Page 34 of Unwilling Wolf

She eased back, but he caught her arm and slipped his hand gently around her throat. Her breath caught, and Eliza froze under his confusing touch.

He squeezed gently and leaned his clean-shaven face against hers, placed his lips near her ear, and whispered. “I’ll try harder.”

Eliza slid her hand up to his wrist and held on. Would he hurt her? What did it mean when a man held a woman’s tender throat in their strong hands? He could kill her with a squeeze, but he held her ever so gently. She leaned into him and rested her cheek against his. He allowed it for a couple of moments before he released her neck and stepped back.

“Sleep well, Eliza,” he rumbled in a voice that couldn’t pass for human.

“Where are you going?” she asked as he made his way toward the front door.

“I need to be out in the woods for a while. I’ll be back by morning. Keep the door latched.”

“Don’t you need your coat?” she asked, following in confusion.

Garret heaved a sigh and lifted a too-bright gaze to her. “I don’t need anything, Eliza. Just go to sleep. I’ll be back before you wake.”

“Are you ever going to tell me?” she asked before he closed the door, and for a moment, Garret hesitated. For a tiny moment she thought he would tell her. Talk to her. Admit what he was.

But then he disappeared into the dark, and the door closed behind him.

The click of the latch was a very lonely sound.

Chapter Eleven

“Mornin’, Eliza,” Garret said from his seat at the kitchen table as she peeked her head out of the bedroom. “I made you breakfast.” He gestured to a plate of eggs and pork sitting across from his empty plate on the table.

The stubble on his face was already starting to come in, though he’d shaved yesterday. She liked when he had scruff on his face. The first day after he shaved was when he was most beautiful. His blue eyes seemed even brighter when surrounded by all his dark, silky hair.

She pushed the door all the way open and patted her hair, making sure it was still in its pins as she sashayed out into the hallway and toward the kitchen. She’d taken a few extra minutes to put rouge on her cheeks and lip balm on her pout.

She came to a stop in front of the table, waiting for…what? A compliment? She forgot his question. Or statement? What was she supposed to say?

“You good?” Eyebrows raised, Garret looked at her as if she might have lost her mind. “I said good morning.”

“Oh! Right.” Embarrassing heat touched her cheeks. “Good morning,” she said a little too cheerily in an attempt to break the awkward moment.

He shook his head and went back to pulling his boots on. Taking advantage of his distraction, she plopped down on a chair and started on her breakfast. Since coming to Rockdale, her appetite had increased. Probably due to the physical and emotional work life here seemed to entail. That, and her aunt wasn’t around to tell her she ate like a pig.

“How was your…night in the woods?” she asked.

He finished tying his boot and looked up at her with a calculating look. “Why do you ask?”

“Just…making small talk.” Because truth be told, she’d stayed up half the night staring out her bedroom window trying to see him.

“My night was good. It was exactly what I needed it to be.”

“I heard something last night,” she said innocently as she pushed eggs around her plate.

“What did you hear?”

She dared a look up at him to see his reaction when she said, “I didn’t know there were wolves in Texas.”

His lips thinned into a line, and he cracked his neck this way and that. “There are a lot of different animals in Texas. Nothing for you to worry about. Some nights, it’s just best you stay inside with the door latched. Which, clearly, you did. Great job. Eat your food.”

“Bossy,” she accused.

She didn’t miss the smile that ghosted his lips. “I’m going to be out with the cattle most of the day,” Garret said. “The rain’s let up. I need to get them fed properly and drive them closer to the bigger pond in the back. It should be nice and full now to keep ’em. We also need to brand some of the new calves. The boys are helping, but we will be gone until tonight.” As he pulled on his jacket, he cast her a look that brooked no argument. “You saddle Buck and keep him that way. Tie him to the porch and stick close to Lenny today. If you see anyone coming, you head straight east and come get me, you hear?”

She nodded instead of answering lest a blob of eggs flop unbecomingly from her mouth. It wasn’t the impression she wanted him to leave with for the day.

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