“That’s me,” he said with a smile, his gaze never leaving Callie’s.
Callie nodded.
“I need my hand back,” he said with a deliciously raised eyebrow.
Oh, you stupid fuck! she chastised herself as she let go. “Sorry.”
He pulled out his wallet, fished out a business card, and handed it to her. Blackestone Construction. “That’s my cell,” he said. “I’m on my way to a meeting, but give me a call. If you’re free later, maybe we can grab something to eat?” One dark eyebrow deliciously arched again. She wished he’d stop doing that. Every time he did, it made her panties even more squishy. “Unless you’re not available?”
“Oh, I’m available!” The words tumbled out of her mouth in a frantic rush. “Anytime!”
“How about we meet at five this afternoon at Prachett’s? My treat.”
She nodded dumbly.
“Do you know where that is?”
“Over on Highway 5.”
He smiled. “See you at five, Callie.”
“Okay.” She watched him pick up his coffee and stroll out of the shop.
It took every ounce of her strength not to follow him.
Shawna’s laugh brought Callie back to the present. She looked over at her friend, who was beckoning her back to the table with a crooked finger. In a fog, Callie returned and plopped down in her chair. Shawna plucked the card from her hand and studied it before letting out a low whistle.
“I’ve heard of him. Honey, you just hit the jackpot if you don’t let him get off the hook. Rich businessman. His company makes a generous donation to the Foundation every year.”
Callie took the card back as her pulse struggled to slow its racing pace. What have I gotten myself into?
When Callie finally made it home, she walked into the master bedroom, into the large walk-in closet. She stepped through it into her sister’s dooryard.
Babs, in her maiden form, knelt on the ground next to a small vegetable patch. A little pile of weeds lay next to her.
Callie angrily strode over to her. Babs never looked up. “Okay, sis. What. The. Fuck?”
Baba Yaga still didn’t look up. “Cailleach, you show up at my house unannounced, uninvited, and using that tone of voice with me? That’s very risky.”
“Risky my ass!” She ran a hand through her hair. “Damn it! You set me up! You didn’t say anything about me falling in love with this guy or him thinking I am his mate!”
Babs finally sat back on her heels and looked up at her sister. “I take it you met your wolf?”
“My wolf? Oh, no. Fuck, no! Wait just a freaking minute. You know damn well I’m not out to get hitched.”
“Then walk away from him.”
Baba Yaga’s calm tone infuriated Callie. She sputtered, angry and indignant, until she realized walking away from the man whom she’d just met wouldn’t be possible. Dejected, she plopped down onto the grass. “What am I going to do? This wasn’t what I signed up for,” she wailed.
Babs finally smiled. “You’re going out to dinner with him tonight.”
Daniel Blackestone sat in his pickup truck, eyes closed, and waited.
Nope, not going away.
The rock-hard erection he’d developed upon meeting Callie Maher wasn’t getting any better. In fact, as he thought about her, his member throbbed, practically trying to claw its way out of his jeans to go find and fuck her.
To claim her as his One.
Despite all the bullshit he’d been raised on, part of him never expected to meet his One. At least, not like this. Not in line in a coffee shop in Charleston. He certainly never expected this kind of reaction from his body or his soul.
She wasn’t even a wolf. He didn’t know what the hell she was, but human wasn’t among his top thousand choices. She wasn’t a shifter, either. At least, not any shifter breed he’d ever met. Definitely not wolf or canine, and not feline. The only reason he’d let her walk away was because from the way her pulse had raced, and the way her scent suddenly overwhelmed him, he knew she felt the pull, too. She wouldn’t miss their dinner.
She couldn’t any more than he could.
Her scent reminded him of cold, wet spring on a moor in Scotland. When he shook her hand, he had to fight the urge to pull her into his arms and kiss her right there. No woman had ever affected him like that before.
The only thing that kept him from doing it was the fact that they were in public, and that he suspected whatever she was, she had the power to fry him where he stood.
He eventually opened his eyes, resigned to walking around in discomfort all day. Tonight. We have dinner tonight. Then she’ll either be mine, or she’ll kill me in my tracks.
He started the truck and backed out of his parking space. Either way, I will get rid of this boner tonight.
Chapter Two
Callie spent two hours trying to decide what to wear. Another hour trying different hair styles and colors until she went back to the purple streaks.
If he doesn’t like it, fuck him.
Although she strongly suspected she would be fucking him tonight. And well into tomorrow, if she was lucky.
She hoped he didn’t get some silly wolf idea about her being his mate, or whatever the heck it was those wolves did.
Although, if she was truly honest with herself, she realized she might not have a choice. She’d never reacted to any man, human or not, the way she’d reacted to Daniel Blackestone. The flaw in the slaw, so to speak, was the fact that she sensed he was a full-on Alpha wolf, not a man to be dominated. One thing Callie had learned in all her years was she belonged in the driver seat. She didn’t care what Baba Yaga said. She wasn’t looking to get hitched.
This could be interesting.
Her stomach tensed as she drove to the restaurant. A little out in the country, but a homey place with excellent food and a hangout for locals. She sat in the parking lot and tried to talk herself out of this.
I could call his cell and cancel.
Even as she tried to make herself do just that, thinking it the perfect answer to her problem, she grabbed her purse, got out of her car, and locked it before heading inside. Scanning the dining room, she spotted him in a corner booth, his back to the wall and facing the door. He raised his hand in greeting. Totally ignoring the hostess, Callie felt like her feet drifted a few inches off the floor as she coasted over to him.
He stood at her approach and offered a hand. “I’m glad you made it.” His playful smirk told her more than she needed to know. He felt something, too, and he thought he was running the show.
“Thanks.” She shook with him and it took every ounce of will she had to finally disengage her hand and sit in the other side of the booth.
He sat after she did and leaned in across the table. His scent filled her nostrils. She barely managed to choke back a hungry moan.
“Would you like to do this the easy, non-bullshit way?” he asked. “Or do you want to dance around the subject?”
She swallowed, hard. He’d made her. She nodded, not trusting her voice to not squeak.
He smiled. Damn, her panties were already soaked, and she hadn’t even kissed him yet.
I’m sooo going to kill Babs for this.
Daniel studied Callie as she walked across the dining room to join him at the booth. He just hoped she didn’t see his throbbing erection straining at the zipper of his jeans when he stood.
Fuck it. Time to cut to the chase. Whatever she was, she knew it, and he wasn’t going to waste precious time or loss of blood flow to his brain pretending they weren’t what they were just to uphold social norms.