Dana Bell: Sweet Dreams

In the meantime, she needed clothes, makeup and something to hold back her mane of hair.

She stepped into her tiny kitchenette and felt her heart melt. There on her counter was an eight-piece box of Godiva truffles with a note attached: Think of me while you enjoy your treat.

She had to swallow the lump in her throat as she picked up the note. Damn, Emma, you go, girl. The only way Simon could have known about her near obsession with Godiva truffles was if Emma told him.

She popped one of the delicate confections into her mouth and moaned. That is so good. She picked up the box with a greedy grin. And nobody is getting any of this but me. If Emma knew Simon had picked her up a box of Godiva chocolate anything, she’d try and wheedle a piece out of her, but no way was Becky sharing. Just call me the Godiva Grinch. She snickered and put the box in her bedroom closet for safekeeping while she was at work.

Of course, she brought it back down and popped another piece in her mouth before forcing herself to put the box back. She changed clothes quickly, ran a brush through her hair and decided not to bother with makeup today. She was already running late, and her hands were shaking. She was feeling a little off. Everything around her was starting to swirl. “Damn. Should have eaten more than the chocolates.” If Emma or Simon discovered that she’d gone to the doc about the dizzy spells she’d never hear the end of it, especially if they found out they occurred more frequently when she’d forgotten to eat. Sort of like this morning, when she’d dashed out of Simon’s house. She’d planned on stopping at a fast food place for breakfast, but the accident on Twelfth had slowed everything to a crawl and she hadn’t had the time. The last thing she needed was the two of them hovering over her while she waited for the test results to come in. It wasn’t like she even knew for sure what was wrong, and until she did? She wasn’t saying anything.

The dizzy spell was getting worse. Better have a quick bite before I head downstairs. She weaved her way into the kitchen and grabbed an apple off the counter.

A pair of bright green eyes peeked out of the apple and blinked up at her sleepily.

Becky screamed.

Simon was so proud of his mate he could burst. Last night she’d acted like a true Beta, helping make decisions that would ultimately affect the entire Pride. He didn’t think she even realized she’d done it, it seemed so natural. And the fact that Emma and Becky already worked well together could only benefit the Pride as a whole, and Simon and Max’s interactions as well.

He shrugged into his blue T-shirt and grabbed his wallet off the dresser. He shoved it and his cell phone in his pocket and stepped into his great room. He had a lot of work to do today and was eager to get to it.

He was putting on his sneakers when his cell phone rang. He put on his Bluetooth headset and answered.

It was Max. “I’ve contacted Sheri. It seems you were right. Her problem hasn’t gone completely away.”

“Shit.” Simon finished tying his sneakers.

“Yeah. Parker found her again.”

Simon stood with a sigh and grabbed his car keys. “So when does she arrive?”

Max snorted. “You know me so well.”

He shrugged into his coat and headed out the door. “Dude. To quote Becky, ‘Ew’. You make it sound like we’re fucking married or something.” Simon locked his door, grinning as Max made kissy noises over the phone. In the background he could hear Emma giggling. “Sorry, I’m just not into cocktail wieners.”

“Asshole.” Max laughed.

Simon climbed into his Ram and started it up, eager to get to his studio. “So?”

“She’s already here.”

“Cool.”

“I want you and Becky to take her to dinner. Emma and I would do it, but we’ve got a meeting with the caterer after work.”

“You popped the question?”

“Are you kidding me? She left post-it notes all over my office. What her favorite color is, what type of wedding ring she wants, even a build-your-own-engagement-ring URL with a detailed description of what to buy. She put a catering menu up as the backdrop on the computer, and wedding dress pictures as the screensaver. It was sheer self defense.”

Simon put his head down on his steering wheel and howled in laughter. He could see the Little General Post-it bombing Max’s office.

“And that was what she did at work! ”

Simon couldn’t breathe, he was laughing so hard.

“Go ahead, laugh. You should have heard Adrian when he got a look at it.” Simon could practically hear Max roll his eyes. “She forgot Adrian and I share an office. I’ve never seen a grown man run so fast in my life.” Max snickered. “I can’t wait until he finds his mate.”

“That should be fun.” Simon wiped away the laugh tears. “Oh, man, I can’t wait for that.”

“Neither can Emma.”

“I’ll talk to Becky and make sure she’s up for dinner tonight. We’ll hold the formal intro Sunday?”

“My place; I’ll send out the e-mails, let the Pride know. Oh, and bring Becky over to our place for dinner Friday so I can formally acknowledge her, too. She should have changed by then.”

“Got it. Bye, Max.”

Simon pulled out of his driveway. He pushed the number for Wallflowers and listened to the phone ring.

“Hello?”

“Becky?” He frowned. Something in her tone of voice seemed off.

“It’s smiling at me.”

“What’s smiling at you, baby?” He stopped at a red light and listened to her panting.

“The apple.”

“What?”

“I think it’s mad because I wanted to eat it.”

Her whisper was full of shaky fear. “Becky, where are you?”

“Behind the counter in the store.”

“Where’s the, um, apple?”

“In my kitchen. I can hear it hopping around up there.”

He was starting to get seriously worried. He sped through the intersection as soon as the light turned.

“I’m on my way, baby.”

“Okay. Simon?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“Tell it I’m sorry and I promise not to eat it if it will go away. Okay?”

The thread of tears in her voice scared him to death. His Becky hadn’t cried when the bitch-cat’s claws had been imbedded in her stomach, but now she was crying over an apple? Something was seriously wrong here. “Hang on, baby, I’m almost there.”

“Okay, Simon. Okay.”

“Keep talking to me, sweetheart.” Silence greeted him. “Becky?”

Nothing. Not a sound, not even a whisper.

He screeched to a halt in front of the store. Without bothering to switch the ignition off he ran inside, his heart pounding with fear.

“Becky! Where are you?”

Becky was slumped on the floor behind the counter, phone in hand. She wasn’t conscious.

“Hello?”

He turned at the hesitant, familiar voice in the doorway. “Belinda?”

“Simon? Is everything all right?” She stepped into Wallflowers. “Your truck is running and the front door was wide open…oh my God.”

He picked Becky up in his arms and carried her to the front door, surprised when Belinda stepped behind the counter and picked up the phone. “What are you doing?”

“Calling Halle General to let them know you’re on your way.”

“What?”

She was dialing as she spoke. “I’ll call Max’s and ask Emma to come as quick as she can. I’ll stay here until she gets here.” She looked up at him. He could clearly hear the ringing of the phone on the other end of the line. “Go!”

He took a deep breath. “Thanks.”

She nodded. “We’re Pride.” She turned back to the phone as Simon heard a voice on the other end say, “Halle General.”