by Tasha Black
“Sorry, Ainsley. I guess our small-town news doesn’t make in into the New York Times.” He flashed her a playful smile that made her forget to breathe for a minute. “I own this excavation company. We’re working on the Inn project now. And it sounds like we’re on the short list to do excavation for the new highway coming in. It’s a huge opportunity.”
The highway, was that really going to happen? She knew the residents had been fighting it for years but the highway would finally put the town on the map. Although given the special kind of diversity found in Tarker’s Hollow, maybe that wasn’t such a good thing.
Ainsley’s cheeks flushed at her assumption that Erik was a bog standard construction type. His ambitions had clearly brought him well beyond the role of ditch digger.
It dawned on her that Erik was a wolf, too. She remembered what Mr. MacGregor had told her. Her cheeks flushed even more. She must look like a fool.
“Wow, Erik, that’s amazing. I’m really happy for you.”
He smiled and looked down modestly, showing off those eyelashes again.
For a moment she allowed herself to imagine what it would be like to be his mate. She let her eyes run down the length of his body, wide shoulders forming a triangle with his narrow waist. His jeans hung just low enough that she couldn’t quite see but could well imagine the silken trail leading down to what just had to be a beautiful cock. Even the jeans couldn’t disguise the size of the bulge between his legs.
Plus, he was a wolf. No need to worry about losing control and hurting him. Erik looked like the type that could take care of himself.
He looked up and she met his eyes.
In a heartbeat, the edges of her vision blurred and nothing mattered but Erik. His eyes were luminous; his sweat was an intoxicating musk. His too long hair lifted in an imaginary breeze as his heartbeat strained to match hers. Tiny, golden motes danced along his muscular body.
It was happening again. Just like with MacGregor. Only this wasn’t a middle aged History teacher standing on the other side of the fence.
Ainsley licked her lips and moved toward him. Her palms clinked against chain link fence, just as he crashed into it, clenching the metal in his powerful hands and twisting until several of the links gave way with a pop. God, but he was strong. She had a vision of him tearing down the entire section of fence just to get to her.
A tiny moan escaped her lips and he growled softly in return, his dark eyes flashing a spectacular amber. His wolf must be close to the surface. She could feel her own, begging to be unleashed. Somehow she tore her eyes from his and the spell was broken.
Chapter 8
Erik cursed softly to himself. He had almost lost control. In front of everyone. He hadn’t felt so reckless since he first learned to shift. His father was ex-military. Erik had grown up valuing the benefits of self-discipline.
On the other side of the fence, Ainsley panted and held her head in her hands.
“Wow,” Erik said. “I didn’t think that was real.”
“What was real?” Ainsley asked, regaining her composure.
“The drawing of the alpha.” He could tell from her befuddled look that she had no idea what he was talking about. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen Ainsley Connor confused about anything. “Did you think about mating with me?”
“Uh…” Her cheeks began to flush again.
“It’s okay, I thought about it too.” He smiled but didn’t make eye contact. He didn’t want her to feel too embarrassed about it.
“Yes, Erik, I’m an adult and have had those thoughts casually about plenty of men.” She was trying to sound cool and composed, but her racing heartbeat betrayed her. Ainsley obviously wasn’t used to dealing with wolves. When your senses were this sharp, there wasn’t much use in putting on airs. Most wolves were pretty straightforward as a result.
“Wow, plenty, huh?”
“Well, enough men.” A hint of a smile danced around the corner of her mouth. “Did something crazy really happen just then? Because of who I am?”
“Yes, I always wondered if that part was fairy tale. I guess not.”
He scaled the fence and landed next to her in a fluid motion.
Her closeness was almost intoxicating, and he could feel heat radiating from her in waves. He had to try very, very hard not to think about mating. Not to think about her clawing her fingernails down his chest as he licked the spot where her neck met her collarbone…
He could tell she was having the same problem.
“Let’s not go down that road again,” he teased, letting out a long breath.
“So what’s the drawing of the alpha?” she asked.
“A wolf can’t become alpha without a mate. There’s no room for lone wolves as pack leaders. All wolves have the potential to be an alpha, but most never get a glimpse of it. You are the rightful heir, so when you looked into my eyes and thought about mating with me, it brought out my inner alpha. It was crazy. Did you really see a halo around me?”
She studied him for a moment, as though she were trying to tell if he was joking at her expense. Couldn’t she hear his pulse, or smell him at all? Ainsley was not a very good wolf, but he supposed that was hardly her fault.
“Yes,” she said. “There was light all around you and your hair was moving and your eyes were…”
“It’s funny, there was light around you too – you looked just like an angel,” he mused. “I guess they don’t really talk about that part.”
“So if I were to, um, choose you, you would become the alpha?”
“It’s not that simple. It has to be real, Ainsley. You’d have to love me. Or whoever,” he added, looking away again.
Erik wondered how any small town wolf from Tarker’s Hollow was ever going to convince Ainsley Connor to fall in love. He remembered her stubborn determination, even as a child. The pack might be in more trouble than anyone suspected.
