Barlow stared at his beer - his way overpriced microbrewery beer. What the hell was cranberry wheat? What was wrong with freaking regular beer?
He bet the bunch of pussies in this club just ate it up. Probably refused good old-fashioned cheap beer.
Coming here had been a mistake. This wasn’t his crowd; this wasn’t where he wanted to be.
But he had listened to that dumb lion shifter who had taken off with the first human who batted her eyes at him. Stupid best friend idiot. His wolf growled out a few more insults.
Female company would be nice, but his animal wasn’t in the mood to make idiotic small talk and go through the motions. The break up with his last girlfriend, Roxanne hadn’t exactly put him in a good mood.
His wolf huffed in annoyance, and Barlow soothed him. No need to dredge all that up.
Leaving the army had been the right choice. He had been away from home for twelve years, and he was about ready to go back. He left home because he was itchy for something new, and his young wolf had felt strangled by both his father and his alpha. But he was older now, ready for a quieter life.
He took a swig of his disgusting beer hoping to drown that thought. Vegas was his last pit stop before actually going home. It was a chance to blow off steam - again, the idiot lion’s idea.
He wasn’t blowing any off, more like gaining more steam. The more he drank, the more agitated he became about actually going home.
What was he even supposed to do? He didn’t know anything else other than being in the army.
He had left the pack when he was eighteen determined to… what? Just be free? Maybe. Now he was returning twelve years later without much to show for it. What was he going to do, crash on his dad’s couch until inspiration struck on what he wanted to do with his life?
He glared at his beer – didn’t it use to take less of these to make him forget everything?
A delicate cough pulled him out of his funk. His wolf actually raised his head to take an interest in the female hovering at his elbow.
She smells like magnolia thought the beast with unexpected interest. Huh. When was it that he actually noticed something like that?
“Ummm, may I join you?”
He was going to tell her to get lost like the other women, but she wasn’t like them. Hadn’t come swaggering over to him, hadn’t assumed he would just fall over his tongue to buy her a drink.
She was small but curvy and conservatively dressed in a blue sheath dress that seemed to be trying to cover up those curves but failed miserably, and flat shoes that did nothing to enhance her diminutive size. Her light brown skin looked luminous, framed by shiny black hair, and her big brown eyes regarding him somewhat warily sparkled.
She didn’t look like she wanted to be at the club. In fact, given the way her eyes were darting around, he’d say she wanted to be anywhere in the world but there at that moment.
He held her in his gaze for a few moments while she squirmed and he came to a decision.
“Sure, can I get you a drink?”
*
Why didn’t he say no? He said no to all the other women. Did he know how uncomfortable this made her and was, therefore, trying to torture her?
He raised an eyebrow waiting for an answer.
“Ah, a Screaming… white wine.”
“A screaming white wine?”
Yeah, she was going to ask for a screaming orgasm, but that opened her up to all kinds of retorts she wasn’t quite ready to handle.
“White wine,” she clarified. “I’m Susie.”
“Barlow.”
She tried clambering up on the seat next to him – apparently, the furniture in the club was not designed for anyone under five-foot-ten. Her five-foot-two-inch frame never stood a chance. Her foot slipped, and before she could crash to the ground in the least sexy act the club had ever seen, a huge hand landed on her waist and hoisted her up. It was on her for less than five seconds, but she swore she would be able to feel the heated imprint for days.
By the time she was upright and less flustered, he was no longer looking at her; he was signaling the bartender. Her embarrassment managed to ebb a little, and she took a moment to study his profile.
Crap. He was like a Greek god. Staring at him across a room had in no way prepared her for this. She looked at his size, his muscles, and his tattoos, without really looking at his beautiful face. Good lord, why on earth was he buying her a drink?
As a joke, maybe? Was he going to throw it in her face and tell her not to ever be so stupid in future by thinking that someone like him would want anything to do with her? Well, she couldn’t even hang on to Allen – he had stomped all over her heart, and Allen wasn’t nearly as intimidating as this guy.
