An American Werewolf in Hoboken (16 page)

He could only hope this Fluffy charade wasn’t going to have to go on much longer. One more time he had to squeeze his ass into his crate, and he was going to explode.

This was the weekend he was going to tell her. Good, bad or indifferent, he had to before this went any further.

JC grabbed him around the neck and squeezed him when Adele took his leash, raining kisses on top of his head. “I love you, sweetie. Please, please be good. I’ll see you soon—promise,” she sniffed, squeezing him one last time before rising with tears in her eyes to head out to her car.

Adele’s bright blue eyes crinkled upward when she ruffled the hair on his head. “C’mon, Fluffy. Let’s go see your room!”

As he trotted beside her, behaving like JC warned him he should, all he could think was,
it’s this weekend or nothing
.

And he just wouldn’t settle for nothing.

* * *

“Oh-em-gee, is this my BFF? Like for real?” Viv cooed into the phone.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry, but it’s been so busy lately.”

“Listen, honey, if it were me, and I had a man who looked like that, and he made the kind of whoopee you’ve talked about, you’d never see me again.”

JC threw her head back and laughed, leaning against her car while waiting for Max to pick her up. “I support that statement.”

“Sooo, meeting Max’s mother and his family. Are you nervous?”

“A little. It’s kind of a big thing. And it isn’t happening by accident this time.”

Viv snorted. “You mean like when that creeper Anson’s mother just happened to drop by while you were cooking him a romantic dinner in a thong and some fishnets?”

Another of her failed relationships. Unlike with Max, she’d waited two months before she’d finally decided she was ready to make love with Anson. So she’d snuck over to his house to make him a surprise dinner, only to have his mother show up to check on him. “God, that was horrible.”

“Well, it was especially horrible because she lives right downstairs from him in the basement. Who lets their mother live in the basement, J? Freaks. That’s who. But forget that. Now there’s Max.”

She sighed happily, dropping down on the stoop. Just thinking about him made her warm all over. “Yeah. Now there’s Max.”

“Are you still having doubts? Fears?”

She pulled her knit hat down over her ears to block the chill. “Not quite the magnitude I was after last week.”

“You know what I think, J?”

“What do you think, Viv?”

“I think sometimes, when the right person comes along, and it happens as fast as it did with you and Max, you get what you asked for. Maybe not in the way you asked for it, but you get it, and you have to take it the way it comes—even if the way is fast and hard.”

“It knocked the wind right out of me.”

“I know, sweetie. But what a great way to have the wind knocked out of you.”

She chewed the inside of her lip. “I still can’t help but feel—”

“Nope! No more analyzing it. No more pulling it apart. Just go with it. Just let it be what it is. You’re happy. You’re falling in love. That can’t be anything but wonderful.”

She twisted a strand of hair around her finger. “But he’s so perfect.”

“Perfect for
you
, maybe. But who’s to say he’s perfect for anyone else? Maybe he has some bad habits other people couldn’t tolerate. That’s what makes some people right for each other and other people totally wrong. You can put up with the shit no one else can.”

“He doesn’t have any bad habits, Viv. Not one.”

Not one. That still troubled her. She hadn’t known him long enough to find any in this honeymoon phase of their relationship.

“None that you recognize as bad. Didn’t you say he liked to watch marathons of
Pawn Stars
?”

JC smiled into the phone. “He does.”

“Well, there you have it—it makes him perfect for you, because I’d kill him ten minutes in, guaranteed. We’d be so over, he’d never forget over.”

She laughed, playing with the fringe on her scarf. “I see your point.”

“Good. So do me a favor—just go be with your man. You’re not getting married. You’re meeting his mother, his family. Have fun. Have sex. Have a lot of sex.”

Max pulled up just then, waving at her as he got out of the car. “Max is here. I have to go, Viv, but I promise I’ll call you when we get back.”

“Have the best time ever out there in the sticks, J. I love you. Watch out for bears!” She hung up, her laughter ringing in JC’s ears.

“Hey, pretty lady. You waitin’ here for me?” Max asked, scooping her up in a hug.

JC buried her face in his neck, inhaling his cologne, her heart skipping a beat when he pressed a kiss to her lips. “I was waiting for a really hot guy, but I guess you’ll do.”

