He laughed. “I take it that’s not your usual greeting when you meet new neighbors?”
“I was…having a bad day. And…” She squeezed her eyes shut. “No, that’s not how I normally behave.”
“Too bad,” he teased. “It’s the best welcome-to-the-neighborhood I’ve ever had.”
She dipped her head, putting her face in her hands. “I am so embarrassed.”
The cushion beside her moved, and his warmth filled the space next to her. “Don’t be. I would have done far worse things in your situation.”
“You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”
“Yes, but I’m also a man, and it’s true.”
She peeked at him from between her fingers. “I’m still mortified.”
“Then I probably shouldn’t tell you that I also saw you leaving my house after your illicit swim yesterday.”
“My illicit—” Her mouth hung open as the memory of the afternoon and the tiny bathing suit she’d had on came rushing back.
He held up a finger. “Before you say anything or pass out again, I have to confess that the vision of you in those little scraps of pink almost made me think I was hallucinating. I couldn’t imagine a woman so beautiful really existed.”
Her cheeks were getting pink. She could feel the warmth building in them. His words were enough to leave her temporarily speechless.
“Thankfully,” he continued, “I realized I wasn’t going completely crazy when I saw water by the edge of the pool, then your forgotten towel, and figured out you’d actually been in there and weren’t some figment of my mind.”
“I’m never wearing that bikini again.” She was utterly horrified, but somehow still elated that he remembered her. It was an odd feeling to be so twisted.
“Don’t say that. I’m hoping you’ll have it on tomorrow at my pool party.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You’re having a pool party? I didn’t realize you knew that many people in town. Wait, never mind. You must be having the pack over, right?”
“No, I haven’t met any of them yet. It was just going to be you and me, really.”
Caught off guard, she snorted. A most unbecoming sound, but it was too late to take it back. “That’s very nice of you to invite me, but that suit isn’t really for public viewing.”
“I think that cat’s out of the bag.”
“Oh, no. That cat is in its bag, and it’s staying there.” She was done discussing her bikini. “Hey, it looked like you were headed to my house when I was on my way out. I think. Were you? What were you coming over for?”
“Oh, yeah, that.” His expression turned serious. “I’m not even sure where to start.”
She shrugged. “Just jump in.”
He sighed. “Right. I was coming over to confess a few things of my own. Namely, the reason I moved here—and the reason I’m not exactly dating material. I was struck by lightning, and ever since then, I’ve had some shifting issues.”
“You can’t shift?”
“No, I can shift.” He frowned. “I just can’t control what I shift into. Seems confined to animals that are all in the same biological family, but it’s not always a wolf.”
“Oh.” She nodded in understanding. She doubted most of the females in the pack would be interested in a wolf who couldn’t guarantee he’d be a wolf when it was time to run. Or reproduce. Actually, she wasn’t sure what Rico, the alpha, would think either. “That must be rough.”
“Not as bad as what you’re dealing with, but it’s getting worse. I’m losing control of when and where I shift, too.” He stared at his hands. “That’s why I moved to Shadowvale. I can’t be slipping my human form in the middle of the street.”
She gasped. “Did that happen?”
“No. Worse. I turned into a red wolf in the employee breakroom at the Saver’s Club.”
“Yikes.” But the visual stuck in her head. She rolled her lips together, trying to keep from laughing. “I’m so sorry.”
“Go ahead and laugh. It’s kind of funny.”
“It is, but I’m sure living through it wasn’t.”
“No. What’s worse is that the forced shift wasn’t something I could just get out of, either. I had to live with it until it had run its course, which took a good five hours. And it was all because I saw a photo of a full moon on a book cover.”
“Oh wow. That’s crazy. I didn’t even know that could happen.” If a photo was enough to make him shift, that could cause all kinds of problems. Especially if he had to remain in that form for a while. Most shifters could morph in and out of their animal forms as easily as changing their minds.
“Me either.” He nodded, then jerked his thumb toward the backyard. “That’s why I thought I was hallucinating when I saw you running away from my pool. I thought it was my problem worsening. Like my mind was going. I mean, anything’s possible at this point.”
“I’m glad that wasn’t the case.”
“Me, too. Thanks.” He looked at her again. “How come you’re all dressed up? You look phenomenal, by the way.”
“Thanks. I was going to go down to the pub and pretend I have friends.”
The sympathy in his eyes almost undid her.
She shook her head. “Don’t look at me that way. You’ll make me cry.”
“Sorry. Hey, do they serve food? Let’s go down there and get some dinner. You look too good not to be seen.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely.”
“That would be a lot of fun.” Her evening was coming together so much better than she’d planned. “I haven’t been out with anyone in ten years. You can’t imagine how lonely a life it’s been.” She laughed sadly. “That makes me sound pretty pathetic.”
He suddenly took her hand and squeezed it. “Don’t say that. It’s not like you’ve been alone because of anything you did, or because you’re some terrible person. What this curse has done to you is awful. But don’t let it own you like that.”
