Chapter Eleven
To be honest, seeing him in the Casino again wasn't that surprising.
Despite the fact that some part of her wanted to see him again, there wasn't much to do around there unless you made the thirty-minute drive into West Valley. Even then, there wasn't much to do besides go bowling or to a bar. The town was small and didn't offer much.
Sierra tried to convince herself to stay away from him.
He was in another waitress' area. He was just looking for a drink. When he made eye contact with her, though, she could feel something inside her ignite that she'd been fighting down since she first laid eyes on him. He was gorgeous, and his eyes looked lost when he looked at her. She wanted to scoop him into her arms.
She knew that was stupid.
He was a wolf.
A creature.
It didn't matter what fairytales her mother told her. The reality was that he was extremely different from her.
Even if he wasn't a wolf – a shifter – she'd have to deal with the fact that he seemed to just be going through town. She wanted to get out of town as much as he did, but she wasn't going to just duck out without having plans in place for her mother. She wasn't the type to run away with a stranger.
As she was having this thought, trying to convince herself of anything else, she found herself walking toward him.
Shit.
She pulled out her notepad from her shirt pocket and grabbed the pen from her ponytail.
“Anything I can get you?” she asked. Back to acting like they were strangers. It drove her crazy, but she knew better than to get attached. She didn't need to make any mistakes. He looked her over, like he was considering his options, like he wasn't thinking about food or booze. For a second, she thought he might use a cheesy pickup line.
“Just a beer, please,” he said, looking away from her face.
“Coming right out,” she answered, walking off to the bar and pouring a tall glass from the tap. She gathered herself in her thoughts, trying to talk herself out of any thoughts she'd been having. She needed to approach this in a more intelligent way.
She needed to be safer with her heart.
“Anything else?” she asked, setting down the beer.
“Thank you for not outing me,” he said quietly, accepting the beer.
“I don't want people to think I'm insane,” she admitted, watching him chug down almost half the beer in one go.
“Still, I'm a stranger in town. It's not a great way to make a first impression on anyone,” he shrugged.
“You planning on sticking around?” she tried to keep her voice relaxed, as though she didn't care either way. She did care, though, and what she wanted surprised her as she realized this was.
“I am,” he agreed. “I've been looking for a place to settle down. Thought I'd check out West Valley,” he explained.
“Have you been into town?”
“Not yet. Just unwinding first,” he said. “I could always use a guide, though, if you're offering,” he teased. It was a mild flirtation, but coming from him, it caused her ears to turn pink in embarrassment. She could feel her face warming.
“It's a small town,” she teased back. “You just have to walk five seconds and you'll pass through the whole town without realizing. Not much to give a tour of,” she said. She was trying to sound aloof, as though she wasn't watching every line of muscle she could catch in his movements. As though she wasn't dying to get him alone.
These thoughts filled her with guilt, and she fought them down again.
He was bad news.
A stranger from out of town who could turn into a wolf.
Seeking anything with him was out of the question, was dangerous and not smart.
Still, as she got him his second drink, she couldn't help but want to sit down with him and just talk. To find out about who he was and where he was from. Some of these thoughts did seep out.
“Why move out here?” she asked as he started drinking his third beer. He seemed to be chugging them down without much trouble.
“It's a smaller town, and there are people like me,” he said, glancing around before the second part to make sure nobody overheard them.
“What about your town? Were there not any people like you?” she asked, starving for any information.
“There were, yeah, but not anymore. A lot has been happening in the last couple years, and we're all a bit scattered to the wind,” Anthony said as he finished his third beer and set the empty glass aside.
“Want another?”
“Nah,” he said, stretching. “What time are you off work? Want to talk more in depth?” he asked. His voice was relaxed, casual, as though it didn't matter what her answer was.
She liked that.
“Just barely an hour left,” she answered after glancing at a tiny watch on her slender left wrist. The second part of the question was more complicated. She wanted to talk to him, yes, but she wasn't sure she'd be able to stop at that. Parts of her body and mind wanted him so badly that she couldn't fight down the idea of spending the night in his hotel room.
She'd never slept with a patron before, but she could feel herself almost longing for Anthony.
“Sure, I'd love to talk more,” she agreed, being sure to say the word 'talk' so that he couldn't misread the situation.
***
When she got off work, he was waiting outside the front door.
The Casino was open 24/7 except on major holidays where it may close for six hours for employees to spend time with their families. Him waiting around like he was wasn't the strangest occurrence. Sierra made eye contact with one of the security guards to make sure they knew it was okay with her. It was nice to have them there. It let her feel secure.
The two wandered off to his hotel room and closed the door behind them.
She'd only been in one of the rooms once, when it snowed so hard during her shift that she couldn't make her way back home in the mess of the blizzard. The rooms hadn't changed since. They were like time capsules.
“Sorry, I don't have much to offer. There's vodka,” he said, motioning around the room.
“No, I'm fine,” Sierra smiled. It was hard not to be charmed by him. “So, tell me, what's it like being a wolf…er…a shifter, I mean,” she asked, settling into the one arm chair in the room. He pulled up a regular chair from the small table that sat in the corner of the room.
“Mm, it's like constantly being directly wired into the world around you. Not only can I sense what people are doing…” He paused, leaning back in his seat. The pose was almost lewd, creating a straight line from his face down to his torso. “You can also tell how people are feeling,” he added, smiling. It was almost a smirk, and it was borderline driving her wild.
What was she doing? She didn't know this man, she hadn't planned on getting to know him, and yet here she was, in his hotel room, alone with him. The situation made her blush.
“Why did you leave your home behind?” she asked. The question had been begging at her lips. “If it's so hard to get a new town to like you, why leave yours?”
His demeanor tightened like the room itself was holding its breath.
“I don't have any family left there,” he said slowly, like the words were foreign in his mouth.
“Oh, my god. I'm so sorry,” Sierra caught herself. The guilt was strong and sudden. She hated that she asked.
“It's okay,” he said, shaking his head. “I just had to get out of there and start my own life,” he explained, staring down at his hands.
“I understand that completely,” Sierra said. Leaning forward, she rested her hand on his leg. “Sometimes you just have to get out of dodge,” she agreed. His leg was warm through his jeans, and the sensation was surprisingly relaxing.
“Thank you,” he said, leaning toward her.
She knew better.
She should have been scared.
Their lips touched, though, carefully at first, and she couldn't make herself fear him if she tried.