She looked around as she sat in the chair opposite his wide wooden desk and considered the matter. ‘This room needs a woman’s touch,’ she said finally.
‘What would you suggest?’
‘Lighter curtains – cream velvet, perhaps, instead of that dark brocade. Some brighter paint – not white but something less oppressive. Maybe a rug for a splash of bright colour. And a few vases of flowers.’
‘Noted.’ He gazed around the room as if seeing it for the first time. ‘This was my father’s office – he was alpha before me. I suppose I should have changed the décor and wiped away any memory of him. He was something of a collector and most of his stuff has ended up in the basement. I’ve always meant to get around to changing this room but there’s never been time to deal with it properly. And,’ he said quietly, ‘I didn’t want togive his ghost the satisfaction of knowing that his design choices bothered me. My father was a fucking bastard.’
Mallory blinked. MacTire grinned, but it didn’t reach his eyes. ‘Is that vulnerable enough for you?’
She didn’t answer; instead she reached out and took his hand. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘We don’t always get to choose our family.’
His fingers tightened around hers but he didn’t pull away. ‘No, but I will get to choose my First Mate. And it’s important that my choice is a good one because it will affect everyone in the MacTire pack.’
‘Even more reason why we should get cracking,’ she said softly. She withdrew her hand and straightened her shoulders. ‘So while some compromise is inevitable, you’d prefer a wolf with blonde hair, considerable strength and an elegant fashion sense. What else?’
He sighed heavily. ‘You make it sound like a shopping list.’
‘We’re talking hypotheticals, Mr MacTire. I’m not saying this is who you’ll get. In your mind’s eye, who is your perfect mate?’
‘I think we’re beyond Mr MacTire and Ms Nash now. If Nicholas gets to call you Mallory then so do I. And I’d like it if you called me Alexander. Or Alex.’
Mallory nodded; it might make their future conversations easier. ‘Okay. Who’s your perfect woman, Alexander?’
‘Werewolf, blonde, strong and with an elegant fashion sense.’ He laughed. ‘And she needs to be powerful, as well. She’s going to be the MacTire First Mate so she’ll have to help our pack remain strong. I can’t have a mate who will weaken our position.’
‘Do you have an age range in mind?’
‘Not particularly – ten years either side of me, I suppose. If there’s too much of an age difference, I can’t imagine we’ll have much in common.’
‘You’re sure you don’t want a young model with pneumatic breasts?’
‘I’m not twelve, Ms Nash.’
‘Mallory,’ she reminded him.
He inclined his head. ‘Mallory.’
She smiled. ‘Do you have the Wolf Ball guest list?’
Alexander reached into a drawer and drew out three sheets of paper held together by a paper clip. ‘I’ve marked the guests whom I’ve already dated so you don’t waste your time.’
That was smart. Mallory scanned the papers quickly.Oh. ‘You’ve marked a lot of names,’ she said faintly. ‘Are you sure you don’t want to take a second look at any of them? Maybe there’s someone on the list who you had a good relationship with?—’
‘No,’ he interrupted. ‘None of them are suitable.’
He wasn’t giving her a lot to work with; at least ten percent of the women on the guest list had been scratched off before they’d even started. She thought of something else and tilted her head, trying to come up with a delicate way to broach the subject.
‘Whatever it is, just say it,’ Alexander ordered.
Okay, then. ‘What about you? What sort of reputation do you have? I mean as a man, not as alpha of the MacTire clan? What do the eligible female werewolves of Coldstream think of you?’ Of course, she’d investigate the answer for her own benefit, but it would be helpful to know whathethought; as much as anything, it was a test of his self-awareness.
Alexander leaned back in his chair. ‘That I’m attractive. I’m thoughtful, both in the bedroom and out. And I’m a gentleman.’
Uh-huh. ‘Anything else?’
‘That I always put the needs of my pack above the needs of my partner,’ he said quietly. ‘And I can be something of a closed book. I don’t always say what I’m thinking and I tend to mask my emotions.’
‘Thank you,’ Mallory began.
