Page 31 of Jack of All Trades

“Wait a moment. He couldn’t possibly be a member of the Pengrove family. They have no shifters.”

“I know that. Please keep this conversation between us for now. Jack was raised by them, but he didn’t know, and they still don’t, that he was not born to them. The hospital was afraid of the family, so they switched a dead child for a live one. The live one grew to be Jack.”

“Oh, dear,” she said with real sadness in her voice. “That’s terrible. I’m so sorry, dear. Not that I can blame them. Those Pengroves are like your grandparents. Total snobs to the point they’d kill if someone so much as sniffed around one of their eligible children in hopes of a date.”

Maltin sighed, but finally, he had his mother by the diamonds. “Mother, they’ll likely not want this information to get out.”

“Don’t end your sentence with a preposition, dear. You were taught better than that. And stop slouching and get off the ground. What have you become in that strange city?”

He’d long ago stopped wondering how his mother knew what he was doing, even thousands of miles away. He stood and brushed off the dirt from his pants. “Sorry, Mother.”

“Well, if they so much as tried to hurt my child, I’d bring all the wrath of the Hilderbrand family down on their heads. What do you need, son? Would you like Uncle Rodney to fly to you tonight? He can be there by morning.”

“Yes, Mother. I’d like that. I hate asking for help, but I will likely use all my power defending Jack, and…I am not prepared to leave him.”

“Oh, son. That’s sweet. You have real feelings for him, don’t you?”

“Mother, I know how you feel about fated mates, but Father loved you more than anything in the world. What I feel for Jack would have come regardless, I promise you.”

“Then…then I’m sure I’ll adore him. Take care, and Rodney will be there soon. Use him well, dear. And be careful he doesn’t take off to any casino. You know how he gambles.”

She hung up after that, and he was left to chuckle as he went back inside the warehouse.

Chapter Nine

Jack woke and startedto call for him as Maltin was making tea. Maltin smiled as he grabbed the long wooden tray he’d rarely used and carried it up the stairs. Jack rubbed his eyes like a kid and Maltin called him on it. “Sleepy baby.”

“Where were you?”

“Just getting us some tea, sweetheart.”

He sat up, and the moment Maltin set down the tray, Jack snatched up one of the cookies from the plate between the teacups. “I thought you might be hungry. Have you eaten at all today?”

“No,” he said after he swallowed. “I’m not hungry.”

Maltin watched him eat the first cookie and take a second before he took one of the cups. “Okay, but I’ll fix some food for us when you are.”

Jack nodded pitifully, and it tore at Maltin’s heart.

When Jack had finished the tea, he lay back on the pillows and pouted a little. Maltin set the tray on the floor and crawledback on the bed, spooning behind Jack. “You may be using suppressants, but…I still smell you.”

“Pervert.”

“Hey,” he said, laughing. “I can’t help it, you know? And, besides, I think I have this huge crush on you.”

“I’m your mate. You’re supposed to.”

“I think I would anyway. You must remember, darling, I am the product of a shifter who ignored his drive to find his fated mate because he found love first. What if…what if I am not your fated mate, and I’ve just become totally obsessed with you anyway?”

Jack clumsily turned around to face him. His eyes rose to look into Maltin’s, blinking slowly. “I would like that. I like you. I did mean it. I always thought you were gorgeous.”

“Ditto. I thought you were so beautiful that I tried very hard to push you away because I knew I could fall for you, and you could break my heart into a thousand pieces.”

“Really?”

He was so insecure after all the news of his roots and true parentage that Maltin wanted to fight the world to make him feel safe again. His eyes welled with tears, his bottom lip hung a little fuller than usual, and he pled with those wet eyes most sweetly. If he hadn’t fallen in love with Jack already, he surely did in that moment. “Really, Jack. I think you’re the most remarkable man I’ve ever known. You're much stronger than I guessed to take that kind of news and not completely fall apart.”

“Strong? I’m acting like a child.”

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