style="font-size:15px;"> “Yeah, well, you are so-o-o underage, Cassie-Bassie.” He laughed when she stuck her tongue out at him.
Wolf’s gaze swept to Becca. Quinn had her backed against the wall where his forearm rested above her pretty head. She was paying close attention to whatever he was saying. No doubt Quinn, the bastard, was working his charm on her. Something elemental and possessive unfurled and snarled in Wolf’s gut. Oh no. Oh, hell no! He shouldered his way through a roomful of guests. If anyone was going to flirt with her tonight, it would damn well be him. He had seen her first, dammit.
“When is the charity bike ride for children’s toys?” Becca’s gaze flicked to his when he stopped next to her and Quinn.
“Saturday after next. Right, Wolf?” Quinn gave an ornery grin. “Guess who’s leading the ride dressed up as Santa?” Quinn the blabbermouth jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “We voted The Wolf in.”
“Railroaded would be more like it. I took off work to look after Cassie when she had her wisdom teeth out, and the whole gang at the station decided to pick the least-likely candidate for the position.” He sidled up to Becca and trailed a finger down her arm. “Do I look like Santa to you?”
She scowled and turned slightly out of his reach. “No, you don’t. You do resemble one of his elves, though. Dopey.”
“Hey,” he splayed a hand over his chest. “You’re breaking my heart here. Besides, wasn’t Dopey a dwarf?”
She nodded and winked. “Yup, but tall or short, in your case, it fits.” Pleased with herself, if her smirk was any indication, she fingered one of her dangly earrings, which was so long it kissed her bare shoulder. “Is Cassie one of your girlfriends?”
“Oh, God, no. I’m his baby sister.” Cassie handed him a glass of punch. “Wolf, where are your manners? She doesn’t have a drink.” His sister elbowed Quinn. “Hot lips, why don’t you get Becca a glass of wine. White or red?”
“I’m not staying. I just came over for—”
“She’ll have white. It goes best with birthday cake.” Wolf kept his gaze locked on Becca’s. “Bring her a slab of cake, too, Quinn. In fact, fix her a whole plate of goodies. My sisters have outdone themselves.”
“Hey, it’s not every day our big brother turns thirty.” Cassie took Quinn’s hand and they ambled toward the dining room.
For some reason, Becca blushed a deep red. “How…how many sisters do you have?”
He sipped at the punch and set it on a nearby table. “Four. I’m the oldest, then my brother Jace.” He started to point across the room, thought better of it, and stepped nearer to Becca. Placing one hand at the small of her bare back, he indicated where his brother sat with his wife on his lap. “You’ve already met Wendy Anne.”
“Yes.” She shivered slightly under his touch, which pleased him.
“They’re expecting a child. They just made the announcement at our family Thanksgiving meal. They lost the first baby, so Wendy Anne wanted to wait until her first trimester was over to share the news.”
Becca glanced at him. “How do you feel about being an uncle?”
He laughed. “I’ve already bought the stroller. Rated the safest on the market. It’s going to be the kid’s first Christmas gift. That and a big toy wolf.” He motioned with his hands. “It’s got to be the size of Einstein.”
“What’s a baby going to do with a gigantic thing like that?”
“You just wait. The kid will drag it everywhere.” He turned her slightly. “See the girl in black over by the doorway? That’s April, the oldest of my sisters. She’s arguing with Jenna, another sister. April’s engaged and wants her best friend for her maid of honor. Jenna’s feelings are hurt, but with three sisters, how can April choose just one?”
“I see her point.”
With her heels, Becca was nearly as tall as his six foot two, and he liked being able to look directly into her hazel eyes. There were gold flecks in their depths. He leaned a little closer to inhale her vanilla and lilac scent.
“Is Cassie the sister who gave you Fluffy?” She glanced around. “Where is the cat?”
“Hiding out upstairs in my bedroom. She won’t come down until the house is quiet again. Megan, sister number three, gave me the fur ball when she went away to University of Florida. ” He slid his hand upward from the small of her back until he could wrap his arm around her shoulder. “That’s her holding court with three of the firemen from our fire and rescue station. Megan’s an R.N.”
“You sound proud.”
“I’m proud of all of them. Cassie graduated from beauty school last spring and has her own beauty shop over on Pinella. April’s an engineer. Jenna works as a buyer for Macy’s.”
“And you’re a fireman.”
He smiled. “That I am, although my primary duty is to head the Marine Rescue Unit. What about you?”
“I’m a reporter for the Clearwater Daily.” She accepted the glass of wine Cassie handed her and sipped.
Freakin’ hell. Of all the professions in the world, why that one? “A reporter? Don’t tell me you’re one of those lowlifes who ask victims at the most painful points of their lives how they felt when the car ran over their child or a bomb exploded in their faces.” Or when an arsonist’s handiwork burned down the family’s home with their parents sleeping inside.
Becca straightened her shoulders and folded her arms at her waist. “People have a right to the news. The complete news.”
“And people have a right to their privacy. Reporters are the pimple on the ass of the world.”
Before his eyes, Becca morphed from a sensual, enticing breeze to a blistering tempest. “You arrogant, opinionated ass. Reporters have a job to do the same as anyone else!”
He leaned in, his temper burning hot in his gut. “Oh, and is it your job to hurt others?”
“Hur…hurt others? What the hell are you talking about?”
“Wolf.” Cassie’s request was barely a whisper. She wiped a tear and stormed off.
Becca stared after his sister’s hurried retreat. “See, you’ve even upset her.”
“Not me. You.” He poked his finger against the bare skin of her shoulder. He took a deep breath to try and settle his raging anger and glanced away for a beat. “We lost our parents in a fire four years ago. Cassie was staying at a friend’s house the night it happened.”
He looked at Becca again. Her eyebrows were furrowed, as if taking in every word he uttered. “My baby sister blamed herself for not being home, felt if she had been, she might have saved Mom and Dad. Reporters hounded her relentlessly, asking her how she ‘felt.’” He spat the last word. “She wasn’t the only one harassed. So were the rest of my siblings, but for Cassie, combined with her blaming herself, their onslaught nearly did her in. I left the SEALs and came home to care for her and
