Rowena was convinced she was experiencing some sort of book-binge karma. She was in the front passenger seat of Cross Howler's G-Wagon while he followed her cousin Lorena to her family's house for a Flores barbecue. A barbecue her family hadn't invited her to.

"Yup, this is definitely some sort of book-binge karma," Rowena muttered to herself.

"Did you just say book-binge karma?" Cross asked, chuckling. "Please explain what that is."

Rowena crossed her arms. She strongly believed when you read books instead of doing actual things that needed to get done like cleaning your house, paying bills, or going to work...you would suffer book-binge karma. The Literary Gods would curse you to live out some of the craziest tropes in the books you read. What else could explain her being cheated on and then being accused of witchcraft by a pack of local werewolf shifters? This of course was followed by her being kidnapped, almost being killed, going to jail, and now being forced to spend time with her crazy family who hadn't even bothered to invite her to a family barbecue. It was definitely a case of book-binge karma.

Rowena scowled at the alpha shifter. "Why are you laughing like I'm about to say something stupid?"

"I don't think that," Cross said, swallowing a smile. "I've just learned to enjoy whatever comes out of your mouth because it usually surprises me."

Rowena pursed her lips as if she were thinking about what he said. "So, if vomit came out of my mouth, you'd enjoy it? That's kind of gross."

A bark of laughter escaped him and he pointed a finger at her. "See? That's exactly what I mean. I never know what to expect. You've been the most entertainment I've had in years."

"That's only because you haven't seen my family in action," Rowena sighed. "Are you sure you don't want to turn around? We can pretend we lost Lorena and just keep on driving."

He smirked and shook his head. "You know where her family lives. Truthfully, I don't have to follow her there. You could just give me directions."

"I could also just jump out of this ridiculously expensive vehicle and make a run for it."

"Rowena," he said her name as if he were chastising her.

"Fine!" She threw her hands in the air. "We'll say we got abducted by aliens. No, wait... Tía Josephine will believe that. Last year the cops arrested her for trying to camp at Area 51. We'll say I got arrested again. They'll totally buy that."

Cross shook his head. "Rowena, we're going to this barbecue."

"I wasn't even invited!" Her voice had officially taken on a whining tone. "Besides, you don't know what they're like. The fact that you told Lorena I was your consort, which was not cool or okay by the way, is going to make things worse. The only reason I didn't make a big deal about it at the police station is that no one knows what that means."

"True," he said pensively. "I had to tell her you were my girlfriend."

"Which made things worse, Cross. Short of telling them you knocked me up before marrying me, it was the worst thing you could say."

He coughed to cover his laughter. "Is your family really old-fashioned? Why is my telling your cousin we're in a relationship the worst thing ever? Surely there are much worse things I could've said. What if I had told them I was a wolf-shifter?"

She scoffed at that. "As if you would do that. Also, if you did share that, my Tío Alejandro would totally believe you. He tells everyone he's a vampire."

Cross' eyes widened. "Is he?"

"Of course not! He's just really into Twilight."

"The books?"

Rowena nodded. "Twilight, Interview with a Vampire, and Dracula. Anything about bloodsuckers and he's a fan. His wife Trina left him after he started wearing a cape and telling strangers, 'I want to suck your blood' in a Romanian accent."

Cross started laughing.

"It's not funny, Cross. It's embarrassing."

He frowned. "Is it really?"

She sighed. "No, not really. Most of the time it makes me laugh because he's so much fun but there are a lot of people who don't understand him. They used to call him crazy. My parents think he needs to be admitted to some sort of psychiatric hospital."

"What do you think?" Cross asked.

She shrugged. "I think he should do what makes him happy even if it means he does draw attention in public."

"I'm glad you feel that way, Rowena. One of the reasons we have to keep our shifter identity a secret is because of what might happen if people found out the truth. We'd be judged harshly and probably treated differently. Your uncle sounds like he marches to the beat of his own drum."

"I guess everyone gets judged at different levels. I mean, my parents judge me all the time. Not that my shortcomings are anything to compare to your shifter status. That would get a much bigger reaction if people knew about it."

"People hate what they don't understand," Cross said softly.

"Tell me about it," she muttered. "As for my uncle--he doesn't go out much so it's great that this barbecue is a nighttime event. You'll get to meet him."

"I look forward to it. So, is you being my girlfriend really bad news? You'd think it would make things better for you. I'm a catch!"

"Uhhh...hellooo," she said, waving her hand in front of her face. "You really need to stop being conceited for a second and look at the bigger picture here. Lorena told them we are in a relationship. Do you know what that means?"

He shrugged.

"It means, my family is going to start asking the big questions."

His mouth curved up. "And what are the big questions? Are there small questions too?"

Rowena raised a brow. "How much money do you make? You still don't own your own house? You're still paying off your car?"

"Are you asking me this?" Cross asked, confused.

"No, those are the small questions," Rowena explained. "Big questions are much more uncomfortable. Are you going to get married anytime soon? Why aren't you married? Are you going to have children? Why aren't you going to have children?"

