Curvosity (2 page)

Chapter 3

“Oh God,” Lucy groaned, her
hands over her stomach. “I’m going to have to avoid Starbucks for a
week to balance all this crap I just ate.”

“You? I ate the extra
eggroll and finished off the ice cream. I’m going to have to be
drastic and only drink water with lemons for a week.”

“You tried that once,
remember? You were the bitch from hell for all of two hours before
you caved.”

“Well, it was nice in
theory.” The both stared at the array of empty containers in
horror.

“You know, I can always
picture myself a hundred pounds thinner and on Max’s arm, but I
can’t seem to unglue myself from the fridge to get there. Kinda
makes me think I’m not as into him as my body likes to tell me. If
I was, I would probably be doing a lot more to make it happen.” She
frowned.

“Don’t beat yourself up
sweetie. You know as well as I do that you can’t and won’t change
until you’re ready to. You have to be doing it for you, not for
Max. And until then, we’re gorgeous, curvaceous beauties who will
find men to love us just the way we are, not contingent on if we
lose a hundred pounds.”

“You know, you always say
that, but I’ve yet to see a man cross that threshold in the past
three years.” Gretta opened her mouth to argue, but Lucy cut her
off. “And Tom doesn’t count. He was just a creepy man with a
fetish.”

“Try a hot man with a
fetish,” Gretta smirked.

“Ok, so he was hot, but too
Dexter creepy for me.”

“So, what are our plans for
the weekend?”

“Besides wallowing in
self-pity over the fact that I can’t be supermodel
thin?”

Gretta cut her eyes at Lucy.
“You want to eat like a mouse just to squeeze into jeans that only
a child should be able to fit into?”

“I want the reward without
the hard work.”

“Don’t we all, but life is
just a tad too cruel for that.”

“I know. And I know I sound
absolutely pathetic right now.”

“Try whiney and
unappreciative.”

“How am I
unappreciative?”

“I would kill to have the
curves you do. You’re a big girl, but you have it in all the right
places.”

“Try a little too much in my
middle,” Lucy scoffed.

“I have too much in the
middle. I have the spare tire syndrome. There isn’t a shirt or
dress out there that can hide my stomach nor a girdle made by man
that could suck me in enough for me to get a glimpse of the
somewhat toned legs I’ve been indulged with. I’d much rather have
it more evenly distributed like yours. Not to mention I’d kill to
see a bra bigger than a C-cup.”

“It’s not really that bad
Gretta. You always dress super cute for your shape, not to mention
your pixie cut is beyond Alice adorable.” She shrugged
indifferently. “Listen to us, complaining like two old maids. So we
don’t have golden figures, at least we dress what we have
fashionably. We also certainly don’t starve to death like those in
third world countries. We have a gorgeous downtown loft-style
apartment Dwell magazine would kill to photograph.”

“Point made. So what are we
doing?”

“How about a little retail
therapy before the party tomorrow night?”

“Oh yea. I completely forgot
about your company Christmas party.”

“Yea. I’m feeling a bit
spunky too. Maybe I’ll take a chance with a daring LBD. If I can’t
garner Maxwell Banks’ attention, at least I can try to nab some
other hot stud, even if just for tomorrow night.”

“I heard his brother Donte
likes bigger girls. Clarice saw him out with one a couple weeks
ago,” Gretta threw out energetically.

“I don’t know if I could
stand to watch Max at home with all the skinny Minnies.” Lucy
scrunched her face, trying not to picture it even as she said
it.

“Ok, so we’ll skip the whole
Banks family, but they’re bound to invite a few guests. They did
the last two years anyways. There is absolutely hope for us babes,”
Gretta beamed.

“I’m so glad you’re my
bestie.”

“That’s only because we can
share clothes, shoes and bags.”

“That’s just the icing on
the cake,” Lucy smiled. “Let’s clean this stuff up and scour the
websites so we know which stores to hit up tomorrow.”

“Should I text Manny for a
hair appointment?”

“And Sue for a mani, pedi
and wax.”

