Page 12 of Torn By The Alpha

“Hello, Sally. You know what day it is, so you know what to order,” Ian said.

“Friday night. A full rack of ribs and some grilled shrimp, with the usual sides,” she said.

Olivia stopped by when they were halfway done with their food. She giggled and said to Ian, “He really gets into his food, doesn’t he?”

Ian looked at Zac’s face and then laughed. “I guess he does. That’s how you know it’s really good.”

“What?” Zac asked, his eyes wide.

With a huge smile, Olivia picked up a napkin and wiped a smear of barbeque sauce off of his cheek. The simple gesture and the slight brush of her finger on his face made his heart jump.

“At least she didn’t give you the mama spit bath,” Ian said, nudging Zac with his elbow.

“You know, I might have been saving that for later,” Zac said.

“In that case,” Olivia replied, dipping her finger in some sauce on his plate. “Let me help you out.” She wiped a streak of sauce on his cheek.

“You devil,” he said, swatting at her behind as she laughed and dodged him.

“You really like her, don’t you?” Ian observed. “I’ve never seen you so playful with anyone before. Usually, you are Mr. Serious.”

“There is something about her,” Zac said. “I don’t know what it is.”

“Hopefully, it’s not the allure of a siren luring you to your doom,” Ian said.

“Nah. I’ve got more sense than that,” Zac replied. I hope, he added to himself.

She stopped back by the table a couple of times to chat with them, when she had a minute. The place was busy, though, so she was practically running to keep up with her orders.

Several of the Griffins Bike Club members decided to stop by for some drinks. They tended to get loud, but they were generally a good group of people. They were keeping Olivia on her toes, though. They could drink faster than she could serve. A couple of them tried to flirt with her, but she simply plastered on the same smile that she gave everyone and kept going.

“Are you about ready, or are you going to hang out and eyeball Olivia all night long?” Ian asked, startling Zac out of her reverie.

“Well, she is more fun to watch than what comes on the television,” Zac said.

“I don’t think that I can argue with you on that,” Ian said. “But, I’m getting tired.”

Olivia waved as they left and then focused her attention back on Bruce, who was telling her a story about how he wrecked his first bike.

As Zac tried to fall asleep that night, an image of her naked body kept popping up in his mind. He wanted so much to wrap his arms around her. He wanted to feel her underneath him as he made love to her. Her scent wrapped around him like a warm blanket as he tried to sleep.

5

Olivia

Olivia sat on the edge of her bed, one sock on and one sock dangling from her toes. She closed her eyes and pictured Zac standing beside the creek, naked. The man had the body of a Roman god. Everything was perfectly sculpted. Her fingers twitched as she imagined tracing the small trail of hair from between his pecs, down his hard stomach to his waist. She had seen a lot of naked men in her life time, some of them better looking than others. However, she had never looked at a naked man before and had her breath stolen.

She licked her bottom lip and closed her eyes, as she remembered how he had stood still, staring at her. His thick biceps and triceps testified to the absolute power this man had. His hard pecs were perfect and his six pack showed that this man took great care of his body. Something inside of her stirred, and she could feel the warmth spreading through her body as she began to ache for him.

Zac had reacted to her just as strongly. Olivia was certain that he had seen his fair share of naked women, as most shifters had, and wouldn’t have that reaction every single time he laid eyes on one. She knew that she hadn’t imagined it when he started to get an erection and decided to walk into the cold creek water.

Her watch beeped, telling her that she needed to be going or she was going to be late for work. She wanted so much to hold on to the image in her mind, but she shook her head and forced herself to finish dressing, pushing his image to the back of her mind. She made it into Howlers’ exactly on time.

“Did you go to the trail I told you about?” Jade asked.

“I did,” Olivia said. “Thank you for telling me about it. The mountain is beautiful. I ran into Zac at the creek.”

Olivia studied Jade’s face for a reaction.