Page 6 of His White Moonlight (Dominant CEO Shifter Romance #1)

I waited until she cleared the outer door to knock and let myself into Bennett’s office. He was standing at his desk with his back to the door.

“What reception?” I asked.

He sighed and lifted the bag he was holding. The one with the clothes he bought this morning.

“The one we’re going to. Go change.”

He indicated the bathroom door. I snagged the bag on my way past him.

If staff are going, maybe it’s a paid reception , I silently told myself as I changed.

Although I’d selected the most modest option of the two the associate had given me, the skirt was more form-fitting than I would have liked and showed my underwear line.

I could have ditched them, but I imagined the emotional and mental trauma I would have if Dad figured out I’d gone commando.

It didn’t matter that shifters group-stripped for pack runs.

I wasn’t pack. So I ignored my underwear lines, grateful that at least the sandals were okay.

I stepped out of the bathroom and endured Bennett’s scrutinizing gaze with an unhappy frown.

“You don’t like it,” he said.

“No kidding. Please tell me I won't need to suffer in this for long.”

“You look pretty.”

“It’s tight, and it’s uncomfortable, but yippee for looking pretty. Why can’t we just go home and say we forgot?”

He sighed, and I caught a glimpse of his frustration.

“Ugh, fine. Is there any way we can skip out early? Can you pretend to have an appendicitis attack? Heart attack? A lazy eye? Anything?”

My humor wasn’t appreciated.

He rubbed his hand down his face, which I found pretty funny.

“Don't even try lying to me and say you want to go,” I said. “If Andri is going, that means all the women who were trying to get your attention today will be there.”

His jaw muscles twitched.

“Fine. I’ll help you if you help me,” he said.

I wanted to crow.

“Name your terms and name your price,” I said.

“You keep every female from touching me, and we’ll leave within an hour.”

“Exception being Mom, of course,” I amended.

“You and Mom and Grandma.”

“Grandma’s going to be there?”

He nodded.

“What are the rules? Can I offend people?”

“You will have to deal with the consequences of your actions.”

I made a face and sighed. “Fine. Polite-bitchiness only then. Does the timer start now, in the car, or when we get there?”

“When we get there," he said.

I groaned but agreed and let him lead me out of the office. Most of the people were already gone—the few who remained called out a farewell to Bennett. The elevators were less crowded leaving than they’d been arriving.

However, the garage had a few more people than Bennett would have liked. Five women waited around the car.

"Bet you wish the timer started now,” I said with an innocent smile.

Bennett growled. I laughed and strode forward through the women waiting by the passenger door.

“Sorry, ladies, I called frontsies in perpetuity thirteen years ago. I think the back seat’s open, though.”

Bennett grabbed my upper arm, stopping me from opening my door, and opened it for me. Once I was in and he was outside with everyone else, he said something that had them all glaring at me and walking away.

I didn’t comment on it when he got in and started the car.

“Is there going to be good food there, at least?” I asked as he drove.

“Mom arranged everything.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

He didn't respond.

I glanced at him, wondering why he’d reverted to his usual sulky self. It hadn’t been bad working with him today. He’d answered questions and had acted mostly like a normal person.

Was Mom right? Was his patience that thin because of the women chasing him?

If he were Aiden or Karter, I would have asked if he was dating anyone and how serious the relationship was.

But I wasn’t as close to Bennett as I was with them.

I’d never played with him growing up—he’d been sent off to school not too long after I’d moved in—and he'd never called me while I was at school like they had.

To be fair, I'd never called him either.

I could ask Mom. She’d know. She knew everything about us…for the most part. Maybe if he liked someone and made it public, the women in the office would back off a little. I made a face. If he liked someone, Mom would have already thought of that.

“What's wrong?” he asked.

“Not liking the direction of my thoughts,” I said, turning to look out the window.

“What are you thinking about?”

“I’d rather stop thinking about it if it’s all the same to you. How much longer until we get there?”

“Soon.”

Fifteen minutes later, I walked up the flight of red carpeted steps to the freaking museum while wishing the car would have broken down.

“New deal,” I said. “We go home, I’ll take the blame for not showing up, and I’ll work for you for free all summer.”

“No deal,” he said.

“Come on, we’d both come out winners.”

“Are you going to walk, or do I have to carry you?”

“Princess, backpack, fireman, or over the shoulder?”

He arched a brow at me, and I pouted. His gaze dipped to my mouth, and his pupils flickered.

“Princess,” he said without looking away. “Mom would kill me if I tried any of the other three. But we both know I’m not carrying you in.” He offered me his arm.

I rolled my eyes and slipped my hand around his impressively firm forearm, letting him guide me up the stairs.

