Page 11 of The Alpha's Arrangement
Continually, I sift my hands in and out of the wolf’s hair, the animal not moving a muscle. I find this odd comfort wash over me, tingles forming in my fingertips. I study the animal beneath me and am enthralled.
“You know, you’re a beautiful creature,” I begin talking to him. “Sorry I was scared of you last night. I’ve never had a wolf come to my house before, let alone seen anything as big as you. Except for the brown wolf.” At the mention of the other wolf, I feel a rumble and pull my hand back. “Easy there, big boy.” The wolf begins to calm, and I go back to stroking.
“Don’t tell your friend, but I’m a bit fond of you. Wish I knew why. Maybe it’s your eyes. You remind me of someone.” My focus goes to the stairs before turning back to the animal. “This is very strange, big boy. Never thought in a million years I’d pet a wolf, let alone two in one day. And this arrangement … it’s crazy—living with a man I don’t know for eternity. There’s no way that can be correct. Maybe I should have stayed in Jones Bend.” I continue stroking. “I feel a weird connection to you, and I don’t understand it.”
We sit there for a long time; me randomly talking, him letting out a few noises, but nothing that scares me to the point I pull back.
I watch as he sniffs the air around me. Brave or stupid, I haven’t decided yet, I let him have my hand to sniff. When he licks me with his rough tongue, I pull back, startled at first. Then he lays his head back down and all is calm again.
Eventually, I can barely keep my eyes open. I don’t want him to leave, and it saddens me that he has to. When I tell him it’s time, he goes without any growling. Then, when I look out my window from my bedroom, he’s gone.
CHAPTER SIX
“WOMAN, THIS IS A CRAZY AMOUNT OF COMPUTERS,” CARTER TELLS ME AS I HOOK ALL MY monitors up in my office. He’s not wrong, but for what I do, I need six monitors and more cables than should be deemed legal. It’s a good thing I understand it and love my job.
Since he’s right, I keep quiet, hooking up the machines.
“You gonna leave enough room for my desk?”
I look over to the corner where his desk, bookshelf, and single computer sit. It’s good the space is pretty large, but still … “You may want to move your stuff to your room.”
He lets out a laugh. “Not happenin’.”
Shrugging, I tell him, “Suit yourself.”
He goes to his desk, making his own space, and we work in comfortable silence.
At lunch time, he makes us sandwiches, which we eat out on the back deck. I’ve noted his cell phone rings a lot. He takes the calls outside of the room where I can’t hear. I’m not too sure how I feel about that. I have no right to be jealous about anything, but he does kiss me, give me soft touches, and is exceptionally attentive to me. When I asked who he was talking to, he told me his guys, and I let it rest.
I came here for a fresh start. Suddenly, I have the home of my dreams and possibly the man of my dreams in a package deal. Carter pulls at something inside me, he gives me comfort, and as much as I wonder what he does, who he is, I find that I don’t want him to go away.
For an awkward arrangement, one I’m still not sure about, I find myself becoming settled in it.
“Shouldn’t you be working?” I ask him after we finish eating.
“Took the week off. Wanted to spend it with you.”
“Why?” I sigh. “Carter, this isn’t adding up. I can’t get ahold of my people. The contract is there in black and white, and I have no idea why you would want to live here with me.”
Carter rises, pulls me up from the chair, then his lips are on mine. He takes and takes and takes, demanding more of me with each movement. The kiss consumes me as I fully give in to it, in to him. He sucks all the breath from my lungs, and when he pulls away, I’m a bit light-headed.
“Because, we’re gonna take this time to get to know one another.”
“Normally, people do that without signing a contract saying they have to live with each other.”
“One thing’s for certain, Izzy; I’m not normal.”
You can say that again.
That night, he cooks steaks on my back grill, baked potatoes, and corn on the cob. His meat practically mooed it was so pink, but he ate it all. Carter made mine medium-well, and it was divine. We spent another night on the couch, this time watching movies. Carter changed it up on me, though, by holding me tight.
“I WONDER why the light brown wolf hasn’t come back,” I tell Carter over breakfast a couple days later.
“What do you mean?”
I realize I didn’t tell him of the black wolf coming to me at night. He has every night since the first. I’ve even made it a mission to make sure I’m awake so we don’t miss our time together. I even had this silly notion to let him sleep in the house instead of the cold outside, but I didn’t let into it. He’s a wild animal, after all.
“The black wolf has come every night, but the brown one hasn’t.”
