Page 12 of Midlife Wolf Captured My Heart

“I had one a long time ago. I dated him in high school, but we split up when we graduated. We both wanted something different out of life so we went our separate ways. I’ve dated a few times over the years, but there wasn’t anyone serious in my life. Since I got back to Angel’s Creek, I haven’t dated anyone. Everyone here is so familiar, I guess. What about you?”

Dakota laughed. “I never stayed in one place long enough to date anyone seriously. I think my longest relationship was three months, and that was just because I was in one place doing research and she was comfortable. There weren’t any sparks, but it was comfortable.”

The pizza arrived and they ate and watched a movie. They sat together on the couch and cuddled. It felt amazing to be pressed up against him.

When it ended, he looked at her and smiled. “I guess I need to head back. It’s getting late.”

Sadie came so close to asking him to stay, but the words just wouldn’t come out of her mouth. She wrapped her arms around him and his lips found hers. The kiss was electric and she felt a wet heat between her legs. She could feel his arousal pressed against her belly.

“I should go. Make sure and lock your door.”

Dakota rushed out before Sadie could ask him to stay. As she shut the door behind him, she sighed heavily. She wanted him like she had never wanted anything before. It was a need that came from deep inside of her.

6

Dakota

Dakota had to adjust himself before he could sit in his truck. “I know she wants me as much as I want her. What in the hell is stopping me?”

He had no answer for his own question. Dakota fought the urge to go back to her house, knock, and then take her to bed. He was positive that he could satisfy every need she might have.

His knuckles were white from tension as he headed home. A whirlwind of conflicting thoughts and emotions exploded in his mind. Her scent haunted him, permeating every cell in his body. Images of Sadie’s smile and incredibly expressive eyes danced in his mind. When he was with Sadie, he felt more alive than he had felt in years.

“There are twenty years between us. I’m the same age as her father.” He groaned and ran his hand through his salt and pepper hair, suddenly aware of every gray strand. Dakota didn’t have the wrinkled, lined face of an old man and thought he looked a lot younger than he was, but he couldn’t deny his age.

“What am I thinking? She’s in the prime of her life and I’m getting close to middle aged. Am I having some kind of mid-lifecrisis?” He sighed heavily and shook his head. “Before I know it, I will end up with some kind of flashy sports car and start dying my hair.”

The thoughts made him wince. He had always prided himself on his independence and his ability to stay detached from the rest of the world. However, there was something about Sadie. Somehow, she was able to break through his barriers.

Dakota tried to figure out why she was so attracted to him. “Maybe she’s just impressed with my career.” He made a sound that was a cross between a laugh and a cough and made a face. “She might just have daddy issues.”

As he pulled into his driveway, he told himself, “This is crazy. I’m leaving soon, anyway. It’s better to not complicate things. I should just walk away from her before she decides that she has feelings for me and she gets hurt.”

Dakota shook his head. He knew that he was lying to himself. It wasn’t just Sadie who might end up with a broken heart if he didn’t stay away from her. He felt something for her, too.

He walked into the house, tossed the keys on the small table by the door, and kicked off his boots. After grabbing a beer from the fridge, he sat on the couch and grabbed the remote. It was after midnight and he should be going to bed, but there was no way that he could sleep.

Flicking through the channels, he tried to find something remotely interesting. He stopped as his own face stared back at him from the screen. A video of a black rhino played in the background. He was tempted to watch the documentary to see how it turned out, but he changed the channel. Dakota had only watched a couple of the documentaries he was featured in. He knew that the producers had to edit out information to keep it within the time limits, but he felt like they had cut out important information. Unfortunately, all of the informationwas important, so he wouldn’t have been happy no matter what the producers cut.

He settled on reruns ofNCIS.Dakota smiled as Ducky’s face appeared on the screen. “It was definitely a sad day when David McCallum died.”

As the characters bantered on the screen and Ziva mixed up her idioms, Dakota’s mind wandered. Thoughts of Sadie replaced the faces on the television. He loved her intelligence and the way she could talk about serious topics or be silly. Her laugh was contagious and her eyes really gave him a glimpse into her soul. He could still smell her scent. Fiery embers flared up inside of him.

“Come on, Higgins. Get your shit together. You aren’t sixteen.”

He tried to force his thoughts back to the television, but it didn’t work. Finally, when the show was over and he had no idea who was murdered and who did the murder, he gave up. Heading to the shower, he turned on the water as cold as he could possibly stand it. He stayed in until he was covered in goosebumps and he started shaking. Dakota fell asleep as soon as he made it into bed, completely exhausted. His dreams were filled with images of a red-haired, green-eyed beauty.

Three cups of coffee and two eggs with bacon and toast the next morning finally woke him up. He opened up his computer and forced himself to focus on his research. The lives of wolves finally drew him in and he started on the outline for the pictures he would need based on the family life of wolves.

It was almost lunchtime when his phone buzzed. He smiled when he saw that the text was from Sadie.Good morning. I’m feeling a little restless and wondered if you wanted to go to the mountain, shift, and go for a stroll. I know wolves like to run, but a bear can’t keep up.She ended with a smiley emoji.

His heart started beating a million miles an hour. He wanted nothing more than to accept her invitation. The thought of hanging out with Sadie was tempting.

Then, his doubts crept in. He wasn’t a strong shifter and he didn’t want to humiliate himself by going up on the mountain and not being able to shift all the way. His kind of luck, his head, tail, arms, and legs would shift and the rest of his body would stay human. There had been a few times when he hadn’t been able to shift at all.

He groaned. “I can’t risk it. There’s no way I can let her see me like that.”

Dakota wiped his face with his hand and texted back.I’m sorry, I can’t make it today. I have an online meeting with Lydia Jensen, the curator of the gallery where my pictures will be exhibited. I have to work on my speech, too.

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