Free Leader of the Pack by Leighann Phoenix Page B

left me out of this court business.”
    She looked away from him. Her arms dropped and she stepped away. Suddenly he wished he hadn’t asked. “I didn’t think you should get involved.”
    “I was the one who beat the guy up. You shouldn’t have taken the fall for that,” he said with concern.
    “I was certainly part of it, the cause of it, and I did hit him before that,” Aislinn was sounding indignant and Cullen could see the argumentative side of her emerging. He knew if that happened there was no way that he’d be able to resurrect this conversation.
    “You’re right. You were part of it. But so was I. I could have helped you. I would have helped you.” He thought about it a moment. “Maybe we can get it overturned.”
    “No, I just want to pay it and have it all go away,” she said sadly and the tears started again.
    He couldn’t handle that. “What if I managed to make it go away without you having to be involved anymore?”
    She looked at him uncertainly.
    “Money can do a great deal,” he said trying to sound as off-hand as he could. “Let me help you.”
    “I still don’t understand why you want to,” she said shaking her head. “I mean that night, this job, now you want to make this court case disappear.”
    “Can’t you just let me? Do I have to explain it? Besides, I really didn’t need to beat him up as badly as I did. I was pissed and drunk.”
    She nodded and walked over to him again. He pulled her the last couple steps to himself and held her again. Nothing had ever felt so right to him. He nuzzled into her hair and took in her scent, still wondering at the amazing way she smelled to him. “What are you,” he whispered into her hair, entranced.
    “I could ask the same of you,” she responded just as softly. “What does it matter? Who and what are completely separate from intention. Whenever I look into your eyes I feel safe.”
    Cullen held her tighter, stroking her hair and breathing in her scent. “I’ll take care of it. Just don’t do anything until I tell you. Okay?” He finally pushed her away far enough that he could look into her face. She nodded. He let the air in his chest out, not even realizing that he had been holding his breath. “Now, Liam needs his office back, I want dinner, and you’re going to eat with me.”
    “I can’t. I have to get to work. I was already late,” she said, sounding upset again.
    “You can’t wait on tables in this kind of mood. You won’t make any tips,” he smiled. “You’ll eat with me and then you can get to work. You’ll feel better by then. Besides, I’m in charge around here. If I want my waitress to sit and eat with me,” he shrugged and smiled wider trying to get her to smile back, “then I get to have her sit and eat with me.”
    Aislinn was about to argue some more, but she didn’t have the energy to. He took her by the hand and led her out to his table, only realizing that he’d left the records sitting there when he saw them spread about the table. This woman is going to be the death of me, he thought. He had never been so easily distracted by anything before. He pushed the records aside and motioned for her to sit.
    Rissa was immediately over to the table and taking their order. “And while you’re at it you can tell Meghan that Liam can have his office back and I ordered Aislinn to have dinner with me. She’ll be back to work as soon as I’m done with her,” he smiled over at Aislinn as he said it and was rewarded with an amused grin as she shook her head at him.
    “You realize,” Aislinn said as Rissa headed off to get their order in, “that the entire kitchen is going to be gossiping about this for a week?”
    Kitchen, nothing, the entire pack it going to have a fit with this one, he thought. Cullen smiled deviously. “Just think of how much fun the rumors would be if they caught us in the office a few minutes ago?”
    Aislinn blushed a bit. “You’re a dangerous man I think,” she said a bit