Page 12 of My Blind Date is a Werewolf

He checked the time on his wristwatch. “I have fifteen minutes before I can leave. Want me to give you a ride back home?”

I opened my mouth to decline. I didn’t want him to go out of his way when his house was all the way across town from my place, but I ended up yawning instead. Now that I’d sat down, all the week’s exhaustion was weighing me down, and I didn’t think I would be getting up from my seat anytime soon.

“You weren’t kidding about the thirty-minute time limit, were you?” I managed a weak smile.

“Afraid not. I have a pack engagement I need to get to.”

Some minutes later, Angie and Mom finally joined us while Eden continued working the room. Since both of them knew Adrian pretty well, there was no awkwardness. The conversation flowed as freely as the wine Mom and Angie were knocking back.

I’d stuck to my one glass, and Adrian had not asked for more scotch after polishing off his.

Angie was trying to wheedle information out of our mother about her relationship with the mayor. In her tipsy state, she was completely unaware of Mom’s growing impatience with her. I deciding to rescue my sister before she was sent off to the corner like a naughty little kid.

“I’ve finally decided to go ahead and get started on all those renovation projects I’ve been going on about,” I said with a raised voice, cutting Angie off before she stuffed her foot deeper into her mouth.

Mom, Angie, and Adrian stared at me strangely because of my sudden outburst. Angie’s blinks were sluggish, but my mother was nonplussed.

“Is that so?” Mom asked. “That’s wonderful, darling. You’ve been talking about upgrading your kitchen forever. Are you going to take care of the renovations, Adrian?” she asked politely.

“This is the first I’m hearing of it, but I do hope that Olivia decides to go with our company. We’re in the process of developing an in-house interior design crew. If you don’t mind, you can act as our benchmark before we officially launch the department,” he said, looking straight into my eyes. A warm flush crept up my neck. There were no words to describe the feeling of being the sole focus of Adrian’s intense gaze. I could feel the phantom caress of it on my cheeks, and though my mind was screaming at me to stop making goo-goo eyes at the man, I couldn’t look away.

“Liv?” Adrian arched a single ginger brow, amusement softening his harsh features. But his eyes… There were banked flames of—and this could have totally been my imagination—a man who felt more than a hint of desire for a woman. I remembered then, a little too late, that wolves possessed heightened senses. The burn in my cheeks raged into an inferno, my throat clogging up at the embarrassing realization that the whole time I was panting after Adrian in my head, his wolf probably scented it all along. His eyes went wide, the pitch black of his pupils growing large and leaving a ring of amber around them before he quickly shifted his gaze from me and tugged at his collar.

“Well, now.” My mother chuckled, catching my attention. Her smile widened, her blue eyes speaking volumes. Unfortunately, I was not well versed in mom-eye speak. But the smug and knowing expression had the hairs on my arms standing on edge. Winking at me, she nabbed a whole wheat oatmeal cookie and took a huge bite.

“Why are both so red? Did I miss something?” Angie asked, her speech slightly slurred as she looked between Adrian and me. He cleared his throat and reached for the pitcher of water at the center of the table, his hand trembling and spilling water off the side of his glass.

“It’s just a little too warm in here.” He was very pointedly not looking at me when he answered my sister.

“So, sweetheart, will you take Adrian up on his offer?” Mom asked, turning her attention to Adrian before I could answer her. “Personally, I think you should work closely with her, Adrian, and make sure she doesn’t get carried away buying things she doesn’t need. I'm half afraid she’ll get a kitchen more suitable for a high-end bakery instead of something to suit her house.”

I made an inelegant noise at the back of my throat. “I’m not that bad. At any rate, I have better control when it comes to these sorts of things than Angie does,” I sputtered, crossing my arms in indignation. This was not the first time, nor would it be the last, that those close to me would accuse me of going overboard with my purchases. It was one of the reasons I had to bring an accountant on board to manage Jumpin’ Beans’ finances as well as my personal account. Whoever thought of the concept of online shopping had clearly not taken shopping addicts like myself into consideration. With purchases only a click away, self-control went right out the window.

Angie rolled her eyes. “Oh please. Remember when you and Sean moved into—”

“Angela.” My mother clicked her tongue, but the damage had already been done. One mention of my ex-husband’s name and it was as if we’d all been doused in cold water. Even Adrian had gone preternaturally still beside me. My sister’s complexion was pale as a ghost, remorse pouring off her in waves. Three sets of eyes looked at me as if they expected me to break down right then and there.

What did it say about me that three years after my divorce my family still expected me to either turn into a blubbering mess or a steaming kettle of acrimony at the mere mention of his name? Was I really so pathetic that my mother and sister assumed I still clung to my pain and bitter feelings like the cliché scorned woman?

“Liv, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to bring that lying—” Angie started to apologize, her eyes clearer than they had been all night. I waved her apology away, the smile on my face genuine as I realized with a start that talking about Sean no longer made me feel like I wanted to drown in a pool of my own tears. Sure, the hurt and resentment were still there, but I could breathe through it and see past all the negative emotions.

“Relax, Ange. It’s not like he’s Voldemort or anything. You can say his name without the world crashing down on us. What my mother and sister are trying to say is that I like to play fast and loose with my purse strings, which is why I need a contractor I can trust. One who’ll reel me in instead of feed into my bad vices of spending money on things I won’t need.”

Adrian nodded and gave me a small smile. “In that case, I’m your man,” he promised.

The air stalled in my lungs, something intense and powerful zapping between us after his declaration. I thought I felt something yank at my heart, like a tether that had been pulled taut. The sensation was so real that I rubbed at my chest to alleviate the pressure only to notice that Adrian was mirroring my movements.

Pausing in the act of rubbing his chest, Adrian ran his fingers through his hair, messing up the slicked-back do. I wondered how his hair would feel between my fingers. Cool and smooth like silk, or as soft as feathers?

“Why don’t you stop by the office whenever you’re free and we hash everything out then?” he asked me, and I nodded my head. He checked his watch one more time, making me wonder what the pack was up to this late at night. While having wolves roam about the town’s forests was a normal everyday occurrence, very few outsiders were allowed to visit the pack circle, and we knew next to nothing about how the pack operated as a whole.

Most of the adult wolves had regular day jobs, but from what I’d gleaned through the years was that they had secondary—or primary, depending on what came first—roles within the pack. Several businesses owned by the werewolves in Mystic Cove contributed a percentage of their monthly profits toward the pack’s finances. It was both one big family and a business.

“I’m heading out now. Do you still want me to give you a lift, or have you changed your mind?” he asked me, undoing the button on his suit jacket as he pushed away from his seat.

“No, I’m coming with you.” I grabbed my purse from the empty seat next to mine and bid my mother and sister goodnight. Eden was nowhere in sight, so I asked them to tell her I was gone.

“You’re leaving already? You haven’t even been here a full hour yet.” Angie pouted.

---