Page 114 of Unwilling Wolf

She cleaned up and answered the door at the knock to see Lenny, also dressed in clean clothes. “The boys want dinner downstairs. Will you manage?”

“I might fall asleep in my split-pea soup, but I’ll sure try.” She checked her hair in the mirror. She’d taken it out of the braids and done her best to pin her waves into a low bun, but it was a bit messy. She actually didn’t hate the messy look though. Oh, if Aunt Elizabeth could see her now.

She followed Lenny down the stairs of the hotel and into the sprawling main room. There were tables to dine at on one side, a bar along the back wall, and poker tables set up on the other side.

She scanned the room and locked eyes with Garret, who was sitting at a table on the dining side with Burke. They had a pair of drinks in front of them, deep amber in color. Whiskey, if she had to guess. He wore a new, fine black felt hat, and on the table beside him lay a light tan one in a more feminine cut. True to his word, he’d gotten her a new hat.

He looked handsome in his new black button-up shirt that clung to the strong curves of his shoulders.

He saw her and leaned back in his chair, looking her up and down hungrily, and heat flushed her cheeks. Gads, what that man could do to her insides with just a look. Garret Shaw was the most fetching man she’d ever laid eyes on, and he was smiling back at her.

When she and Lenny approached, the boys stood and held out their chairs for them.

Garret even pushed her chair in as she sat down, which said, unlike she’d originally thought, Garret had in fact learned how to be a gentleman. He only used those skills when he wanted to though.

He reached for the light tan hat, and settled it on her head. It fit perfectly, and he gave her a wink before he sat down across from her. “Once upon a time, I told Eliza I would drink with her and make it fun,” Garret said low as he scooted his own chair closer to the table. He took a sip of his whiskey and leaned his elbows on the table, a challenge written all over his face.

“Now why would you tell a proper lady you would do that?” Burke asked curiously.

“Because believe it or not, I have had a drink before,” Eliza answered cheekily. “It was not a fun experience.”

Garret pushed his glass toward her with the tips of his fingers, and she reveled in the sound of the glass scraping across the wooden tabletop.

“A dare, is it?” she asked. “First, tell me we are safe to let our guard down.”

Garret scanned the room, and low, he said, “The Jenningses won’t try anything in town. They can’t. It’s against our laws. Any feuds have to be kept out of the human public, or that Pack faces execution.”

“Huh. Interesting.” She reached for the glass and held it to her lips, held his wicked gaze over the rim of the glass for a moment, then took a deep sip.

It burned all the way down, but she’d been prepared for it and kept her face as steady as she could.

Burke leaned back on the back two legs of his chair and said, “Whoo-hoo-hooooo. Okay, Eliza.”

Garret stood and made his way to the bar, leaned onto it, and put in an order. When he returned, he told them, “I ordered us all food.”

“Actin’ like we’re rich tonight,” Burke said.

“Rich enough for one night. The cattle caught an even better price than we thought.”

“Really?” Lenny asked.

Garret jutted his chin at Eliza. “That one is a pain in the ass at negotiating. Not for us. For them.”

“I simply let them know we are comfortable taking our cattle to Austin.”

Burke snorted and took another drink of his whiskey. “Ain’t no way they believed that. We brought those cattle in panting and hungry.”

“Oh, they did believe it,” Garret explained, humor-filled, piercing-blue eyes on Eliza. “Because she stood up and shook their hands like she was a damn man, and then told me to follow her out. And she got on her damn horse, while I was fuming mad, and I got on mine, and the accountant came out and chased us down.” He inhaled deeply. “They offered us a quarter more a head.”

“What the fuck,” Burke said with a half-laugh, half-shocked sound. He bumped his fist on the table and shook his head at Eliza. “You’re crazy. Do you know what would’ve happened if they didn’t chase you out? We wouldn’t have been able to sell them here, and we would’ve had the Jennings’s wolves on our asses all the way to Austin. It would’ve been a miracle to even get halfway.”

“I could tell he would give in.”

“How?” Lenny asked.

“Because he liked her tits,” Garret muttered.

Eliza cocked her eyebrow at Lenny. “I unbuttoned the top two buttons.”

---