Inside, people mingled in the sectioned-off main lobby where tables had been set up with appetizers and drinks. The body count was high enough to necessitate my hold on Bennett. It kept him unavailable to other potential companions and prevented us from being separated.

Mom and Dad stood off to the side, chatting with another couple. I spotted Grandma sitting at a table. But Aiden and Karter were nowhere to be seen.

“Wrenly,” Mom said, weaving her way to us. “Welcome home, my sweet girl.”

I released Bennett long enough to let Mom hug me and then reclaimed his arm. Considering the long looks he was getting from around the room, I understood his need for protection.

“You really didn’t need to throw a party for me, Mom,” I said.

“Of course we did. We want everyone to know you’re ours.”

Not to welcome me home, but to claim me. Was I some kind of toy?

“Trust me, everyone is well aware of what you’ve done for me over the years.”

Mom frowned, and I smiled to take the sting out of my comment.

“I’m a person, not a possession you need to claim, Mom. I know you love me, and that’s enough. Now, who do you want me to meet?”

“Meet?”

“Isn’t that the point of this? You’re trying to set me up with some guy?”

Mom’s surprised gaze flicked to Bennett, and I suddenly understood. It wasn’t me who needed to meet someone. It was him. My party was just an excuse to get Bennett to mingle with the single pack-females. I wanted to smack my forehead for not seeing it sooner.

He was going to owe me big after this.

“Before Bennett takes me around the room to mingle, why don’t we start with a drink?” I said to smoothly transition from my question to appeasing Mom without throwing Bennett under the bus.

I looked up at Bennett. “I could go for a glass of wine. What about you?”

“One glass,” Mom said firmly before he nodded.

Legal age wasn’t strictly enforced at these kinds of things, thankfully.

“Have fun.” She kissed my cheek, and he led me toward the temporary bar.

While he asked for a glass of something that sounded French, I looked around the room.

A few familiar faces blended in with the sea of unfamiliar ones.

Storm and her crew were off to one side, talking and laughing.

They all looked like they belonged at the party, with perfectly styled and accessorized hair, makeup, and dresses. Not an underwear line in sight.

“Are there any friends you’d like to talk to?” Bennett asked as he handed me my glass.

I took a sip to distract my face from subtitling my thoughts.

Did he seriously think I had any friends here? I’d been gone for seven years. And before that, only Aiden and Karter had ever hung out with me. Elementary school with the pack girls had been a brutal game of “make Wrenly cry.”

“Why don’t we check out the art first?” I asked instead of giving any direct answer.

I held my glass in one hand and his arm in the other and let him lead me to the first sculpture. Neither of us talked as we looked at it. I wondered if he was counting down the seconds like I was.

“Bennett,” a woman said from behind us. “If you needed a companion for tonight, you should have called me.”

I glanced at the brunette with startlingly silver eyes, saw the challenge in them, and turned us to face her.

“Your dress is stunning,” I said. “I’m sorry I stole Bennett tonight. I’m sure he’ll think of you next time, though.”

Her gaze flicked to me, assessing. I kept my neutral smile firmly in place.

“There won’t be a next time,” Bennett said.

I saw the desperation flicker across the woman’s face. She was closer to Bennett’s age than I was, and I’d bet she’d been holding out hope that he’d pick her as a mate during a pack run.

“I’m Wrenly, Bennett’s sister,” I said, holding out my hand to her.

“You’re not my sister,” Bennett said before the woman could decide to take it.

His words didn’t hurt me. Not anymore. It wasn’t the first time he’d said that, and it wouldn’t be the last. But the label seemed to appease the woman because she took my hand in hers.

“I’m Mosslyn. It’s nice to meet you, Wrenly. We’ll need to stay in touch.”

I nodded and watched her walk off, knowing damn well the only reason she would contact me was to try to worm her way into Bennett’s graces. Unfortunately for her, I was the wrong person for that.

“Ready to move to the next piece?” I asked.

For the next thirty-five minutes, we repeated the process. Women approached. I politely shielded and then softened any cold rejection Bennett uttered.

And I drank all my wine.

Feeling only slightly buzzed, I glanced longingly at the server weaving through the room.

“Don’t even think about it,” Bennett said.

“Can I think about a two-minute bathroom break, or is that against the terms of our agreement?”

He actually looked like he was debating it.

I wanted to threaten to pee on his shoes, but there were too many people with much better hearing than I had, and I didn’t want to embarrass Mom or Dad.

“Two minutes,” he said.

“Aye-aye, Captain.” I gave him a small salute and made a beeline for the bathroom. When I exited, a server happened to be by the door with one flute left on his tray.

“Perfect timing.” I snagged the flute, downed the contents in a few large gulps, and set it back on his tray.