So I Married a Werewolf (Entangled Covet) (4 page)

Chapter Six

Bright and early Sunday morning, Faith eyed Carter as he strode through her living room door, a Starbucks cup in his hand. He looked completely relaxed in a black T-shirt and jeans with holes in the knees. It wasn’t every day he exposed his sleeve tattoos this way, either. They wrapped around his wrists and snaked up his arm in all shapes and colors. The urge to lift his sleeve and trace the dark lines over his shoulder struck her hard.

“Morning, sunshine,” he said, as she slammed the door shut behind him. “You ready for today?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Faith checked the clock. When she called Tracy last night, her friend had said she’d show up first thing Sunday morning to help pick out an outfit. Tracy was perpetually late.
Blast.
Faith would’ve felt a lot better about this whole thing with Tracy’s opinion. Carter said he’d help, but outside of white cotton T-shirts and jeans, he had little fashion sense.

Faith knelt near the travel kennel that had been dropped off just before Carter showed up, and bent to peer inside. A tiny black-and-white ball of fur huddled in the corner.

“What’s in the crate?” he asked, perching on the edge of a barstool.

She unlatched the gate, swung it open, and reached inside. “It’s a male black-and-tan teacup Yorkie. Pets and Paws Animal Shelter didn’t have room for him and didn’t want to send him to another shelter where he might’ve been euthanized.”

“Are you fostering him?”

“For a while.” Faith smiled as her fingers sank into silky soft fur. She wrapped her hand around its delicate frame. The shelter had her number on file as a volunteer foster if they filled up. She took on adoptable dogs from time to time. “Someone will want this little guy, so he’ll stay here until the shelter or I can find him a good home.” She pulled out the pup. “Here he is.”

She cupped him in her hands and held him against her. He was soft and warm, cuddling up against her. But as she turned to show Carter, the dog squirmed and fought to get out of her arms.

“Easy there,” she whispered. “Easy.”

“I think they dropped off the wrong animal,” he said. “That’s a rat!”

“No, it’s a teacup. They’re supposed to be this small.” Laughing, Faith fought to control the black-and-white ball of fur. “This guy doesn’t seem to want to be held.”

Gently, she set the dog down. It scurried to Carter’s side like its fur was on fire, and latched onto the tip of his boot. It pumped furiously, its petite backside doing an erratic version of the Humpty Dance.

“
What the hell?
” Carter gave the dog a little shake. “Run all the way over here for a quick hump?”

The puppy wouldn’t shake off.

“Looks like he likes you,” Faith said. “Must be those rugged good looks you were talking about.”

“Shut.” Carter wiggled his foot around. “Up.”

“Come!” Faith ordered. She patted her leg. “Puppy, come!”

“Could you say something else?” Carter leveled her with a flat stare. “Call him by name.”

“He doesn’t have one.” She walked across the living room and scooped up the horny pooch. He stared at Carter, a crazed look in his tiny brown eyes. “Since you two are so close now, I think you should name him.”

“Nah, I’ll leave that to you.” He reached out and petted the puppy, stroking his hands over his black-and-white-splotched coat. “Did you get something formal to wear tonight?”

“Did you?”

“I’m wearing a tux.”

“Fancy.” When the pooch stopped panting, she tucked him under her arm and carried him into her bedroom. This time, Carter didn’t follow. “I called Tracy over to give a woman’s opinion on what to wear,” she called out. “She should be here any minute.”

The sound of tires over gravel stirred through the house.

“On the money,” Carter said from the living room. “Did you tell her about the…ah, arrangement?”

Cradling the pooch with one hand, Faith opened her closet with the other, yanked out the fanciest clothes she had and tossed them on her bed. “No, I told her that you asked me out. You’re taking me somewhere swanky tonight.”

“Sounds good.”

The door creaked open. The pooch yapped and squirmed to get free. He’d have to work on his mounting issues. Too bad some of that pent-up sexual energy couldn’t be transferred from dogs to werewolves. She knew of one in particular to give it to…

“Hey Carter,” Faith heard Tracy say. “How’ve you been?”

“Well enough.”

“It’s about time you asked Faith out, she’s been—”

“Tracy!” Faith hollered, and then stuck her head around the corner. “Glad you came.”

Now if her friend would just shut her mouth before she said something totally embarrassing. Tracy knew all about her feelings for Carter, about their standing Friday movie nights, and how he’d never once made a move.
God
, could she be more pathetic?

Tracy skirted around the corner and gasped when she laid eyes on the pup.

“Oh. My. Gawd.” Her jaw went slack. “Isn’t he the
cutest
?”

