So what was Paige playing at?
Maybe she simply isn’t attracted to you…
He wasn’t buying that. Even though she definitely hadn’t thrown herself at him as he envisioned, she was fidgety and aroused by his presence. Her words could say whatever she wanted, but there was no way for her to mask her pheromones.
He had to let her go. For now. “Take care, Paige. Call me when you get untangled.” He smiled, forcing himself to reach for the handle on his car door instead of settling his palm on her pinkening cheek.
She nodded, not saying a word, and then turned and rushed back toward the building.
Shit.
A boyfriend?
At no point in the twelve hours since he’d met her last night had it occurred to him that she might not be available. It was a bump in the road to be sure. But not insurmountable. He just needed to be patient.
Unfortunately, where Paige was concerned, patience was not going to be his strongest suit.
Chapter Two
Luckily, Cuppa Joe was busy all morning, and Paige never had a chance to slow down long enough to ponder her strange interaction with the overbearing Wyatt Arthur. Damn, he was good looking. Why did he have to be so fucking sexy? And why did she have to be attracted to him?
She met men everywhere. They hit on her all the time. Human and shifters. She wasn’t stupid. She knew she had stereotypically good looks that made men’s heads turn her way. Blonde hair. Blue eyes. Delicate features. She easily rejected any man who approached her without flinching. But Wyatt… There was something different about him.
There shouldn’t be. It wasn’t reasonable. She barely met him last night. She’d taken one look at him, inhaled his scent in her parents’ living room, and knew she needed to put thousands of miles between them. So she fled, making a fool of herself in front of Joselyn and Alton.
This morning she hadn’t been as blindsided since she knew he was in the coffee shop before she came out front. She’d taken a deep breath and forced herself to face him like a normal person. Considering her options, the choices were limited. She considered quitting her job on the spot and fleeing right back out the door, but that was ludicrous and wouldn’t have bought her much time. At which point she would have been jobless and still found herself facing Wyatt at some point in the near future.
So, she’d put on a good front, smiled, and pretended she hadn’t run like a little girl last night.
At two o’clock, Paige slipped into the back room, removed her apron, and escaped before Myla could catch her and press the idea of dragging her to some bar to interrogate her.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she was several blocks away, heading toward campus. The University of Calgary was like a second home to her. She felt more comfortable there most of the time than at her parents’ house. Her earliest memories were of her father’s office in the English department and her mother’s office in the history department.
It wasn’t farfetched that Paige had opted to study anthropology and stayed at U of C for all six years of study through her masters. In a few months, she would graduate, and she already had an internship lined up for the summer. The location hadn’t been announced yet, but her professor was working on it.
She hadn’t started applying for jobs yet even though most other students had already been to several interviews. Paige still wasn’t sure which aspect of urban anthropology she wanted to devote her life to. There were so many possibilities.
Her mind wouldn’t stop wandering, even after she made it to the library and found a quiet corner in her favorite section on the third floor. She needed to concentrate on her studies. She did not need thoughts of Wyatt Arthur filling her head.
What was his game plan? Was he really interested in her? It sure seemed like it. After all, he’d spent over two hours in her coffee shop, and she’d felt his gaze following her around the room the entire time. It was a wonder she’d managed to get anyone’s order right.
She should be mad at him or at the very least affronted by how he boldly approached her knowing she had a boyfriend. But there was another factor to consider, and it niggled at the back of her mind. There was a good chance Wyatt was sharp enough to realize her relationship with Gavin was preposterous. Wyatt was a shifter, after all. She could easily scent his attraction to her, which meant he had been able to do the same. There were a lot of things she could block or fake or pretend, but grizzly shifters could only do so much to keep their pheromones a secret from their own kind.
Paige was not herself. She didn’t recognize the woman with the shaky hands and sweaty palms currently occupying her body. She didn’t do men. And she certainly didn’t do shifters. Ever.
“Hey.”
She nearly jumped out of her skin when Gavin slid into the seat across from her and dropped his backpack on the floor with a thud.
“How was work?” he continued while he pulled out a thick book and set it on the table. He lifted his gaze to meet hers, and his brow furrowed. “Geez. What happened to you?”
“Nothing,” she answered too quickly, gripping her notebook stiffly and flipping it open.
Gavin leaned forward, tucked a finger under her chin, and forced her to look at him. “Hey,” he repeated in a gentle tone. “It’s me. Your best friend. Remember?”
She shook herself free of his touch and lowered her face, staring at the open page of her notes and seeing nothing. Gavin was the only person she permitted to touch her like that, with the exception of her parents. Anyone else would have found themselves slapped, or at least swatted.
“Paige?” He sounded worried now. He dipped his face closer.
“I’m fine. Just a busy day at work. Tired.” Could she fool him? She doubted her ability to fool anyone at the moment.
She stared at him hard. Was he fooling anyone? She’d known him for so long she’d lost the ability to decide if he truly pulled off his act of being a straight guy. He was average height, about five nine. Skinny, but not thin. He worked out. He was fit and muscular. He dressed like a straight guy, didn’t he? He even owned a motorcycle. His hair was a little long on top and hung down over his forehead, but he’d kept a well-trimmed beard for several years. Yeah, he pulled it off. She thought.
