“Thank you.” I filled a cup for her, then one for me.
“You’re welcome.” She took a long drink, and I watched her throat bob as she swallowed. When she set her cup back down, there was a smudge on the glass from her lips, and what I would have given to have her mouth on me like that.
Her brows pinched together, an adorable little furrow forming between them. “Everything okay?”
“Mhm.” I loosened my tie and unbuttoned my shirt collar. “Just feeling a little warm, is all.” It wasn’t an outright lie. I was hot—but I was also hot for her.
The way she bit her lip while looking at me only made it worse. “Why don’t we step outside and get some fresh air? There’s a beautiful garden around back.”
Me and her, alone in a beautiful garden?
She didn’t need to ask me twice.
“That sounds great.”
I followed behind her as she made her way across the room. More people stopped her to chat, and she happily introduced me to each and every one of them. Once we were out of earshot, she’d give me a little anecdote about them, a story from when she was a kid or something she’d heard through the town gossip mill. It was obvious she’d lived here for a long time and was well loved by the people in town.
When we reached the exit, I held the door open for her and we stepped outside. Tegan led the way to the garden, with me following behind her. In fact, I’d been following her around all evening, but I wasn’t mad about it one bit. The wedding wouldbe over before I knew it, and I hadn’t even asked for her number yet.
“Thank you for introducing me to everyone back there,” I said.
“It’s no problem,” she said over her shoulder, still leading me down the path.
“You know, I was hoping I’d run into you tonight.”
“Were you?” she asked.
“Mhm.”
“And why is that?” she asked coyly.
“Who doesn’t want to see a friendly face among a sea of strangers?” I was too scared to tell her the truth.
“Darn,” she said, sounding genuinely sad. “I was hoping you were going to say you just wanted to see me again.”
I swallowed hard, trying to work up the nerve for what I was about to ask. “And what would you have thought if I said that?”
She stopped, turning to face me. “Maybe I wanted to see you again, too.”
I opened my mouth to say something, but I was at a loss for words. This woman was stirring up feelings in me. Feelings my wagging tail was giving away.
She smirked before turning around again, leading us down a tree-lined path that led to an open courtyard. A fountain burbled in the center, surrounded by bare bushes with tiny unopened buds. The garden wasn’t much to look at now, but in a few weeks it would be alive with the colors and scents of spring.
Tegan sat on a bench near the fountain, shuddering when her butt touched the cool concrete.
It was the middle of April, but the Northeast was late to get the memo. At night there was a noticeable nip in the air.
“It’s beautiful.” She stared up at the night sky and I stared at her, admiring the way she seemed to glow under the moonlight.
“Sure is,” I said mindlessly.
Tonight was a waning crescent, the faintest sliver of silver hanging in the sky, but what I’d give to see her under the rays of the full moon.
As a wolven, the thought shook me up a little bit.
We were different under the full moon. Wild and feral, running through the woods with our packs, or with our mates, and in my case—alone.
I wasn’t sure if I could trust myself to keep my composure around her during the full moon.