She ripped him from Faith’s arms before she could hand him over.

Cupping the dog in her hands, Tracy rubbed his fur against her face, made mewing sounds against his belly, and let him lick her face. They were practically bonded. Well, except for the fact that Tracy wasn’t a werewolf and didn’t know about werewolves or their lifelong bonding process.

Considering they’d just tongued, those were minor details.

“Where’d you get him?” Tracy cooed, her blue eyes twinkling bright. “He’s just the most adorable little thing. Aren’t you, boy? Aren’t you?”

“I’m watching him for the shelter. Mind holding him while I show you what I was thinking for tonight?”

“Not at all.” Tracy settled onto the edge of the bed and continued to make out with the furball. “We’ll sit and watch together.”

“I’m still here,” Carter yelled from the living room. “I want to see.”

“Why do you care so much about her wardrobe, anyway?” Tracy balked. “Are you a control freak or something?”

Faith heard Carter sigh through the closed bedroom door. “I don’t want to tell her where we’re going for dinner, but I want to make sure she’s dressed appropriately.”

“That makes sense…I guess.”

After kicking off her Converse, Faith stripped out of her jeans and cable-knit sweater. She stepped into a deep purple pantsuit, zipped up, and shrugged into the matching coat. “Option one,” she said, spreading her arms wide. “What do you think?”

As Tracy detached her face from the pooch, she shrieked. “Sweetheart, the color’s great, but the outfit is only an option if it’s 1993. Are those…
shoulder pads
?”

“No!” Faith jabbed at her shoulders to make sure. “Maybe. It’s not that bad.”

“It’s not that great.” Tracy leaned over the bed, and mouthed the next words. “You want him to like you, right?”

How to answer?

Faith nodded, feeling naked even though she was cloaked in purple polyester.

“Then take it off. And burn it.”

“Show me,” Carter barked.

As Faith opened the bedroom door to show him, Tracy lifted the pup in front of her face and hid behind him.

Carter laughed. Covered it with a gulp of his Starbucks. “Tracy’s right. Burn it.”

“I said it was an
option
.” Faith grabbed the open door and slammed it shut. In Carter’s laughing face.

She stripped down and dressed in option number two, a simple black dress with spaghetti straps and a low-cut front. The bottom was plain, reaching her feet, but the top showed off “the girls.”

“Better?” she asked Tracy, spinning around.

Tracy peeked out from behind the pup, who whimpered at the sight of the dress.

“Better,” she said, flipping her blond curls over her shoulder. “But not right. Go show Carter that one so he sees the rack you’re always hiding under those hideous T-shirts.”

Faith planted her hands on her hips. She didn’t want to show him her rack. She wanted him to like her for who she was. To think she was sexy no matter what she wore.

“Move,” Tracy mouthed. “Show him what he’s missing.”

With a huff, Faith shuffled into the living room and spun around. Carter had moved to the couch and slid forward so that his body was flat, with his head supported by a scrunched-up throw pillow. Thoughts of straddling his middle invaded Faith’s brain. He could stay just like that. She could put her feet on the floor on either side of his him…

“Faith!” he said. “Did you hear me?”

“I’m sorry.” She shook dirty thoughts of him out of her head. “What?”

“I said you’ve got a lint sheet stuck right—there, right there on the back.”

Disaster
. She showed him what he was missing all right. A freaking lint sheet.

She twisted and bent around, ripped the sheet off, and crumpled it into a ball. “What do you think? Overall?”

“I think we’re getting closer. Do you remember that girl I took to the office Christmas party last year? Vixienne?”

Of course. Couldn’t forget a name or a woman like that. She was a complete hooch, salivating over every word Carter said. Faith had only met “Vixi” once, but it was enough to leave a bad taste in her mouth. She’d painted a picture that things were too perfect: her boobs were too perky, their sex was too hot, he cuddled with her all night long, bibbity-boppity-
blah
.

“I think so,” Faith said, repressing her gag reflex. “Red hair, Jessica Rabbit type?”

“No, I like redheads,” he corrected. “She was the blonde,
Fatal Attraction
type.”

“Don’t remember.”

“Wouldn’t expect you to.” He sat upright. “Anyhow, she knew how to put on a good show. How to make everyone in the room think that she was the most gorgeous one there, even if she wasn’t. She
oozed
confidence and grace, and that’s what made her sexy.”

“It’s probably also what made her crazy,” Tracy said from the doorway. “But if it’s ‘sexy starlet’ that you’re going for, I can turn our duck into a swan. I’ll need a few hours alone with her.”

