End of Night, page 5
Abena glanced at him, and Boone raised one eyebrow at her in a clear ‘do you need me’ gesture. She shook her head slightly and winked at him before smiling at her co-star.
“See,” Camilla said. “I told you.”
He relaxed as Camilla squeezed his arm. “I’ve been watching you closely the last week and a half, Boone. I like what I see.”
Shit. He did not like where this was headed.
“Thanks. I should probably -”
“Would you like to have dinner with me?” Camilla asked. Her leopard purred to him, and he swallowed hard as his tiger made another irritated growl.
“Oh, um…”
Camilla stepped closer, running one red painted nail up and down his arm. “You’ve changed, Boone. I can see that, and I’d love to try again with you now that you’re in a better place.”
Fuck! He had no idea what to say or do. Even if his tiger hadn’t been currently obsessed with Hedra, he had no attraction to Camilla, and, honestly, Boone’s human side didn’t either. Not anymore.
But the idea of hurting Camilla again, of making her feel less, sent trepidation through him. He couldn’t do that to her again.
“Boone, will you have dinner with me?” Camilla asked again.
“I have a girlfriend,” Boone said, feeling more than a little panicked.
“Really? I can’t smell her on you,” Camilla said.
“She’s human.”
Camilla gave him a look. “I should still be able to smell her scent on you. What’s her name?”
Shit! He pulled at the bow tie around his throat. Fuck, he had to think of a name and quick.
He opened his mouth, and his tiger surged forward and said, “Hedra.”
Asshole! Boone snapped.
His tiger chuffed happily and retreated.
“Hedra,” Camilla repeated. “A human named Hedra.”
“That’s right,” he said.
Camilla studied him. He could smell her skepticism as she said. “Boone, you don’t have to lie about a girlfriend. I know you’re feeling a little nervous, but we were really good together before… everything happened. I’ve truly forgiven you for it, and I’d love to see what could happen between us now.”
“I’m not lying,” he said. “I’m dating a human named Hedra.”
Could you sound less convincing if you tried? His tiger grumped.
“Boone,” Camilla said again, her condescending tone making his tiger growl angrily. “You don’t -”
“What are you two talking so intensely about?” Abena joined them, her mega-watt smile beaming.
“Are you okay?” Boone asked, cursing himself inwardly for letting his concentration lapse. “Did something happen? I apologize, I shouldn’t have -”
“It’s fine, darling. Perfectly fine,” Abena said, squeezing his arm gently. “Nothing bad has happened. I’m just intrigued by what the two of you might be discussing.”
“Boone’s girlfriend,” Camilla said, accenting the girlfriend part lightly. “He’s dating a human named Hedra.”
“Your grandmother’s nurse?” Abena said as Camilla made a surprised chuff.
“Uh, that’s right,” Boone said. Shit, did it make him a bad person to wish that Abena’s memory wasn’t quite so sharp?
“How nice,” Abena said. “How long have you and Hedra been dating?”
“A while,” he hedged.
“Did you meet her before she started caring for your nan?” Camilla asked.
“No,” he said, grimacing inwardly at his mistake as Camilla’s grin turned predatory.
“So, you haven’t been dating all that long then,” she said.
“No, but, uh, Hedra and I are pretty serious.”
“Is that right?” Camilla didn’t believe him one bit.
“Yes,” he said.
“You should bring her to Abena’s party this weekend,” Camilla said suddenly. “I’d love to meet her.”
Abena was throwing her own private party to celebrate the upcoming release of her movie. Boone wasn’t required to work as it was in her home, with only friends and family, but she had invited him to join them and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Although Hedra had agreed to watch his nan that night, he planned to make an appearance for an hour or so before leaving.
“What a marvelous idea, Camilla,” Abena said. “Bring her, Mr. Jameson.”
“I would, but she’ll be watching my nan while I’m at the party,” Boone said.
Abena frowned. “Surely, you have family who could watch your nan for an evening?”
“Unfortunately, no,” he said.
