Dreaming of the Wolf

Chapter 11

As a gray wolf, Alicia bolted out of the hotel and ran at a gallop, tearing through the woods and keeping close to the road that would take her to Silver Town. A t this point, she figured she had nowhere else to turn.

Although in the back of her mind, she kept telling herself she shouldn’t try to locate Jake. That seeing him again would cause more problems than she was willing to face.

He’d want to see more of her, to protect her. And she knew she’d end up having to bite him. Turn him. Just like Ferdinand had done to her. So that Ferdinand—in his own words—wouldn’t be alone. If she turned Jake, she wouldn’t be alone.

But she couldn’t do that to Jake.

So why was she still running toward Silver Town?

Because for the first time in her life, she really didn’t know what else to do. And she realized then just how isolated she’d become. No real friends, not after her mother had been murdered by the Mob, and no family left.

Running through the pines and spruce and ash trees, she just hoped no one would shoot her.

She’d have given anything to see those bastards’ faces after she’d bitten the one in the arm who’d swung around to shoot her, once he’d broken into the room and seen his buddy sitting dead against the wall. His jaw had sagged, his eyes had widened, and he’d lowered his gun in surprise. She’d lunged at him as if it was instinctual and bitten as hard as she could, afraid anything less wouldn’t have gotten the message across.

And the other big, burly, black-haired man had squeaked like a girl when she’d swung her head to bite him. Danny Massaro. The guy she was supposed to serve a warrant on. Ferdinand’s brother, whom Ferdinand said would kill Alicia and him if Danny had the opportunity.

She recognized his cologne. He’d been at Ferdinand’s condo and had come looking for her when she had hidden under the bed. He was partly responsible for Ferdinand’s death. Maybe even the one who had ultimately killed him or given the order.

Danny had fired off three shots at the night sky as he fell on his butt, trying to avoid the snap of her jaws and her wicked teeth.

For a damned instant, she’d wanted to arrest him! As if he’d have given her time to shift, dress, grab the arrest warrant and gun, and rearrest him. But then she’d regained her senses, and too concerned he might aim the gun at her the next time, she hadn’t stayed around to find out if he was aiming at her for sure.

She thought she might have bitten the other guy a little too hard, though. She wasn’t certain, but he’d lost the gun, which was her whole reason for biting him, and her jaws were so powerful that she hadn’t realized her own strength. It felt as though she’d crushed the bones. He had cried out in the most guttural pain, then dropped to his knees and collapsed on his face. He couldn’t have died, unless she’d given him a heart attack. Right now, she didn’t care. She was alive and wanted to stay that way. And the truth of the matter was, if he had died, that meant one less killer on Mario’s payroll who’d be after her.

She’d run across the street and headed for the woods, only looking back to see Danny still sitting on his butt, staring after her as if he had seen a ghost. Then he scrambled to his feet and ran into the room, ignoring his partner in crime. She was fairly sure he was looking to take care of her—as Alicia the woman, and not in a pleasant way—not realizing Alicia was the wolf that had just escaped them.

Her werewolf condition was wrought with mixed blessings. She didn’t like the lack of control she had with shifting. Especially when she couldn’t always shift at will or fight the shift during the full moon. But this biting business could come in handy. A t least she was a lot more frightening as a wolf than she’d been as a woman with a gun. And to an extent, she liked her enhanced hearing, although trying to focus on one conversation at a time had proved difficult sometimes. The sense of smell was something else. She smelled way too many odors that she didn’t want to.

For the first time as a wolf, she’d run good and long and hard, and she wasn’t even tired. As a human, she couldn’t have run half as fast or long without having gotten stitches in her side and leg cramps. She would have been doubled over, trying to catch her breath. In that sense, she loved the freedom that being a wolf gave her. Until she saw a pickup truck on the road beside the woods headed toward her.

Before she could dodge deeper into the forest, the truck applied its brakes and screamed to a halt. She nearly had heart failure and dove deeper into the woods.

A man hurried out of the truck yelling, “Alicia Greiston!

Wait!”

She stumbled in surprise to hear the man calling her name, and the odd familiarity in his voice made her pause for a second.

The door slammed and the sound of crashing through the underbrush forced another healthy shot of adrenaline surging through her veins, and she bolted again.

