5. Chapter Five

Ihad to push Heath out of the house three hours later. He thought Carey could be home alone for a little while longer, but I wasn't convinced. He'd dropped her off at home right after the meeting at the school, then wandered around all day. She was probably lonely, bored, and breaking the terms of her grounding.

"I almost wish you didn't ground her," he'd said as I walked down the drive with him. "Now I have to enforce it."

"You were pretty willing to give her some righteous punishment last night. You can suffer," I muttered.

"I'm in a much better mood than I was last night," he countered. "You do that to me."

"I'm sure sex, a shower, and a nap does that to everyone." He laughed, nodding as we stopped at his car. "But I'm glad you're in a better mood."

"I still need to figure out her school situation. I don't think we ever got around to talking about how the meeting actually went. They denied the bullying was that bad, obviously. They think she acted rashly and needed a harsh punishment. The parents of that senior were also donors to the school, and their business sponsors the football team and cheerleading squad. Their oldest son graduated two years ago as the team's quarterback with a full ride to some nice college here in the state."

"Oh, joy." I knew the type. "My favorite."

"Right?" Heath chuckled at my sarcasm. "So, essentially, their daughter and her friends are untouchable. I won't be able to help Carey through that."

"Which is why you're looking at hybrid education. Keep me posted. You and Landon don't need to do it all. As the BSA reminded me, I'm one of her legal guardians. I can help with schooling during the days you need to head out to do something else. Don't forget you're a single parent trying to rule the world, and Landon is trying to live his own life. He finally got a house of his own, so don't make him pick up all the slack."

"I know. We'll talk more about it if I can get approval." He looked around, so did I, checking for anyone watching. Normally, we took no risks, but the last twenty-four hours had been a little exciting. A goodbye kiss seemed needed in a way it never did on most days. After, he jumped into his truck and left, leaving me to wander into Kick Shot. It was already open, and I had pretty much ignored it for the last day.

I walked into the hustle and bustle of the bar, wondering what sort of work I could find to keep my hands and mind busy. The bar was fully attended, and I knew Oliver would have a stack of things to read through, but that seemed boring, and I was energized from my pleasant afternoon. As I walked into the main room, I greeted customers at their tables, falling into the role easily. One of the servers saw me and smiled as she cleared away a table.

"How are things today?" I asked her. A summer hire we kept on at Oliver's suggestion, she was new enough I didn't have a rapport with her yet.

"Good. Everyone is pretty quiet, no bad orders. A good day." She shrugged. "How are you, Ms. Leon?"

I winced. "Jacky, please. Or as Dirk does, just call me boss. Ms. Leon freaks me out." It was a weirdly stark reminder of my position in the world and that I was quickly approaching forty, even though I didn't look like it.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Jacky, then." Her smile was broad. "Are you just here to bother the customers? Oliver mentioned you like to do it sometimes."

"Yeah, just looking to wander around," I said before letting her go about her business. I went to a table and kept my grin as I waved at the customers enjoying their drinks. They told me how they liked their food and drinks, then I moved on. It was once again a good day.

Until I saw her; the receptionist from the school, a customer of mine. She was talking to two other adults, rolling her eyes about something. I continued my rounds and finally stopped at her table with a smile.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Jacky Leon, the owner," I said in greeting, reaching out to shake hands. "I was just wandering around, seeing how everyone's experience was today, and asking if there was anything I could do to help you."

The receptionist from the school looked up and frowned.

"So, this is where I recognized you from," she said, looking beyond me and around the bar. "I have been stumped since yesterday."

"I'm sure you have been," I said with a smile.

"Carl, this is the woman who picked up your student yesterday," she said, leaning over to the man at the table. Then she looked at me again as the man seemed surprised by this new information. "You know, you left the school buzzing."

"I bet I did," I said, keeping the smile plastered on my face. Then, I remembered how Heath told me the meeting went, and it dropped. "Tell me something…" I leaned over on the table. "If I liked that table over there more and gave them better service, ignoring your complaints for the rest of your meal, how would you feel?"

"I would review this establishment appropriately," she said, her mouth going into a fine line.

"Yeah…What if I said they were investors of Kick Shot and deserved better treatment than you?" I tilted my head to the side, bringing back my smile, but I knew it wasn't pleasant by the way the woman paled and another woman at the table coughed.

"I'm still a paying customer," she said, swallowing.

"And she's required to go to your school," I whispered. I didn't bother to say who I was talking about. "So, I better not hear one more damn thing from anyone in this town about how her teachers and the rest of the staff aren't protecting her."

"It's just a bit of harmless fun," the male teacher said, cutting in and putting his hand between me and the receptionist. "They're teenagers. If we tried to—"

"When I was a senior in high school, I was the student class president and certainly didn't bully anyone," I snapped. "And if this is about money, let me know. I'll cut a check double whatever they give you if it means you'll actually protect the students you're required to protect. Or you can never come back to Kick Shot because I'll have the staff here treat you the same way you obviously treat your students, and you probably wouldn't find that an enjoyable experience. The choice is yours."

"We'd like our check, please," the receptionist said softly.

"I'll have someone bring it right over," I promised, then left them alone.

For years, I had been invisible in this town, just the bartender at that run-down bar right on the outskirts of town. Most of them didn't know the bar existed, much less know my name. Then Heath, Carey, and Landon came along, and people started to realize I knew and liked the new werewolves. Kick Shot was burned down and rebuilt into a thriving establishment. Every adult within an hour radius visited, getting away from their kids and their jobs.

Going to the school had opened my eyes more than I had ever wanted. The trip had also put me on the map with humans.

Oh, well. I won't let these people bully Carey because of her father. Heath is a damn good man, and just because he's a werewolf doesn't give them the right to treat Carey as anything less than an outstanding student.

