Page 4 of Broken Chains

Mr. Powell came out of his office and smiled, shaking his head. “In a hurry this morning, Peyton?”

“Yes, sir. Food emergency,” I said, seriously.

He gave a jovial laugh. “Food emergency, huh?”

“Afraid so. They had a small fire in the kitchen over at the dining hall for the ranch. Kate’s pitching in to help provide meals for all the hands today.”

“I’m really sorry to hear that,” he said sincerely. “I know this wasn’t a planned expenditure then, so I’d like to help out. Smith, come here,” he called to one of the workers. “Please give Peyton here a hand, and do me a favor, check her out personally and use your twenty percent employee discount when you do.”

I stood there speechless. This guy, Smith, was the most gorgeous man I’d ever laid eyes on. I wasn’t the type to really notice or go goo-goo over a guy, never had been, but there was something different about him. The bulging muscles straining the sleeve of his T-shirt made me want to reach out and hold on for dear life. They were the kind of arms a girl could take comfort in, knowing that being held by them, everything was going to be okay.

I shook my head to clear it. “Uh, thank you. That really isn’t necessary, though.”

“Nonsense. You give my best to Kate and all the folks out that way, and good luck.”

“Thank you, Mr. Powell,” I managed to say.

My mouth was dry and sticky while my body tingled all over. Smith didn’t say a word, but he kept staring at me through dark lashes any girl would kill for. His light green eyes were in sharp contrast to his dark coloring. I was mesmerized.

My phone rang, pulling me from my trance.

“Hello?”

“Hey Pey, if you haven’t left Powell’s yet, can you add five gallons of milk to the list? We had a little accident.”

“Eddie again?”

She sighed. “Yeah, how’d you guess.”

“That man is a menace in the kitchen, Kate.”

“I know, I know, but I can’t afford to replace him right now. Can you get the milk?”

“Sure thing. I am just checking out now. I’ll be back as fast as I can.”

“Thanks, you’re a lifesaver.”

I hung up the phone and then turned to the man who had my stomach all in knots.

“I need to grab a couple more things real fast,” I said. “I’ll be right back.”

He didn’t say a word, just nodded as he continued checking me out. I took that as an okay and ran to the back of the store. Five gallons of milk wasn’t that easy to juggle without a cart, but I managed to get them back to the front without dropping anything.

He rang them up, then swiped his card for my discount. I had to remember to tell Kate to send a thank you card to Mr. Powell for that.

“That brings you down to one-hundred eighty-three dollars and twenty-nine cents,” he said in a deep voice that rumbled through my body and slammed into my core.

Holy shit! I’d never been so turned on by anything in my entire life. I squeezed my thighs together and passed him my card. When our fingers brushed, goosebumps broke out across my skin.

Mate!my inner wolf said, loud and clear.

I started to hyperventilate. I couldn’t believe this was happening now, of all times. The room spun and the edges of my vision began to darken.

The next thing I knew, I was staring up into the Caribbean. I smiled and sighed, then realized my head was pounding.

“Ow.” I opened my eyes again. “Where am I?”

“Don’t worry, Peyton, I’ve got an ambulance on the way,” I heard Mr. Powell say.

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