“As long as I know she’s in capable hands.” Carter stood and chucked his coffee cup into the recycling. “I’m out of here.”

Tracy set down the pup. It made a beeline for Carter’s boot. He high-stepped, but the pooch went after the other. “Call your dog,” Carter said, holding his foot high. “Do something!”

Tracy erupted into laughter as Faith scooped the dog off Carter’s boot.

“Okay, okay,” she soothed. “I’ve got you now.”

“You’d be cute if you weren’t such a little humping freak.” Carter flattened the fur on the top of the dog’s head. “Humperdinck.” He met Faith’s eyes. “I think I’ve just named your dog.”

Chapter Seven

Carter ran up the steps to Faith’s cabin and knocked on the front door. He didn’t normally knock at her place, but he wasn’t normally picking her up for a date, either.

This isn’t a date
, he reminded himself.
It’s an arrangement.

Was this really going to work? Faith had become a great friend, but were they going to be able to pull off a ruse like this? Would the council believe they were a couple? Every member in attendance would be a werewolf with heightened senses and a keen nose for smelling bullshit. They could sense when a wolf had marked his mate, and when they’d completed the bonding process to seal their fates together. Lucky for him and Faith, they had a perfectly rational explanation for why they hadn’t completed the werewolf’s bonding process: he’d already found and lost his mate, and wolves only had one Luminary in each lifetime. Faith would be a wife, but never his Luminary.

He doubted anyone on the council would bring that up, but it would be the logical whisper in the back of their head if they started to doubt their relationship.

To really hit it home, Carter would have to create a spark with Faith where there was none. Remember to gaze at her from across the room all night. Whisper sweet things in her ear and palm the small of her back to guide her into the room.

They were
friends
, for Christ’s sake. This was going to be difficult.

As the door swung open, Carter stepped back. Tracy peeked her head between the screen and the door.

“You’re not going to believe what I did to our girl,” she whispered.

Hope she didn’t change too much.

“Can I come in?” He closed his coat as a chill swept across the porch. The moon was full tonight and a storm was closing in. It’d pour before the night was through.

Tracy backed into the living room, holding the door open wide. “Faith, he’s here!”

Faith didn’t need an announcement. With her heightened senses, she’d be able to pick up his scent the instant he stepped on her property.

Something was missing…ah, the tiny fluffy thing that should’ve been attached to his ankle.

“Where’s Humperdinck?”

A whimper escaped from the crate beside the couch.

“He couldn’t control his urges, so we locked him up for a bit.” Tracy fell into the corner of the couch and tucked her knees beneath her. “He took a liking to the TV remote.” She giggled, tossing her hair over her shoulder in an attempt to be flirtatious. “He went after the Roomba too, but yelped when it spun and tried to clean off his paw.”

“Humping prison.” He patted the top of the crate. “Feel bad for you, little guy.”

“Do you know who I feel bad for?” Tracy grabbed his arm and held him tight as she whispered, “You, if you hurt one hair on Faith’s head.”

His huffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not going to hurt her.”

“Then don’t play games.” Tracy’s expression darkened. “Why’d you ask her out?”

He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. “Because I want to go out with her. Why else?”

“But she’s not your type.”

“And you know my type?”

“I know that she’s the exact opposite of every single girl you’ve dated in the last year. She’s nice, she’s real, and she’s not some plastic bimbo looking for a fun time.”

“I know that.” He folded his arms over his chest. “Maybe my tastes have changed.”

Her lips twisted. “Maybe so, but consider yourself warned.”

“Warned about what?” Faith’s voice sang from the direction of her bedroom.

Carter turned and sucked in a clipped breath. She was a vision. A staggering beauty in an emerald-green dress that pinched together at her waist and emphasized curves he didn’t realize she had. The dress flared at her hips and covered her feet. The fabric over her chest was loose and scrunched into a few wispy layers that showed off an ample amount of milky-white cleavage.

“What’d you do to her?” he asked, his mouth going dry.

Tracy sighed. “Everything.”

“What do you think?” Faith crossed her hands shyly in front of her. “Too much?”

“No.” He took a step closer. Stopped as his knees wobbled. “You’ll wow everyone at the party.”

She turned her espresso-colored eyes downward as if he’d said something wrong. Didn’t every woman want to turn heads when they went out?

“Are you ready?” he asked, extending his hand.

“Let me get my clutch.” She disappeared into the kitchen.

Tracy snapped for Carter’s attention. “Remember what I did to Humperdinck when he couldn’t control himself. Next stop is the surgeon.” She made cutting motions with her hands. “Snip, snip, if you get my drift. Let that be a lesson to you.”

