Three weeks later …

Winston watched as Ana parked her car. He couldn’t help but grin. It was probably goofy looking but he didn’t care. He was happy to see her and really looking forward to their date. The words of her message played through his mind.

I’ll organize our date for next time you’re in town. Something fun, just like the doctor ordered.

Smiley face. For some reason he found it cute she had used one. Friendly and light-hearted. He fucking loved that she was taking the reins this time around. There was something sexy in that, especially since she was so timid about the whole dating thing. It was definitely good for her. This way she could control the situation.

They hadn’t messaged again after that. He’d wanted to send her a little text here or there but he hadn’t done it. He was afraid he might scare her off. Winston enjoyed her company. It was a pity there would be no more kissing, now that had been a serious treat. Ana had kissed him like her life depended on it. It had been hot and heavy from the start. His hands had itched to skim her curves but that would have been pushing the boundaries. Thing was, he didn’t mind the thought of pushing the boundaries a little. Just a teeny, tiny bit. He didn’t mind the thought at all. Unfortunately, Ana didn’t feel the same. It was definitely one of her many attributes. She was attracted to him but didn’t want him in that way. The kiss had scared the hell out of her. Maybe she would change her mind at some point about them taking the role-playing a little further. He sure as hell hoped so.

Ana gave a little wave. She gestured to the passenger seat in her car. A hatch-back. He waved back and then shook his head, pointing to his SUV. He was just playing with her. He didn’t mind if they went in her vehicle.

Ana put down the window. “What’s wrong? Look,” she smiled, “I know you’re used to fancy but—”

“It’s not that,” he chuckled. “I’m just not sure my legs will fit.”

She pulled a face. What a cute face it was. Free from make-up, a smattering of freckles across the bridge of her button nose and her hair in a loose ponytail. He liked that she hadn’t tried to be sexy. She was wearing a t-shirt. Something casual, that had been her brief to him. Casual with comfortable shoes. He wondered, and not for the first time that day, what was in store for him. For them.

She pursed her lovely lips. Her kissable lips. “Your legs will fit. You’ll have to push the chair all the way back though.”

Winston nodded. He walked over to the passenger side and made a show of trying to squeeze himself in. It wasn’t as bad as he was making out.

Ana laughed. She gave his arm a slap. “Quit messing around and close the door already, time’s-a-wasting.” She paused. “It’s good to see you, by the way.”

“You too.” Winston was still smiling like a crazy person when he found the lever to pull the seat back, next he adjusted the position of his legs and closed the door. Ana pushed the lock button and calmly waited for him to click his seatbelt in place before easing out of the parking lot. She wore little jean shorts and sandals. He caught a flash of color on her toenails. Looked like pink. Fuck but her legs were amazing. He forced himself to tear his gaze off of them. “And, are you going to tell me where we’re going?”

She shook her head. “It’s a surprise.”

He couldn’t argue with that. “Did you have a good month?”

“Great, thanks!”

“So,” he rested his hands on his thighs, “how was work?” He glanced her way.

“All good. How are things … in shifter land?” She smiled, her concentration on the road ahead.

“Um …” he huffed out a breath.

“Uh oh! That doesn’t sound good.” She glanced his way.

“It’s probably nothing but our game has been scarce lately.”

“Game?” She frowned heavily.

“Yes. We normally have plenty herds of deer up and around the mountains where we live. Plenty of food.”

Her eyes widened and she glanced at him and then back at the road a few times. “As in, you hunt?” She gave a nervous giggle. “I suppose you are a shifter, so … I guess it’s normal, right?” She stopped for a red light.

He had to laugh at the way she was looking at him. “Yup, hunting is very normal for us, since we’re part animal.”

“Do you hunt in your—?” She licked her lips, trying to come up with the right words. “Your human form, or do you …” she hesitated.

“Shift into my wolf form?” he helped her out.

Ana nodded, “Yeah.” Her eyes were wide with what looked like excitement. She pushed down on the gas and they continued out of town.

“We shift into our animal form. I’m a wolf shifter so I shift into my wolf form when hunting. It’s easier that way.”

“Oh wow … okay …” her words were breathy. “You just track them down and rip out their throats with your teeth?” She swallowed hard, glancing his way. There was still excitement laced in her words.

“Pretty much.” He winced at what her reaction might be. “We need to eat.”

