by Jane Jamison
“A white wolf? Around these parts?” He laughed, his protruding belly shaking. “Miss, I think you’ve been fed a load of crap, if you’ll pardon my French.”
She smiled and tried not to worry that so many of the others were listening in on their conversation. Granted, it was a small town and most likely a boring place, but they didn’t have to make it so obvious when they were eavesdropping. Still, maybe someone else would step up to the plate and admit to seeing the wolf.
“Maybe so, but I’ve got to give it the old college try.” She’d never gone to college, but he struck her as the type who’d appreciate her using the old-fashioned phrase.
“I guess you do.” He waved at a drop-dead gorgeous woman headed their way. “Mitsy, come here, would you please?”
The older woman’s long, gray-infused blonde hair hung in a golden cascade down her shoulders to her waist. Although she had to be in her sixties, men’s eyes drifted to her as she drew near and didn’t leave her until she’d offered them a smile or a brief touch. Her skin sparkled even under the dim lighting and she moved with the grace of a dancer.
“Hi there.” Mitsy’s smile was as wonderful as the rest of her. She was the type of woman other women disliked on sight. But once she got closer, she exuded a warmth that made the others forget that they envied her radiance.
“Hi.” Livi studied Mitsy closer and would’ve sworn that her body really did sparkle. “I don’t mean to be blunt, but your skin is…different. Okay, that came out all wrong. I don’t mean to be rude.”
Mitsy’s laugh was like hearing wind chimes. “Don’t worry about it. And it’s not my skin, it’s my glitter.” She put her hand in the pocket of the apron she wore over her jeans and peasant blouse, then pulled out a handful of glitter and tossed it into the air.
Livi blinked then laughed as some of the glitter landed on her. How could anyone not laugh when they’d just gotten showered with glitter? “Okay, now I see it.”
“I know it’s a little odd, but it’s my thing. I like to fairy dust people whenever I can. It makes me and them happy.”
She had to admit that getting sprinkled had brightened her mood. “So you’re a fairy? Or are you a witch like Sugar Foot told me?”
Mitsy’s smile grew. “Why can’t I be both? Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get back to the bar. Come on over and I’ll get Charlie to fix you up something to eat. You look like you’re starving.”
She spun around and was gliding across the floor before Livi could answer. “She’s right. I am starving. If you’ll excuse me, mayor, I think I’ll take her up—”
In the next instant, she was lifted off her feet and getting swung around in the air.
Chapter Two
“Holy shit! You’re really here!”
Tony Parker couldn’t believe it. The girl he’d had a wild fling with, the girl who had been gone before he’d woken up, was in Lost Hills. He squeezed her as hard as he could without hurting her and made another quick circle around. She clung to him, yelping as he’d snatched her off her feet and taken her into a bear hug for the swing.
“Damn it! Put me down!”
He dropped her back on her feet. The slap on his jaw sent him jerking his head to the side. He held his jaw and gaped at her. “What the hell was that for?”
“Who the hell are you?” She shoved him hard enough to make him take a step back. “Do you go around picking up strange women all the time? Or am I lucky?”
“Strange? Okay, I’ll give you that. Although I only have our last encounter to base that on. You’re more than likely a lot more normal than I am.” He grinned and drank her in. She was even better looking than she’d been five years earlier when they’d hooked up in Vegas.
She crossed her arms and studied him. Even with her brow scrunched into lines and her beautiful blue eyes narrowed, she was sexier than any woman he’d ever seen.
“Our last encounter? What are you talking about?”
He leaned closer, drawing in her amazing scent. He’d put that aroma in his memory five years earlier and she still smelled the same way. If he hadn’t seen her first, he would’ve recognized her fragrance the second he’d walked into the bar.
“Wait a sec. You don’t remember me?” He placed his palm over his heart. “I can’t believe that. After what we meant to each other”—he leaned even closer—“after what we did that night, I kind of figured you’d never forget me.”
But she had. That was all too apparent in the way she gaped at him.
“Liv, that’s fucked up. I remember everything about you. Sure, we’re a little older now, and we’ve both filled out. You in a major good way, of course. But I would’ve known you anywhere. Don’t you remember our night in Vegas? It’s me. Tony.”
Those incredible eyes grew bigger the moment she remembered. Part of him didn’t blame her. He’d changed a lot in those five years. When they’d met he’d been twenty-five, and for some unknown reason, hadn’t filled out like his brothers had. Hell, like most skinwalkers had by that age. A year after he’d run into Liv, his body had changed, going from a gangly skinny kid to a bulked-out hulk of a man. People who had grown up with him said that his face had grown broader, more masculine.
“No way.” She let her gaze slide down then back up, not once, but twice. Then a third time. “Tony? Is that really you? You look so different.” She arched an eyebrow. “But in a major good way.”
“Thanks.” He lifted an arm and made a muscle. He didn’t care that it earned him chuckles from the peanut gallery. He was always down for a good laugh as long as it wasn’t at anyone’s expense other than his own or his brothers’. “I kind of buffed up.”
“You sure did.” She shook her head. “Wow. I can’t believe this.”