“Wow, someone’s serious
about this.”

“Damn straight.”

Chapter 4

“Which girl did you decide
on tonight?” Cindy asked her brother pointedly, a scowl on her
face.

Max gave her a stern look;
he wasn’t amused. His mother and sister had been digging into him
all afternoon. It was no secret, thanks to his brother’s big mouth,
that he’d scented his mate long ago, but everyone refused to
respect his choice in avoiding her.

“Oh stop it Max. You know we
only want what’s best for you. Why you insist on torturing yourself
with all those other girls is beyond me. So she’s not one of us;
your wolf certainly doesn’t seem to mind,” his mother fussed,
straightening his tie. He jerked away from her, frustrated and done
with the conversation.

“No one. I’m not taking
anyone to the party tonight,” he stated. Cindy gasped dramatically
while his mother smiled approvingly. He hated seeing her so happy
over that choice; it only reminded him of how unhappy she’d been
with his lifestyle choices of late.

“Well, I think it’s for the
best honey. You know you really ought to give this girl a chance.
It’s unfair to both of you. If you’re feeling this way, she has to
be feeling it in some way too. That’s how it always works with us,
regardless of your blood line.” His mother fluffed the pillows on
his couch. She and Cindy had taken it upon themselves to inject a
little female elegance into his masculine bachelor pad. They said
it would make the pack women feel more comfortable when he had
gatherings here, but he knew it was about more than that. While he
didn’t buck on that, he absolutely couldn’t concede to a date with
Lucy. It was much too risky. He couldn’t trust himself to behave.
As it was he was on the edge, a centimeter from pouncing her in his
office with his entire staff nearby, which would be disastrous if
discovered.

“You ready to go guys and
gals?” Donte asked, walking in as if he hadn’t been listening
outside his brother’s front door. Max took a calming breath, before
nodding once. Donte had always pushed the limit on everything,
especially Max’s patience, but he was a damn good Beta. Everyone in
the pack loved him, especially the women. He was five years younger
than Max though so everyone focused on him settling down instead of
his brother.

“Looking sharp bro. What
part of town does your date live so I can tell the
driver?”

“He’s not taking anyone,”
Cindy offered, too much amusement in her voice for Max’s
comfort.

“Let’s go,” he clipped,
brushing past his brother towards the limo outside.

Donte laughed. “This ought
to be interesting.”

“Oh leave your poor brother
alone,” his mother scolded, though the firmness wasn’t
there.

Chapter 5

“I need a shot of liquid
courage ASAP,” Lucy said, yanking down the hem of her dress before
pulling the plunging neckline together at her breasts. She couldn’t
believe she let Gretta talk her into buying the dress. Sure it was
flattering; the A-line style whittled her upper waist while
skimming over her hips and down to the top of her knee. She
couldn’t help but feel self-conscious of her thunder thighs though
as the dress rode up in the rear thanks to her large asset while
her heavy breasts weighed down the top half despite her bra beneath
helping bear her load.

“Stop,” Gretta fussed. “You
look great. If I swung that way, even I’d do you
tonight.”

“Thanks. You look great
too,” Lucy smiled, grabbing two glasses of champagne off the trey
as the cute, young blonde waiter passed by her. She handed one to
Gretta, reassessing her dress. Gretta had gone with a sparkling,
navy blue dress several inches shorter than Lucy’s. It hugged her
all around, gathering in one spot just below the center of her
chest, a flowing tail dangling perfectly in the front to disguise
her pudgy stomach.

“Thanks. Now let’s get down
to business. There’s an awful lot of eye candy to sort through
tonight. Let’s shuffle around the room and take it all
in.”

***

Max nearly choked on his
drink, which he inadvertently downed at the sight of Lucy. His eyes
widened as he traveled the length of her, his inner wolf stirring
within. He gripped his glass, unaware of the strength he was
exuding not to whisk her into his arms and escape with her until
the glass shattered within his palm, cutting him.