Suppressing a shiver, Carter stepped outside and waited on the porch for Faith to join him. The pull to the moon made the blood chug through his veins at a normal pace again.

His reaction to seeing Faith was bizarre. So not like him. Must be the full moon…

…

Faith couldn’t stop her knees from shaking. They knocked together all the way down I-90 to Mercer Island, no matter how she pressed her hands against her thighs to make them chill out. She didn’t feel right in this dress. It was too tight. Too much like the dresses that Carter’s other girlfriends wore. Her heels—the black stilettos that Tracy had let her borrow—were too high. She was going to fall right off and sprain her ankle.

This wasn’t her.

But this was who Carter wanted,
needed
, for tonight.

“You’ll do great,” Carter said, his hands gripping the steering wheel hard as he turned off the freeway. “All you’ve got to do is pretend you’re madly in love with me.”

Shouldn’t be too difficult considering she wasn’t far off.

“I told you, I’ve got this.” She took a deep breath and stared out the window at the full moon.

She could feel its pull tugging on something deep within her. Being a turned wolf, this was the only time of the month when she had the ability to shift. Carter had it easy. As a born wolf, he could shift when he wanted. Although he felt the pull to the moon, his shifts were mostly driven by extreme emotions, such as anger or grief. Did he date both born and turned wolves?

“I remember how Vixienne used to act when you went out with her,” she said. “If that’s what you want, that’s who I’ll be.”

He looked at her, his light eyes piercing her through the dark. “If I wanted Vixienne at my side, I would’ve asked her to marry me.”

“That’s sweet of you to say.”

He’d probably lost her number.

As he turned down Faben Drive, rows of cars appeared on either side of the road. He parallel-parked his Tahoe between two Porsches, killed the engine, and turned to her.

He was so breathtakingly handsome, it nearly pained her to look at him. His dark hair was cut short, but the nearby streetlight still managed to pick up shades of chestnut and auburn in the strands. His cheekbones were high and defined, his jaw a thick length of bone that supported a set of plush lips that she’d dreamed of kissing on more than one occasion. Those lips were too sensual, too enticing. He was probably an amazing kisser. It was his eyes, though, that held her captive. They were ice blue, the color of the purest glacier, yet they weren’t cold. They radiated warmth straight to her core.

“There’s only one thing left to do,” he said, and dug into the pocket inside his tuxedo jacket. “It would look funny if I’d asked you to marry me without giving you a ring.”

Her breath hitched as he pulled out a small velvet box and handed it to her. Holding it in her palm, Faith got the feeling that this was it. She was standing on a precipice, looking out over the vast span of her future with Carter. They’d be married. She’d be a wife and have a husband who worked for the Enforcement Bureau. The future looked bright, when painted that way.

Only as soon as he got the promotion and established himself, she’d be divorced. And alone.

Her heart stuttered as she flipped open the lid. The ring was white gold or maybe platinum. Simple band with a small square diamond in the center. It was cute. Modest.

“Didn’t want anything too extravagant,” he said. “Do you like it?”

“Sure. Of course.”

Absentmindedly, Faith wondered what kind of ring Carter had bought his ex-wife. Was he the excessive, shower-your-woman-with-jewels kind of guy? Or was he the subtle, sweet kind of boyfriend who didn’t think the depth of his love equated to the size of the diamond sitting on his woman’s finger? He talked about his girlfriends on Friday nights, but the conversations usually hovered around their clinginess or desire to settle down. He never really talked about how
he
treated
them
.

She plucked the ring from its velvet bed and slipped it on her finger. It was loose, but wouldn’t fall off. It felt odd. Misplaced. Probably because the engagement was fake.
Better get used to this feeling.
She’d probably feel odd and misplaced at Carter’s side all night.

“If it needs to be resized,” Carter said, “I can take it in later.”

“I think it’s fine.” She didn’t know why, but she couldn’t meet his eyes. This was all too awkward. Couldn’t they go back to being friends? On impulse, she leaned over and gave him an elbow to the gut. “Thanks.”

“No, thank you for doing this. I would’ve been up shit creek without you.” He smirked, revealing a tiny dimple on his left cheek. “We should probably get in there. Ready?”

After taking a deep breath, Faith willed confidence to fill her. She spun the ring on her finger and glanced at Carter out of the corner of her eye. He looked as nervous as she felt.

Be someone else. Play the part.

“You’re going to get the job,” she said, channeling the sexy-cool confidence of someone she wasn’t. “I’ll make sure of it.”

He pulled back his shoulders. “Then let’s do this.”