Kara's Wolves (6 page)

She hadn’t been sure what to wear to this pseudo first date and had almost left the apartment in jeans and a sweater. However, when Lindsey and Jessica saw her, they began fussing about her appearance, causing her to end up in a rather short, black, formfitting dress hugging her hips and barely covering her ass. She looked down at herself now and smoothed her hands over the wrinkles that had settled in her lap from the car ride. How had she let those two talk her into this outfit? Was it too sexy? She had felt confident and fantastic alone in the car, but now she was trying hard not to feel apprehensive. Taking a deep breath for courage, she reached her hands up to smooth back her hair. Usually she liked to straighten the long curls. It was easier to get a rubber band around the thick mass in the gym, but tonight Jess had insisted she wear it down and natural. According to Jess, she looked “like an angel with all those natural blond waves floating about.”

She scanned the crowded restaurant filled with Saturday night diners.

“Hey there,” came a low sultry voice from right behind her ear at the same time a possessive hand landed on her lower back. She shivered at the contact. Before she could even turn her head completely in the direction of the voice, soft lips reached around to meet hers in a gentle greeting, warming her insides and sucking all reason from her system.

When his soft sexy lips retreated a few inches she finally saw Justin, his deep chocolate gaze scanning her face, a broad smile lighting the room and making her feel at ease.

“Well, hello yourself, cowboy.” Was the sensual voice she heard her own?

He looked very similar to last night—jeans, dusty cowboy boots clearly worn for more than just Friday night partying, a rust-colored western shirt stretched across his torso defining his strong muscular body to perfection. He looked … delicious. Warmth continued to spread through her body at his proximity.

Kara wanted him to continue the kissing part and skip the dinner part.
What the hell
are you thinking? Since when do you fall so head over heels for a man?

“You look fantastic.” Justin scanned Kara’s body appreciatively from head to toe and back up to her face. Perhaps she should have found the action insulting, but somehow he made her feel sexy. “I already have our table, right over here.” He indicated the direction behind her with a nod of his head and a slight pressure on her back.

Justin angled Kara through the crowd of noisy patrons toward a cozy corner table for two, never removing his hand from her back, an intimacy she was acutely aware of.

Was he always this familiar on a first date?

A spike of envy stabbed Kara in the gut at the thought of Justin on other first dates.

Of course he’s had other first dates, you dimwit. Hundreds, assuredly. Just look at
him
.

The man next to her was a Greek god, the god of cowboys if there would have been such a thing. She bet he would be fabulous posing nude for a class of art students. She literally shook at the image of him naked in front of a group of people.

Seriously Kara, you just met him. You don’t own him
.

“Kara? Is this all right?” How long had he been speaking to her?
Darn
.

“Of course. This is fine.”

Justin, in a true gentlemanly fashion, pulled out Kara’s chair and even pushed her up close to the table as she sat.

“So, I hope you’re hungry and you like steak.” He paused to look at her. “You aren’t a vegetarian, are you?”

“No, of course not. I love a good steak, occasionally.”

Justin’s warm, inviting smile made her feel at ease.

Kara smiled thinking perhaps, just maybe, he actually wanted to impress
her
. She had been out of the dating scene for so long she didn’t even remember what it felt like to be
wanted
. Well, to be honest, she had never really even been
in
the dating scene, not much anyway. And she was rarely dressed in more than a leotard and sweatpants, with her hair pulled up in a ponytail, never considering attracting anyone’s attention.

It felt fantastic to sit back and relax, let her hair down, literally, and enjoy the … flat out stare coming from the other side of the table.

“Occasionally?” He was leaning toward her across the small table, grinning. She clamped her legs together underneath the table to keep them from bouncing up and down in a nervous dance. A habit she had yet to break.

“Well…”

“I’m just teasing. Just wanted to make sure you weren’t going to order a small side salad and sit there pretending ladies don’t actually ‘eat’.” His smile was infectious.

“Oh, I eat. That’s for sure. Probably more than any other woman you’ve ever dated.

Unless you have had the occasion to date other athletes who spend hours a day in a gym working off calories at a rate faster than they can be consumed.” Kara found herself leaning forward. She fingered the menu in front of her without actually glancing at it.