He couldn’t think he could chase her down. And how the hell did he know her name? That she was the woman who was now a wolf? Had Ferdinand told someone that he’d turned her before he died?

That was the only reasonable explanation she could come up with. But even so, how would he know she was in these woods?

“Alicia! It’s me!”

The man’s voice sounded like Jake Silver’s. The truck, now that she thought about it further, did look like Jake’s. But it couldn’t be him. That had to be wishful thinking on her part. Wishing he’d come to her rescue. A wolf’s rescue, rather.

Whoever it was would never catch up to her. Then just as abruptly, she didn’t hear the sound of his crashing through the underbrush any longer, and she slowed to a trot. She didn’t want to get too far away from the road and lose her way.

But then she heard something else. Something quieter approaching her at a run. She whipped around and nearly had a heart attack. A big gray wolf was running toward her, and her heart skipped beats all over the place. She turned to run away, but he leaped and tackled her. Her heart stuttered.

With his heavier weight, she fell beneath him, and he pinned her down, his mouth at her throat, forcing her to hold still. He didn’t hurt her, but she knew that those wicked teeth clamped around her throat could kill her instantly.

Oh, God, she’d managed to save herself from a bunch of thugs only to be killed in the wild by a real wolf.

She whimpered, scared out of her wits, wanting to thrash at him with her teeth but afraid he’d crush her throat. He was panting and so was she. His chest heaved, but hers even more so since she’d been running for so long. Forever, it seemed, he just held her there, not letting her up, pinning her to the forest floor, in charge, in control. Wouldn’t he be surprised if she just shifted into a woman? Yeah, and then he’d kill her for sure.

He couldn’t be thinking of mating with her, could he?

Oh, God, what a horrible thought.

She struggled a little, testing him to see his reaction. He squeezed tighter on her throat, still not hurting, but showing her he was in charge.

She might not have grown up around wolves, but she got the distinct impression his actions meant hold still, don’t move, or else. She held still. She was a quick learner.

She closed her eyes, tired from running and being up late with her dream lover and fighting the bad guys. The wolf relaxed his grip on her throat, but as soon as she moved just a hair, he clamped down again—not injuring her, just keeping her where he wanted her. She’d already gotten the point, but they couldn’t stay like this forever.

What did he want with her?

The roar of an engine, braking of a vehicle, and slamming of two doors up at the road forced a fresh wave of panic to swallow her whole. She struggled to get up; the wolf forced her to lie still. He couldn’t be crazy enough to want to keep her here. What if those who were coming were Mario’s men? More than that, no wolf in its right mind would want to remain here when humans were approaching.

“Jake?” a man called out. His voice sounded eerily like the first man who had yelled after her, calling her by name.

But what had happened to that man? The wolf couldn’t have torn into him. She swallowed convulsively.

Then she reconsidered. The only one she knew by the name of Jake was Jake Silver. And the voice. The voice sounded like his. Yet he couldn’t have known she was out here. And if he’d had any inkling that she was, why had he stopped his truck by the roadside and chased after her —a wolf—calling her by name?

No way in hell could he know she was the wolf.

Unless… unless Ferdinand Massaro had told him. A cold chill ran through her. She shuddered.

What if Jake was in on this with Ferdinand? What if Jake also had a vendetta against Mario? And that’s why Jake had come after her at the restaurant once he’d spied her, then made friends with her in Breckenridge, trying to keep her safe. Maybe it all had been a ploy. Keep Alicia safe from Mario’s men so that he and Ferdinand and whoever else was in their little gang could use her to do their bidding. Maybe Jake knew Ferdinand wanted Alicia for his own. Maybe Jake had also wanted her.

Because he was a werewolf, too.

She swallowed hard, her throat as parched as a dry Colorado summer. She couldn’t believe any more werewolves existed. How could she have been so naive about Jake? Thinking that he’d really cherished her like the way he’d behaved? She should have known the way he’d acted toward her wasn’t genuine. No one had ever treated her the way he had, as though he had really cared. The notion would have upset her more if she’d had time to reflect and wasn’t so desperate to get away.

As soon as she could, she had to escape the whole lot of them and disappear for good. How in the world could her life have turned so inside out?

She twitched her ears, listening to the approaching men as they ran through the woods. What if the two men headed into the forest toward Alicia and this wolf holding her hostage were all werewolves, too?

Ashiver stole up her spine.

