She wanted to be there to watch him work on her car in the middle of her driveway, but she didn’t have any time to waste. She had work to do. The last time she fell for a man that appeared to be more mysterious than innocent, she ended up with nothing but heartache and trouble. Never again.
When Nina got off from work that evening, she made sure there was a cab waiting for her right in front of the bakery. Fully expecting to meet Raoulf in her driveway still working on her car, she instructed the cab driver to take her straight home. But when she got there, there was no sign of the sexy stranger. Her car, however, was seated in the driveway almost like she’d found it. It wasn’t parked in the same exact spot, which told her that he’d gotten the car started.
There was a note stuck in the jam of her door from Raoulf.
Your car is fixed. She’s pretty old, so you’ll have to take her in for maintenance more often. Have her checked thoroughly each time. I’m in town a little while longer and I’ll stop by to see if she gives you any more trouble. I left the key with your neighbor, Hailey. She says she would be in all evening. Take care, R.
Nina was relieved that her car was fixed, but she was a little disappointed that she wouldn’t see Raoulf in the flesh that evening. She had wanted to thank him personally. A non-working car was one less thing she had to worry about now. What she looked forward to no more than anything else was the moment when Raoulf would stop by again.
Chapter 6
Nina had only been with the bakery for about six months, but today was the first day that she’d ever been distracted enough to mess up the measurements on a custom cake order. After that snafu, she'd been working against the clock to get the cake done before the client arrived to pick it up.
All she could think about was the stranger with hair so black that it reveled midnight and eyes so green that it reminded her of an emerald jade stone. And every time she thought about his skin so tanned and taut over muscles so big and tight, she tensed up and her entire body heated in response. She was so sex deprived that it wasn't even funny. She couldn't even remember the last time she had an orgasm. Nonetheless, she spent the whole day hot and bothered by the memory of a stranger that she shouldn’t have even allowed near her home. But he had saved her ass by getting her car working again. It hadn’t failed on her since and a couple days had passed since then. She almost wished it had. She wasn’t doing herself any favors by thinking about the stranger instead of work.
The bakery had closed about an hour ago, and she had just finished cleaning up. Looking a mess with spots of icing and fondue on her clothes, face, and hands, she locked up the shop and headed out. Of course, she had no desire to cook after the hectic day and decided to stop by Bubba's Burger joint to grab a loaded double cheeseburger. Damn what her scale said right now. She'd make time next week to work off some of the excess pounds during her pit stops around the city.
Nina had almost reached the end of the sidewalk when she spotted him—her stranger. She couldn’t have mistaken that sleek, black hair anywhere. He was seated on his parked motorcycle and looking in her general direction.
But how in the world did he know where she worked?
She stopped in her tracks and looked around, grasping for some sign that this perfect Adonis wasn't real and may have been a figment of her imagination. But he was…real.
The strange vibe she got while she was talking to Raoulf in her driveway resurfaced and she dropped her gaze and walked casually in direction of her car. It seemed odd to feel the way she did about a man she didn’t know.
What if he really wasn’t who he said he was? What if he couldn't be trusted? Who was he really? This was insane.
She sighed. Okay, Nina. The guy admitted he was just looking for work. Of course, he's a stranger. He fixed your car for half the price as the auto repair shop. And he kept his word by checking to make sure the car still ran properly.
She was being rude. Again. She had to do what she planned to do: thank him personally.
Reluctantly, she turned back around just as he started up his motorcycle engine. He was about to pull his helmet over his head when she walked in his direction.
“Hey!” she called out to him over the motor, holding up her hand to get his attention.
In her three-inch platform shoes, she clogged down the sidewalk to come to a stopping point in front of his motorcycle.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” She blushed. “I mean, I thought you were just riding through. How’d you find my job?”
He assessed her like a hungry animal and those damn sexy eyes had her rooted to the spot.
She chuckled nervously. “I’m sorry. Don’t answer that. I just think it’s so strange that we keep running into each other like this and we don’t know anything about each other.”
“Yes.”
“Excuse me?”
“I knew you worked here,” he said. “You had on your name badge yesterday when I helped you get your car started. Your friend, Hailey, also mentioned the name of the bakery.”
“Oh,” she breathed. “Well then…I don’t think I really got the chance to thank you properly. I came home the other day and you were gone. Thank you so much. You saved me a bunch of time and money.”
“No need to thank me.”
She dipped her hand down into her purse and pulled out her wallet. “I finally have some more cash. I’m actually glad you came by here. Why don’t I pay you what I would’ve paid at the mechanics—”
“There’s no need for that,” he said.
“Um…but I hate to not give you what I actually owe you in return. Last time that happened, they charged me two hundred dollars to get it working again. What about lunch or dinner or something? My treat.”
For a moment, it looked like he was going to accept and then his gaze moved to the ground between them. His eyebrows furrowed together as if he was deep in thought about something serious. He was taking a really long time to decide whether he would accept her invitation or not.