“Yeah, it’s amazing.” He took her hand and dragged her to a booth against the wall. Although he wanted to slide in beside her, especially after getting a feel of how hot her body felt next to his, he took the seat across from her. “Did I tell you how great you look?”
She laughed, bringing up the memory of her infectious laugh. “Yeah, but a girl can never hear that enough.”
“Fine. You look great. Better than ever.”
“I’m glad I’m getting better with age. Or at least better than I was at twenty-two.”
He had to resist licking his lips. “If you get better with age, I want to be around when you turn eighty.”
She fought the smile that came to her lips. “You sure do a lot for a girl’s ego. I remember that quite well.”
“So you remember me now, right?” Her breasts were bigger for one thing. But he doubted she’d appreciate his telling her that. “And meeting me at the bar at Caesar’s Palace?”
She laughed again. “Oh, yeah, I do. I can’t believe I forgot the only guy I’ve ever seen get slapped not once, but twice in less than two minutes. All because of me.”
“Hey, I wouldn’t have gotten slapped if you hadn’t told those girls I was a producer making porn movies. And, damn, they put some power behind those slaps.”
“For Pete’s sake, pull up your big boy pants and stop whining.” She softened her words with another smile. “I made it up to you. I bought you a nice dinner.”
“And some drinks. Lots of drinks.” He could still see her in his mind’s eye, the short, short blue dress she’d worn that had made her hair look like it was on fire. They’d gone to dinner and then drinks, exchanging no real meaningful information, not even their last names, as though they’d silently agreed to keep everything light and easy. He’d only gotten her last name out of her after he’d taken her to bed and fucked her four times. They’d spent the next two days and two incredible nights together. On the second night, exhausted and half-drunk, he’d passed out and had awakened the next morning to find a note on the pillow beside him.
“That was a lousy thing you did. Leaving me to wake up alone.”
He sounded like the heroine in a chick flick, but he didn’t care. Finding the note that had thanked him fo
r a “fun time” had hit him hard in the gut. He’d never admitted it to anyone other than his brothers, but he’d fallen in love with her that wild weekend. After her, no other woman had ever measured up. Having only her name, he’d tried to search for her, had even visited Vegas several times, returning each year on the exact day they’d met and even sitting at the exact spot at the bar. But he’d always come up empty. Then, without warning, here she was, back in his life.
This time I won’t let her get away.
“I didn’t think you’d care.” She reached out then dropped her hand as though she’d suddenly realized what she was doing. “I figured it was just one of those things. Besides, I had to get back home. Believe me. I didn’t leave to be mean. I left so I wouldn’t get—”
She slammed her mouth closed. She was hiding something and he’d have paid a small fortune to know what that was. “So you wouldn’t get what, Liv?”
“You’re the only one who’s ever called me Liv.”
“It’s good to know you remember that, too.” Did she remember how tender he’d been? Then how rough? She’d professed to liking it both ways.
“I remember a lot more than that.”
“Good. My ego’s still intact.”
“Along with your sense of humor. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed as much since then.”
He took her hand over the table. “Then it’s a good thing I’ve found you again. You should laugh every day of the rest of your life and I’ll see that you do.”
* * * *
Livi remembered Tony, all right. She remembered how funny he was, how caring he was, and how hot he was. And now he was even hotter, more mature without losing his boyish charm. And she remembered how he’d made those kinds of remarks. Remarks that she loved hearing, but couldn’t believe. The sweet words had come all too soon and way too fast for her to trust them.
She’d seen him at the bar that night, and for the first time and the last, she’d had a wild weekend fling. Maybe it could’ve been more than a hook-up, but she’d been too frightened to find out.
After her boyfriend of four years, her first lover, had dumped her, she’d headed straight to Vegas to soothe her broken heart. The three girlfriends that had gone along with her had turned out to be less than great friends, leaving her alone at the bar after they’d met a trio of handsome young men to dance with. Then when she’d seen Tony at the bar, flirting with two other women, she’d had to do something. When he’d slipped away to visit the john, she’d told the girls the story that he was a producer scouting for fresh talent for his next porn flick.
Watching them slap him and huff off had been the highlight of her night. At least until he’d finally figured it out and confronted her. After that, he’d given her a lot of even better highlights.
Tony had saved her from a lonely weekend and had shown her that what she’d felt for her boyfriend was nothing to what she was capable of experiencing with someone else. Problem was, the nights she’d spent with him had set her up for other lonely nights. Nights filled with longing for him. Nights trying to imagine what their life together might’ve been like.
After spending time with him, she’d lost interest in other men. Instead, she’d focused on her career. Strange how her career had led her right back to him.
She studied him without seeming like she was. The green eyes that had haunted her dreams were the same, but the face had broadened, losing the roundness of his earlier years and getting sharp angles and a chiseled jaw. He’d gained weight, but it was all muscle, resulting in massive arms and wider-than-wide shoulders. His hair that had been cut short then now curled around the bottom of his ears and highlighted the rakish stubble. He’d been handsome before, but now he was hotter than an inferno. Her skin felt like the heat from his body was already searing her flesh.
“I can’t believe it’s you.”