As the two people grew closer, she again instinctively struggled to free herself. And the wolf again forced her to stay still. If he’d been a normal wild wolf, he would have run off to protect himself. Even if he’d been someone’s pet, she didn’t think he could be trained to pin down another wolf until his “master” arrived.

The only saving grace? They didn’t seem to want to kill her. But she was still one of the good guys, and being the lover of anyone who would call Ferdinand Massaro friend wasn’t in the plans.

“Jake?” the man called out again and sounded worried.

The other person running with the one who was speaking remained quiet.

And then they drew close. Really close, their feet tromping through the underbrush only a few feet away.

Then she saw them.

Alicia’s mouth gaped as she stared at the one man, who looked a hell of a lot like Jake Silver. His brother. Had to be.

This man was tall and broad shouldered with brown hair a little lighter than the man who had stolen her heart. This one had a more jovial expression, and his eyes were lighter. He looked so much like Jake that the similarities were uncanny, though.

“Hey, Jake, is this Alicia Greiston?” the man asked, crouching near her head, his gaze focusing on hers, but she thought he was addressing the male wolf pinning her down.

As much as she couldn’t believe it, the wolf had to be Jake Silver, her dream lover.

She took a deep breath and smelled the new man. A wolf. Asexy, virile wolf. She couldn’t believe he was one, too.

The other man joined him, his hair nearly black and his eyes just as dark. But what impressed her most was the police uniform he was wearing. And for the first time since her nightmare with the Mafia guys, she relaxed. But then she recalled Mario had a fair number of cops in his pocket. And a judge or two.

She stiffened.

“Is it her, Tom?” the police officer asked.

“If the way Jake’s holding her still is any indication, it sure looks to be,” Tom said. “What do you want me to do with her, Jake?” He dropped a bundle of clothes down next to the wolf that was pinning her down.

Without a doubt, Jake was the wolf, which meant he had to be a werewolf. Newly turned like her? Had Ferdinand turned him, too?

No, no, Ferdinand had said he was all alone. That he didn’t want to be alone. She was sure that’s why he had turned her.

She stared at Jake in disbelief. She’d never get used to any of this. How many were there really?

Jake slowly released her, but she didn’t move. His eyes told her to stay still. Dark concerned eyes. He sat up, but he was still way too close. She was certain that if she tried to bolt, he’d pin her right back down.

Tom put his hands on his hips. “Two of the men who went after her got away. They could be looking for her now. Should we take her home with us?”

But she hadn’t seen Jake since she’d been turned. He couldn’t have known unless Ferdinand had told him.

None of it made any sense. Maybe Ferdinand hadn’t been making any sense to her that night.

And maybe all of these men were in with Ferdinand Massaro. Or maybe only Jake. The others might be clueless about what Jake had been doing in Breckenridge.

The wolf stood and kept a wary eye on her. She finally moved to a sitting position, figuring she didn’t have much choice about where she was going. Surely, these men meant to protect her for now, which had to be a good thing. Until she could shift, grab some clothes, and run.

Tom motioned back to the road. “We’ll take you with us. Don’t run, Alicia. Jake will chase you down if you try, and we’ll have to resort to other measures. We’ll give you protection at our home. You won’t get a better offer.”

Offer. The kind that no one could refuse. Jake had no intention of letting her go. Just like Ferdinand, if he hadn’t been murdered, had planned to keep her for his own.

She would probably shift again before long, and then without clothes to wear, what was she to do?

She stood, more shakily than she wanted to let on, then trotted back toward the road. Jake kept pace beside her, brushing her shoulder and hip with his as if to remind her he wasn’t going to permit her to deviate from her path. But his touching her was also a reminder of the intimacy they’d shared and which seemed odd now that they were both wolves. She wouldn’t have thought she could feel that way about him in this form. Yet, the deep feelings of longing for him stirred in her blood just like they always did when he was with her, either for real or in her dream state.

She didn’t try to move away from him, too aware of the way his heated body felt touching hers, making her desire him something fierce. She craved that closeness and wanted to renew their friendship, to make love to him in the flesh again and rekindle the bond that came of the sexual contact. And that made her hate herself for allowing herself to be taken in by his dark seductive ways. For wanting a wolf. But he wasn’t just a wolf. He was Jake. The man of her dreams. The man who had swept her off her feet the minute she’d laid eyes on him in Breckenridge that first day.