Justin reached across the table and took Kara’s hand in his own in a gesture that seemed as natural as walking. “Can’t say that I have.” He glanced down to peruse the menu, but his thumb was caressing her palm in such a distracting manner she couldn’t think, let alone read. She never took her eyes off him, just continued staring at the top of his head while intermittently glancing at their entwined hands. Heat ran up her arm.

“Can I get you two something to drink? An appetizer perhaps?” Kara started a bit at the interruption and turned to face the waitress. She was a bubbly little brunette with short spiked hair, apparently the style for the sixteen-ish crowd lately. The only problem was “Gina”, as her nametag indicated, was looking only at Justin. Drooling actually.

Justin didn’t seem to notice. In fact, he didn’t even look directly at the girl when he spoke. “I’ll have a Budweiser. Kara? Wait… Let me guess, mineral water?”

Ooh, he’s good. Impressive
.

Kara smiled and turned to “Gina”, though she could have refrained from making the polite gesture for all the waitress knew. “Yes, thank you. Mineral water for me.”

As the teenager backed away from the table, continuing to watch Justin, she ran straight into a busboy who had to wobble his tray of precariously stacked dirty dishes back and forth to avoid dumping the entire lot on the floor. Gina snapped around to apologize and then darted off in search of their drinks.

“So … tell me about yourself.” Justin’s voice pulled Kara’s gaze back in his direction. She wasn’t at all sure he even knew if the server had been male or female. A new warmth flowed through her. He made her feel incredibly sexy. She could barely concentrate.
His fingers are still running patterns over the back of my hand
…

“Well, I’m from Portland. My parents still live there. Only child.”

“That’s nice. To be so close to your family. Do you go home often?”

It was difficult to answer all Justin’s inquiries with his thumb rubbing against her palm driving her to distraction and his intense stare just a few scant inches from her face across the small table. What she really wanted to do was tune out the rest of the world and lean in for another of his fantastic kisses. The thought caught her off guard.

Why on earth was she so drawn to him? Almost as if they’d always been together.

As though they always would be…

“No, I don’t go home too often anymore. I’m too busy studying and working at the gym. My parents usually come to my meets though.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing you myself. When do I get a preview?”

“Well, technically any time I guess. It wouldn’t be very interesting, but anyone is welcome to come to practices. My last official meet is next Saturday. And it happens to be a home competition, so you can always come to that… If you really want to.” It warmed her heart that he seemed interested in her gymnastics career.

“I can’t wait.”

*

“Here you go…” A voice to Justin’s side interrupted the bubble he and Kara were living in. A familiar high-pitched youthful tone, must have been the waitress. Surely, because the next moment drinks appeared in front of him. “Are you ready to order?”

Order?
Oh, shit, right. Steak restaurant. It is customary to order a meal when dining
out
.

Justin jerked his attention to the menu in front of him, scanned the page and silently chose a nice steak. Then he looked over the top of the menu. “Kara? Do you know what you want?”

Her perfect little bow mouth, her beautiful curls bouncing around in an unruly fashion no matter how many times she reached to tuck them behind her ear sent his mind reeling.
Sexy
. He couldn’t bring himself to release the hold he had on her hand. So dainty and feminine.

“I’ll have the filet mignon, medium, and a baked potato, butter only, please.”

Justin smiled his approval.

“And you, sir?” Now he felt downright old. Glancing at the waitress, he assessed her to be in her teens. No wonder.

“I’ll have the T-bone, medium rare, and a loaded baked potato.”

“All right. Would either of you like a salad to start with? We have a house salad just right for two. If you’d like to share.”

“Sounds good to me. Kara?” Justin returned his gaze to her upturned face.

“Sure. Perfect.” She smiled sweetly at the waitress.

“I’ll get your order in right away.” The girl leaned a little closer than strictly necessary to remove the menu Justin was holding.

Was she flirting with him?
Seriously?

He shivered at the thought. She was a child. Almost half his age.