Part of me didn't care if they learned I was anything but human. Those rumors had swirled for years, and I was less careful now that the BSA knew about me. The nice thing about my gold eyes when I was upset was I could blame them on the light, and most humans were willing to believe that. Humans were willing to believe anything except that monsters lived under their beds and served them drinks on Saturday night.

Oliver was waiting at the door to the back.

"You shouldn't pick fights with the customers," he chastised softly. A year ago, he would have never criticized me for anything, but Kick Shot was now more his than mine. I was the weird owner who popped in and bothered people while he actually ran the place and made it thrive. It had taken time to let go, but I was finally over it—kind of. Since I had let go, he had gained confidence since I no longer made him feel as if he was destroying my baby.

"They're letting people bully Carey at school," I explained. "They don't get to come and relax in my bar when Carey can't even walk down the hall in their school without being harassed. They asked for their check, so someone is going to need to run it over to them."

"Ah, so this is why you've been in a bad mood. I'm sorry she's dealing with that." Oliver nodded, putting together the pieces. "I'll make sure they leave without incident and keep our servers from getting caught in the crossfire. I need you to go upstairs and sign some things."

"I don't like how you've mellowed out," I mumbled. "I liked it better when you were always trying to please me, which meant you never asked me to do anything."

Oliver laughed. "Get out of sight, so I can do a little damage control."

"Don't bother. I don't want that group coming back," I said, shrugging as I headed up the stairs. When I entered my office, I found a small stack to look through and sign. Oliver passed everything through me, even when I didn't care. He was looking at redoing the menus to freshen things up and add some signature burgers. We weren't fine dining, but Oliver had slowly expanded the menu until I couldn't bother fighting him anymore. We were a bar and grill now that just so happened to have pool tables. Those were one thing I wouldn't let Oliver get rid of since the name of the bar was a pool term.

It took an hour, but I got through the payroll, the menu changes, and the stock orders, authorizing Oliver's budget for everything, then put it in the tray to go back to his office. The tray system made everything easier. There were only two, a tray from Oliver and a tray to go back to Oliver. He made copies of everything for us both to file, just in case. He was thorough, and once I stopped breathing down his neck, he was better at his job than even he knew.

I called Heath. He needed to know I just messed with people from his daughter's school.

"I'm certain I just left you, and the world hasn't ended since then," Heath started the moment he picked up. "Which means you've done something I need to know about." The lighthearted humor in his words made me smile.

"I think we need to become sponsors, donors, or whatever to the school," I said, biting my lip as I explained the run-in with staff from the school.

"If we can't beat them, join them?"

"Yes and no. Why don't we just do better?" I leaned back in my chair. "We're both wealthy, so wouldn't miss the money. We're both immortal and could be donors to the school for decades. Then they would understand it relies on them changing the very culture of the school for that money to stay. Bullying won't be tolerated. All of that."

"Help all the students, not just the ones we like," he said softly. "I couldn't do it while I was Alpha of the Dallas pack, but…I can do it as a single father."

"There's no stopping me," I said with a smirk.

"I'm still going to look at taking Carey out of the school. She'll graduate faster in a hybrid school."

"Yeah, it's just an idea," I said, shrugging even though no one was in the room. "Just in case the BSA rejects your idea."

"It's a good idea. Throw money at the problem." He sighed. "I'll look into it and see if I'm allowed. I'm still a werewolf, still one of the most dominant in the United States, so there's still red tape I have to deal with."

"Okay."

Heath, you're one of the most dominant werewolves in the world. Stop trying to play that off. Even my family knows it.

"Thank you for thinking of me. I'll come by tomorrow, and we can—"

"Dad, I don't want to hear you sweet-talk Jacky. It's gross."

"Then you can do your schoolwork in your room. I'm going to sweet-talk Jacky all I want. Consider it part of your grounding."

"Ugh."

I heard books slam closed and the shuffling of a girl collecting her things. She stomped loud enough on the stairs for those to come through as well.

"I distinctly remember her saying she was fine with us," I said lightly.

"Fourteen-year-old girls don't want to know their dads have sex," he replied. "Especially not with a friend said teenager hangs out with."

"Ew. Yeah, good point." I was smiling, though. "I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

"If you'll have me," he murmured, his voice going husky. "Since I suddenly have all this free time with Carey being home from school and can't go to Dallas."

"Oh, no, whatever are you to do?" I chuckled. "I'm sure I can spare a couple hours of my busy day."

"A couple of hours is all I need. More is always nicer, though…"

"More has to wait until Saturday." It was a firm rule we kept. Meeting during the week was riskier. Saturday meant he had cover when he was just at Kick Shot. Sometimes, he actually went into the bar just to make an appearance to keep up the act.

"I'll see you at eleven then. We can say we were having a business lunch," he said, plotting the entire thing.

"I like that," I whispered, feeling like a teenager about to sneak my boyfriend in through the window while my parents were out of town. "See you then."

"Love you," he said with a small growl, underscoring the simple statement with a passion I knew was real. He made sure I knew it was real with every secret touch and whisper when no one was watching.

We both hung up, and my heart was doing a little racing it had no right to do. This wasn't the first time Heath and I had planned a secret "business meeting." It was hard being in a relationship that couldn't go public. We couldn't go on dates in the traditional sense. We both knew we wanted each other, and Heath said he loved me, so we made do with that.

I turned the phone over in my hand. I never said I loved him back, but he never bothered me about it. We were a year and a half in since that first time I had kissed him, and still, I hadn't said it.

Saying it makes it too real. Real is dangerous. Real gets us killed.

We both knew the stakes. It was the only thing that made him braver than me. He was willing to say it, but I wasn't there yet.