Chapter 15
Piper
Another week went by. I tried to keep busy, to keep my mind off the waiting game we were playing. I cleaned the Lodge with Zin, despite his protests, helped Sullivan in the kitchen, and even worked with Akeno to come up with fun crafts for the cubs at school.
Riggs was busy as well, but he always made time for me, no matter what else was going on.
Alanna grew and was a generally happy baby. I had more babysitters than I knew what to do with. It wasn’t uncommon for me to have to hunt her down and figure out which bear had her for the day. I was pretty sure they’d made some kind of Alanna rotation without telling me. There had been arguments before about who got her, but after a few weeks, something had clearly changed, because they always knew who had her when.
Personally, I thought they should just post the schedule on my door or something. It would have made it easier to keep track of her. She never went without love or affection, that was for sure.
Riggs and I had several dates at home, which was why, when Taco started cracking up as he answered the door and then waved me over, I didn’t think anything of it.
I figured it was just another surprise from Riggs. Maybe flowers or something.
I was not expecting a cupid singing telegram.
I stared in horror at the bare white chest of the man in front of me. At least he was wearing a toga. Even if it gaped open at the chest, I was grateful he at least had something on.
I went beet red as he sang to me about violets, springtime, and lovers. To be fair, he had a good voice, but that didn’t make the situation any better. I still wanted to slap duct tape over his mouth and find him some proper clothing. I gritted my teeth through three full verses about my magnificence, glaring at the Clan out of the corner of my eye as they kept laughing their heads off as the cupid went on and on and on.
Riggs came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, his breath warm against my ear. “Like it?” he murmured, his voice thick with barely restrained humor.
I wanted to turn and glare at him too, but the cupid had launched into a fourth verse, and I didn’t want him to have to start over because I wasn’t paying attention.
When he finally finished, I thanked him politely, then shut the door and turned to glare at my mate.
“That was mean.”
“I disagree,” Alistair said, still chortling in the living room with Drew, Taco, Matteo, and Mathan. “That was hilarious.”
“If it’s good for the Clan, it’s usually the right thing,” my mate said, a small smirk tugging at his mouth.
“Oh, really? I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Mate, why do you have an evil gleam in your eyes?”
“Oh, no reason.” I stepped closer, lowering my voice. “But whatever I do, you can be sure it will be good for the Clan.”
Two days later,my invitation had been sent, and I was waiting for him in the living room that had been set up like a fancy restaurant. All of the other furniture had been cleared, candles were burning, the fireplace was going, soft music was playing, and a table was set with a linen tablecloth, glasses, and silverware. The bouquet of flowers the cupid had given me was in a vase as the centerpiece.
I’d tried not to go too overboard with the setup, because I knew my true joy would come from the waiters I’d coerced into playing along with my scheme.
Riggs came down the stairs and into the living room like he expected a bunch of people to pop out behind the furniture and yell,surprise!I laughed as he kissed me and pulled me into a hug, all the while glancing around uneasily. He took a seat across from me, and when no one popped out to surprise or scare him, he turned his attention to me with a speculative expression.
“What is this?”
I played dumb. It should be noted that I was terrible at it, but I wasn’t really trying to trick him. I was trying to make him uncomfortable, uneasy, and ultimately come to appreciate my finely tuned sense of retribution.
“This is dinner,” I said, fighting to keep my expression placid. “I thought I’d set up the date this time.”
He relaxed a smidge, and I tried not to chortle evilly into my glass of ice water.
We talked for a bit about Alanna and how big she was getting, and also about his businesses and the Clan. We purposefully avoided discussing anything to do with Barrett.
Roarke came out of the kitchen dressed in a full tux and tails, with menus and our drinks. I didn’t drink, and neither did Riggs, so Roarke had made us mocktails. He refilled our ice water as well.
The whole time he was serving our table, Riggs stared at him.