“Friends, then.” Abena patted Boone’s chest through his jacket. “Come now, I insist you bring your Hedra to the party. I won’t take no for an answer, Mr. Jameson.”
Camilla grinned smugly at him. Inwardly cursing his tiger, Boone said, “Sure. I know Hedra would love to meet you.”
“Perfect.” Abena glanced across the room before waving at someone. “I must go. That dreadful Jillian from the marketing department has been trying to speak with me all night, and I can’t avoid it any longer. Camilla, make sure you let Frederick know that we’ll have one more for the party.”
“I will, Abena,” Camilla said with a wide grin.
Abena left, and Camilla turned that wide grin to Boone.
“I look forward to meeting your,” she hesitated, her smile turning smug again, “girlfriend, Boone.”
His smile was more of a grimace. “I’m looking forward to introducing her to you.”
CHAPTER 6
Boone hurried into the house. The prescreening and fan party had gone longer than planned, and it was nearly eight-thirty. He’d texted Hedra about being late, and she didn’t seem to have an issue with him being late or cooking dinner for his nan, but he didn’t want her to think he was taking advantage of her.
He dropped his keys on the side table before heading to the living room. He could hear the television blaring and smell popcorn. Both his stomach and his tiger grumbled. He hadn’t eaten since lunch, and he was starving. He hoped there were leftovers from dinner.
He walked into the living room, and his tiger growled so loudly that Boone winced. Hedra and his nan sat in the middle of the leather sectional. A leopard shifter with a stooped back and thinning hair sat on the other side of Nan, their hands linked. But it was the lynx shifter sitting too close to Hedra that made Boone’s tiger surge forward.
Last week, after speaking to his nan, who’d been surprisingly agreeable to trying again, Boone found a new physiotherapist. A lynx shifter named Jerome with an affable and laidback personality. So far, nothing Boone’s nan had said to the physiotherapist had upset him, and Boone was incredibly grateful for how much progress Jerome had made with Nan in just the last week.
Of course, that was before Boone had walked into his living room to the stink of Jerome’s lust for Hedra. His tiger growled another warning, and his fury over Jerome’s interest in Hedra was like hot coals in Boone’s stomach.
The lynx stiffened slightly, studying Boone before smiling. “Boone, hey, how are you?”
“What are you doing here?” Boone said. “My nan’s physio appointment finished at five.”
“Boone, don’t be rude,” Hedra said. “We invited Jerome to have dinner and watch a movie with us.”
She smiled at Jerome, and his tiger’s jealousy could hardly be contained. Fuck, forget his tiger, Boone’s jealousy was a raging fire in his brain.
“Look at how handsome you are in your tux,” Nan said. “Boone, this is -”
Boone couldn’t stay in the room a second longer, even if it meant being rude to Nan. He stalked out of the living room before he did something stupid like mark Hedra or murder Jerome and stomped to the kitchen. He gripped the counter and stared out the window, breathing deeply as his tiger snarled and growled.
She’s ours! He was touching her, and she’s ours!
Hedra isn’t ours. Calm down.
Christ, trying to calm his tiger when he was this riled up was nearly impossible.
His tiger growled again. We need to mark her before he does. She isn’t safe until we mark her.
His tiger’s jealousy and anxiety made it hard for Boone to think rationally. It couldn’t hurt to mark Hedra, right? She was only human, and the world was a dangerous place. Marking her would keep her safe from other shifters. Coop did it all the time with his mate. Why shouldn’t Boone do the same?
Because Hedra isn’t your mate.
He ignored his inner voice. What did it know? His tiger was right. Hedra needed to be protected. The easiest way to do that when Boone wasn’t around was by marking her.
He could hear Jerome and Hedra’s voices in the hallway as Hedra walked Jerome to the front door, and his tiger roared and demanded Boone join them. He clung to the sliver of common sense he still had and stayed in the kitchen, his hands gripping the sink and his tiger roaring and growling continuously.
