09

What on earth had she been thinking? She paced the confines of her room, thoroughly and utterly racked with nerves, thinking of nothing but the impending dinner.

Why had she agreed to this?

Because you owe him.

She sank to the edge of her bed, her thoughts replaying her near brush with death. He had managed to snatch her from that crumbling edge with such an agile swiftness, a trait so unlike a man of such considerable size, she mused.

And just what was he doing in the forest? He certainly couldn’t have been jogging, especially dressed in jeans and leather boots.

For a man that embodied city-bred, she surely hadn’t expected to run into him in the most unlikely of places, atop that mountain.

She was pulled from the recesses of her thoughts as an unrelenting tapping permeated from her front door. Rising, she made her way downstairs to find a giddy Julie beaming at her threshold.

Oh boy. Had she made a mistake in telling her friend about the dinner-date?

Not date! Her sound-mind snapped almost immediately.

Julie grinned cheekily, practically skipping into the parlor as she swept by her.

Kate noticed a rather stuffed bag suspended from Julie’s arm, “What’s in the bag?” she asked, shutting the door firmly.

Julie’s smile widened as she held the bag in the air for display, “Goodies.”

Kate grew suspicious, “Goodies?”

Julie spun about, her cheeky grin broadening all the more. “Sit, sit. You must inform me on all the details before we get into cosmetics.”

Kate froze in her pursuit of a chair, “No, no makeup.” She said with a grimace, shaking her head.

Julie glowered at her but shrugged her shoulders, “Alright, scratch the cosmetics, amp up the dress.”

“There will be no amplifying anything.” Kate asserted, recalling a little mishap with a drunken buffoon and a particular red dress that had been aimlessly shoved to the back of her closet.

Julie scowled, stomping her foot indignantly, “What’s your drama?”

Kate sighed, dropping her eyes to avoid the weight of that cerulean stare, “I haven’t even told you who it is yet.”

Julie straightened, her eyes brightening with an eager curiosity, “Who is it then?” she demanded anxiously.

Her stomach, already in knots, tightened all the more as she disclosed her mystery date’s name.

Not date!

Julie’s jaw went slack, falling open and nearly unraveling to the floor, “Ronan Morrissey?”

Kate felt a blush creep to her face.

“Are you serious?”

She groaned aloud and pressed her face into her palms.

Julie threw her hands in the air, “This changes everything!”

Kate straightened rigidly, “What, no, what do you mean?” she asked almost baffled.

Julie appeared astounded, “The hottest and most unbelievably attractive, not to mention loaded, Ronan Morrissey has asked you on a date –“

“Not a date!” she seemed compelled to correct.

Her friend’s scowl deepened.

“And his money isn’t of any importance to me.” Kate exclaimed a bit irritably.

“That’s not what I meant.” Julie said, “What I’m trying to say is that you’re one lucky babe.”

Kate shrank within her chair, not at all comforted by Julie’s giddiness.

“Now, what are you planning on wearing?”

She stiffened, realizing she hadn’t given it much thought.

Julie’s jaw dropped, “You’re kidding me?” and then, “Why not the red –“

“No way!” Kate objected promptly.

Julie threw up her hands with a giggle, “Alright, alright. No red dress.” She spun about, “Not to worry. I have an alternative.”

Kate shook her head, watching her friend rummage her bag a bit hastily, “Look, I’ll just wear a pair of jeans and – “

“Definitely not!” Julie snapped, “You will wear this!”

After some intensive curling from a hot iron and a slight heated debate over shades of lipstick, Kate stood before a mirror, observing the stranger there.

Her eyes swept the image and she grimaced. The dress was beyond anything she’d typically wear. It was daring. It was sexy. It was everything she wasn’t. It was a beautiful dress, the color a dusty pink, stitched in allover lace with long sleeves.

Its seductive fit and ruched sides hugged her frame in a way that made her incredibly aware of her insecurities and as if on cue Danny’s derisive tone mocked from afar, reminding her all too well of just how unworthy she was of such a beautiful garment.

“I can’t wear this.” She said a bit forlornly.

“You can and you will.” Julie affirmed in a scolding manner, handing her a pair of heels that were of that same dusty pink. “Besides, you really don’t have a say in the matter. It’s almost nine.”

Her heart lurched, her eyes frantically seeking the little clock on her nightstand. It was almost nine.

And just like that, the sudden droning sound of an engine steered into her driveway. The resounding knock that shortly followed sent Kate’s heart into overload.

She felt like a teenager all over again – jittery nerves, an unsteady balance, and a heart that all but threatened to palpitate from her chest.

Julie was more than eager to open the door and as she did, Kate nearly collapsed to the plush rug in a pool of hapless nerves.

Leather and muscle all but filled her doorway and she was riveted frozen. A little breath worked it ways to her throat, lodging there, her eyes doing an artless sweep of the Adonis looming at her doorstep.

