Chapter 18
The next morning, the smell of bacon roused me from my sleep. Although the delicious scent was a welcome one, if it’d just come a few minutes later, I could have finished the amazing dream I’d been having.
My cheeks heated, and I was glad I was alone in my bedroom.
Or, was I glad to be alone?
The steamy scenes from my dream slid through my sleepy brain, and I relished them. Abraham had starred, and I’d played a supporting, but extremely essential role. A small chill sped down my spine as I remembered the way he’d touched me in the dream, how his lips skated across my skin, the taste of his mouth on mine–
“Elizabeth, you up?” Evey called through the door.
I sprang out of bed like it’d shocked me and covered my face with shaking hands.
Calm down, Elizabeth. She doesn’t know what you were just thinking about. The girl just has crap timing.
“Elizabeth?” she called again.
“Yea–,” I cleared my throat, “Yes. I’m up. I’ll be out in a few.”
“Okay good. Eggs are gettin’ cold!”
“Okay thanks!” I called before making a hasty retreat to my en suite bathroom. I could definitely use a cold shower after that dream and the consequent embarrassment of almost getting caught swooning by his sister.
Without permission, my thoughts turned back to the racy scenes from the dream. It’d felt so real. Like he’d been there with me. When I’d awoken, I’d almost expected him to be lying there next to me.
As the cold water cooled both my insides and outsides, I finally started to get a grip on my raging hormones.
Sure, I was attracted to Abraham, who wouldn’t be? The man was a rugged Adonis complete with the perfect physique, and that strong, alpha personality that both annoyed and excited me. Even more troubling was that I was getting to know him and discovering he was just as beautiful inside as he was outside.
We’d stayed up texting well into the night, and I blamed that for the crazy dream I’d had. Why else would I be thinking of him in that way? He had a pack to run, and I had a corporate ladder to climb. Neither one of us had time for a relationship. And besides, all of our conversations had been more friendly than anything else. Sure, there was the occasional light flirting, but I assumed that was his personality. Some people couldn’t help themselves.
Keep telling yourself that, Montgomery.
I ignored my catty inner voice and rinsed off beneath the cold stream of water. With a towel, I did my best to dry my long, blonde locks before twisting them into a single French braid. Choosing what to wear wasn’t hard. My closet looked like that of a cartoon character’s–the same top and bottoms lined the racks from end to end.
I grabbed a skirt suit and slipped it on along with a pair of sensible pumps. With a glance at the clock, I saw my dream sexcapades left little time for makeup, so I swiped on some black mascara, and a little bronzer before I followed my nose to the kitchen.
Evey was where I found her yesterday morning, but this time, instead of her furry pajamas, and house slippers, she was in jeans and a t-shirt. It was then I remembered I offered her my car for the day.
“Mornin’,” she called over her shoulder.
“Hey Evey. Breakfast smells delicious.” Guilt ate away at me until I added, “You know you don’t have to cook for me, right?”
Her light blue eyes met mine, and the glare she pinned me with had me swallowing any further protests.
“I already told you. If I’m stayin’ in your house, the least I can do is cook you a few meals. Besides, do you think I’m gonna’ starve myself?” She raised a brow at me before turning back to the stove. “If you hadn’t noticed already, werewolves can eat. I can’t survive on the bird food you had hidin’ in those cupboards of yours.” She waved a dismissive hand at my cabinets. “So if I’m cookin’ for myself, that means I’m cookin’ for you too. You’re my sister now, and we always take care of family.”
Her words formed a lump in my throat. I’d never had a sister.
She pulled a plate full of food from the oven. “Now, have I heard the last about this nonsense, or what?” She held the plate like she’d take it back if I disagreed.
Fried tomatoes, fluffy scrambled eggs, and bacon were squished alongside a pile of grapes, and a large scoop of cheesy grits. My mouth watered, and I nodded my head. “Sure, Evey. I won’t mention it again.” I held my hands out for the plate, and she eyed me seriously before finally relenting, and handing the food over.
I popped a piece of bacon in my mouth and groaned at the salty taste. “Anything I can do?” I asked around a mouthful of food.
She laughed. “No I’m good. Now go eat at the table. What, were you raised by wolves?” She winked and laughed again before pulling out a second plate for herself.
I chuckled around another mouthful of bacon and took my seat at the now well-used dining table. She’d already set it and had steaming mugs of coffee and glasses of orange juice for us.
In between bites, I commented, “I could get used to this.”
Evey had already taken care of at least half her plate. “And you should. You’re a growin’ wolf, you need to eat.” She smiled widely at her little joke.
“It seems the only growing I’ll be doing is in width.”
She laughed. “Don’t worry, our metabolisms are super active. You won’t gain a thing except for muscle.”
I lowered the hunk of tomato from my mouth. “You mean to tell me, I’ll be able to eat like this, and not gain any weight?”
She nodded, her smile wide.
“This werewolf thing keeps getting better and better.”
Evey shook her head with an indulgent smile, and we finished the rest of our breakfast in silence. When we were done, I helped her load the dishwasher, but she had me leave the pots and pans in the sink to soak.
“I’ll get to those when I get back from shoppin’. You ready to leave?” she asked.
“I just need to feed Charlie and we can go.”
“Already did it.”
I stopped in my tracks. “For real?”
She giggled. “For real. I’m not gonna’ feed us, and not him. Cats and wolves might not get along, but I’m not lettin’ anyone go hungry on my watch.”
My affection for the small woman swelled in my chest. She was such a genuinely caring person. I don’t know how this werewolf thing would turn out, but either way, I was lucky to have her in my life now.
When we made it to my office building, she walked around to the driver’s side, and handed me a brown paper bag.
“Your lunch,” she explained.
My chest warmed again, and I gave her a grateful smile. “Thanks so much, Evey. I rarely have time to even stop for lunch.”
