Make A Wish (Dandelion #1) (10 page)

“Uh. Hey Jules. This is Beau Lancaster. Sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner, I just found your letter. It seemed to have blown into the bush in the front of my house. I am available to meet at your earliest convenience, just give me a call back and let me know when you’re free. Talk to you soon.”

My formality was making even me cringe. How would Jules take the message?

This was the same woman I made love to, countless times, over and over. The very woman who trembled under my every touch. I really tried to shake the memories of our one night together, but it just kept playing in my head on a continuous torture loop.

I liked to think it was getting old, but something inside of me awakened every time she became the subject of my thoughts. I wanted and yearned to have her in my arms even for just one more second.

Get yourself together, Man. There will never be a future together. What can’t you get about that? Stop chasing the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow—it’s not there.

I crawled into my bed, exhausted and drained, physically
and
emotionally. Sleep finally took over as all my worries momentarily drifted away.

***

It’d been almost three days since I’d left a message for Juliette and I had tried over and over since then to contact her. Each time the phone went immediately to voice mail.

My wolf was getting antsier by the day, and the man in me was following in his footsteps. The nimiety of training wasn’t doing me any good either. Even though I was entirely drained from my sessions, each night when I plopped into bed, her image was the first thing I saw.

I anticipated her call and waited for the phone to ring. When it did and it wasn’t her, I had to suppress the rage to leave a hole in whatever wall was nearest to me.

I’ve never been one to let my emotions run my life, and the desire and violent urges startled me. I knew I needed to get back in line. My pack looked up to me. I couldn’t let them down; it wasn’t an option.

As I sat in the chair in my office, I brought my head down to rest on the marble surface, taking deep breaths to calm my rapid emotions.

Maybe I should just go talk with her in person. After all, she’s the one who contacted me, right?

My mind came to the conclusion on its own that it was my best bet. My only viable choice. I’d meet with her, for the third and last time, so that I could put her behind me. For once and for all.

I cleared my schedule for the day, heading out to speak with the woman who harrowed me.

***

I’d spent all day stalling, putting off going to her. When I’d finally succeeded in gathering the courage to pull up outside her apartment complex, I felt crazy nervous. There wasn’t a doubt she’d hate me
—
hell, I kind of hated me for the way I left things.

I climbed the stairs at a snail’s pace, psyching myself out but still pushing forward anyways. Standing outside her door, I braced myself and knocked.

Time to get it over with.

But no answer came.

I knocked even louder.

Still no answer.

JACK

I sat, waiting patiently for Juliette’s friend Saylor to show up at the diner. We’d talked about meeting up and having lunch together. And with everyone on edge due to the kidnapping, it seemed as good of time as any.

When I first heard the news, I was stunned into silence, literally. Juliette and I were never really close but I cared about her and was so excited for her, that she was finally getting her life on the right track.

Saylor was late when she finally walked through the door, her face still red and splotchy but the rest of her looking the same. Hair styled to perfection and a flattering outfit that accentuated her every curve.

She’s attractive and it wasn’t the first time I thought that. Whenever she opened her mouth, though, the attraction ended. Saylor was much too chatty and facetious for my taste, and half the time I barely understood what she was talking about anyways. But I’ll totally admit to checking her out whenever she came around.

“Hey Jack, how’re you doing?” She half smiled as she leaned in for a hug, her scented perfume encompassing me like the bubble that Glinda from the Wizard of Oz appeared in.

“I’m as good as can be under the circumstances, I suppose,” I replied, trying my best not to cough on the big whiff of aroma that I had managed to inhale. “Any news yet?”

“Not a thing,” Saylor grumbled, the obvious irritability interweaving its way into the words that she spoke. “I met with the detective this week and he’s decided to close Juliette’s case. Something about lack of evidence, whatever the hell that means.”

“Damn. That’s awful.”

“Tell me about it. I just want this nightmare to end and my friend to come home. I miss her.” She sat down across from me and rested her elbows on the table, the palms of her hands pushed against her eyes as if to stop herself from starting to cry again.

I reached for her, pulling one of her hands into mine. “I know.” I gave her my most reassuring smile. “We all miss her, but she’ll be okay. Jules is strong. If anyone can go through something like this and come out on top, it’s her.”

