lip pushed out like a petulant child.

"It's not productive to accuse people when you don't have any proof," I said. "Do you have any video footage?"

"I know it was one of them," Fiona insisted. "Who else would do this?" She turned and stomped into her house, and the screen door slammed shut behind her.

An ex-lover? Ex best friend? The mail carrier? I thought. Surely anyone who had to deal with her on a regular basis was ready to do more than just cut a water pipe and then leave it out in the open to make it easy to find.

"How about we just get this fixed and then get back to our day," Jax said, already pulling his toolbox out of his truck.

Kai nodded, tapped something out on his phone, and then rolled up his sleeves, ready to join Jax to fix the pipe. They'd just gotten the water main turned off when the rest of the pack appeared from the woods, all of them standing back while they evaluated the situation. "This line has been cut in two places," Kai pointed out. "We'll need two crews to get this done as fast as possible."

"No problem, Kai," Ryder said with a mock salute. Ryder spoke to the other wolves, relaying the information. There were a few grumbles, and who could blame them? They had plenty of work to do back at the winery. Taking time out to replace pipe hadn't been on the agenda.

Still, they all pitched in and were well on their way to replacing the pipe when Fiona appeared from the house, her phone in one hand and a beer in the other. "The police are on their way. If any of you have warrants out for your arrest, here's your two-minute warning."

"Why?" I asked her, outraged. "They didn't do anything, yet here they are helping you. And you called the police?"

"I needed to report the incident, didn't, I?" Fiona said with a haughty sniff. "What better time than when all the suspects are here?"

Before I could say anything else, she stomped back into her house and slammed the door again.

Furious at the woman, I walked over to Kai and Jax and explained the situation. Jax was just as outraged as I was, but again, Kai just shrugged, maintaining his cool.

"My team didn't do this," Kai said. "She can call whoever she wants, but the truth will come out. It always does." The Alpha went back to shoveling the mud out from around the leak.

I turned to Jax. "Then why does it feel like we're walking into a firing squad?"

"Because we are," he said gently and then searched my eyes when he added, "This is what it means to be a wolf, Marion. Are you sure you're up for marrying one?"

"Marrying?" I forced out.

Jax's face flushed as he looked away, and I got the distinct impression he hadn't meant to say the M-word. "Well, yeah. Someday," he muttered.

"Someday," I repeated with a nod, feeling my gut flutter with nerves. Marriage wasn't something I thought about often. Not at my age, but the fact that it was on Jax's mind, especially while he was knee deep in mud… Well, that certainly gave me something to consider, didn't it?

"Stop looking at me like that," he said, exasperation in his tone. "I wasn't proposing."

"I know," I said and then grinned like a fool until I heard the sirens coming.