She sniffed, looking at her hand in his. The feel of a man’s rough, warm palm against hers was a pleasure she’d forgotten. It was the sweetest sensation she’d felt in a long time. Sweeter, in a way, than her impulsive kiss, because he’d taken her hand. He wanted to touch her. “Yeah. I try.”
“I know it’s easier said than done, but I’m here now and—do you think maybe your curse has actually broken? What if everyone can remember you again?”
She lifted her head. “I can’t hope for that. The letdown would be too much. But…if that was true, that would mean I was cured.”
He stood up, still holding her hand and pulling her along with him. “There’s only one way to find out.”
She grinned. “Okay, the pub it is. And yes, they serve food, so we can grab some dinner.”
“Perfect. Just let me change into something a little nicer, or people are going to think you’re slumming.”
“People won’t think anything. They have no idea who I am.”
He winked as he finally released her hand. “Maybe they will now. Be right back.”
“I’ll be here.”
As he left, she did a little twirl of excitement. Was it possible her curse was broken? Or just over? It had been ten years. Maybe that was the curse’s life-span, and then poof, it was done. That would be amazing.
Her life would be hers again. She could stop introducing herself constantly. That would be especially nice with the assisted-living people when she went to see Aunt Gwen.
The end of her curse really was too much to hope for, but what other explanation could there be? Easy didn’t have any kind of magical powers that would enable him to see her. If such a thing was possible, why wouldn’t someone else in town have recognized her by now?
In the early days of living here, when she’d realized how many different kinds of supernaturals and cursed humans resided in Shadowvale, she’d made a point to test her curse on as many of them as she could.
She’d even rung the goblin king’s doorbell, only to re
alize he didn’t answer his own door.
No one ever remembered her. Just Aunt Gwen and Seymour. And now Easy. Possibly her goldfish, but the jury was out on them.
She twisted her hands together. She couldn’t let herself think anything had changed. It was too much. But maybe if she could figure out why Easy could remember her, maybe that would help her find the key to sticking in everyone else’s mind, too.
It was worth a shot. She just needed to spend a lot of time with him and make sure this whole thing wasn’t a fluke.
Because if tomorrow came and he had no idea who she was…she was going to be crushed.
Chapter Ten
Screw the deadline and the fifty-grand bonus. At least for tonight. He couldn’t abandon Ginny at this moment in time. It was too monumental. For her to live with such a curse for so long, then finally find someone to remember her was huge. And he was honored to be that person. Not sure why it was him, but who knew why anything happened, really?
But it had, and here they were. It was obvious that she was hesitant to get too excited. Like she expected him to suddenly look at her and ask who she was. More time together could help her get past that. But he also worried a little that he might abruptly forget her.
If this was some temporary thing, she’d be devastated. And the worst part of it was he’d have no way of knowing, because he wouldn’t remember her.
So this wasn’t just an evening out, it was an occasion. A celebration. And there was no way he was ditching it to stare at a computer screen.
Plus, the time with her would give them a chance to get to know each other and for him to explain about his deadline and how he was basically going to disappear into his writing cave until the book was turned in. Now more than ever, she had to know why he was going to be scarce.
In a couple boxes in his bedroom marked Closet, he found a dark gray striped button-down, a black belt, and a pair of black boots. They made a dressier outfit with his jeans than his T-shirt had. He changed, then grabbed his wallet and keys and went back to the living room.
He held his arms out as he walked in. “This okay?”
She nodded appreciatively. “You look great. But you looked great before, too.”
“Thanks. You still look phenomenal. Do you mind if I drive? It’ll help me get to know the town.”
“Nope, good with me.” She hesitated. “Wait, do you mean the motorcycle?”
“No, the car. I need to quiet the bike’s muffler a bit before I drive it around again. I could tell by the looks I was getting it was a little too loud for some folks.”
“Yeah, it’s loud.” She shrugged. “But people can learn to live with it.”
“Better if I fix it. I don’t want to be the annoying neighbor.” He got the door for her, then locked it behind them.
Once in the car, she gave him quick directions. He’d been downtown before, but didn’t remember the pub. After her directions, he realized that was because the pub wasn’t on the main drag, but sat on a street right off Main.
He drove a little slower than he might have otherwise, mostly so they could talk. “What kind of work do you do?”
“I’m a graphic designer. Email seems to be about the only way I can communicate without being forgotten. Thankfully. It would be really hard to earn a living without it.”
“I bet. You must be pretty artistic, then, and have a good eye for what works.”
She shrugged, but a smile was on her face. “It’s what I got my degree in, so I do okay. I could always have more work, though.” She patted the Mustang’s dashboard. “My Jeep is a lot older than this beast.”
“I like your Jeep. That’s a great vehicle.” He grinned. “But what can I say? I like fast machines with a lot of muscle.”
“I noticed. What do you do?”
“I’m a writer.”
“Really? Of what?”
“Books.”
“That’s cool. Are you published? What kind of books?”
“Yes, and military thrillers.”
“Wow.” She bit her bottom lip. “Can I read one?”
“You really want to? Or are you just being polite?”