She glanced at him and couldn’t help but admire the beautiful way his dark brown fur masked the hairs between his eyes and ears, the fur dark red down his nose, and the same dark red coloring the curve of his ears, while he had beige fur underneath his chin and on his throat and chest. Dark brown fur covered his back like a saddle. He looked—distinguished, intelligent, his darkened brown eyes looking back at her, watching her expression as if he was trying to read what she thought of him. And in an instant, she remembered him from before. Remembered the way the wolf had growled at the two men who had accosted her on the trail where she’d left the wreath for her mother. This wolf. Jake.

She barely breathed as she thought about it further.

A bout how the wolf had run off, then Jake appeared shortly afterward on the path. It had been Jake, coming to her protection.

That again tied him in with Ferdinand Massaro, didn’t it? He was a werewolf like Ferdinand, so they had to have a connection. That he and Ferdinand both were gunning for Mario. But when the men had come after her, definitely Mario’s men, Jake had once again stepped in to ensure her safety. She didn’t want to think of Jake like that. She didn’t want to believe he’d just been using her.

Breaking into her dark thoughts, Jake nuzzled her face, and the feeling was akin to the caress of a soft cheek against a soft cheek, only in this case, fur against fur. But her whiskers were extremely sensitive and his touching hers was pure delight, no matter how much she attempted to rally against the feelings he stirred in her.

He licked her face, then continued to run beside her, sticking close, touching, endearing, reassuring. Like when he’d held her cold hand in the restaurant, letting her know he was there for her when the menacing thug was ordering her from the place, Jake was here for her now.

But it seemed unreal to feel these things for him as a wolf when he was also one.

Maybe he did truly care for her, but the fact he had been with Ferdinand ruined any chance she and Jake would have ever had.

“Peter can drive if you don’t want to shift back,” Tom said to Jake. “Or I can. I’ll let Darien know we’re headed back to Silver Town.” He pulled a cell phone off his belt and flipped it open, then punched a button. “Hey, Darien, we’ve found Alicia Greiston. The little lady’s a pretty gray wolf. We’re headed back to town now.” He paused and looked at Jake. “Yeah, Jake’s a wolf right now, too. A ll right. See you in about an hour,” Tom said into his cell phone, then snapped it shut and shoved it back in its pouch.

Peter pulled the door open to his Suburban, and Tom tossed Jake’s clothes in the backseat.

“I’ll drive Jake and Alicia. You can drive Jake’s truck back to the house,” Tom said.

“Will do.” Peter loped ahead to Jake’s truck.

“Too bad I didn’t know you were one of us, or I could have brought a change of clothes for you,” Tom said to Alicia. “Wait!” he called out to Peter. “Why don’t you drop by the motel in Crestview and see if you can get Alicia’s suitcases released to you?”

The police officer shook his head. “They’ll confiscate everything at the crime scene. The sheriff will need to get Alicia’s statement also, once she shifts back.”

Great. In a way, she’d thought she was off the hook with the police. How in the world was she to explain what had happened at the motel? One minute she was human and the next a wolf?

“A ll right,” Tom agreed, then let Alicia into the backseat of the vehicle. “I’m Tom Silver. The big gray wolf behind you is Jake, my older brother by five minutes. And from what Darien said, the two of you are already well acquainted. Darien is our eldest brother and our pack leader and runs Silver Town. Jake and I are sub-leaders, and Peter Jorgenson is the sheriff for the town.” Tom gave her a broad smile, his eyes sparkling with humor.

“Welcome to the pack.”

Jake sat next to Alicia in the backseat of Peter’s vehicle, his feelings raw and mixed. He was relieved as hell she was safe and in his custody. And he was glad to know the woman he’d been sharing nocturnal pleasures with was a gray lupus garou and that if his family history was correct, she was meant to be his mate.

But this business about the thugs she’d gotten involved with could be a real problem. And the fact she had to be newly turned was also a dilemma. Who had turned her, and where was he now? Had he mated with her, and if so, was he still alive? Because if he was, Jake could not claim her for his own. That made him wonder if the wolf who had turned her had taught her what she needed to know as one of their kind.

And had the wolf turned her against her will?