He wished Ainsley’s dad were still around. Michael Connor would know how to handle all of this. He always did.
They stood in silence for a moment.
“I guess I should go. I need coffee, and I have to see Charley about getting the house on the market.” She let out a sigh that would’ve escaped normal ears.
“You must miss your dad so much.” The words were out before he had a chance to think. He could tell Ainsley wasn’t as okay with everything as she pretended to be. Tears welled in her beautiful eyes.
What an asshole.
“It’s just, I know it’s tough.” He tried to recover. “My parents have been gone for a few years now and…”
“Oh, Erik.” A shocked look crossed Ainsley’s face. “I had no idea. I’m-”
“To Florida.” He cut her off. Could he possibly mess up this conversation any more? “My parents moved to Florida when my dads military pension kicked in. And I had to deal with clearing out their old place.”
“Oh. I thought you meant…”
They stared in awkward silence for a moment, Erik unsure what to say next. Then Ainsley laughed. It was a full, throaty laugh that made him think of church bells, and Erik thought he might do anything in the world to hear that sound again.
“Can I walk you over?” Erik asked, feeling relieved.
Ainsley shook her head. “No, thanks. I’m fine.”
They both smiled. He wanted to hug her, but it felt too intimate and she probably didn’t want his sweat and dirt all over her dress.
“Listen,” Erik said. “I don’t want to offend you, but are you staying in the house alone?”
“Yes.”
“Ainsley, everyone in town knows who you are. You might get unwanted visitors.”
“You think there’s anyone who wants to be an alpha so much they would tie me up and tell me to think about mating?”
“I think there are plenty of men who would try to convince you in a nicer way.”
He bristled at the idea of the other young wolves in town, and what they might do to try and work their way into Ains
ley’s good graces. The thought made him want to punch someone.
Why?
He had no claim to Ainsley. Why did seeing her again after all these years make him feel like this? Most likely it was an aftereffect of what had happened, or almost happened, between them a few minutes ago. But Erik thought it might be something more than that.
He sensed Ainsley stiffen at his words. Whatever it was, she felt it too. And she obviously didn’t like it for some reason.
“Well, unfortunately, my parents are dead and I’m not married or anything, so I’m going to be by myself in the house until it’s empty. Don’t worry. It won’t be long,” she said sharply, then stormed away.
Chapter 9
Ainsley felt Erik’s eyes on her as she marched away.
Who did he think he was, anyway?
Treating her like she was some little girl, all alone in Mommy and Daddy’s house, in need of protection. Ainsley Connor was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. She certainly wasn’t about to start taking life advice from someone who howled at the moon in his spare time.
Still, Ainsley thought about Erik’s wide shoulders, straining the seams of his t-shirt. She fought the temptation to turn around for another look.
By the time she got across the overpass her head had cleared a little. Erik was a total hunk, but at the end of the day, he was not really her cup of tea. Her parents had been wrong.
She passed the bookstore and the yoga studio and saw that the storefront next to the train station had changed hands again. Its awkward triangular shape had hosted an endless parade of boulangeries, cheese shops and frozen yogurt parlors. It looked like it was now an independent coffee shop – that was promising. She glanced at the sign. “Edible Complex.” Ugh. Hopefully their coffee was better than their sense of humor.
Ainsley decided to risk a cup, and maybe just a little something sweet to go with it. She pushed open the door to a wave of cool air, rich with the scent of fresh coffee. Her shoulders went down an inch in relief.
A chalkboard by the counter listed the coffee choices. The pastry flavors were labeled with wax pencil on the glass of the case. Pretty decent spread. The boy at the counter swallowed when he saw her.
“Um…Hi…what can I get for you?”
He didn’t look familiar. But he was pulling that thing where he stared while she looked at the menu and then looked away when she turned to make eye contact again. Stupid Tarker’s Hollow.
“Soy latte, please.”
She turned to look around while he steamed the milk. The dim room was filled with small wooden tables and sofas. It seemed to be a popular spot for college students – a relief since they were mostly passing through, not wolves-in-residence.
A table of kids with blue and purple hair sipped tea and fussed with their laptops. An awkward couple on a vintage sofa pretended to look at their iPads while it was clear each wished it were a regular date, not a homework date. At the table by the window, a man read a book – a real book – not on some electronic device. Ainsley squinted to see what it was, but the angle was wrong.
The man holding it was hot, though. No, that wasn’t quite right, he was handsome. He was too refined to be described as hot. He was just Ainsley’s type.
“Uh, soy latte,” the kid called out, as though she weren’t the only one standing at the counter. “Anything else?”
“No, thank you.”
Ainsley’s mood for a treat was ruined. She wouldn’t want the man with the book to think she was the type of person who ate pastries in the middle of the day for no reason, even if she was never going to see him again.
She used a napkin to wipe the stray drips from the sides of the cup, then headed toward the window. If she could just grab a seat close to the book guy, she’d be able to see what he was reading.
She wiped down a table catty-corner to his and took a seat. The heavy oak chair clattered on the pine floor as she pulled it out, causing him to glance in her direction.
