Chapter 5 - Cliff

Hot tea sat untouched on the table while Robyn quietly reviewed the documents I had painstakingly dug out of the woodwork just for her. Her yellow eyes scanned line after line, squinted, pupils, shrinking to points like she was taking the time to criticize what I had prepared with serious consideration.

That made me hopeful.

The tip of her button nose wiggled. Choppy bangs tickled the edges of her lashes when she blinked, but she didn't seem very bothered by it. She rested her elbow on the table and ruffled her hair, turning the red-auburn chin-length bob that was perfectly brushed into a sexy pixie girl mess. Short, almond-shaped tan nails done with a rich red ombre finish on the points dragged my attention wherever her nails went—to her chin, along her jawline, down her throat.

She inhaled sharply. "You must think I'm a robot or something."

"Computing massive strings of data at lightning speed? Yes, I do."

She focused on me without moving her head, giving me such a sharp glare from a downward angle that it made her wide eyes seem like vivid sunflowers. "Do I look like a professor?"

"With a pair of glasses, you would." A growl rumbled in my throat, one that tingled right down to my legs as I pictured Robyn in glasses and a secretary outfit. "That would be kind of sexy."

She rubbed her temples. "Don't hit on me."

"Yes, Ma'am."

" Don't call me that."

I was tempted to wink, to tease her until she was red in the face and giggling from the jokes. I wanted to soften these angular edges that kept me from getting to her most sensitive parts. At the same time, this rough exterior challenged my influence and made me want to prop her over my lap. The things I wanted to do to her were too loud for the present location.

But all in due time.

I smiled at her and motioned to the papers. "What do you think?"

She neatly tapped the pages together. "It's a sound argument. Your test results show healthy blood and functioning. Your STI panel is negative across the board. You work closely with your community. You're free of drugs. You barely drink…"

"I'm a good match." I pointed to the ceiling. "And I'm great with kids. You should see me with my niece."

My eyebrows rose. "Your niece?"

"She's a baby, but she's super cool."

"Is that so?"

I nodded emphatically. "We get along great."

"Babies are easy."

"No, they're hard work. Don't gaslight me, Babe."

She snarled, "Don't call me babe."

"Alright, sorry." I held up my hands. "Sorry, I've clearly come at a bad time."

"Any time is a bad time with you."

My spirited excitement dimmed. "You don't have to be mean, Robyn."

"And you didn't have to leave me high and dry for three years."

The floor above my head creaked. A few minutes later, I heard the distant click of a door. Water rushed through the pipes in the wall as the muted sound of a toilet flushing. I held my breath while watching the unmoving ceiling, staring at the popcorn-painted white with my lower lip stuck between my teeth. Had her daughter heard us arguing?

Once all was quiet again, I returned my attention to Robyn. She was staring at the table with a defeated look, a thin lock of hair clinging to the edge of her mouth. I reached across the table to push it behind her ear. Just when I completed my task, she looked into my eyes—explosive planets of yellow with gold and honey hues dazzled me like twin suns.

I stroked her cheek. "I'm sorry about that, Robyn. I should have called you, but things got busy."

"You mean when your last batch of wares got you caught."

I shook my head. "Actually, Bill turned me away. He said he wanted to clean himself up."

Her brows locked up. "When was that?"

"About three years ago. I took everything back to Adrian, who had me drive it to some obscure pack in the woods. Bitterpelt Furs? Something gimmicky like that."

"And then what happened? You just forgot about me?"

Regret was a bitter feeling, one that I felt helpless to experience. My thumb remained on her chin as I casually leaned toward her. "I dreamed about you a lot."

"If you were so into me, why didn't you call?"

"I forgot."

She huffed while pushing away from the table and standing up. "You're so full of it. You're just in town, and you think this is an easy lay."

"I haven't been drinking. I haven't even been to a bar since my niece was born. I've been busy being her super amazing uncle."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Prove it."

I stood up and bowed toward her with my famous smirk. "Alright, Robby." As I slid my left hand over her hip, I smoothed my right hand over the small of her back, tracing her spine north. "But just remember you asked for this."

I must have kissed her a thousand times like this. Late nights under the pier with our feet stuck in the wet sand, tongues dueling as the moon rose high. Early mornings on the cliff with a picnic blanket tied to a tree so we didn't get blown away. Mid-afternoons on the sidewalk in town as she held her straw hat to her head so it wouldn't fly off. In her living room. In her bedroom .

My lower lip cupped her bottom lip as I clasped my mouth over hers. There was such evident practice in the movement, so much intimacy in how we folded together effortlessly. She hummed into the kiss, a vibration that sent a shock from my mouth to my cock. I hardened instantly, doubling my grip on her body and thus deepening the kiss. I tilted her back while stealing every last one of her gasping breaths.

Eventually, her left hand rested upon my shoulder as her right hand sidled fingers through my hair. She unwound the ponytail and threaded my hair, brushing it lovingly in long strokes the way she did while we were sunbathing on the beach. This was my last resort. A kiss like this could convince nearly any woman of anything. I knew just what she liked and precisely how to deliver that pleasure.

Satisfied with my work, I leaned back and steadied her stance, holding her shoulders lightly as her head lolled slightly to the left, casting hair over her mouth. I brushed her hair out of the way and cupped her face. "See?" I grinned when she sleepily gazed up at me. "Doesn't taste like alcohol, right?"

She gritted her teeth and gently pushed me away. "Really?"