He was certain that if he hadn’t pinned her down and kept her that way, she would have run off. Until she realized who he was. But she was newly turned, and he was sure the whole werewolf business was too unreal for her to swallow yet. She was probably just as stunned to learn he was a werewolf, as were his brother and Peter.

A t least for now, she seemed resigned to her fate. He had half a notion of shifting to reassure her that it was truly him. To speak with her. To learn all he could about her.

She sat staring out the window, avoiding looking at him, he thought. Or maybe she just wanted to see where they were going. But he assumed she was upset.

He couldn’t quit watching her, the way she sat so rigidly, so tense, her ears twitching back and forth, as she took deep breaths to sample the air. She was smelling the smells, memorizing them, cataloging them.

Just as he had memorized her fragrance as a wolf. He would know her scent anywhere now and even the paw-pad trail she’d left behind as they’d made their way to the vehicle. If she ever ran as a wolf, he’d find her without any difficulty.

Tom said to Alicia, “Either Lelandi can loan you some of her clothes, or one of the other women can.”

Hell, Jake wanted to talk to her, and he couldn’t do it as a wolf. He shifted, and as soon as he did, she whipped her head around, eyes large and brown and endearing.

He gave her a dark smile and pulled on his jeans.

She glanced at Tom. Jake frowned. She hadn’t thought her dream lover had been Tom, had she? They did look a hell of a lot alike, except Jake’s face had rougher angles, and his hair and eyes were darker.

She looked back at Jake, her gaze taking all of him in, and she swallowed hard.

“Tom, when we get to town, stop at the lingerie store.”

Jake smiled at Alicia. He had every intention of taking care of her every need.

“Silk and Lace Delights?” Tom’s voice sounded surprised. “She won’t be open this late.”

“I’ll call ahead. And we can drop by the all-night discount store after that.”

“Do you know her size? As a wolf, she appears taller than Lelandi. But she’s not as big as some of our female wolves. Maybe Silva’s height?” Tom asked.

From what he’d seen of Alicia, and that was every inch of her delectable body, he figured her to be Silva’s height when Silva wasn’t wearing high heels to make herself appear taller like the other grays while she waitressed at the Silver Town Tavern. Silva was just as buxom but taller than Lelandi, since Lelandi was a red wolf and Silva a gray. Yeah, he imagined Alicia and Silva were about the same build.

Jake thought about the logistics of the situation further.

He wanted to get to know his soon-to-be mate unaccompanied. His grandfather’s house would be the ideal setting. Isolated. A way from family so they could really be alone.

“After we shop, you can drop us off at Granddad’s old place.”

“Darien expects me to bring her back to his house,” Tom said, again sounding surprised.

Jake didn’t care for that scenario in the least. Everyone would get involved in his business with Alicia when he needed the time alone with her.

“Want me to call and—”

“No.” Jake jerked on his shirt. Then he grabbed his cell phone from his pants pocket and called Darien. When his older brother answered, Jake said, “We’re making a couple of clothing stops because Alicia has no clothes to change into. After that, we’re staying out at the old homestead.”

Silence. Jake knew Darien didn’t approve.

Darien finally said quietly, “She’s unmated?”

“She’s not mated.” He sure as hell hoped not anyway.

Tom looked up at the rearview mirror. A t least Jake didn’t think she could be, considering the way she’d made love to him in the dreams.

“Not pregnant either?” Darien asked.

Jake glanced at Alicia. “No, she’s not pregnant.” A t least he guessed she wasn’t.

“Bring her to the house,” Darien said finally.

Not once had Jake ever gone against Darien’s rulings.

He might disagree and tell his brother what he felt in private or just with his immediate family present, but not once had Jake openly gone against Darien’s decisions.

This time he had to clamp down on his words before he spoke them.

Darien waited for Jake to acknowledge his order, knowing that with every second of delay Jake was showing how displeased he was.

“We’re dream mated,” Jake finally said, reminding his brother that Alicia and he were meant to be together and nothing would stop that from happening.

Tom’s gaze shot over the back of the front seat from Alicia to Jake, then to the road again.

Darien laughed over the phone. Alicia’s ears perked up.

Hell, Jake didn’t need this. He would have hung up on his older brother if Darien hadn’t finally said, “Bring her home, Jake. We need to learn what’s going on with her.”

That’s when Jake came to his senses, somewhat. Thugs had tried to kill her. If they attempted to follow her here, the pack would need to know about it so they could deal with the threat effectively.