She bit the corner of her lip and rolled her eyes. “I’m so embarrassed. You know what, just forget it.”
“I’d love to have lunch or dinner with you,” he finally said.
“Okay…” It dawned on her that her fingers were sticky and she probably smelled like a dessert factory. “I’m a little yucky from work. Will you still be in town tomorrow by any chance? I’m actually off tomorrow. Most of the morning, I’ll be out scouting a new unit for my business. And then I’ll be cooking dinner. But, of course, if you just want to grab a bite to eat from a food chain, we can do that too.”
She was rambling.
He grinned. “I actually prefer homemade.”
She smiled. “Why don’t you stop by my house around six-ish? You still remember where I live, right?”
He nodded. “I’ll see you then, Nina.”
The way he said her name had a rush of heat rising up along her spine. As she walked away from him and cobbled clumsily in the direction of her Honda, she knew that his eyes hadn’t left her. He hadn’t even made any moves to start his motorcycle engine. Nina was more than confused. She should’ve been running in the opposite direction from this stranger who had such an intimate impact on her. He had shown up at what seemed like the perfect time. This stranger on a motorcycle who claimed to have just been riding through town. When she’d invited him to dinner, she’d acted on impulse with not much thought. Something compelled her to want to know him.
When she reached her car, she tossed her purse down in the passenger side seat and then turned around to glance back at the stranger. He was still seated on his motorcycle, eyeing her suspiciously. Only this time, he was holding a cell phone in his hand fumbling with something on the touchscreen.
Just when she thought she was making something out of nothing, he stuffed his cell into his back pocket and then cracked a lopsided grin at her.
Too bad he wasn’t near enough to witness the heat rising up her chest and neck. A total stranger was seducing her.
Nina started the engine, backed out of the parking space, and drove off. She was anxious the entire night about her dinner plans with him. She even dreamed about him.
Chapter 7
The moment Raoulf pulled up into Nina's driveway, he and his wolf were both anxious and excited. For the most part, his animal seemed to think that Nina was more than ready to be made aware that Raoulf, the man, wasn’t her only admirer. Raoulf, the wolf, also craved her. His wolf didn’t give a damn about the fact that this was a job for him. An assignment. He wasn’t here to court anyone, please anyone, or test the waters trying to find his mate. He wasn’t having much luck trying to convince his wolf of that fact.
Not only that, the delicious aroma of food wafting through a cracked window served as additional motivation for both of them. He cut the engine and stared at the red door of the townhouse. Just beyond the threshold was the woman who made him forget that he had a job to complete.
If he hoped to stay on schedule, today was supposed to be the day he got a confession from her. Either that, or he was supposed to turn over the information about her whereabouts to his client. But he was doing more than just stalling…
His phone vibrated on his belt jolting him from his thoughts. One glance at the screen revealed that the caller had blocked his ID, but that wasn’t unusual considering the fact that most of his assignments began with anonymous phone calls. He glanced down at his wristwatch. 5:54PM. Reluctantly, he answered the call.
“This is Raoulf. State the reason for your call.”
“Raoulf, it’s Chestnut. Hey, yo…you said you’d get back with me the other night. What’s the deal? You got any updates on that thing?”
Raoulf glanced up at the house just in time to catch the curtains close behind the window near the front door.
“I uh…” he said. “No updates right now. I’m on it.”
“You’re on it? You said you were on it the other day and that you’d located her,” Chestnut said. “What’s the deal?”
“My time’s not up yet. Let me do my job. Rush me and you’ll be back at square one. Do you need my services or not?”
“Alright, I need the confession and a resolution to our agreement. That’s all I care about. It’ll take me a day or two to send my colleague up there, so call me as soon as you’re closing in on her.”
“We’ve already discussed this, Chestnut,” Raoulf stated.
“Yeah, but time is money,” he replied.
Before Chestnut could ruin his mood any further, Raoulf disconnected the phone call and dismounted the bike. He grabbed a small shopping bag from the trunk and headed up the driveway.
The moment she opened the door, her unfiltered beauty rendered him speechless. Again. She wasn’t even wearing makeup. He would have smelled it on her. Her hair was all curls this evening, mostly wavy, with perfectly defined spirals on the ends. The perfume she wore smelled like fresh juniper and crisp, fall breeze.
No matter how hard he tried to process what his wolf’s intuition was trying to tell him about Nina, he always ended up suffering from temporary brain malfunction instead. He’d come across plenty of drop-dead gorgeous women, but none as striking as her. Meeting her had been the equivalent of experiencing his first time as a wolf shifter after the very first change. Exhilarating. Life-altering. And hopeful. He wondered if he was getting soft on the job by falling for the woman he was supposed to turn over. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been assigned women bounty before. Something wasn’t adding up. Either Chestnut was withholding pertinent information about her as a suspect or she was doing a damn good job of hiding her past. Nothing about her gave away any indication that she could ruin a businessman like Chestnut, but Chestnut seemed to think that Nina was capable of just that.