" What? "

"Listen, this whole evidence thing is cute," she said while placing her hands on her hips. She avoided eye contact, choosing to focus on the pile of pages on the table. "But I don't think this is right for me or my daughter."

"What do you need?"

She focused on me with a blank expression. "What?"

"What do you need in your life right now? Whatever it is, I can guarantee it. Money, safety, resources—you name it."

"You really want to sell yourself."

I chuckled lightly, mostly through my nose. "If I don't do everything in my power to show my commitment to you, then I'm not a very good mate, am I?"

She squinted at me. "All too logical."

"You're not a weakling. I know that personally."

She smiled nostalgically. "Yeah, well…"

" Well , you're an eligible bachelorette from a wealthy family with lots of connections. There isn't much you can go without." I smiled slyly. "Except for protection."

"Are you trying to become my bodyguard or something?"

I patted my right pocket, where one document was folded into tight squares instead of rolled up with the rest. It was my ace in the hole. It was something significant enough to make her pause and think more than these carefully laid out arguments about good health, wealth, and charity.

Once I felt my pause was sufficient, I plucked the paper from my pocket and presented it to her. It was a death certificate sandwiched onto a miniature copy of her grandparent's will. "Don't ask how I got that."

Her fingers quivered as she stared at the page. "This doesn't mean anything."

"You're due to inherit a huge estate, aren't you?" I tapped the center of the page. "But there's a catch. You can't get a dime—not one inch of property—unless you marry someone from a prominent wolf family."

She licked her lips as she pointedly refolded the page. "I see you've really done your homework, Cliff."

"I can protect you. I'm trained in Krav Maga, and I'm certified in CPR and de-escalation. I can take down an elephant without any weapons." I held her shoulders lightly. "I know this is weird for you, but my pack values these matched mate announcements."

She blinked at me slowly. "Mate announcements?"

"My Alpha does a ritual to show him the next mate match."

"Your Alpha does magic?"

I laughed. "No, my sister is…Shit, I haven't told you about Faye for a while, right?"

"Yeah, you said she had a baby?" She settled into the nearest chair. I sat down next to her. "Wait, wasn't she missing for a while?"

"She wasn't missing. She just…" I trailed off as I thought about the past three years. So much had happened in the past year alone. I had a lot to tell her. "How much time do you have?"

She smiled mischievously. "How are you concerned about time when you're the one who showed up in the middle of the night?"

"I showed up because I knew you would hang up if I called."

"So, you know that you were wrong for that, right?"

I scratched the back of my head where my ponytail would usually hang. It felt weird not to feel it there. As I tried to find the right words, I heard the floor above my head creak again. A tiny voice rang from the hallway. "Mommy?"

Robyn swiftly left the kitchen to tend to her young. I had to admit that hearing her act motherly was more appealing than the idea of her wearing a secretary costume. It made my heart flutter to picture her holding an infant-sized Sydney. The warmth that came from that mental image reminded me of watching Sierra sleep peacefully in her crib.

True peace was knowing I could protect her. And I wanted to do the same thing for Robyn and her girl. Maybe I hadn't been around enough before, but that was going to change now. I didn't care how much she opposed me. Those two were going to be protected by me whether they liked it or not.

They weren't even my family, yet I felt like they were my family. Already, my heart ached at the thought of leaving them behind. No, that just wasn't an option for me. If Robyn wouldn't listen to reason, then I would go directly to Bill and appeal to his senses—assuming he still didn't oppose my influence in her life, of course.

One thing at a time , I thought. Robyn means more to me than she'll ever know. I have to do the right thing.

In the living room, the first step on the staircase wheezed. Robyn sighed. I heard the soft shuffle of her feet over the carpet as she approached the kitchen. "Sorry, she's just—"

"Scared of the funny man?"

"Yeah, she thinks you're one of the guys that keeps showing up."

My entire body flashed with hot anger. I was on my feet in milliseconds. "What guys?"

"You're not the only one who knows about the inheritance thing."

Deep down, my inner world blazed with fury at the idea of other men trampling through the garden and stalking around the windows. "I'm staying the night."

"No, you need to leave. I have a meeting in the morning with Bill."

"Good. We can all talk about the mate match and how you need to be put under protective watch."

She gaped at me. "Cliff, you can't be serious. You can't just stomp back into my life and take over. I'm not a doll or a toy. I'm a person ."

"And I'm not leaving you by yourself with a kid when I'm perfectly free to protect you."

"Where was that energy three years ago?"

I hated that she asked me that. I hated thinking about the way I must have broken her down by disappearing on her. The fact that she even let me in her house was a miracle. With this tiniest bit of access now, I had a slim chance of making this thing right.

But it was a chance, nonetheless.

I bowed my head. "You're right, Robby. I should have been more enthusiastic about you when I had you. That was my mistake. That's entirely on me." I met her gaze with brute determination. "I will honor our match by staying by your side and proving to you that I'm worthy of being your mate."

Several stiff minutes passed as we stared into each other's eyes. Those yellow irises never looked so ferociously thoughtful. I watched as she mentally chewed on everything I had presented, a tiny twitch erupting in the left side of her jaw as she abruptly turned away.

"Fine," she exhaled forcibly, "but don't bother us, alright? And don't do that snooping thing you like to do. I know exactly how everything is placed in this home. Do you get that?"

I smiled with familiarity. "Yes, Robyn. I understand."