She nodded vigorously. “I get it … I do. If you don’t hunt, you don’t eat.”

“That’s right. It’s more than that though, we enjoy hunting as well. It’s part of who we are.”

“So the deer have been disappearing?” She raised her brows.

“Yup.” It was his turn to frown. “They’re becoming harder and harder to find. We’re having to track the herds for days.”

“Do you have any idea why?”

“None. We’re clueless. We’ve always been really careful not to overhunt or to spook the herds. We don’t go for pregnant females.” He sighed. “It’s not illness, we haven’t seen any dead or sick animals. It’s a mystery, one we have to find a solution to. We’re shifters, we like eating meat. Right now we’re on rations and on the verge of having to bring in nuts and soybeans.” He made a choking noise. “Eating rabbit food is not in our DNA.”

“I’ll bet.” She smiled. “Hopefully you’ll find out what’s going on soon.”

“I hope so too. We’re sending out extra scouting parties. There’s something going on and it’s only a matter of time before we figure it out.”

“How weird and mysterious. It’ll probably be something really stupid in the end.”

“That’s what I keep saying. My friend, Ash, is convinced that it’s something more sinister, but let’s hope you’re right.” They were headed out of town. “You’re either kidnapping me … or, we’re going away for the night on a camping trip?” The idea appealed to him in ways that it shouldn’t. The thought of sharing a little two-man tent was enticing. Not they would do anything. It was just the idea of spending time with her, of sleeping with her … just sleeping. It appealed to him big time.

“No, nothing quite that exciting. You’re making me wish I had thought of it though.” She chewed her lower lip like maybe she had thought about it, but had decided against. Pity!

“How have you been this month? What did your therapist say? Any new prescribed advice?” Stop with the twenty questions!

She shook her head, her cheeks looking redder and redder by the second. “I’ve had a good month. All good!”

Winston chuckled. “No really, what did she say?” Then it dawned on him why she was acting so strangely. “You told her about the kiss, didn’t you?”

Bingo! Her cheeks went a bright red. Made him wish he had marshmallows. If he brought them to her face they would melt for sure.

“No.” She shrugged, trying to look indifferent. “Not at all.”

Such bullshit! Winston laughed. “Yeah, right. You told her about the kiss but for some reason you don’t want to admit it.” He looked at her pointedly.

Ana kept her gaze facing forward and shook her head, turning onto a dirt road.

“What did she say then?” he asked, jostling about in his seat as they headed further and further down the bumpy road.

“She’s happy with my progress.” Her eyes still firmly on the road ahead. There was more. Oh, most definitely more, but he decided not to push.

“Pretty isn’t it?” Ana said as she turned a sharp corner.

He looked ahead of them, seeing a wide lake. It was picturesque with the mountains in the backdrop. That’s where he lived, deep in those mountains. He’d seen the lake before but never from this angle.

“Sure is.” He paused, his mind working. “We’re going boating?” he guessed. There was a rowboat out on the lake.

She shook her head. “Stop! I didn’t think up something that amazing. It’s not camping or boating.”

“Swimming? I wouldn’t mind a little dip.”

“Did I tell you to pack a suit?” She looked at him for a second or two before looking back at the road.

“Who needs one?”

Her cheeks turned distinctly red, all over again. “No swimming or boating, we’re going fishing.” She smiled broadly. “I haven’t been fishing in years and years, not since I was a little girl. My dad used to take my brother and me all the time. Do you fish?”

Winston nodded. “Absolutely, but I prefer to use my claws for that as well.”

“No claws.” She looked a little shell-shocked. “You might scare off the locals.”

He laughed. “Oh, fuck, they would crap themselves. My wolf is much bigger than a normal everyday wolf. About three times the size.”

Her eyes widened. “Really?”

“Would it scare you, if I shifted?” His voice held a timid edge. He would hate to scare this female. Not that he planned on shifting or anything.

An easy smile took hold of her mouth. “Not at all. I feel really safe with you. I’m sure I would feel the same about your wolf form, I mean,” she paused, “it’s just another part of you, right?”

He pushed out a breath through his nose. “Exactly … it would still be me inside.”

She parked at an open spot. There were some males fishing a couple of hundred yards to their right. Ana turned to look at him. “Your eyes are exactly like I would picture the eyes on a wolf being.” She looked from one to the other.