“But you don’t understand,” she argued. “She was already on edge before she was kidnapped because of everything with Beau and the baby—” Her voice trailed off while she looked over my shoulder and out the front window. “—Shit. Speak of the devil.”

And as if he was summoned by the mere mention of his name, Beau pulled up right outside the diner, parking his motorbike beside Saylor’s little car.

“I’m warning you now, Jack, don’t tell Beau about their baby. I’ll castrate you, and I promise, I’m not joking either. Jules wanted to tell him herself and she hasn’t had the chance to yet, so please don’tsayanything.” Her last few words came out so expeditiously, it was as if they all blended into one big word.

SAYLOR

Beau made his way into the diner. The sway of his hips even had me looking away in embarrassment, a small blush rising to my cheeks. I once again took the moment to remind myself that it wasn’t the time to ogle, and though I thoroughly enjoyed looking at fine specimens, Beau was, for lack of better word, already spoken for, though he didn’t know it.

He looked as if he’d just walked off the set of a GQ photo shoot
—
his black denim pants hugged his every contour and his black leather jacket clung to his over-sized biceps. A solid white shirt peeked out from underneath, though it was so tight, you could basically see the lines of his abs right through it. Beau’s golden hair was brushed back into a tiny ponytail, with the occasional strand falling forward into his eyes.

Every woman in the room stopped what they were doing and stared as he passed by. He was oblivious to their reactions as he made his way to the back of the room where Jack and I were now standing.

“You have got to be kidding me... Please tell me you’re seriously
not
here right now?” I hissed at him, still pissed over him leaving Jules. Maybe Juliette was ready to forgive him but I wasn’t. He’s a coward.

“You’re Jules’ friend, right?” He tilted his head in question with only a tad bit of recognition in his eyes, which only further pissed me off.

“I’m more than just her friend
—
I’m your worst freaking nightmare. If I were you, I’d take my happy self
—
” I stepped closer to him, “
—
and walk back out the door you just came in, before I
—
”

“Saylor,” Jack warned, pulling me back and away from Beau- whose eyes widened at my small outburst of anger. His shoulders stiffened, making him stand just a little taller than he already was. With one glance down at the ground and a deep breath, he turned his attention away from me, to Jack.
, whose

“I’m only here because I found this letter at my house and was trying to get in contact with Juliette. I left a few messages but I never heard back.” He fingered a tattered pink envelope in his large, callused hands. His eyes nearly unreadable.

Jack and I both avoided Beau’s gaze. As infuriated as I was, I didn’t want to break the news about the kidnapping to him. And even though I’d known since the day after it had happened, it was still hard for me to wrap my head around.

“What?” Beau spoke. His voice was strong and determined, almost in a command. “What don’t I know?”

“A lot,” I mumbled to myself quietly, but as I glanced up at Beau, I was almost certain that he’d heard.

“There’s a reason she hasn’t returned your calls,” Jack spoke up. I was grateful that it wasn’t gonna be me. “She
—
” He cleared his throat before continuing. “She was kidnapped several months ago, from her apartment. The police closed her case a few days ago due to lack of evidence.”

Tears made their way to my eyes.
Not again.

BEAU

No. This couldn’t be happening. I felt as if my world was caving in and my heart was being crushed inside of my chest. I could see the truth evident in their expressions
—
they weren’t lying.

I leaned my head against the nearest wall, once again trying to calm my breathing. I was getting tired of my wolf being on edge, probably just as much as I was tired of my newfound lack of self-control.

Jack laid his hand on my shoulder and the comfort instantly calmed the beast raging within me. I needed to sit.

I slid into the booth, eyes narrowed and focusing on the food menu in front of me. Anything to keep me from wolfing out.

“Why’d you do it?” Saylor’s voice pierced through the thoughts running through me.

“What?”

“Why did you do it? Sleep with her and then leave?” The harsh tone in her voice was clear as day and, despite the cringe on my part, she continued. Paying no notice to me. “Did you ever think about how she would feel? Or was it more like a hit it and quit it? Sleep with the hot chick then dump her like week old fast food and
—
”

“Enough.” I cut her off as I brought my eyes to hers, making sure to convey my words properly. “It wasn’t like that,
at
all.”