She laughed. “I want to. I read constantly. And I read everything.” She pulled out her phone and started tapping the screen. “What’s your pen name? I’m going to look you up right now.”
“No pen name. I write under my real name. Well, my initials. E.Z. Grayle.”
She typed his name in and tapped the screen again. For two seconds, she was silent. “Holy. Crap. You’re the guy behind Tomahawk Jones?”
With a slightly nervous laugh, he nodded. “Guilty. You’ve heard of the books, I take it?”
“Heard of them? I’ve read both of them. E.Z. Easy. Why did I never make that connection? What’s the Z stand for?”
“Zachariah.” He shook his head. “Family names. My brothers got stuck with Malachi and Caleb.”
“Those aren’t so bad.” She shook her head. “How about that? I live next door to a real-live famous person.”
The nervous laugh slipped out of him again. “Not really famous. But I might become a little better known when the movie comes out—”
She shrieked. “There’s going to be a movie?”
He glanced at her to make sure she was all right. “Yep. It’s in production.”
She was staring at him now. “I might faint again.”
He snorted. “All right, settle down over there.”
“So when’s the next book out?”
“About that…it’s one of the things I wanted to tell you about.” He couldn’t have asked for a better segue. “My publisher just moved my deadline up by two months. I agreed to it, but it means I’m going to disappear for the next couple months, because writing twenty-four seven is the only way I can meet that goal.”
He slanted his gaze at her, to see how she was reacting.
She frowned. “Don’t they know you just moved? How are you going to write and get unpacked and do all the house stuff that goes with moving?”
“I’m pushing it all aside, that’s how. There’s a big bonus attached to turning this book in early. Too much for me to ignore. So if I have to live out of boxes for the next couple of months, so be it.”
“Well, I understand that. Money is a big motivator.” She crossed her arms. “My offer to help still stands, you know. With the house stuff, I mean. I’m not so busy that I don’t have a couple hours a day to lend a hand. You’d be amazed at how not having a social life frees up the day.”
“I can’t ask you to do that. We just met. That would be taking advantage of your generosity.”
“I’m offering, though. That kind of negates the taking-advantage bit.”
“Even so.” He turned toward downtown. “I could pay you. What’s the going rate for an assistant? I can swing that.”
“Then you’d be my boss. That might be weird.” She went silent for a moment, and he looked over only to see the most curious expression on her face. “You know, like if I wanted to kiss you again.”
He almost ran the car off the road. “Yeah, no, that wouldn’t work. I mean the boss thing. Not the kissing thing. The kissing thing was good.”
He snuck a look at her in time to see her cheeks going pink.
He took a breath. “I would love the help. But I don’t want you to do it for free. There has to be something I can do for you in exchange.”
“Let’s see how the first day goes. I might make you crazy. Not that I plan to, but you never know.”
Oh, he knew. She did make him crazy. In the best possible way. “I kind of have a feeling it’s going to be fine.”
“I won’t bother you while you’re writing. I promise. I don’t like to be bothered while I’m working, so I get it. Disrupts the creative flow. I’m sure writing is like that, too.”
“It is.” He pulled into the pub’s parking lot and found a spot. Looked a little busy. “That’s what happened the second time you came over. Why I asked you to come back in an h
our. I was trying to finish up a chapter.”
“Sorry about that.”
He parked and turned the car off. “You didn’t know. And I’m sorry I brushed you off. C’mon, let’s get some grub.”
They got out, and he waited for her at the rear of the car. When she joined him, he clicked the key fob to lock the car, taking a moment to admire how gorgeous she was. “I hope you don’t cause any fights looking like that. I haven’t knocked a guy out in a long time.”
She laughed. “Now who needs to settle down?”
He took her hand. He loved the feel of her skin. Soft and silky and warm and female. Heaven. And although the wolf in him loved it, he realized he might be overstepping. Even if she had kissed him. “Is this okay?”
She glanced at their intertwined fingers, still smiling. “Yeah, it’s okay.”
They walked like that until they reached the door, which he opened for her, then let her go in first.
The place was exactly as he’d expected. Dark wood, some brass, lots of televisions playing all kinds of sports: British football, rugby, a cricket match, and one even showed curling. Baseball and bowling were on a few more. The crowd was more male than female, which gave Easy some insight as to the kind of attention Ginny had been looking for.
He understood. Nothing picked up the ego like getting noticed by the opposite sex. And the way she looked, it would be impossible for that not to happen.
The small hairs on the back of his neck prickled with protective energy. Normally, he’d tell himself to get over it, that he had no right to such feelings, but there was clearly chemistry between them, and they were both wolves.
Human rules didn’t apply.
* * *
Ginny might have been floating for all the lightness inside her. Easy was being incredibly sweet. Holding her hand, getting the door, complimenting her. She was enamored, and not just because he was a big, famous author. That had nothing to do with it, although it certainly added to his cool factor.
She wanted to think her feelings were because he was such a gorgeous guy who also happened to be a werewolf like her.
But maybe it was also a little bit because he remembered her. More than a little bit, if she was being honest.
The Forgettable Miss French (Shadowvale Book 3) Page 7