“I’m helping you meet, Elizabeth. She’s wonderful.”
“Why?”
“Because you need to settle down, Kaleb. You’ve been in town long enough and your Beta. There is no need to drag your feet.”
“You do not need to butt your nose into my business and certainly not my relationships.”
“I’m trying to set you up with someone who will be a good mate. Someone powerful and strong. Elizabeth is smart and the daughter of a beloved doctor, so you know she’s respectful.”
“I, again, do not need your help.”
“Here you go,” I turned as Elizabeth walked back toward us. My eyes went past her, where I spotted Nora. She was standing near the flower stand with a guy next to her. I could see that Nora was uncomfortable. I could see it in the way she was standing, slightly leaning away. She was nodding as she stepped back, trying to break away, but the guy only walked closer to her.
“So, have there been any houses you were looking at putting an offer in on?”
I looked at Elizabeth as she batted her eyelashes. I could tell she was interested in me and not just because of what my father may have told her. But I wasn’t interested.
I looked past her again, looking at Nora. The guy was still with her, and I could tell I was getting jealous. I shouldn’t because I was the one who turned her down. It wasn’t logical for me to be upset, but I was. I had no reason to do anything. But as I watched them, I knew I couldn’t just stand by.
Chapter 3 - Nora
“I’ll take these,” I said as I grabbed a bouquet of roses. I handed my twenty over and turned, slamming right into Ryan, my boss’s son. I nearly dropped my flowers as I stumbled back. Ryan chuckled. “Nora, I didn’t know you came to the farmers’ market.”
I blinked, trying to catch up with what just happened. I looked down at my flowers, seeing that two of the roses had snapped.
I looked back up to Ryan. The guy who has asked me out at least twenty times in the span of two months. I met him at work in passing one day, and ever since then, he hasn’t stopped finding me. Every time I told him no, he had a reason to back up why I would say it. When he asked me for coffee and I said no, he figured I already had one. When he asked me to join him for a walk, and I said no, he figured I had already gone.
“I do,” I said softly, pulling the flowers closer, not needing him to ruin them more than he already had. “What brings you here?”
“I was just out for a walk and noticed you were here. How about a cup of coffee?”
I shook my head. “No, thank you.”
“You probably already had one. It is almost noon. How about some lunch instead?”
I shook my head again. “I’m not interested, Ryan.”
“Oh, come on, give me a chance to change your mind.”
I cringed internally. I wasn’t used to having attention like this, let alone having to turn down a guy more than once. Before Jade and Brandon got together, people didn’t look at me. Butsince the packs merged, Ryan has been hell-bent on taking me out.
And he was nice looking. Ryan was nice, but he was also self-involved and full of himself. Ryan and his father moved here into the pack and started up a shelter home for animals. I loved it, and I got along extremely well with his father. The only downside was that I couldn’t turn down Ryan as harshly as I wished to. Each time he pressed me to join him with something I really wanted to yell at him to leave me alone, but I didn’t want to lose my job.
“Ryan, I came here to get some stuff, and I have a busy rest of the day. I don’t have time to eat with you.”
“You can spare an hour.”
I inhaled slowly, trying to think of something else, some excuse I could pull out of my head. I knew I should just agree to the damn date and get it over with, but I knew he would never stop. I figured he would get fired after I said no enough times. If I said yes now, he would think I was interested.
I felt an arm wrap around my shoulder, and my head snapped to the left as I realized Kaleb was standing there. He pulled me against him, his eyes staring at Ryan. “You really shouldn’t be hitting on other people’s girlfriends like that, Ryan.”
My entire body tensed up at his words, and I watched as Ryan looked shocked. He took a step back, looking between Kaleb and me in disbelief. I tried to hide the shock on my own face.
My mouth huge open as I tried to think of what to say. Did I deny him? Did I agree? I didn’t know what to say.
“You two are dating?” Ryan asked, his eyes narrowing on us. I could see he didn’t believe Kaleb. “That’s not true. I would have heard that around town. Everyone would be talking about news like that.”
“It’s new.”