Boone’s superb hearing meant he had no problem hearing Jerome ask Hedra out on a date. His tiger roared again, the sound filling Boone’s ears and brain until he could hear nothing else. He squeezed the sink, fighting his tiger’s push for control. If he let his tiger out now, the damn thing would attack Jerome. Sweat dripped down his back as his tiger fought bitterly against him until, with a snarl of disappointment, he retreated.
Boone had no idea how much time passed, it could have been five minutes or five hours, but when he smelled Hedra’s scent in the kitchen, he whipped around to face her. His tiger made another push for control, and Boone fought him back, but refusing his tiger’s need to mark Hedra wasn’t possible. Not when Boone wanted to mark her just as badly.
He strode forward jerkily, like a puppet on a string. Hedra stared calmly at him. “Boone, you need -”
He cupped the back of her neck and pulled her close. Growling low in his throat, he tugged her head back and rubbed his face across the right side of her throat and then the left. He marked the right side a second time, but his tiger’s chuff of satisfaction died when Hedra pushed him away.
“Stop it, Boone.”
He growled, and she frowned at him. “Don’t you growl at me.”
His tiger whined in misery at Hedra’s rejection of their marking and retreated so far that Boone could only feel a hint of his presence.
Jealousy and shame warring inside him, he said, “Fuck. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“No, you shouldn’t have,” she said. “I’m not yours to mark.”
“I know,” he said. “I have no excuse for doing it and won’t do it again.”
He hated the thick silence between them and the smell of her disappointment in him. After a moment, she sighed, and her tense body relaxed. “I’m not interested in him.”
“He’s interested in you. I could smell it,” Boone said.
She just stared at him, and he couldn’t resist saying, “I heard him ask you out.”
Fuck, he sounded like a whiny kid.
“Of course he did. I’m amazing,” Hedra said and then winked at him.
He huffed out a laugh before taking a deep breath. “Jesus, you must think I’m a real asshole.”
“I don’t,” she said. “But Jerome has done wonders with your nan in the last week and a half. She can even get out of bed by herself now, so maybe you wanna rein in the growling and your ‘Hedra’s my toy to play with’ behaviour so he doesn’t quit on us.”
“I know you’re not mine,” he said quickly.
“Does your tiger?”
“Yes,” he said.
“Are you sure about that?”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Nothing, never mind,” she said.
He hesitated. “Are you going to date him?”
“I literally just told you I wasn’t interested in Jerome,” she said, her annoyance evident.
“Fuck, sorry.” He just kept screwing this the fuck up.
“I’m not going to date Jerome, but,” she glanced behind her at the doorway, “your nan is dating someone.”
He blinked at her as the absurdity of her statement brought his tiger out of hiding. “I… what?”
“The leopard shifter in the living room,” Hedra said. “He’s your nan’s new boyfriend.”
“Boyfriend… what… how… when?” he sputtered.
“She met him online through a dating app for shifters over sixty,” Hedra said. “They’ve been talking for weeks, and she decided it was time to meet in person. I had no idea until his son brought him over this afternoon. He and Althea have been inseparable ever since.”
Boone staggered to a chair and sat in it with a heavy thud. “This is not happening.”
She grinned and grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge before sitting next to him and handing one to him. “Oh, it’s happening.”
“How old is that guy?” he asked.
“Seventy-eight.”
“Nan is eighty-four.”
“She likes younger men, I guess. His name is Jerry, and he was a train conductor before retiring. Been widowed about five years and has one son,” Hedra said. “He brought her chocolates and flowers. It was adorable.”
“Nothing about my nan doing online dating is adorable,” Boone said.
Hedra laughed. “She’s been really happy all afternoon. I think it’s good for her, Boone. Did you eat dinner?”
“No. Sorry again about being late.”
“It’s fine.” She returned to the fridge and brought out a plastic container. “I made beef stir fry for dinner if you’d like some.”