“That’s because I am part wolf. I’m glad you feel safe with me, because you are … you’re very safe.” He clapped his hands on his thighs. “I’m excited about fishing. I’ve never had to catch them with a rod and reel. I’ve never had to catch anything like humans do. I take it as a challenge. It can’t be that difficult.”

“I don’t know, I remember it being quite challenging at times.” They got out of the car. “You need to know what you’re doing and I’m bound to be really rusty.” Ana headed for the trunk, which she opened.

It was packed with everything from the fishing poles to fold-up chairs, as well as a picnic basket. He could scent delicious things inside.

“Also,” she wrinkled up her nose, looking disgusted, “worms are the best bait.”

He hefted a couple of items out of the trunk. “By the look on your face, I take it we don’t have any or that I’m on bait duty?”

She shook her head. “We don’t have any. I can’t put innocent little worms on the end of our hooks. I just could not do it.”

“I would have helped out with that, I—”

“No, I wouldn’t have let you.” Her eyes were wide. “It wouldn’t be right.”

“I just finished telling you how I hunt and kill deer and you don’t want me to put a worm on the end of a hook?” He choked out a laugh.

“That’s different. You hunt for food. This is for fun. We can’t kill worms just so that we can have a bit of fun. No … just no.” She shook her head vehemently.

Fuck but he liked this female. He seriously liked the hell out of her. “Are we, at least, fishing with actual sharp hooks or is there some other way of reeling them in?” He gave her his best shit-eating grin.

She huffed out a solid breath, her shoulders sagging. “No, unfortunately there was no way around that. We’ll just have to be really careful when we take the hook out, I didn’t buy the barbed kind so we have more chance of losing the fish. It’ll make it more interesting though. I also bought a pair of pliers to make taking out the hook easy and efficient.” She pointed at a packet.

He chuckled. “So, what bait are we using to fish with then?”

“Doughballs. They’re apparently the best non-live bait that there is. I got the tutti-frutti and the vanilla flavor … fish must have a sweet tooth.” She picked up the packet.

“Oh well, let’s do this thing.” He really was excited at the prospect of trying his hand at it.

It took an hour before the rods were set up. One for each of them. Another twenty minutes for Ana and a half an hour for him, before they got the hang of casting the things. Each time he cast, the line either got tangled or the bait didn’t end up going out further than a few feet. “We should organize a boat next time,” he said, putting his rod down onto the holder, eyes on his line in case he got a bite.

“Nah, boats are for cheaters.” He heard her set her rod down as well.

“Says who?” He glanced her way.

She leaned back in her chair. Her t-shirt was baggy but she still managed to look really sexy. “My dad would say it, although I suspect it was because we couldn’t afford to get a boat.”

“So, what made you think of fishing in the first place?” He looked back at his line, sure he might have seen movement.

“I’m not sure you want to know right at this moment.” She smiled.

“I think I do ‒ your smile is distinctly naughty.”

“No it is not!” She looked put out. “Now I definitely can’t tell you.”

“Come on! Just tell me already.”

Ana adjusted the baseball cap she was wearing and sighed. “Fine! You asked for it. A guy came into the emergency room this week.

“You made your decision on where we were going to go based on an emergency room visit?”

She nodded. “I did.”

“Go on,” he said between chuckles.

That naughty smile was back. Her eyes glinted in the afternoon sun. “He’d been in a fishing accident.”

“No, don’t tell me …” He scrunched up his eyes. “Please don’t tell me his dick got it.” He cupped his member.

Ana laughed. “No, not his dick.”

His cock gave a twitch as she said the word dick. The whole ‘no sex’ decision was making him horny like a teenager. It was amazing how interesting something became once it was banned, self-imposed or not. It didn’t matter in the least.

“It wasn’t his dick, but his left ball that got it.” She shook her head and gave a low whistle. “That hook was buried in deep.”

“Ah, fuck!” Any thoughts of sex vanished. Thank claw! Although Ana was sexy as anything, she was his friend. Thoughts of ripping off those little shorts were bad … very very bad, and not in a good way.

“Yup, and the hook was barbed. Seriously barbed. That sucker was stuck fast.”

Winston made a groaning noise. “And this made you decide that fishing was what? A good idea?”