Cross shifted in his seat.

"You feel uncomfortable, don't you?"

"They're just very personal questions," he admitted. "So, your family is going to ask me those big questions?"

"They're going to ask you the small and big questions. Be prepared, Cross. Most importantly, whatever you do—stay away from my cousin Carmen."

He frowned. "What's wrong with your cousin Carmen?"

"She's evil incarnate."

He grinned. "Okay, and how will I know who she is? What does Carmen look like?"

Rowena rolled her eyes. "She looks like Satan—if Satan were a five-foot-six Hispanic woman who wore clothing two sizes too small and always had red lipstick on her teeth."

Cross shook his head. "You never hold back, do you? Is there a reason you don't like your cousin Carmen?"

"Cross, the woman is insane. It's like she's always trying to compete with me. We both took Folklorico dancing classes when were kids. My father made me sign up. Suddenly, Carmen wanted to take classes too and of course, she was a much better dancer than I was. The same thing happened with soccer, guitar lessons, and ping pong. Ping pong! I literally signed up for ping pong just to get away from her but she told her parents she always wanted to learn ping pong."

"Maybe she wanted to spend time with you?" Cross suggested.

"Yeah right! She took pleasure in seeing me fail. She tripped me when we did our Folklorico dances and kicked a ball in my face at least once each game. When we were in high school, she'd steal all my boyfriends. After they dumped me for her, she'd dump them a few days later."

"Okay, so maybe your cousin doesn't like you," Cross said softly. He flipped the turn light as he continued to follow Lorena to her family's house.

Rowena groaned. "We're almost there and I'm already breaking out into hives."

"You're not breaking out into hives," Cross said. "It's going to be okay. Silver lining—your cousin Carmen can't steal me away."

Rowena's eyes widened and her mouth turned up in a diabolical smile. "You're right. I'll finally one-up her. You said it yourself, you're a catch! Plus, we're in your fancy car and you're a mayor. It's like a plot out of one of the books Gina makes us read during book club." She clapped her hands together in delight. "This would be perfect if you were a billionaire. Fake relationship tropes with a rich guy are my guilty pleasure."

She gasped before turning to him. "You aren't a secret billionaire wolf-shifter, are you?"

He bit his bottom lip before shaking his head. "No, I'm not a billionaire."

Rowena's shoulders sagged. "That would've been too perfect if you were."

Cross shrugged. "Sorry, I'm definitely not a billionaire. I'm just a millionaire wolf-shifter."

She shrieked. "You're a millionaire?"

He nodded. "I'm the alpha and I own quite a few businesses in Howler plus I invest. We're a very wealthy pack, Rowena."

"Carmen is finally going down."

"So, is it safe to say we're in a relationship now?"

Rowena nodded. "You have no choice now but to pretend to be my boyfriend. No matter what Carmen does, you better not cheat on me."

He grinned.

"Speaking of cheaters," Rowena tapped her nails on the car door. "I met an escort while I was in the slammer. He gave me more information on Casey Sloane. Did you know she had an anti-fan group made up of women whose men she stole?"

Cross made a choking sound. "You learned this while you were in jail?"

"Yes. My time in the clink was not wasted. We can talk about it more after the barbecue is over."

They pulled up to a brick-one-story house. Cars were lined against the street. Two cars were parked on the front lawn. Cross parked across the street before Rowena grabbed his arm. "Remember, Carmen is Satan. Do not cross me or I'll pull a Reba on you."

"A Reba? Do I want to know what that means?"

"Let's just say it'll land me back in jail," Rowena muttered.

They exited his G-Wagon and stepped up to Lorena who was waiting for them.

"I'm so glad you're both here," she said. "I cannot wait to see everyone's reaction when Rowena shows up with a date."

Rowena was giving her cousin the stink-eye when a woman in tight jeans and a black shirt that showed too much cleavage came out of the house and stepped toward them. Her hair was teased up and her make-up was thick. She wore bright red lipstick and had a smoky eye look that made her look overdone.

"Well," the woman said, her eyes sizing about Rowena. "If it isn't Rowena, the ungifted one who works at Sweeter Homes and can't keep a man by her side."

"Well," Rowena said in the same tone. "If it isn't the thorn in my side, the sty in my eye, the—"

"Oh, knock it off, Rowena," the woman said. A flicker of hunger flashed in her eyes as she took in Cross. She smiled brightly at him, exposing pearly white teeth stained with the red lipstick she was wearing.

Cross stifled a laugh before glancing at Rowena and facing the rude woman. "You must be Carmen."

Carmen winked at him. "I am. How did you know?"

Cross pointed at her face. "You have lipstick on your teeth and you're rude. Rowena said she had a rude cousin named Carmen who always had lipstick on her teeth. It must be you."

Carmen gasped, quickly lifting her hands to cover her mouth before glaring at Cross.

Rowena felt her cheeks warm up. She couldn't remember a time anyone stood up for her.

Lorena's laughter danced around them before she nudged Rowena. "Oh, I like him."

Rowena kept her eyes on Cross. "I think I do too."