“So, what do you do for fun?” he asked as the waitress walked away. Justin wanted to know everything there was to know about Kara. Besides personal interest, Trevor would absolutely kill him if he didn’t extract serious details.

Trevor.

Justin had left the man pacing the floors of their home in frustration. He had begged Justin to at least let him come along and sit discreetly at the bar, but Justin knew Trevor all too well. No way in hell could he have managed to stay out of range and not pounce this lovely mate of theirs.

Kara chuckled, a soft little tinkling sound reached in and squeezed Justin’s heartstrings. “Fun? I hate to break this to you, but the sum total of the fun I have had in the last four years occurred against the outside wall of a country bar … last night.”

Fuck
. Justin’s balls tightened at the thought of having been the only man to touch her in recent memory.

“You … really? Don’t you go out with your friends? Frat parties? Night clubs?

Dates?”

“Not really. Well … no. I haven’t had time and I guess I haven’t really cared. Before … now…” This last bit she half mumbled, her head angled to the side, her smile making Justin shift in his seat to make room for his growing erection.

“Well then, my little pixie, I guess I better make sure you have the time of your life tonight, especially if the only other evening you have to compare it to is last night. I’m pretty sure I can top it without much effort.” Justin winked at her. He wasn’t sure if he felt more elated by the privilege of her presence or flat out scared shitless from being presented with the task of showing her a good time.

Her soft giggle erupted again. “You’re doing a fine job so far. So, what do you do?

You said you work on a farm?”

“Yes, I live just out of town on a dairy farm … with my long-time friend Trevor.”

Might as well throw his name out there so she could start getting used to it.

“A dairy farm? Sounds like a lot of work. I’ve never actually even been close to a cow before.”

Justin smiled at her honesty.
You’re about to be. And what about wolves? Have you
been close to a wolf before?

Kara was in for a real shock when she discovered the extent of Justin’s and Trevor’s lives. Besides owning and operating the large dairy farm, the two had several other pack members on their staff. Not to mention the conglomeration of other farms in the area owned and operated by family and friends. It was a giant Mecca keeping the shapeshifters out of the public eye and giving them the space they needed to roam free whenever they desired. Cows never told a soul about the wolves sometimes used to herd them across the land. Downright convenient at times.

“It’s not really complicated. Cows are easy to get along with and everyone needs milk.”

“Hmm. Living in this area, I’ve always wondered what a working dairy farm was like.”

Justin squeezed her hand, leaned forward to grasp her other hand and pulled her sweet endearing face toward his. “Honey, you can come check it out any time you want.

My door is always open.”
You have no idea how wide open the door is, nor how satisfied
you will be after you come in
.

Justin closed the last few inches between them for a long tender kiss. When he finally pulled back, Kara was breathing heavily, clearly as aroused as he was. Her cheeks were red. Her lips looked luxuriously well-kissed, wet, swollen.

A throat clearing to the side of them broke the spell.

“Your salad?” The waitress phrased it like a question. As though she were interrupting something quite a bit more important than sustenance and wasn’t entirely sure they would appreciate it. And she wasn’t too far off the mark. If Justin weren’t so hungry, he might have just grabbed Kara and headed for the truck.

Instead, he leaned back, released his grip on Kara’s hands, breaking physical contact with her for the first time that evening, regretting the loss of her warmth and spark immediately. His gaze never strayed from hers though, and they seemed to be in a staring match.

Plates appeared in front of them, a large salad in the center of the table.

“May I?” Thank goodness the waitress took the liberty of filling their plates, because Justin didn’t relish the idea of fumbling around with the salad tongs, dropping lettuce all over the table.

“Thank you,” Kara graciously replied.

When the girl had finished serving them and wandered away, Kara reached for her fork. “I’m starving. This looks delicious.”

“Yes, it does.” Fortunately Kara had glanced down at her plate to spear a vegetable and didn’t catch Justin staring at her lips. When she wrapped those lips around the mouthful and then reached her tongue out to lick a dab of salad dressing from the corner of her mouth, Justin nearly moaned. He couldn’t wait to feel those lips wrapped around his cock. He had to discreetly reach under the table and adjust his growing erection.