No, she couldn’t take any more humiliation. She started climbing down, ready to storm off.
He caught sight of her movement and frowned. “Where are you going?”
“Ah, oh, just to the ladies,” she lied.
That steel gaze trapped her for a few more moments before he nodded shortly. He took her arm and gently helped her down. She wobbled a bit when he removed his hand, and momentarily tried to think of a reason to get him to put it back, but then she pulled herself together.
Cheeks blazing, she scurried to the bathroom. Her friends had already left, insanely thinking she was set for the night.
She’d go to the bathroom and call a cab and go back to her room, don her pajamas and watch TV while eating the snack cakes she had packed in her suitcase – no way was she risking having to buy those from the minibar.
Yep, start the night as she meant to go on for the rest of her life.
*
Seriously? Not even a drink together and Susie was already lying. Barlow sensed it. She wouldn’t meet his eyes, her lips quivered, and she virtually ran away from him.
Well, if there was one thing a wolf liked, it was a good chase. His wolf was practically salivating.
Her big quivering lips didn’t hurt either. He wanted to suck on that bottom lip. Well, he wanted to suckle some other things more, but the lip would be a start.
Jeez, how long had it been since he felt such strong lust for a woman? Even Roxanne hadn’t elicited such a response. His wolf sneered and Barlow hushed him.
Well, his little lady was certainly cute. The big eyes and upturned nose made her look like a doll. A sexy doll – not one of those creepy china ones his Gram-Gram used to collect.
He’d have to be careful he didn’t hurt her. He usually went for other wolves and on occasion she-bears. Ones who were rougher in the sack than he was. Most of them came after him, pursued him, and the smug wolf in him enjoyed that.
This little creature approached him first, and for a moment, he thought her to be confident and eager to be with him, but that clearly wasn’t true. Made him wonder why she bothered in the first place.
She was still in the bathroom. His wolf could smell that magnolia blossom scent that almost made him weak in the knees. He was hovering outside the bathroom like a loon.
He had always laughed at his brother for the way he pandered to his mate. Running to and fro to do her bidding, holding her purse while she tried on dresses - acting like a lovesick idiot. Yet, what was he doing? Following a woman who had barely even said a handful of words to him.
He should walk away and leave her – he did not want to lose his head over a female. He had no intention of anything lasting longer than the night, so why waste his time chasing after a female who wasn’t interested? Yep, he should just walk away. Barlow started to move, and his wolf let out a loud howl. Fine. Maybe he could see where this led. A night of fun with her sounded mighty good, and it would be just one night – it didn’t need to be anything more.
Susie ran out of the bathroom, crashing into him. Thankfully, her small frame barely made him wobble. She sure was small. Perfect handful he thought appreciatively as he looked her up and down.
“What are you doing here?” she gasped as he steadied her.
His beast growled in pleasure as he took a strong hit of her scent. Divine.
“You ran away so quickly; I was concerned,” he said. His hand slipped to her waist, and yep, it fit there just nicely. “You okay?”
“Ah, I’m feeling a little sick.”
Another lie. His wolf snorted in disapproval, but he would let her have it.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said, playing along.
“I better just go back to my hotel.”
“I agree.” First good idea he’d heard all night.
Susie smiled wanly. “Sorry.”
“That’s fine, which hotel?”
“Ah…”
Barlow maneuvered her towards the door, his hand not leaving her waist.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Escorting you to your hotel.”
Her cheeks flushed. “There’s no need.”
He grinned at her. “I insist.” He could be a gentleman for once, even if his thoughts of what he wanted to do to her were as far removed from a gentleman’s as could be imagined.
“Well, my friends…”
“They left five minutes ago.”
Susie’s brow creased. “How do you…”
“Where are you staying?”
“The Eiffel Tower – it’s the…”
“Paris themed hotel – I know, let’s go.”
Rawr.