“I … um … I didn’t choose the barbed hooks. I did that especially …” She nodded, her ponytail bobbed in time with her head.

“You did that for the fish, not for my balls.” He widened his eyes, choking out a laugh. His hand cupped more protectively around his cock.

“I think you’re going to be just fine.” Her eyes drifted down to where his hand held himself. A flash of … hunger crossed her face. If he had blinked, he would have missed it. A bolt of desire shot right through him, tightening his groin.

Then her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. Ana pointed. “Your rod, your line … fish … You have a bite!” She screamed the last, jumping to her feet.

Winston grabbed his rod. Not too hard or he’d rip the hook clean out of the fish’s mouth. He held his breath. There was a light tugging feeling on the end of the line. “I have him … it … I feel it there!” he yelled, taking hold of the reel. “What do I do?” he shouted, looking at Ana and then back at the line which moved through the water. There was definitely a fish on the end of it.

“Slowly lower your reel as you wind.”

He did as she said.

“Slow and easy … not too fast,” she added, her voice elevated.

He slowed down.

“Yes, that’s it. Now, stop reeling and lift your rod back up. Not too heavy-handed or you’ll lose the fish.” She walked over to him. “Now reel … slowly!” she yelled. “This isn’t a race, it’s a dance.”

“Something else your dad says?”

She exhaled. “Yeah.” He could hear she was smiling.

One second there was a tugging on the end of the line and the next it was gone. His hand even fell back a few inches as the line gave. “What the …?” He reeled. Nope! He couldn’t feel anything there anymore. “I think I lost him.” He reeled some more, lifted the rod. “Yip,” he sighed, “I lost him. I’m not sure what happened.” He began reeling in earnest. Within seconds, his gleaming hook appeared. No fish! No bait!

“The little shit,” he muttered.

Ana laughed. “You need to take it slow.” She moved back to her own rod. “Better luck next time.”

“At least we know that there are fish in this lake.”

“Oh, they’re in there alright.” He could hear that she was smiling.

Almost an hour later and Ana hit a hand against her thigh in frustration. “Dammit!” she yelled. “I almost had him.” The next two bites had been Ana’s but she’d lost the fish both times in much the same way as Winston had.

“You need to take it just a little bit slower.” He threw her words back at her. “It’s a dance, not a race.”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “You’re full of shit.”

“Better luck next time.” He winked at her.

Ana pushed out a laugh.

He took a sip of his beer. “I think you screwed us with the non-barbed hooks. These fish are having a field day down there. Laughing their fins off at us.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, looking serious. “You can tease all you want but your balls and your cock are thanking me right now.”

Fuck! There it was again, another zing of need coursed through him. His balls and his dick could think of ways of thanking Ana. Lots of ways. Shit! He was getting hard and needed to stop this chain of thought right fucking now. One that involved his dick inside her and his balls slapping against her. Ones that involved making her come … multiple times. Ana is vulnerable. She’s your friend, asshole!

“You have one!” she yelled, tossing her rod on the ground. The rebaiting of her hook completely forgotten.

He was saved by another scaly bugger and this time he planned on catching the thing. There would be no more laughing at them ‒ no more! He reeled … slowly. He lifted the rod … carefully. He reeled some more … infinitely carefully. Closer and closer and closer. He caught a ripple at the surface. Closer still, and then a fin … right there, it was right there and then … bam! The hook came out. The little smooth fucker popped right out. As if to mock him. No, not as if ‒ the scaly fuck was definitely mocking him when it leapt clear out of the water.

No way.

Not a fuck.

Without thinking, Winston leapt into the water. Three seconds later he held his prize above his head with a roar of triumph. “You are mine!” he growled. “Mine!”

“No!” Ana shouted. “Please no,” she added.

He felt himself frown. Why did she look so distraught? He lowered the fish, looking the thing over. It was a decent size and … splash! She spluttered as she surfaced, her eyes wide. Then she coughed a couple of times. “Don’t you even think about it,” she managed to get out. Ana was drenched, from her cute ponytail to the lovely sandals on her feet.

She wiped a hand across her face. “Don’t kill the poor thing! It didn’t do anything to you.” Her eyes were on the fish.

Winston bit back a laugh. “Is that why you just leapt head-first into the water, to save the little fish from the big, bad wolf?”

