Jess looked up as a plume of smoke hit her dead in the face. Bitch.

“Still?” Jess asked around several coughs.

“Everyone thinks the Smith males are all the same, but they’re not.” Miss Janie leaned back against the brick wall of the hotel. “Each of my boys is different. And the same with Bubba and his brothers.”

There went that sorta-smile again. “But even the slowest movin’ wolf don’t wanna hunt some prey that’s just sittin’ there starin’ at him. Waitin’ for him to notice her. Sure, he’ll eat it. But it won’t be half as satisfying as the one he has to chase over miles of untouched land, until he runs her down.”

Jess blinked. “All right then.”

“I can tell ya what my boy’s planning ’cause I do know him so well.” She took another long drag on her cigarette, knowing she had a rapt audience. “You see he’ll wanna do it right. This is Jessie Ann we’re talking about after all. Sweet little innocent with her big dumb dog eyes, just beggin’ for someone to scratch her belly.”

“Hey.”

“His biggest worry will be scaring you off. He never wants to see regret in those big brown eyes. That’s probably why he’s taking so long. Fighting his instincts. Fighting his own needs. Maybe he even thought about courtin’ you. Like that’ll go down well with the family. But it won’t matter ’cause it’s you. But to get this movin’, he’ll suck up enough until you accept his apology, and then today, tomorrow... next year... when he thinks the time is right, he’ll take you to a real nice hotel. Some place he can’t afford, but he’ll put it on his card. He’ll make sure there are clean sheets and champagne. Flowers, if you’ve a mind for that. Or chocolates, if that’s more your style. He’ll take ya nice and sweet on those clean sheets. And that’ll be your life for the next forty or fifty years. Nice and sweet and oh-so-clean.”

If I set myself on fire... would she stop talking?

Besides, Jess already knew this. She’d known this from the beginning.

“I don’t know you all that well, but I do know dogs. And dogs like it rough and tumble just like the wolves, unless you’re one of those prissy little pillow dogs. If that’s the case, maybe he’ll put some bows in your hair and give you a pink studded collar.” She laughed at her own joke and didn’t seem to mind that Jess didn’t.

“Look at this.” Miss Janie finally said, tugging her down jacket off her shoulder and pulling her thick pink cableknit sweater aside, revealing an age-old wound. Flesh that had been torn and ripped, more than once based on the healed-over scars on top of scars. “That first time, when he made me his, bastard nearly tore my shoulder out. Best night of my life, though. And we’ve repeated thatnight—often.”

She dropped the remains of her cigarette—no more than a stub now—at her feet. “Mind if I give you a little advice, suga?”

“I’m relatively certain I could cut your throat and you still wouldn’t stop talking.”

The older woman threw back her head and laughed. A rich, deep, somewhat frightening sound. “You’re probably very right about that. Bubba always said nothing he loves and hates more about me than my directness. But I promise. Last bit and then I’m done.”

Shrugging, Jess knew she had to let the female finish. No matter what happened between Bubba Smith and his sons in the eternal Smith fight for dominance, Jess didn’t see Miss Janie giving over her mantle of power to another female anytime soon.

“Make him chase you down, suga. Make him hunt for you.” Miss Janie stepped toward her until they were barely a few inches apart and whispered, “Because we both know... you are just achin’ to be caught.”

Jess slowly looked up at the woman Smitty endearingly called “Momma.” They didn’t say another word to each other. They didn’t have to.

The automatic hotel doors slid open and four older She-wolves walked out.

“Janie Mae,” one of them called out, “I thought we were goin’ shoppin’.”

“Oh, we are. I’ve got Bubba’s credit card and miles of jewelry stores to explore before the night falls.”

“He’ll be mad,” one of the females reminded her with a smile, “when he finds out you spent money.”

“Guess he’ll just have to punish me then, won’t he.”

I could make a run for it. I might be able to lose them in the city traffic.

Miss Janie pointed at Jess. “Y’all, you remember little Jessie Ann Ward, don’t ya?”

The women stood around her now and Jess, at her cool five-nine, felt surrounded by giants.

“Of course!”

“How are you, darlin’?”

“Isn’t she just the prettiest little thing?”

Jess smiled and nodded and tried to wish them all away. Miss Janie must have seen it in her eyes because she suddenly walked toward the corner. “Come on, y’all.”

“They say a snowstorm’s comin’, Janie Mae,” one of them informed her.

“Then we better get a move on. I’m thinkin’ there’s a diamond necklace with my name on it.”

Miss Janie stopped at the corner and looked at Jess. She smiled. A big one and real. Almost warm. “Don’t forget what we talked about, suga. I won’t say being with a Smith is easy—” the older She-wolves snorted and laughed at her statement—“but it’ll be the best ride you ever have.”