Hunter Moon (Lupine Moon Series) (23 page)

He glanced at me and shot me a quick grin before moving his attention back to the wolf. His expression, though fleeting, threw me for a moment.
Was that pride?
I expected him to shoo it off or trap it somehow, but instead he stood, arms crossed in front of his chest glaring at it.

“You need to get the hell out of here.” Cash said to the wolf.

The animal simply sat in front of him, head tilted with that same wolfy grin on his face. Cash narrowed his eyes. If wolves could shrug, I’d swear that’s what it did before loping off into the trees.

“I’m sorry, did that just happen?” I asked in disbelief.

He continued to glare into the trees where the wolf had disappeared, not hearing me. I walked over and snapped my fingers in front of his face. His hand darted out and caught mine and gave it a little kiss. Zings of electricity jolted down my hand.

I quirked an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t you have trapped it or something? Now it’s free to go after my calves or someone else’s.”

He pulled me tightly against him, bent and put his nose at my throat and inhaled like eau de Cowgirl was his favorite perfume.

“Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you or anything?” He asked, his voice concerned.

I growled at his deflection. “I’m fine. Why is Raymond wolf-central all of the sudden?”

He shrugged and kissed the sensitive skin on my neck behind my ears. All thoughts of wolves flew from my mind. All thoughts in general flew out alongside them.
There’s a lot of flying going on!

“Do you want to go out with me tonight?”

I pushed him back so I could see his face. His cobalt gaze bore into me. A grin oozed slowly like an oil slick across my face.

“Like, on a date?”

He rolled his eyes at my junior-higher tone of voice. “Yes, a date. I’m still sort of new here, so you’d have to pick where we go.”

I beamed at him. It had been years since I’d gone on a real date. This would be so much fun. I snaked my arms around his shoulders and he grabbed my waist. I shimmied a little and discovered how excited Cash really was.

“Oooh...I hope I run into some girls from high school,” I snickered to myself as I pictured some of those cheerleader’s faces when they saw the magnificent man who was dating
me. Suck it, Tiffany.
Cash grinned mischievously.

“Why would that be, Shelby?”

He knew exactly why I’d said it, but wild horses couldn’t drag out the actual words from my mouth. His ego was big enough without me pumping it full of hot air. I made my eyes go wide with feigned innocence.

“Because I haven’t seen them in so long. Why ever else?”

Cash chuckled and leaned in for another one of his panty-scorching kisses. I gasped for breath when he released me, my heart pounding in my chest.

“I’ll pick you up at six?”

 I looked at my watch. It was two o’clock now, so I had plenty of time to call and beg Jesse for help getting ready. I nodded and he flicked my nose before walking to his truck. I was staring dreamily after his truck as it traveled down my driveway until I realized Cash hadn’t answered any of my questions about the wolf.
Damn.

I stood looking at my small closet with distain. I hadn’t ever really thought about it before, but the majority of the space was taken up by worn out Wranglers, tees and long sleeved shirts. I had
a
jean skirt which I’d already worn. My shoes consisted of boots and tennis shoes, neither were really what I was going for tonight.

“Jesse! I need help! I don’t have a single scrap of fabric that says, ‘I’m what you should wear on your first date with the smokin’ hot piece of man flesh,’” I whined.

Jesse gave me a sympathetic look and shoved me aside. “Let the master work, young grasshopper.” She rooted around through my clothes, grunting occasionally. I sat down hard on the edge of my bed and rubbed my face.

“What was I thinking? I should have at least given myself a day or two to buy an outfit.”

I flopped backwards and stared at the ceiling. If I was half a foot shorter and about thirty-five pounds lighter I might have squeezed into something of Jesse’s, but alas, that wasn’t the case. At least we had the same shoe size. She had brought a few different pairs of heels along with a few accessories.

“Don’t despair, my precious. I think I may have found something. When did you get this little number?” She held out a black wrap dress I’d completely forgotten about. My chest suddenly seemed too tight and I tried to rub away the pain.

“I wore that for Grandpa’s funeral,” I said quietly.

 Jesse walked over and laid the garment down on the bed next to me before pulling me into a warm hug. I hugged her back hard, concentrating on keeping the moisture in my eyes from condensing into tears. She pulled away and held me at arm’s length by my shoulders.

“Well, it’s the only halfway decent dress you own, so you’ll just have to associate it with your first date with Mr. Big Hunk. I’m sure he’ll help you replace those memories with good ones.”

The look she gave me was so lascivious I had to laugh. Jesse waggled her eyebrows.

“And said memories you
will
share with your bestie Jesse so she can live vicariously through you. For some reason you’re having all the luck with men.” I changed into the dress and surveyed myself in my mirror.

“Jesse, you’re married, you don’t need any more luck. Besides, I wouldn’t call catching GQ-stalker boy’s attention lucky.” Jesse rolled her eyes.

I grinned and twirled in the dress. The black fabric set off my tan nicely, and the length was just right on me. On Jesse it would have fell past her knees, but on me it hit just above mine. The neckline was a V, dipping low enough to emphasize a tasteful amount of cleavage but not too much. Not too matronly but not too slutty either, it would do.