“We’ll welcome her to the pack right,” Darien added.

The pack. She wouldn’t just be Jake’s mate but an important member of the pack. And Darien sounded serious. As if he believed Jake had found his mate. But why laugh about it initially? Because Jake had been so obstinate about not believing in such a thing.

He settled back against the seat. “A ll right. We’ll come home.”

But he was not resigned to making this a family affair.

Feeling a ton of emotions—frazzled, relieved that she was safe for the moment, unsure of herself—Alicia lay down on the seat, having heard Jake’s brother tell him to bring her to his home. And Jake was fighting the order. But she could tell by the way Jake’s body had lost some of its tension that he was giving in. Reluctantly, but nonetheless, he had capitulated. In a way, she wished she and Jake could have been alone. She’d have a better chance at stealing away from them then.

She hadn’t a clue about what would happen when she met the others in the pack, having never been around other werewolves. And she’d never even considered that werewolves lived in packs. Loners, yes. Like Ferdinand and whoever bit him first. Or just some abnormal aberration—a rabid wolf that had bitten a human and infected him, and no others existed.

But her thoughts kept straying to what Jake had looked like after he’d shifted—in the flesh, totally naked. No longer a dream, but the very hard, virile muscled man she’d felt and stroked and loved when they’d first been together. And then she reminded herself how he’d known she was a werewolf—Ferdinand had to have told him.

Then she wondered why Jake’s brother asked if she was pregnant. Mary. A t the gallery. Oh, God, poor Jake.

Mary must have called him and told him Alicia had fainted at the gallery. And he thought…

She glanced back at him. He was watching her. Then he took a deep breath and ran his hand over her back in a loving caress. It felt good. He felt good. She wanted so badly to share their nighttime fantasies for real again.

Damn her soul for falling for him.

She laid her head down on the seat and closed her eyes as he continued to stroke her back. The wickedly sexual part of her wanted to go with him to his grandfather’s house and make wild passionate love to him.

But she considered what Jake and his brother had discussed. The mate issue didn’t make any sense. Must be a werewolf term for sex with another of their kind. So why did he assume she hadn’t been with anyone else?

That she hadn’t mated? If Ferdinand had lived long enough, she was certain he would have had sex with her —against her will. But thankfully, he hadn’t.

Then she saw a sign announcing they’d arrived in Silver Town, and she felt self-conscious. Up until now, she’d been living on her own, putting up with this werewolf stuff the best she could in secret, until she’d bitten one thug’s arm and momentarily scared the other witless. But now to be around a whole pack of werewolves when she was so clueless made her feel vulnerable and anxious.

When Tom parked, she quickly sat up and stared at the store’s large glass windows. A gold-and-pink-lettered sign perched on top proclaimed the store to be Silk and Lace Delights.

Her eyes widened. She’d envisioned a plain, old shop full of the usual—flannel nightgowns for winter, long satin nightgowns for summer, shorter versions, and pajamas. Instead, fiery red corsets, fringed hot-pink bras and thongs, fishnet camisoles and G-string panties, and an iridescent sequin-draped camisole were displayed on headless mannequins in the big windows.

Jake couldn’t be serious. Not that she planned to wear other women’s undergarments or that she wished to go without—even though sometimes it seemed she might have to when she was in one of her panic-stricken states and needed to strip before she shifted—but what was he thinking?

She looked at another mannequin and read the sign: peekaboo camisole. The slits in the bust fitted neatly over the nipples. Her mouth dropped open.

“Stay here with her,” Jake said, and when she swung her head around to look at him, he grinned at her. “Be right back.”

No thongs, she wanted to tell him. No way was she wearing a piece of silk wedged between her legs. Or a camisole that left her nipples exposed.

But then he was gone, and Tom turned to observe her with a look of wonderment on his face. The sheriff parked beside them and waited, watching Jake enter the lingerie shop, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Mortified was how she felt. If she wasn’t wearing a coat of fur, she was sure she’d be blushing furiously.

She just hoped Jake didn’t get her what he thought she should wear to seduce him rather than what she would wear for comfort. But when he spoke to a clerk and lightly touched a royal blue corset pushing up the bust situated in the window, Alicia was ready to bolt out of the vehicle and tell him that if he bought it, he could wear it.