Gavin leaned even closer, his face inches from hers. “You’re pale, shaking, and your notebook is upside down. Since when do you lie to me? When I dropped you off this morning, you were fine. Now, you’re definitely not fine.”
She sighed. What made her think she could dupe Gavin? When she leaned back in her chair, he was still eyeing her closely. “Can we not do this right now? I have a lot of studying to do. I promise it’s nothing. Drop it? Please?”
He hesitated, his eyes narrowing further, and then he nodded. “Okay, but it’s not forgotten.” He held her gaze while he leaned to the side to pull something else out of his backpack. “I have plans with Reese tonight, but I can cancel if you need me.”
She shook her head. “No. Don’t be silly. Of course not.” She righted herself, flipped her notebook around, and shook the cobwebs from her mind. She needed to study. She did not need to expend one more ounce of her energy on Wyatt Arthur.
Three hours later when Gavin was dropping her off at her apartment, he held her gaze longer than usual while he kissed her lips. “I’m worried about you.”
“Don’t be.”
“Call if you need me.”
“You know I will. Go. Have a fun guy’s night. I’ll see you tomorrow.” All of this was stated a bit louder than necessary while two girls who lived across the hall fumbled around for their keys.
Gavin glanced at the coeds, planted another swift kiss on Paige’s lips, and winked. “You know I love you, right?”
“Yep.”
“Later.” He tugged his backpack higher on his shoulder and waved as he backed down the hallway.
Paige watched him walk away for a moment and then slid into her apartment. It wasn’t as if he was going far. His apartment was one floor up and the opposit
e end of the hallway.
Dropping her backpack on the couch, she headed for the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of her favorite iced tea. She chugged half of it while staring at the rest of the contents of her fridge and realizing she seriously needed to hit the grocery store soon. The tea was always plentiful. She never let it run low. But the rest of her provisions were sparse.
Looked like a frozen dinner was going to have to suffice for tonight because she sure didn’t have the energy or desire to leave her apartment again.
Who was she kidding? Grocery shopping was never high on her list. Any kind of shopping ranked pretty low. If she couldn’t buy it online, there was a chance she didn’t own it. She reached her quota of public appearances at the coffee shop and the library most days. Anything else was pure torture.
Her phone buzzed in her front pocket, indicating she had a text. Probably from her parents. They had been in Australia for only two weeks, and not a day had gone by when they didn’t text. She smiled as she pulled the cell from her jeans. This eight-month sabbatical was a lifetime dream of theirs and the first time in Paige’s twenty-four years that she’d been separated from them. They deserved it. They’d earned it. And they didn’t need to worry about her all the time.
When she flipped the phone around and swiped the screen, her face fell. The text wasn’t from her mom. It was from Joselyn.
Hey. I know it’s late notice, but Alton and Wyatt and I are going out to dinner if you’d like to join us?
Paige leaned against the cabinets at her back, set her half-empty bottle of tea on the counter, and stared at the screen. This could not be happening. Had Wyatt asked his sister to invite Paige? He was persistent if nothing else.
He was also many other things she didn’t care to think about. Older. Sexy. Tall. Broad. Male. Grizzly. Brooding. Gorgeous.
Damn.
Paige didn’t have a relationship with Joselyn. They were the same age, and they’d met several times through Paige’s parents in the last few weeks, but really she and Alton were just the people renting her parents’ home. Not that they couldn’t be friends. It just hadn’t been established yet.
But Wyatt… No way in hell did she want to forge a relationship with that man. Either he was a dick for pursuing her when he knew she had a boyfriend, or he was hyper-perceptive. Either way, she was not having dinner with him tonight or any night. She needed him to go back to Silvertip where he lived and stay there. Two hours away. Too far to run into accidentally. Too far to scent on the street. Too far to daydream about.
Right. As if distance would keep her from thinking about him.
Shit.
With a deep breath, she lifted her other hand and typed a response.
Thanks for the offer. I already have dinner plans with my boyfriend. Have fun though.
She stared at the message for several seconds to make sure it came off sounding anything but awkward before she hit send.
She didn’t even flinch at the lie. She lied so often in her life that it had become easy. Lies slid right off her tongue as if they were truths. Most days even she believed the lies. They piled up.
She lied to her parents, her older siblings, her neighbors, her classmates, and her friends. She chuckled at that last thought. As if she had any true friends. She couldn’t. She hadn’t had a solid girlfriend in ten years. How could she? Their entire relationship would be based on a lie.
In truth, her lack of friends went back further than that. Gavin had already been her best friend long before that fateful day she kept jammed in the back of her mind. It had been easy to build her life around the lies and let them grow. No one had even been cut out of her life. She’d been shy anyway.
Another message came in from Joselyn.
Cool. Have a great time. We’ll pick another day.
Paige sighed. It was for the best. She couldn’t imagine dining in the presence of Wyatt Arthur. And why was he interested in her? Hell, why wasn’t he already bound to someone else? He had to be over thirty. She knew he had a degree from U of C and worked at his family’s brewery in Silvertip. That was about all she knew. It was also all she needed to know.