Ainsley took him in. Bright blue eyes in a finely chiseled face, crisp white tailored shirt, and longish blonde hair that was too well styled to be cut anywhere in Tarker’s Hollow.
She surveyed his table.
It was free of crumbs and occupied by a paper coffee cup, and a tattered copy of War and Peace.
She checked his hands.
No ring. Manicured nails. An understated Breitling watch peeked from his shirt cuff, not trying too hard to draw attention.
Her eyes were drawn back to War and Peace in wonder.
“Have you read it?” His eyes crinkled when he smiled.
Of course she had. She read it every fall. It was her dad’s favorite, and eventually hers as well, though she’d gone through a rebellious Dostoyevsky phase.
“It’s my favorite book.” That didn’t sound too desperate.
“Join me,” he said. “If the table seems clean enough.”
She studied him again, he was certainly not from Tarker’s Hollow.
He raised an eyebrow and her stomach did a little flip flop.
She grabbed her clutch and her latte and stepped to the table. He stood up immediately and pulled out her chair. She couldn’t decide if the gesture was sincere or ironic, and frankly didn’t know which she would have preferred.
“So, what brings you to Tarker’s Hollow?” It sounded like he was going through niceties by rote.
“I could ask you the same,” she said.
“A local, eh? I’ve been here six months and haven’t seen you. I would remember.”
“I was born here, grew up here, went away to college, then to a job in New York and now I’m back here to close out my parents’ estate.”
“An economical biography. It’s nice to meet a fellow New Yorker,” he said.
“You’re from New York?”
“Not originally, no. But I teach Russian Lit at NYU. I’m at Tarker’s Hollow College on sabbatical, and doing a few lectures here and there to earn my keep.”
Ainsley pursed her lips.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“My dad was the chair of the Russian Lit department at Tarker’s Hollow.”
His eyebrows lifted.
“Michael Connor? He was a legend in the field,” he said. “He was the whole reason I came to study here. You probably know more about this book than I do. I’m Julian Magie.”
Ainsley smiled. It was gratifying to think that someone could admire her dad for something other than being the president of the furry monsters.
“Nice to meet you.” She extended her hand. “Ainsley Connor.”
“His passing was sad news for us all.”
He took her hand and looked into her eyes. She waited for something weird to happen, for her senses to heighten, for a haze to appear around him, for the roof of the coffee shop to cave in.
Nothing.
Except for his gorgeous blue eyes, which were doing a very straightforward kind of magic on her, and one corner of his mouth, delicate and sensual, which was curving upward.
Julian. The Russian Lit professor from New York.
That was more her style.
Chapter 10
Erik watched until Ainsley’s small form disappeared. When she was gone from his sight, he let out a long breath.
Erik had always been popular with human women, who seemed drawn to his latent power. He found them intriguingly delicate, but it was like going through the motions compared to being with a wolf.
And of course there were plenty of female wolves in his life. As a high-ranking young male he pretty much had his pick of willing partners in town. There was even interest from nearby packs, looking to forge alliances in these troubling times.
But there was no one like Ainsley. She had the charms of a woman and the lure of a wolf, all at the same time. It was an intriguing combination.
And they had a history. Though you wouldn’t have guessed it from the way their conversation began. Or the way it ended. He wasn’t sure why she was so mad at him, but h
e was sorry, whatever it was.
The sweet smell of her scented lotions still hung in his nose along with the more alluring musky scent of Ainsley herself. His heart pounded as he remembered how she had drawn his alpha. Her plump lips had parted and the air vibrated with his lust. If that fence hadn’t been there he might have taken her before either of them changed their minds.
He imagined what her soft little body might feel like in his arms. He would pin her down and latch onto her neck, burying himself in her exciting smell. Would she submit to him willingly like a human? Or would she give him a little fight like a wolf?
She was a wolf, after all, even though she pretended not to be. Erik had never seen something so strange. Why would anyone not want to be a wolf?
Erik nosed the air, his own wolf searching for a last whiff.
With a sigh, he reined himself in. Ainsley was a childhood friend, and a pack VIP. And he wasn’t the kind of guy to lose his focus. Especially over a woman whose job was to choose the next alpha.
He wondered idly what it would be like to be the alpha. The business was really taking off and work required most of his time. Erik knew he should hire a site manager, but he liked to be on the job himself – making sure the work was done to his standards. Plus, his wolf felt happiest outside in the fresh air. He would never have enough time to devote to pack business.
On the other hand, having a hand in the inn and highway, he was in a unique position to help the town through some complicated transitions. They were set in their ways, but he knew the changes could be good for them. And they were a smart group – they would understand if he presented it properly.
And to do it all with delicious, high-strung, Ainsley Connor warm and waiting in his bed? He would have to be crazy to not find that part appealing.
He was sure she would choose an academic like her dad. And that was just fine.
But there was no reason he couldn’t spend some time with her. They’d been good friends as children – until middle school when she’d gotten very serious about school and hooked up with Grace Kwan-Cortez and the rest of the homework brigade.