She’d tried finding him a few months later, but with only his first name to go on, the search had come up empty. She’d finally had to chalk it up to one of those regrets she’d think about when she was old and gray, rocking on the front porch.
“Me, either.”
He laughed, a deep, rich sound that made her cross her legs and squeeze.
“Before we do anything else, you have to tell me your last name.” She glanced down, only now realizing that he still held her hand. She tugged it away, hating to, but not wanting him to think that she was up for another romp in the sack. Her gaze met his intoxicating green one.
She wasn’t. Not yet anyway.
“I’m Tony Parker.”
She rubbed her hands on her lap. Had she been sweating that much when he held her hand? “I’m Olivia Brackin.”
“I know. But I like Liv better.”
She toyed with the inside of her lip. “I do, too.”
“Good.”
They sat together for a minute and might have sat there for who knew how long if it hadn’t been for Mitsy’s arrival. She plopped two plates in front of them, then took the beers off the platter and put them beside the plates. “I figured you two might be kind of hungry. For food among other things.”
A smattering of glitter decorated her plate, but Livi didn’t mind. She’d eat dirt if it meant she could sit with Tony longer.
“You two enjoy. And if you need anything else, you just let me know.”
“Hey!” Tony jerked back when Mitsy thumped him on the side of the head. “What’d I do?”
Mitsy put a finger an inch from his nose. “You make sure you treat her right. You got that? In case you haven’t already realized it, she’s someone special. I can tell.”
“Sure, sure. I know it.” He rubbed his arm and put on an injured expression. “You didn’t have to whack me for that.”
“Uh-huh.” She’d dropped her arm, but brought that finger back up fast. “If you don’t, I might put a hex on you and turn you into a frog.”
“Go ahead. Then Liv can give me a kiss and turn me into a prince.”
“Pff. There aren’t enough kisses in the world for that.” Mitsy pulled a handful of glitter from her pocket and sprinkled it over his head. “Be good, Tony Parker.”
Once Mitsy had hurried away, Livi leaned closer. “I don’t want to say anything bad about your friend, but she’s a little…eccentric.”
He shook his head and the glitter floated in the air around him. “Yeah, I know she seems that way, but you won’t find anyone with a bigger heart. Plus, she knows things and she’s as smart as a whip. Although I could do without all the glitter.”
It pleased her that he spoke that way about the odd woman. Most men would’ve had a laugh and made fun of her.
“Does she really think she can put a hex on you?”
His green eyes darkened. “She does and, frankly, I don’t want to find out the hard way.”
Livi sat back. He had to be kidding. And yet, she didn’t think he was. Maybe the white wolf wasn’t the only thing she should investigate while she was there. Besides, if it kept her in town a little while longer, all the better.
“I’d like to think you came into town for me, but I know better.”
She wasn’t sure how much she wanted to tell him. Instead, she played around with the enormous sandwich and popped a chip into her mouth. A long swallow of her drink followed that, but she still didn’t have an answer.
“It’s the white wolf thing, isn’t it?”
She’d forgotten about the small town grapevine. “So you’ve heard, huh?”
“Yeah, once Sugar Foot knows something, the whole town knows within minutes.”
If only she could bottle his grin and sell it as a miracle cure for whatever ailed people. She was sure she’d make a fortune and do all of mankind, especially all of womankind, a valuable service.
“Then there’s not much else to tell you. I’m going to try and get a photo of the white wolf. Once I do, then I can pay my rent.” She took a bite to cover the cringe she made. Talking about her finances, or the lack of them, wasn’t the sexiest thing
to do.
“Do you really think it exists? Outside its natural habitat up north, that is.” He took a large bite of his sandwich.
Even the way he chewed made her horny. She squirmed, imagining his teeth on a part of her.
“Beats me, but I’m going to try and find out. I don’t suppose you’ve seen it?”
“Me? Naw.” He gave her an appraisal that made her squirm even more. “Hey, don’t tell me you’re thinking of traipsing around the woods by yourself.”
Crap. And we were doing so well.
“I sure am. And please, before you start with any of that macho garbage, know that I’m just as capable of taking care of myself as any man.”
Surprising her, he nodded then added, “Agreed. But then, I wouldn’t recommend any man go wandering around the hills looking for a white wolf. Not alone anyway. Especially when that man, or woman, isn’t used to handling things outdoors.”
He had a point, but she’d be damned if she’d admit it. If she had one fault—and she recognized that she had many—it was a stubborn streak a mile wide. “I appreciate your concern, but I have a job to do and I’m going to do it.”
“I could go with you.”
Her pulse picked up. Did her excitement show on her face? And yet, she didn’t think she’d get much work done with him around. “Thanks, but I’ll pass. I work better alone.”
Why not have a hunk following me around in the woods? Just put a “kick me, I’m stupid” sign on my back for turning him down.
They ate in silence for a few minutes during which time she found it difficult to swallow her food. They’d started out friendly enough, but the mention of her work had put a crimp in the possibility of their re-connecting.
That is, if she wanted to re-connect.
Oh, hell to the yeah.
“Look, Liv, I’m not trying to tell you what to do.”
“Yes, you are. I know you mean well, but that’s exactly what you’re trying to do.”