She closed her eyes, set the phone on the counter, and opened the freezer.
A random dinner went in her microwave without her noticing which one it was.
It was going to be a long night if she didn’t get Wyatt out of her head.
Chapter Three
Two days later, Wyatt stood in the grocery store near his sister’s house, staring at the assortment of flowers in the floral section. He grabbed a bouquet of purple and yellow somethings and let the water drip off the stems. He didn’t know a thing about flowers, nor did he care, but he did want to bring them and a bottle of wine to his sister’s house. After all, she was making him dinner.
Wyatt had thrown himself into his work, doing everything in his power to avoid thinking about Paige. He’d managed to be fairly successful during the daytime. Night was a different story. As soon as he got back to his hotel room the past two nights, he fell onto the bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking about her.
Insanely, he already knew a lot of her little mannerisms. He could visualize the way she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, the way she smiled brightly at each new customer, the way she threaded her fingers in front of her and twisted them around. Did she do that all the time? Or had she been reacting to his presence with the nervous gesture?
In three long days, Wyatt had met with a bottle vendor, the usual can company his brewery used, and visited a local plant that owned a labeler he was looking into. He’d done his best to wear himself out every day. So much so that his week-long trip could easily be cut short. There was no reason for him to stay in Calgary another day.
Except Paige was in Calgary.
As if he’d conjured her telepathically, he suddenly realized she was nearby. Holding the bouquet of flowers in his hand, he spun around to find her entering the store.
She hesitated a moment in the entrance, the length of time it would take her to scent him and know he was close. And then her gaze locked on his.
He smiled or attempted to at least. He had no clue what his expression might actually be revealing. Whatever it was, it fell to a frown when he realized she wasn’t alone.
He hadn’t gotten a good look at her boyfriend the other day. His interest had been in Paige, not a human guy. But this was definitely him.
The man ran into the back of her when she stopped walking. And then she quickly grabbed his hand and held it tightly, still looking at Wyatt. The boyfriend was a few inches taller than her, maybe five nine, and gangly. His brown hair was wavy and longer on top so that it drooped over his forehead. The short-cropped beard made him look older than he probably was.
Wyatt turned his attention back to Paige. It wasn’t as if he could ignore her and walk away. So he stepped toward the entrance as they moved in his direction.
Paige whispered something into the guy’s ear, and he nodded subtly and wrapped an arm around her in a possessive gesture. Awkwardly. Unnaturally.
Interesting. Was it for show? Or was he making a statement? How much did he know about Wyatt?
“Hey, Wyatt,” Paige murmured when only a few feet separated them. “You have a date?” She pointed at the flowers hanging from his hand.
He glanced at the bouquet and back at her. “With my sister. Thought I should bring something.”
She nodded. “That’s a nice thing to do.” After a moment’s hesitation, she wrapped her arm around the guy next to her and hugged him closer.
Wyatt held his emotions in check. For one thing, it wouldn’t do any good to be pissed that she had a man in her life. But more importantly, something about this arrangement seemed off. He didn’t think there was any reason to be jealous of this guy.
“Wyatt, this is my boyfriend, Gavin. Gavin, Wyatt.”
Gavin reached out with his free hand. “Nice to meet you.” He smiled, not seeming the slightest bit concerned that his girlfrien
d had a male acquaintance he hadn’t met.
Wyatt shook his hand, noticing the guy had a firm handshake for someone so small. Although he was lanky, he was fit. And it wasn’t fair to say he was small, either. He was not considered short by human standards. He indeed also wasn’t very old. Probably the same age as Paige, early twenties. If she knew him from university, it would stand to reason they were in the same class.
“How are your meetings going?” Paige asked.
“Good. I wrapped things up today, actually. I’ll probably head home tomorrow.” He wanted to stay in Calgary. He wanted to take this woman out to dinner and woo the hell out of her. The need to do so crawled up his spine and made his mouth dry and his cock stiff. But that didn’t seem to be in the cards, so hanging around Calgary any longer would simply prolong his torture.
“Oh. Well, I guess that’s good.” She licked her lips while squeezing Gavin tighter. A glance at her fingers around his waist proved she was stressed as all get out. Her knuckles were white from gripping his jeans too tight, and she was stiff. Uncomfortable. She shuffled from one foot to the other several times.
He had no idea why he felt the need to antagonize Gavin, but he couldn’t help it. “Paige tells me you two have been together for a few years.”
Gavin lifted a brow. “Uh, yes. That’s right.” He glanced at Paige, his gaze wide as if to ask Who is this guy?
Interesting. “You’re a student at U of C also?”
“Yes.” Gavin glanced down at Paige again and then back at Wyatt. “How do you know Paige?”
Ah ha. So Paige hadn’t mentioned a single word about Wyatt to Gavin. “My sister’s renting her parents’ home. We met the other night.” He didn’t bother to mention the coffee shop.
“Ah, right.”
Grizzly Promise Page 3