“And who is this hot guy? Am I going to have to duel at dawn over you?”

“You’d duel at dawn for me?” She batted her eyelashes at him.

“I’d
do
you at dawn,” he teased, grinning that grin she loved so much.

“Oh really, funny man?”

Running a finger down her nose, he laughed. “Nah. I’d do you anytime of the day.”

She nuzzled his cheek, loving the dark stubble on his jaw. “It’s always sex, sex, sex with you, Max Adams. There are other things besides sex.”

He nodded his head. “True that. There’s
Pawn Stars
.”

And that revelation didn’t bother her a bit. Maybe there was merit to what Viv said.

He set her on the curb and grabbed her bag. “So you ready to meet the family?”

Mostly. She was mostly ready. Squaring her shoulders, she headed for her side of the car. “Ready.”

* * *

The ride to Max’s family’s house was beautiful. As the city diminished to a distant dot behind them, JC found she loved the multitude of trees, some almost bare from the chill of fall. Max held her hand in his lap as he drove and they stopped for lunch at an adorable bed and breakfast with the yummiest red wine she’d ever had.

When they arrived in Cedar Glen, JC couldn’t believe she’d lived all her life in New Jersey and never once been this far out.

It was stunning. Against a backdrop of thick pines, Cedar Glen was nestled deep in a valley of changing fall colors. Farms surrounded the valley, dotting the horizon with red barns. The town itself was adorable, sidewalks in cobbled stone, quaint shops with striped awnings, and baskets and baskets of colorful mums everywhere. No huge chains to be found here, just old-fashioned country living.

As they pulled into the long driveway of his mother’s farmhouse and parked next to an old pickup truck, JC grew nervous.

Max ran a finger down her cheek and leaned over to peck her on the lips. “Are you nervous, Miss Jensen?”

“I don’t know if ‘nervous’ is the word.”

“Totally freaked out?”

She shot a finger in the air. “Boom.”

“My mom can’t wait to meet you, and she’s just as nervous.”

If only he understood how significant this was for her. She’d never met a boyfriend’s parents before—on purpose. She’d never wanted to, anyway. But she did want to meet Max’s family. This was another step. Another chip from the brick wall around her carefully preserved heart falling away.

“Hey,” Max said, lifting her chin. “They’re going to love you. How could they not? I picked you.”

She giggled, because that’s what Max did to her, made her feel giggly. “I’m going to ask you a very needy question here. You can choose not to answer.”

“Yes, I brought condoms.”

“Oh, good. Are they tucked away with your
Pawn Stars
DVDs?”

“How did you know? It’s like you’re in my head or something. Get out.”

Grabbing the collar of his jacket, she pulled him close. “I’m being serious.”

He scoffed. “Me too. It’s
Pawn Stars
. What about that isn’t serious?”

“Max…”

“Okay, okay. Be needy and inquisitive.”

“Have you ever brought anyone home to meet your mother before?”

His eyes met hers, doing that darkening thing they did when he was serious. “No.”

Small bubbles of elation burst inside her, but she gave him a cool smile before kissing his lips. “Then let’s go meet your mother.”

Chapter Fourteen

The big oak double doors opened just as Max touched the handle and a woman who looked a great deal like Max threw her arms around his neck. “Oh, Max. I’ve missed you, honey!” She kissed Max’s cheeks, giving him one more squeeze before her eyes found JC. “And JC. It’s such a pleasure to finally meet you. Max has so many wonderful things to say about you, and he also said you were beautiful. He was right.”

JC smiled, instantly taken by her warmth and shocked by how youthful she appeared. She didn’t have Max’s harder features. They were soft, blurred more around the edges. Faith Adams was quite the hottie, and she didn’t look a day over forty. Which couldn’t be right. Unless she’d had Max when she was two.

“He’s told me a lot about you, too, Mrs. Adams. It’s nice to finally put a face to all the stories.”

Faith waved a finger in the air at JC and smiled again. “Please, just call me Faith.” Holding out her hand, one with skin so smooth you’d never know she had a son as old as Max, she said, “Come with me and I’ll make you some coffee. It’s freshly brewed.”