All the wolves in the room
turned to their Alpha. They were acutely aware of him and his
needs. It was his job to take care of them as much as it was their
job to care for him. He knew their eyes were following his to
beautiful Lucy, laughing with her best friend as they grabbed a
couple glasses of champagne.

Donte slapped his hand on
his brother’s shoulder. “I’ll take her friend home if you want to
make your move,” he smiled knowingly.

Max rolled his shoulders,
dismissing his brother as he took a calming breath. The problem? He
couldn’t calm down. He’d never seen Lucy be so daring in her
attire, be so bold in her seduction of him. Even her perfectly
pedicured red nails were alluring, peeping out of her four-inch
black heels. His heart thudded loudly in his head; he couldn’t even
focus on his mother cleaning his hand or the server quickly
discarding the broken glass. He couldn’t take his eyes off of
her.

He watched the rise and fall
of her chest as she breathed; he longed to breathe her in, to run
his hands through her silky strands, to kiss the divot between her
breasts; boobs he wanted to man-handle.

“Son!” His mother’s sharp
whisper drew him from his agonizing assessment. “Either go to her
or get yourself under control. Your eyes are starting to darken and
glow.”

“Shit,” he bit out, averting
his gaze to the ugly, hotel carpet. This wasn’t good; he couldn’t
lose control in front of his entire staff and pack like
this.

“Told you you wouldn’t be
able to hold off forever,” Donte chuckled. He narrowed his eyes at
his brother, growling a low warning. That only sent him further
into a fit of laughter.

“I’m going for a walk,” he
stated, storming off. He had almost walked out, but abruptly
stopped at the subject of Lucy and Gretta’s
conversation.

“The mailroom boy is cute,”
Gretta said, a bit of amusement in her tone.

“Egh. If I’m going to take a
man home tonight, I want someone with more experience than a few
frat orgies. There’s not one woman alive who’s left one of those
satisfied,” Lucy replied.

Every muscle in Max’s
already tense body nearly surrendered to the shift. Over his dead
body would she be with another man tonight. His body spun around of
its own accord. That was it. She’d broken his long prided
control.

He marched straight up to
her, the shock on her face priceless as he glared down at her. She
visibly swallowed as he yanked the glass of champagne from her
shaking hand, passing it to her friend before he pulled her soft
body against his hard, capturing her lips with a brutal,
long-over-do kiss that was intense enough to have caused the Wall
of China to crumble.

Chapter 6

Lucy’s heart threatened to
break through her chest. Every part of her was aware of him; aware
of his strong hands gripping her stuffing with enthusiasm. Her mind
reeled as she reveled in the way his lips, both soft and hard,
pressed firmly to hers; his tongue dipping to taste her, leaving
his heady flavor behind. She wanted to be pinched, but then she
would be woken from her dream. Certainly this was a dream. Her
crush couldn’t really be attracted her.

Max finally pulled back. His
eyes locked on hers and remained there, even as everyone clapped
and cheered around them. She glanced around, blushing profusely.
She’d been craving this moment since the second she laid eyes on
Max two years ago, but never imagined it in front of an audience, a
crowd of Hollywood look-alikes that made her look like a Ford
Bronco in a room of sleek Mini Coopers.

Her skin was on fire as
hands continued their caress. Lucy looked at her friend, who was
grinning so wide she was surprised she didn’t have Asian eyes.
Gretta looked ready to squeal as she broke out into the chicken
dance.

“Come with me,” Max ordered
rather than asked.

Lucy nodded, not trusting
herself to speak. She was a jittery ball of anxious nerves that
would certainly make herself look like a bigger bumbling fool than
she already felt like.

“Hello snookums,” Donte
flirted with Gretta, subtly assuring Lucy that he’d see her friend
home.

***

Max led Lucy out of the
ballroom, ignoring the smug looks from his pack mates. He’d deal
with whatever heat they gave him after he finally claimed his mate.
He tried to reign himself in. He was a testosterone bomb ready to
go off at any second. His wolf was damn near purring at the thought
of her beneath him; which was a damn shame considering dogs weren’t
supposed to purr.