Page 7 of Midlife Wolf Captured My Heart

I can’t imagine how they would react if I started hanging out with him all the time, and if we did have a thing going on.She shook her head to dispel the thought. They had talked twice. That’s it.

Dinner seemed to take forever. Sadie escaped as soon as she possibly could. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her family, but sometimes they could be a little irritating. She was so glad when she could go home, shower, and relax.

Sadie laughedat herself the next morning. She was actually nervous as she opened the library and waited for the call that Dakota had arrived. She had fantasized about him and wondered if she had exaggerated his attributes in her mind.

Finally, the call came that her guest had arrived and she went to the office to greet him. He gave her a quick hug, sending a bolt of electricity through her. Her knees went a little weak and then she told herself to knock it off. She was acting worse than the silly girls at the school.

He quickly got set up and the kids filed into the auditorium. The kids were talking excitedly, mostly because they had a chance to get out of class. Many of them would have no idea who Dakota was. Once they were seated, Sadie stood in the middle of the floor facing the students.

“Good morning, everyone. I hope you are having a fabulous day. I’m super excited to introduce your guest speaker for today. Mr. Dakota Higgins is a world-renowned wildlife photographer who took time out of his busy day to share some of his work with you. He has written several books and has been featuredin many documentaries. His work has been published in several magazines. He also has a showing at a gallery in Albuquerque coming up.” She held up some of his books. “We have some of his books in the library if anyone wants to check them out later.”

She was pleased that the majority of the kids seemed to be paying attention.

“I expect you all to give Mr. Higgins your full attention and respect.” She grinned. “He’s also one of us. He was born and raised in Angel’s Creek so he’s our own celebrity.”

The kids clapped for him as he stepped to the mic. The lights were dimmed and he spoke. “Thank you, Ms. Andrews. It’s great to be back home. I graduated from this school. It doesn’t seem to have changed at all. I’m excited to share my adventures with you from the savannahs of Africa to the depths of the Amazon rainforest. I’ve had the privilege of capturing some of the extraordinary scenes you could ever imagine.”

He talked about some of the different animals he had encountered, telling the kids stories about the fun and endearing actions of the animals. Then, he showed pictures from his recent book about the lives of grizzly bears. The kids were mesmerized by the passion in Dakota’s voice. Sadie felt herself drawn into the lives of the bears, as she was a grizzly bear shifter. She could almost picture herself among those Dakota had captured on film.

There was a question-and-answer session after the presentation. A lot of kids raised their hands with intelligent, well-thought-out questions. They were very interested in Dakota’s presentation and not just trying to get out of class.

Mrs. Jones, the school principal, walked up to Dakota and offered him her hand. “Congrats on an amazing job. You really had their attention. I’m pretty sure they would have stayed still and listened to you all day. Thank you for taking the time out to visit with us.”

Dakota smiled at her as he shook her hand. “My pleasure. I really enjoyed it. Maybe I got at least one kid interested in biology and the world around them.”

“I’m sure you did,” Mrs. Jones assured him.

She went back to her office, leaving Sadie and Dakota alone in the auditorium. “You know that I’m a bear shifter. Your presentation was so amazing that I actually felt as though I was with them. It tugged at my inner bear.”

“Good. Then I did my job. You know, I could tell you more stories tonight if you let me take you to dinner.”

“How about my place again? I’ll cook the other dish I know how to make.”

He laughed. “Sounds great. Same time?”

“Yep.”

Dakota packed up his computer and she walked him out, conscious of the cameras focused on them. She was glad of them because that meant she had to keep her hands to herself – at least for now.

All of his books were checked out by lunchtime. The kids really got into his presentation. She knew that passion about a topic can be contagious, which was why teachers had to be passionate about their subjects in school.

In spite of being busy, the day seemed to drag on. Finally, school was dismissed and she could leave. After stopping by the store for a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, she rushed home with a smile on her face, peeling potatoes for one of the other casserole dishes she knew how to make.

She was so nervous while she worked. Sadie was terrified that he would kiss her and sweep her off of his feet – and she was terrified that he wouldn’t.

4

Dakota

Dakota walked up to Sadie’s front door, holding a bouquet of flowers. He almost ditched them, feeling like they were a little too much. He laughed at himself for feeling so nervous about a dinner date.

Although he was no Clint Eastwood or Johnny Depp, he was used to having fans. While their fans consisted of masses of adoring women, Dakota managed to attract a lot of nerds – Many of whom were as beautiful and sexy as Sadie, but none of them had that same magnetic pull on him that she did.

He looked at the flowers again but before he could figure out what to do with them, she opened the door.

“My security cam alerted me,” she said by way of explanation. Her green eyes lit up when she saw the flowers. “I can’t remember the last time someone brought me flowers. They’re beautiful.”

She smelled the flowers and grinned. “They smell delicious.” He watched as she pulled some plastic flowers out of a vase and set them to the side. Her movements were very graceful, almost as though she was a dancer instead of a librarian.

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