I had on a pair of lacy black panties and bra which made me feel sexy even though no one could see them. My philosophy with underwear was other people might not know what I had on, but I did and that’s what mattered. Plus, if I ever had medical emergency personnel cut through my clothes, they’d see cute stuff instead of granny panties.

Jesse wrapped my waist with a wide silver belt and lent me some silver bangles and dangly earrings. Paired with some smoky eye shadow that made my green eyes pop, and I didn’t look half bad.

“That’ll do Shelby, that’ll do.”

I spun to glare at Jesse. She grinned and danced out of reach, knowing I’d retaliate.

“I’d better not hear you say that again,
ever.
”

She waved off my glare and threw me some perfume. It was blood orange and my favorite. I loved citrusy clean scents. I threw it back to her after spraying some on my neck, wrists and back of my knees.

“Five bucks says he has to pick up his jaw off the ground once he gets a good look at you.”

I blushed and smiled at her. I didn’t take the bet because I hoped she was right.

“Thanks for your help, Jess. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” She bowed regally, and I clapped for her.

“You would be lost and inconsolable.” She winked. “And you’d look like a ragamuffin!”

She swept out of my bedroom and I followed smiling to myself. Jesse was the only person I know that could “sweep” out of anywhere. She gave me a hug and drove home, leaving me with my own thoughts for a half hour before Cash was supposed to pick me up.

I didn’t know why, but I was nervous. And waiting for Cash was just making it worse.
What if he doesn’t like me?
I had tried to push that nasty little thought down, but unsuccessfully. Up to that point we hadn’t really ‘talked’. I blushed slightly as the thought of all the things we’d done.

I sat on my couch and flipped on the TV, but even then I fidgeted and didn’t realize what I was watching. I stayed there for about five minutes before I gave up and turned on the radio instead. Unfortunately not even the Troubadour himself could calm my nerves, so I paced the living room.

The truth was, I didn’t really date. Going to the bar or the rodeo with the Albert’s didn’t really count as real dates in my book. In high school I was so busy with schoolwork, FFA and the ranch, and I had used them as excuses. Plus, not very many teenage boys made it past the tough persona that I’d adopted.

Cash had made it past all those barriers, even at gunpoint, and wrapped himself around my heart. I hardly knew the man, but the more time I spent with him, it was crystal clear to me that it wasn’t something I was could back away from intact. Honestly, backing away was a notion that I’d thought of but dismissed entirely. Not only did I
not
want to distance myself from Cash, I wanted to run at him full speed and collide.

Luke Bryan’s
Country Girl (Shake it for me)
came on. It was one of my favorite songs, and I couldn’t help but wiggle. I relaxed into the beat. Insecurities momentarily forgotten, I danced around the living room, singing at the top of my lungs. I slipped out of Jesse’s heels and got on the coffee table, flipping my hair around my face.

“Oh my,” came from a smooth, sultry voice behind me. “You can shake it for me any day, country girl.” I scanned the room in front of me, searching for a large enough rock that I could crawl under and die.
No such luck.
Heat suffused my face from the exertion of dancing and humiliation, so I took my time before turning around. When I finally did, he stood there looking good enough to eat.
Nom nom nom…

I was fairly certain that no man had ever looked so delectable in a pair of jeans and a tight, long sleeved thermal shirt. The shirt displayed his well-developed chest and shoulders and was a dark blue that set off his eyes wonderfully. His hair was still a little damp and looked like it’d only been tousled with a towel after he got out of the shower.
Oh God…Cash in the shower.
I closed that thought down hard.

Cash stood with his hands in his pockets and a smug, appreciative smile on his face. I realized he’d caught me checking him out but it seemed he wasn’t above doing the same. His eyes grazed over me, taking in every blush and scrap of fabric. I felt extremely vulnerable under his scrutiny.

“Didn’t your mother teach you to knock first before walking into someone’s house?” I mumbled.

 I couldn’t meet his eyes any longer so I slipped back into the heels and grabbed my purse. Cash pretended to think about it for a moment before answering. “Yes, as a matter of fact, she did. However, she
didn’t tell me was what to do when you knock but no one answers and instead you hear music blaring. I didn’t know I would be getting dinner
and
a show tonight.”

 I shot him a dirty look and walked to the door.

“Again with the smarmy grin. You’re early, anyway.” He opened the door for me and waited while I locked it behind us.

“Really? Smarmy? What are you going to call me next, a rapscallion? I didn’t know you were eighty.”

 I huffed and stomped past him to the passenger side of his truck and opened the door. He had walked over like he wanted to open it for me and frowned with disapproval when I did it myself. I waited until he got in the truck to reply.

“Smarmy is a perfectly good word. What word would you use to describe it?”

“Well, handsome is a nice word. Manly, attractive, and rugged are also very applicable.”

“I guess I set you up for that one,” I laughed.

He flashed me a
manly, attractive
and
rugged
smirk.
Those dimples are going to be the death of me,
I thought and squirmed in the seat, aware of my damp panties.