JC gave Max a quick glance before taking Faith’s hand and following her through the various rooms off the big entryway toward the scent of cinnamon and apples in the kitchen. She found herself drawn to the big section of windows by the kitchen table. It had a window seat with cushions and pillows in an array of colors, with an enormous fireplace on the opposing wall. She could curl up on those cushions and read all day long, given the opportunity.

Faith pointed to the kitchen table. Oval and scarred from use, it had a vase of fresh flowers and a perfectly round pie, still steaming. “Sit, please. I’ll get the coffee. Max, you go find your brother and let JC and I chat.”

Max gave his mom a squeeze on the shoulder, dropping a kiss on her cheek. “Play nice with the new girl.”

Faith put her hands on her slender hips and shook her dark head. “Stop with the Nazi-Mom talk. You’ll scare JC away. I already promised I’d keep all talk of virgins and sacrifices to myself until the time was right. Now go—find Derrick.”

JC muffled a laugh with her hand. It was evident where Max’s sense of humor came from.

Max pulled her to him, his arm circling her waist. “You gonna be okay with Nazi-Mom?”

“They don’t call me Satan’s daughter for nothin’.”

She heard Faith chuckle just before a blur of fuzz beyond the big set of windows behind Max caught her eye. Her mouth dropped open when she peered around him.

It was a dog.

An enormous dog, circling near the edge of the drive, ran back up to the grassy area just under the window, moving with the speed of lightning. He looked just like Fluffy, maybe a shade or two darker.

And then there was
another
one who looked just like Fluffy…

Hold on. Wasn’t Max’s mother allergic to dogs? “Where’d the dogs come from?” she asked, finding the resemblance uncanny. “They look just like my Fluffy. You never told me about them. I thought you said your mother was allergic to dogs?”

There was a loud sneeze from behind them. “I am,” Faith said, sneezing again into a dishtowel. “They’re Derrick’s um, dogs. He lives next door, but he brings them over with him all the time. It’s a good walk for them. Good exercise. They need exercise. They eat a lot. It’s good to work it off. As long as he leaves them outside, I’m usually okay. But sometimes…”

Max sighed. “Sometimes Derrick lets them run wild without watching out for them. I’d better go see what he’s up to.”

“Yes!” Faith said. “Go make sure they don’t get out onto the road. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to one of them.”

Now she was curious. “Do you know what breed they are?” It would certainly answer some questions about Fluffy’s origins.

He squeezed JC’s hand, turning to look out the window with a frown. “Just mutts. Just like the Fluffanator. I’m going to go find Derrick and see what’s up with him, okay?”

She nodded, straining her eyes to get a glimpse of the dogs, but they were gone. “You go and let your mother and I get to know one another.”

He gave her a quick kiss. “Don’t eat all that pie at once.”

As Faith handed her a cup of coffee, she thought about how much Fluffy would like it here. A place to run to his heart’s content, acres and acres with big trees and plenty of fresh air.

* * *

Max cut across his mother’s yard, pushing his way through the tall arborvitaes separating the two properties. Derrick’s house, a one-story ranch he’d built himself, sat farther back than their mother’s, flanked by towering pines and surrounded by dense foliage.

Derrick sat on his wide porch steps, sipping on a beer, rising when he caught sight of Max.

Max slapped Derrick on the back and smiled. “Good to see you, buddy.”

Derrick pulled him in for a shoulder bump. “You too, man. Glad to have you home.”

Max nodded and took a deep breath of the clean, crisp fall air. “Great to be home. Not a fan of Hoboken.” He wasn’t a city dweller—being in Hoboken had cleared any doubt about that right up for him.

“Who’d have thought you’d miss this bunch, huh?” Derrick hitched his jaw at several of their pack members freely running in full shift in broad daylight.

You could do that in Cedar Glen, because everyone here was a werewolf, or some type of supernatural entity turned out by their own.

Discovered in the early nineteen hundreds by his grandfather, the town had been built up from nothing after the legendary shunning—the one that still hung over their heads like a dark cloud to this day.

They’d created Cedar Glen for weres who’d been experimented on by humans; those who, as a result of those horrific experiments, bore werepups with disease and deformity. His family had built Cedar Glen as a refuge when their own kind had callously turned the ailing away, declaring them eternally shunned.