“I’d love some, but you don’t have to wait on me.” He took the container from her, and she sat at the table, watching as he dished it onto the plate and stuck it into the microwave. He removed his tux jacket, draped it over the chair, and yanked at the bow tie around his neck. He left it hanging limply as he unbuttoned the first few buttons on his shirt. He leaned against the counter, his thoughts in brain-destroying turmoil.
He’d fucked up with Hedra tonight, and now the idea of asking her to pretend to be his fake girlfriend was laughable. Fuck, he would kill his tiger for saying Hedra’s name.
It’s not my fault, his tiger growled.
It’s all your fault! Why did you have to say Hedra’s name?
I like her. She smells good. Why won’t you mate with her?
Boone sighed. One, she’s my employee, and two, she doesn’t want to mate with us.
Yes, she does! His tiger was working himself up again. She wants us. I can smell it, and so can you.
The microwave beeped, and Boone blinked rapidly before giving Hedra an apologetic look. “My tiger won’t shut up tonight.”
His tiger snarled at him, and Boone took another deep breath before setting the plate of stir-fry on the table and sitting down. His stomach rumbled, and he ate a few bites. “This is delicious. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” She drank some water. “Tell me what’s bothering you.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not,” she said. “Tell me what’s wrong. Maybe I can help.”
“You could help,” he said, pushing away the half-eaten stir fry, “but it’s inappropriate of me to ask.”
“Oh, now I have to know,” she said teasingly. “Besides, it can’t be any more inappropriate than you coming into my -”
She stopped abruptly, her cheeks reddening.
“What were you going to say?” Boone asked.
“Nothing,” she said. “Tell me what you need my help with.”
Fuck, he didn’t want to admit this, but what choice did he have? Telling Camilla he had lied about a girlfriend solely because he was too chickenshit to admit he had no interest in her anymore was a much worse option.
Just tell them Hedra was sick and couldn’t make the party.
It was a somewhat good idea, except he knew Camilla, and she wouldn’t give up on asking him out unless he provided solid proof that Hedra was his girlfriend. He didn’t relish going to work every day and fighting off the leopard shifter’s advances. And he couldn’t ask Cooper to assign someone else to Abena. Cooper needed them for real work, not this babysitting shit that Boone was relegated to.
Self-pity washed over him, and he pushed it away. Fuck, he was pathetic. No wonder Hedra didn’t want to have sex with him.
His tiger growled unhappily. Boone couldn’t remember the last time his tiger had been so pissed with him. It only added to Boone’s misery, and he rubbed at his forehead. When had his life become such a fucking shitshow?
“Boone.” Hedra’s soft voice drew him out of his thoughts, and his tiger purred happily when she squeezed his hand lightly. “Tell me.”
“After Derek died, I was fucked up. Really fucked up,” he said. “But I wouldn’t admit it. I started dating a woman about a year after he died. A leopard shifter named Camilla. We dated for nine months, and I wasn’t a good boyfriend.”
He paused. “Fuck that. I was a goddamn terrible boyfriend, and Camilla didn’t deserve the hell I put her through. She finally left me, and I would have kept right on spiraling if Grayson and Cooper hadn’t dragged my sorry ass to a therapist.”
He stared at her, and whatever emotion was on his face made her squeeze his hand again. He swallowed hard. “They saved my life, Hedra.”
“I’m glad,” she said quietly.
“Anyway, I did a lot of fucking therapy and slowly got better. I realized how badly I fucked up with Camilla, and while I didn’t want to rekindle the relationship, I did want to apologize. I reached out, asking if she would meet with me so I could apologize, but she never replied.”
“It was good that you tried,” Hedra said.
“Camilla is Abena Nkosi’s personal assistant.”
Hedra’s eyes widened, her septum ring gleaming in the kitchen light as she touched the opal absentmindedly. “Shit, that must have been an awkward reunion.”
“So fucking awkward,” he said. “She was still pissed at me, but I apologized and made it clear that I knew it was all my fault and she didn’t deserve any of it.”
“Did she accept your apology?” Hedra asked.
“She did, thank God. We’ve been getting along well the last couple of weeks.” Boone paused. “A little too well, apparently.”