Her outraged face had me laughing out loud. Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around her narrow shoulders, and gave her a big squeeze. She only hesitated a moment before returning my embrace.
“Have a good day at work, honey. I’ll be here at five to pick you up.” She blew me a kiss and batted her eyelashes.
I laughed again and shook my head before stepping through the revolving front door. The smile instantly died on my face when I was met with a sour looking Ben. I tried to walk past him, but he grabbed my wrist.
“Is that why you won’t ever go out with me? Playing for the other team?” His voice was barely held contempt.
I broke out of his grasp. “That’s none of your business, Ben,” I replied through gritted teeth.
It wasn’t the insinuation about my sexuality that was raising my blood pressure. No, that I couldn’t care less about. Gay, straight, bisexual, transsexual, none of it mattered to me. His snide attitude, and assumption that a relationship with a woman was what kept me from dating him was my problem.
“So if you’re not a lesbo, why won’t you go out with me? Think you’re too good or something?”
I swear I saw red.
“You listen to me, I don’t want to date you, because I don’t want to date you. It has nothing to do with anyone else, and everything to do with you.” I took a step closer and jabbed a finger in his chest. “And, if you ever grab me like that again, I promise to make you regret it. Are we clear?”
Instead of the fear and resignation I should have seen, I only saw more anger. “Sure thing, Montgomery.” With that he spun on his heel, and stalked through the revolving door, into the warm Carolina morning.
I pulled on the cuffs of my blouse and patted my hair. My patience was about used up with that man. He seemed to be getting more and more insistent with his advances. If things continued like this, I might have to report him to human resources, something I really didn’t want to do. No one wanted to work with the woman who made waves, no matter how well deserved they were.
The rest of my morning went smoothly, and around noon, I was immensely happy to have that packed lunch from Evey. I’d exchanged a few texts with Abraham, but was disappointed they weren’t as frequent as yesterday. The afternoon was busy with meeting after meeting, and when I finally caught sight of the clock, it was a quarter after five.
“Shoot!”
Like a twister, I spun around my office, clearing the desk, and collecting documents I wanted to bring home with me. A couple minutes later, I was down in the lobby, rushing through the doors only to come to an abrupt stop on the sidewalk outside.
My ride for this evening wasn’t Evey with my car, but Abraham, with his giant black pickup. I was struck dumb, my brain disconnected from my mouth, and I stood there like a fish gasping for breath on land.
“Hey, Elizabeth,” he greeted, his deep voice sending delicious chills down my spine.
“Hi,” I squeaked.
He covered the distance between us in a few long strides, and before I knew it, I was wrapped in his strong arms. His scent overwhelmed me as he lifted me a few inches off the ground.
“I missed you,” his voice rumbled in my ear.
I missed you too.
“It’s only been a couple days since you saw me,” I breathed instead.
His chuckle reverberated through my chest, and he set me down, but didn’t remove his arms from around me. There was less than an inch between us, and it still felt like too much.
“Is that all it’s been?” he asked with a smile.
I nodded stupidly, and his eyes twinkled with mirth. He spun around and led me to his monstrous truck.
“You weren’t kidding about that big truck, huh?” I commented.
He leaned down to whisper in my ear. “There’s two things I never kid about, and one of em’s my truck.” His warm breath made the loose hairs around my ear flutter and tickle my skin.
“What’s the other thing?” I asked barely above a whisper.
“My women.”
I turned around and leveled him with a glare. “Women?”
Where the hell had that spark of jealousy come from?
He laughed and spun me back around toward the truck before opening the door. “Well, in this case, it’s just one woman.”
I glanced over my shoulder. “Is that so?”
His eyes were dead serious. “It is indeed.”
I didn’t want to assume he was talking about me, or let on that I’d be insanely jealous if he wasn’t, so I did the smart thing, and shut up.
With a dubious look at the height of the truck, and another at my tight skirt, I tried to figure out how I was getting onto the seat when I heard a chuckle from behind me.
“That skirt’s a little tight, huh?”
“It’s not that tight,” I responded indignantly. “It’s not my fault you’ve got a massive monster truck. If I’d known you’d be picking me up today in this, I’d have worn pants instead.”
His hands gripped my waist, lifting me with ease, and settling me on the tan leather seat. “I like the skirt,” he admitted gruffly, before shutting the door, and giving me a much needed reprieve from him.
Damn. I’d only been in his presence for a few minutes, and I was already a mess. Maybe it was because of that dream I’d had.
Oh, no.
My dream.
Instantly the sexy images of the two of us raced through my mind, heating my blood and face. My pulse pounded, and my breaths came in short gasps.
I needed to get a hold of myself. Quickly.
Baseball.
Corn dogs.
Butterflies.
Grandmas.
Donkeys.
I desperately tried to think of un-sexy things in an attempt to dampen my hormones before it was too late.
Abraham climbed in the cab and turned to me with worried eyes. “You all right?”
“Daffodils.”
He raised a dark brow. “Beg pardon?”
Oh my god, I said that out loud.
“Uh. Um. Have you seen the daffodils blooming yet?”
He looked at me suspiciously, tilting his head to the side, and taking a deep breath. His nostrils flared, wide eyes pinning me to the seat.
“Uh, can’t say I’ve noticed,” he responded, reaching up a hand to scratch the back of his head. “You got a thing for daffodils?”
I shook my head. “Not particularly. I prefer peony’s.”
He looked even more confused. “Then what were you talking about daffodils for?”
I shrugged my shoulders in what I hoped was nonchalance. “Just making conversation.” With a glance out the window, I took a deep breath, and faced him again. “So, what brings you out here, anyway?”
Less than five minutes. That’s how long it took you to lose your cool, Montgomery.
I needed to get myself together ASAP.