“Well, you’re standing there like you’re not sure if you want to come in or not,” she joked.
“I was just thinking about something,” he said, and then handed her the bag. “Some wine from the local winery I spotted while riding around this morning and a little something else you might need.”
“Thank you.” She grinned and then ushered him inside.
Her home was small and cozy, just like he’d pictured it. The walls of the main living area were painted a vibrant green and the floors were covered with the plushest carpet he’d ever seen. The home looked immaculately cleaned and very well decorated. He looked down at his work boots, wondering if he should remove his shoes. He hung his leather jacket on a coat rack near the door and proceeded to take off his shoes.
“Oh…you don’t need to do that,” she said. “Unless you want to, of course, or if you’re more comfortable that way.”
“It’s a habit,” he replied. “And yes, I’m comfortable that way.”
He took her lead and followed her toward the kitchen where she sat the bag on the counter. The first thing she pulled out was the gift he had picked out for her.
“Oh…” Her smile was perfect. “Thank you.”
She held up the aqua-colored vintage crystal bead suspended from a key ring.
“It’s beautiful. I love adding these to my key chain,” she whispered.
He grinned. “I noticed. It’s handmade. The clerk at the tourist shop said the name of the piece is called “A Moment in Time”.
“That seems fitting, and blue is my favorite color,” she stated.
“The color suits you.”
He didn’t miss the sparkle in her eyes as she blushed.
Next, she pulled out the wine bottle and set it down on the table, which had already been set for two.
“Pinot Noir…nice. This will go perfectly with the chargrilled steak. I hope you’re a meat eater, by the way.”
“Most definitely.”
She smiled. “I figured I couldn’t go wrong with meat and potatoes. Of course, I put my little spin on it. I grew up mostly in Florida and the eastern part of Texas so southern cuisine is what I know.”
“A woman who can cook…that’s not something I encounter every day spending my life on the road. I’ll pick soul food over fast food any day of the week,” he commented.
“Well, I do hope you enjoy the food. I don’t get to prepare full course meals as often as I want to now.”
“No family in the area?” he asked, moving further into her home to look at the framed paintings on her wall and other decorations in her living room.
She shook her head. “Not out here. My parents live abroad. My dad is from France. He was a Master Chef too. With his career in the Navy, we traveled about a lot while I was in school. When my parents retired, they made the decision to move back to France. Now they travel to a lot of the exotic locations that he never got to visit during his time in active duty. I’m an only child. Sometimes it gets lonely, but my parents and I talk about once a week through video chats.”
“That’s good that you’re still close to your folks,” he said.
“What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Any family? I know you mentioned that you traveled a lot too.”
“My parents aren’t alive anymore. I have three brothers.” He cleared his throat, hoping the conversation didn’t lead to anything too revealing. “Do you have anyone in your life right now?”
“No, no time for dating. What’s important to me right now is getting my catering business up and running again?”
“Again?” he pressed. “What happened to the catering business before?”
She frowned and folded her arms across her chest. “I made a dumb mistake, that’s all.”
“Oh?”
“A bad business decision.” She backed up in the direction of the kitchen. “I need to take the peach cobbler out of the oven. I’ll be right back. Make yourself at home.”
She disappeared through a doorway, leaving him standing there to speculate about the circumstances surrounding the mystery of who she really was and what she meant to Chestnut.
Chapter 8
“Could you use some help with anything?”
Nina turned around just in time to see Raoulf standing near the entrance of the kitchen. He was so tall that he bowed his head as he walked through the doorframe.
“I didn’t mean to startle you…again,” he said.
“It’s okay,” she said, unable to take her eyes from him. He was the most compelling man she’d ever seen. “I should’ve invited you in here in the first place. It’s just that I haven’t had anyone in my home in a while, except for the repair guy. And then there’s the staff from the local food bank. I make and freeze some of my casseroles and take them down there on a weekly basis. I’m rambling again…”
Raoulf smiled. “No complaints from me.” He held up his hands. “I found your guest bathroom, so I’m all cleaned up. Can I help you set the table?”
“Sure. Plates and wine glasses are up there. Utensils are in the drawer to the right of the fridge.”
For a man living on the road, he certainly knew how to clean up. Instead of worn jeans and a dark hoodie, he wore a nice pair of black pants and a dark blue collared shirt. He still had on boots, but they were much nicer versions of the ones he previously sported. His hair was still wild and free. That must have been his signature style—unkempt and savage. He wore the unique scar on his face like a badge of honor and didn’t seem ashamed by it in the least.
“Everything smells great. I haven’t had a home-cooked meal in forever,” he said as he began preparing a place setting for each of them.
“I’m glad I could do this for you. I appreciate your help earlier this week,” she said, bending down over the refrigerator to grab the two bowls filled with the chilled Chef salad she’d made earlier just before he’d arrived.
Aspen Valley Wolf Pack (The Complete Series) Page 31