Page 3 of Wolf's Chance

Facing me again, she was bright red and flustered, and I watched with amusement as she tried to make this less awkward while almost shrinking in front of me from the weight of all the curious stares.

“Harper?” I asked.

“Willow,” she corrected. “Willow Harper.” She fidgeted again. Pushing her hair behind her ear, she looked apologetic and pissed off at once. She was so out of her depth I wanted to laugh. “You’re not telling me who you are?”

“You need to work on your flirting.”

“Fli—” Anger cleared any awkwardness she may have been feeling. “I’mnotflirting with you! I want you to stop watching me!”

I sniffed. “Why not?”

“Wh-what?”

I lifted my shoulder in a half shrug. “Why aren’t you flirting with me?”

“I…” Confusion was back. Willow’s mouth opened and closed twice, and her gaze dropped to her feet. She relaxed when she looked up at me again and saw me fighting back a smile. “You’re playing with me.” Pushing her hair off her face, she looked me over again. “I need to go…”

“Again, I wasn’t keeping you.”

Her brow furrowed while she figured out what to say. “I…” With a deep breath, she leveled me with a look. “I know you’re watching me.” Her will faltered when I raised an eyebrow at her statement, but she continued. “Please stop it, it makes me uncomfortable. I don’t want to date you, and it’s kind of creeping me out.”

Holding her stare, I waited for it to become uncomfortable once more. When she started to fidget again, I spoke softly. “Conceited little thing, aren’t you?”

Willow’s eyes widened at the accusation. “I am not!”

“Course you are. You harass me in the street, demand I stop watching you when I’ve given no indication that I was, and then tell me you don’t want to date me. Did I ask you out? No. So yeah,Willow, I’d say you have quite a high opinion of yourself.”

“You’re a dick.”

“And now name-calling.” Giving a low whistle, I pushed a little more. “You’re not winning me over with your charm.”

“I’m not trying towinyou!” Her voice rose several octaves, no doubt causing more attention, a fact she was very much aware of as she winced. “I want you to leave me alone!”

Rolling my eyes, I gestured to the street. “I was. I was minding my own business.Youapproachedme.”

“To stop you from watching me!”

“I’ve never noticed you, darling. You’re looking a bit desperate and, sorry to say, pathetic now.”

“I amnotyour darling!”

Moving to walk past her, I grunted out a laugh. “Finally, you’re right about something.”

“You’re walking away?”

“Look at that, right again. I’ve got things to do.” I left her behind me, listening to her swearing under her breath as I strolled away. When her friend came out of the store to look for her again, I winked as I passed her. “Morning.”

“Hey,” she greeted me with an easy smile. “Willow! Butt, here, now! Class doesn’t teach itself.”

Willow was the teacher? I hadn’t known that. Interesting.

I didn’t look back as I carried on down the street; I was too busy processing everything I had learned about her in our short encounter.

She had fire but she didn’t have the confidence to use it. When she was nervous, she fidgeted, either by shuffling her feet or pushing her hair off her face. Her clothes were worn. She pulled off a bohemian art teacher look well, but if I were a guessing man, and I wasn’t, I’d say that she was short on cash. Or she spent her money on more important things than her appearance.

Looking down at my own worn jeans, I smirked. Could we have something in common?

What wedidn’thave in common was the fact that she was definitely, with no shadow of a doubt, not a shifter. That girl hadn’t a whisker of shifter in her.

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