Out of Place Mate by Rebecca Royce

 
     
    “What do you mean you both got married? To women I’ve never met? Did it even occur to you that these women could have targeted you for your wallets?”
    The man wearing a too-elegant-for-a-bar tuxedo slammed his fist down on the table in front of Stark and Scott Quaid. His brothers . Victoria Bensen took another swig of her dark lager as she sniffed the room one more time. There could be no question—the newcomer in Gunther’s biker bar dressed like he’d just come from the opera—smelled like the third Quaid brother.
    Only better than the other two combined. His scent suggested he’d spent time in the Middle East, or at least that had been what she’d scented all the time when she’d lived there for a year. His body radiated sandalwood, always her favorite. Her panties got wet as she took more of his essence into her veins. He didn’t look bad either. Taller than the other two by at least several inches, his dark brown hair contrasted with sharp blue eyes. His long face had a five o’clock shadow that stood out against his neat appearance. The facial hair told her he had hidden depths past the boring tux. If he truly behaved like the neat, organized person he portrayed to the world, he’d have taken the time to shave, no matter what.
    Yvette, recently mated to one of Sean’s brothers, walked up to Victoria, holding her drink tray. She’d be leaving to travel with her new husband shortly, and Gunther had dragged Victoria, kicking and screaming, to take over her job until he could find a permanent replacement for the other woman. This would be their only night working together before Yvette left.
    “Don’t get too interested in that one. He’s the third brother. Not as open-minded as his younger siblings. Stark says he’s a real hard ass and not necessarily shifter-friendly. He doesn’t even ride.”
    Victoria raised her eyebrows. She didn’t know which part of that story Yvette objected to the most, the fact that he could be an anti-shifter, or that he didn’t ride a motorcycle. As for the hard ass part, Victoria could agree with that part. He did, indeed, possess a tight derriere. She wanted to squeeze it.
    “Thanks for the warning.”
    Victoria hadn’t survived as long as she had by taking other people’s judgments as her own. More often than not, they saw what they wanted to see. And the third brother of the Quaid family didn’t seem to approve of Yvette, or at least he worried that she’d wanted his brother only for his money. Which could have seriously tainted the other woman’s opinion. The man currently having a fit yelling at his brothers at the end of the bar had bags under his eyes and an unshaven face. He’d traveled all night to get there from somewhere that required he wear a tux. If nothing else, Victoria wanted to know his story.
    She sauntered over to where the men argued—well, where Stark and Scott were being hollered at as they sat rather silently not answering their raging brother.
    “Can I get you guys a drink?” She leaned forward, letting them see her cleavage. Stark and Scott were mated, they wouldn’t look. But brother three might take a glance, which would make her very, very happy.
    “We’re good, Victoria.” Scott smiled, glancing at his brother sideways. “Well, Stark and I are good. Sean here might need a stiff drink to get the stick out of his ass.”
    Sean pounded his fist on the bar. “I flew all night to get here. We have three projects— three —falling apart at the seams. Hundreds of people depend on our construction projects and commercial development for their employment. Thousands more will in the future when they populate the shops we’re making. I can’t do this all alone. I’m an engineer. You guys have to handle the contracting and design the sites. You two can’t fall off the grid like a couple of teenagers because you felt like marrying two hot pieces of ass.”
    “Hey!” Stark’s eyes flared red and he threw a punch at Sean,