The tiny kitchen, living room and bedroom were all visible with no walls separating them. Being in a below ground basement, the apartment was gloomy. Leif had a feeling even if it had been the middle of the afternoon, instead of the evening, there wouldn’t have been much light streaming in from the small windows set high in the walls.
Personally, if he had to live here, he would have been claustrophobic within a week. The drop ceiling was low enough that Leif had to almost hunch his shoulders so the top of his head wouldn’t brush it.
Moving to the area that was her bedroom, Jaden pulled some clothes out of her dresser, then said, “Take a seat. I’ll just be a few minutes.” She walked over to what had to be the bathroom and shut the door behind her.
Leif went and sat down on the couch that had seen better days. A small nineteen-inch TV sat across from it on an equally small stand. The place was no prize, but Jaden kept it neat as a pin. There was no clutter, and there didn’t seem to be a speck of dust on any of the furniture. She obviously didn’t have enough money to live better than this, but Jaden appeared to be making the most of what she could afford. Seeing how his mate lived, Leif had to fight the instinct to take her away from all this and give her something better. But since he wasn’t going to claim her as his, he couldn’t do that.
Jaden came out of the bathroom wearing a pair of black jeans and a pink long sleeved t-shirt. She carried her store uniform over to her bedroom and put it on the bed before she moved over to where he sat.
“Is what I’m wearing going to be okay?” She gestured to his jeans and shirt. “Going by what you have on, I figured we wouldn’t be going anywhere fancy.”
“No, it’s casual.”
“Good. I guess we should head out then.”
Jaden headed for the door when Leif stood. Following behind her as she walked up the stairs, his gaze fell to her ass. The jeans she wore hugged her hips and backside, showing off her curved-in waist a lot better than the dress pants she’d worn for work.
Even the long sleeved t-shirt she had on molded her upper body in a flattering fit. Before she’d turned away, Leif had seen she had generous breasts, something the grocery store’s uniform did not reveal. Looking his fill of the back of her, his cock hardened painfully.
He quickly adjusted his erection before Jaden could see it.
Back in his car, he drove them to the Italian restaurant he’d told her about. The interior had dark wood paneling on the walls, red thick carpet under foot and red and white checked tablecloths. Not owned by a large restaurant chain, it was family run and only had limited seating. Luckily for them, there was a table free, and they were quickly seated.
Once they were settled with menus open in front of them, Leif said, “So, what do you do for fun when you’re not working?”
Jaden lifted her gaze from her menu and looked at him. “Not much. I mostly sit at home and watch TV or read.”
“You don’t go out with your friends?”
Her gaze fell to the menu again. “No. I don’t have what you would call close friends.
I don’t mind really. I’ve always been a bit of a loner anyway.”
When the waitress came to take their orders, Jaden ordered the manicotti and Leif asked for the spaghetti and meatballs. After she left them alone again, he said, “Nothing wrong with that, I guess.”
Jaden snorted. “As if you would know anything about being a loner.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Have you looked in the mirror lately? A guy like you is never alone. I’m sure you just have to snap your fingers and a woman falls into your arms. Which leads me to ask, why me?”
Leif latched onto the last part of what she’d said. There was no way he was going to tell Jaden she wasn’t too far off the mark with her statement about women throwing themselves at him. And if he survived this evening, there would more than likely be many more years of it.
“What do you mean by why you?” he asked.
“I’ll say it again, have you looked in a mirror lately? Why would a guy as good-looking as you—who could get any woman he wanted—want anything to do with someone as plain as me?”
The wolf inside him didn’t like how Jaden talked down about herself. Nor did the man. She may not have spectacular looks, but she wasn’t ugly. If she only knew how she affected him, she wouldn’t have asked that particular question. He still had a hard-on, and he ached to bury it deep inside her. He also wanted nothing more than to pull her to him and show her how wrong the perception she had of herself was. Someone had to have put that notion in her head. Whoever it was should count themselves lucky he didn’t know them or Leif would have gladly made them pay.
Reaching across the table, he took hold of Jaden’s hand and laced their fingers together. Touching her made the mating urge dig its claws deeper, but Leif wanted, needed, to have some tactile contact with her.
When she lifted her gaze to his, he said, “When I kissed you, did it feel as if I didn’t want you? Even now, I want to come around to your side of the table, take you in my arms and kiss you until neither one of us knows our name.”
Jaden swallowed. “No, it didn’t feel as if you didn’t want me. I just don’t understand why.”
He lowered his voice so only she heard. “If we were alone right now, I’d show you how badly I want you. Let’s just say the front of my jeans is about two sizes too small.”
With his acute werewolf hearing, Leif heard her heart beat faster. The scent of her arousal perfumed the air around her. The smell of it made his cock jerk. Jaden may have a hard time understanding his interest in her, but that didn’t mean she didn’t want him.
As the air became charged with longing, the waitress appeared with their food. Leif reluctantly let go of Jaden’s hand. She quickly put it on her lap under the table as her food was placed in front of her. Alone once again, she focused her gaze on her meal. Leif decided to let her have that space. He needed it to get himself back under control. Eating some of his spaghetti, he forced his body to cool. He couldn’t let things blaze out of control between them. They would have their meal, he’d drop her back home, and then he would leave. He could do it. No, he had to do it. He didn’t want the alternative if he couldn’t walk away.
Chapter Four
Jaden stole a quick glance over at Leif as he drove them back to her place. She still felt a bit nervous around him, even though their meal had gone well. She hadn’t choked on her food or dumped it on herself, which was a good thing. Most of her nervousness came from how good looking Leif was. During the meal, she’d pinched herself under the table a few times just to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. And hearing Leif say he wanted her left her shaking. Stuff like this didn’t normally happen to her.
Once Leif pulled his car into the driveway of her place and shut off the engine, Jaden took off her seat belt before she turned to face him. She really didn’t want this evening to end. She thought of asking him if he wanted to come inside and watch some TV with her, but she didn’t want to appear too pushy, or desperate.
Deciding to wait and see how Leif wanted to end the night, she said, “Thanks for dinner. The food was really good.”
He took off his belt and turned slightly in his seat. “I told you they had the best Italian food.”
“I’ll have to remember it the next time I get a craving for Italian cuisine.” When Leif didn’t say anything more, but seemed to stare at her in that hungry way of his, she stammered, “Well…ah…I guess—”