I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to press her down on this withered grass, here among these dying trees, and kiss her.Tasteher. And I didn’t even know her name!
But when I opened my mouth to ask, we were interrupted by a new, booming voice. “What’s this? What’s going on? Is everyone okay?”
The female started and glanced almost guiltily behind her. A large middle-aged man—who appeared to have more beard than head—was limping quickly toward us, and when she scrambled to her feet, I followed more slowly.
“It was my fault, Mr. Jurgen, I’m sorry.”
“No,” I assured the man, “I am to blame.” I was reaching for my wallet. “How much is that tree?”
“Oh!” The female’s gaze swung to mine. “You’re going to get it?”
“You said you were looking for a big one, right?” I nodded to the felled tree. “This one is perfect—no bald spots.” I winked, to let her know I’d been paying attention to her lesson, but she merely flushed again and dropped her gaze. “I’ll load it up for you.”
“Thank you, but I can buy it—” she began, but the older man interrupted.
“I’ll do the loading! It’s my lot, and I’m not giving up a chance to work that nifty tree-wrapper!” Mr. Jurgen stepped between us, squatted down, and lifted the eight-foot pine with a loud grunt.
I stepped back to give him room, impressed despite myself, and turned to draw the female back into conversation.
But she was already backing away, following the tree-lot proprietor, her eyes concerned as they watched me. “I’m sorry, really,” she called.
“It’s okay,” I murmured, tamping down the urge to chase after her. “No harm done.”
Except…
Therehadbeen harm done.
As my mystery female disappeared behind a row of cut trees, making it clear she didn’t want to further our acquaintance, I found myself inhaling deeply, trying to capture that delicious scent. It wasn’t until I winced that I realized my claws were pressed against my chest, digging into my shirt…trying to silence my lividKteer.
That primitive part of me, leftover from the days, generations ago, when we needed tohunt fight kill protect Mate Mate Mateto survive, the part of me which my mother used to tell stories about… MyKteerwas urging me to go after the female and scoop her up and take her back to my cave and claim her.
But I didn’t live in a cave. I lived in a brand-new, three-bedroom house with a large porch and a high speed Wi-Fi connection and a state-of-the-art automated house system. And although I’d spent the last decade devoting myself to my work as an assistant to one of the country’s most important businessmen, I’d been rejected by enough females to know I wasn’t the sort of male to push myself on one.
No matter how much this one stirred myKteer—and my cock—she didn’t want me. And that might be disappointing, but it was okay.
Sighing, I turned away from the direction she’d gone. I was still determined to celebrate this holiday, but I didn’t think I’d be able to choose one of these almost-dead trees to bring into my home. Not when every breath reminded me of the scent ofher.
So I shoved my hands in my pockets, tightened my jaw against the familiar disappointment, and turned my steps toward home.
Chapter Two
Brooke
“Welcome to Debbie’s Diner!”three different voices called out as I pushed open the door to the neat little restaurant on Sea Cucumber Street. It was one of my favorite places to eat on the island, mainly thanks to how cheerful all the employees were, each trying to outdo the other when it came to the guests.
That, and their hot cocoa.
I was a sucker for their cocoa.
“Hi Alice,” I responded, slipping into my booth and plopping my binder on the table. “What’s new?”
“Oh, we’re busy as ever,” the older woman announced good-naturedly as she leaned a hip against the back of the booth across from me. “Since the mayor approved the allowance of some of those new condos as short-term rentals, we’ve been seeing more tourists.”
My brows rose as I began to pull off my gloves, finger by finger. “Even in the dead of winter?”
Chuckling, the waitress glanced around. “Honey, this is the South. You only think it’s cold because you’ve gotten used to that Southern California climate. We get a lot of Northerners coming down here around this time to enjoy the weather. Sakkara’s plan means Eastshore won’t completely turn into a tourist town,butwe still get some new customers.”
“And I’ll bet once they come here, they keep coming back.”