“You’re mocking me.” She put her hands on her hips and looked him in the eyes. Hers narrowed.

“Nope, not at all.” He put the fish into the water and let it go, washing his hands in the cool water. Not looking! Not fucking looking at how her shirt is molding her breasts right now. Not looking at how tight her nipples are. How fucking lush … no! “I wanted to catch that fish … I would never have killed it. Not today anyway.”

She pushed out a pent-up breath. “I thought your instincts took over. The way you roared like that and all that growly business … I really thought you wanted to kill the poor thing. I’ve never seen someone move so fast before.”

“You were impressed.” He bobbed his brows. “Admit it.”

She stuck her tongue out at him. “So damned full of it.”

“I told you we’d take a dip.” He laughed. “And look, I managed to get you wet.”

Wet.

Fuck! He hadn’t just said that. By the way her pupils dilated, he could tell Ana’s mind had wandered straight below the belt, just as his had. Even though he hadn’t meant it like that, at least to begin with.

Heat pulsated between them despite the cold water. In order to try and defuse the situation, he hoisted her up. Ana squealed but he could hear that she was smiling. Her body felt warm against his. So damned soft. He needed to stop thinking along those lines. Winston dunked them both. The water was so cold. He heard her sharp intake of breath as he stood back up, followed by a nervous giggle. Her arms tightened around him. “You asshole!”

“It’s cold,” he muttered.

“It’s freezing.” It sounded like her teeth were shattering.

He walked out, wading through the water, Ana still in his arms. Winston scanned their supplies. No towels, but there was a blanket. She shook in his arms as the air hit her dripping body.

Winston grabbed the blanket with one hand, putting Ana down first before wrapping her up in it. He ran his hands up and down her sides to try to instill warmth. He already felt much better despite being soaked to the bone.

Ana laughed. “I can’t believe you just did that.”

“I can’t believe you thought I was going to kill that fish. That you jumped in to save it.” He wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back. She felt good in his arms.

She suddenly tensed. Shit! Had he overstepped the mark? “Are you okay?” Winston asked as he pulled back, keeping his hands on her upper arms.

“I’m fine.”

She was not fine. He could see that her mind was working. “You sure?” He let her go completely.

Ana nodded. “It’s just, you asked me earlier about what my therapist said when I told her about our kiss.”

Winston folded his arms. “Yeah, and what did she say?”

“She said that it was good for me. She even prescribed more kisses.” She looked somewhere over his shoulder as she said it. “And, not just small ones,” she mumbled that last, her gaze moved to the ground.

“She did, did she?”

Ana made a sound of agreement. Despite the cold, her cheeks looked flushed.

“What do you think about it?”

It took some effort for her to look him in the eyes. “I’m of two minds. I enjoyed the kiss, but we’re friends. Friends don’t kiss friends like that.”

“It’s just kissing though.” No biggie. He shrugged.

He could see she was thinking it over, water still dripped down her face. Her hair was plastered to her scalp. “Yeah, I guess.” Then she smiled. “We may not kiss like friends but we are ‒ just friends that is.”

“Definitely.” He had a thought. “By the way, we’re supposed to be fake dating right?”

“Yes, role-playing.” She nodded.

“We shouldn’t really mention that if we’re trying to be authentic. We agreed last time remember? I’m pretty sure your therapist would agree.” He wiped some water off of his face and raked his fingers through his dripping hair.

She looked thoughtful.

“We should be all in about it. Not mentioning that we’re friends and that it’s fake. We need to try to believe it’s real, even though we know it’s not. You can ask your therapist but I don’t think she would approve of us talking about being just friends all the time.”

“You’re probably right. No more mention of it then. We’ll pretend we’re dating for real?”

He nodded. Ana looked at him and he looked at her, another flush of red crept up her neck, spilling over onto her cheeks.

“Maybe we should dive into that picnic basket,” he finally said, even though the last thing he wanted right now was food.

“Good idea.” She seemed relieved.

Ana wasn’t wrong. Friends didn’t kiss like they had. He wasn’t wrong either though, it had just been a kiss, nothing more and nothing less. For whatever reason, Ana trusted him, she felt comfortable with him and he wasn’t about to take advantage of that. He had said he would help her through her fears. Having said that, he could not cross that invisible line. It was not going to be easy though. That was for fucking sure.