He wore leather on his shoulders and beneath it a black v-neck stretched taut over a chest impeccably broad of muscle. Dark jeans hugged massive thighs, the fabric stretched to its capacity due to the brawn in which it sheathed.

The dim chandelier light caught hints of gold in his tawny mane which he wore loosely, framing his chiseled, handsome face almost in a boyishly manner, which Kate found extremely averse, considering there was nothing boyish about him.

The very sight of him, large and unworldly, standing within her hall, made her unquestionably nervous.

Why would this man have any interest in her?

Are you really going to go through with this, Kate? Her rational-self interjected.

Smoldering gray eyes immersed the length of her and she felt the impact of that stare like a blistering, unwavering heat as it swept every inch of her, leaving nothing unmarked. And she could’ve sworn beneath the subtle lighting that those eyes flared precariously feral, sharpening with a flagrant flame of rampant hunger.

The way he looked at her, as if she were the most desirable thing he’d ever encountered, it nearly disentangled every bit of her meagerly composed self.

His mouth curved into the onset of a wickedly, luring grin and she realized he’d extended a hand to her.

She peered at that hand hovered between them, weighing it considerably.

It’s just dinner. She felt compelled to remind herself before placing her hand in the palm of his, feeling as though she had sealed her fate.

He drew her to his side and her senses suddenly went aflutter with his intoxicating nearness.

She nearly swayed at the ardent affect his warmth had on her but his hand at the small of her back steadied her and she reddened sheepishly praying he hadn’t noticed her weak-knees.

“Have fun!” Julie chimed jovially, closing the door and officially on house-duty.

Her heart hammered within her ears and she felt nothing but that hand pressed gingerly at her back.

He towered beside her, so much so that she barely topped his shoulders.

A sliver of apprehension hastened down her spine.

He could easily overpower you, Kate.

Ronan was far bigger than Danny. He could easily snap her neck as Danny had tried, only Ronan could easily succeed with little effort.

Her heart jolted. It was a frightening notion, one that brought her aching ribs into perspective.

Not all men are like Danny Horner. A small part of her tried assuaging.

Yet, could she trust in that?

As they stepped down from the porch, Kate suppressed a gasp as she caught sight of the incredibly sleek and stealthy Nissan GT-R sitting in her driveway which oddly enough resembled in color, a striking pair of slate-gray eyes. It suited him in every possible way, down to the black chrome and tires.

He opened her door and she slid into the leather seats, these too noticeably black.

Her eyes followed him as he strolled around to the driver’s side. He moved in long, deliberate strides, every step almost calculated and smooth.

As he slid in next to her that tantalizing warmth hooked her senses almost instantaneously, her head beginning to swim indefinitely with the rich dark scent of him.

He smelled something wild, she thought, find it incredibly distracting.

He started the ignition and the engine hummed with a deafening roar. She watched him beneath her lashes as he shifted gears, the tires turning over gravel and spitting dirt.

“Where are we headed?” she asked.

“A place in the city.” His voice was noticeably gruff and strained.

Kate was no expert on body language but having dealt with the many temperamental stages of Danny, she believed herself capable of recognizing the signs of a blackened mood.

She slid a wary glance to the man beside her. He sat erect in the leather seat that which his large frame easily overpowered. She noticed his grip on the steering wheel, iron-like his knuckles white from the strength ensued there. He radiated tension, so much so that the air thickened with it.

His presence alone robbed her of breath and her heart began hammering madly so that she feared he could very well hear its maddening beat.

What on earth had she been thinking? She wasn’t ready for this, especially considering she knew nothing about this formidable man.

“Do you live in the city?” she asked, attempting to take some semblance of control over her nerves.

His eyes met hers in the dark and her stomach did a strange little flip, “I have a loft downtown.”

She frowned, “Oh?”

His mouth curved into a grin, “You seem a bit surprised?”

She shrugged, avoiding that profound slate gaze, “I always thought lofts were occupied by starving artists and such.”

A chuckle rumbled deep from his chest, drawing her stare like a moth to the flame, it was an incredibly alluring sound, “Starving indeed, artist I am not.”

Her smile broadened despite her nerves, his humor infectious. “Is Club Red one of many?”

He nodded, “I have several in the city, some in walking distance of the other.”

“Do you have a liking for the color?”

She was surprised when he merely shrugged his big shoulders, “It had no particular relevance –“ he paused and then said, “ – until recently.”

Kate frowned, “Until recently?”

His eyes fastened heatedly to her in a fiery caress. Her stomach knotted, feeling that profound, ignited stare clear to her toes.

And she knew.

The red dress.

She tore her eyes away, the fervor there having a toll on her already chaotic senses and peered intently out the window.

Kate couldn’t have been more relieved to have reached their destination. Having to sit in close quarters with a man whose eyes burned with silver liquid all but left her breathless and hopelessly overwrought with nerves.

He steered the Nissan in perfect alignment to a curve bustling with clientele which Kate noticed were dressed lavishly from head-to-toe.

She spotted the valet as he hustled to where Ronan eased from the driver’s side, dressed in that noted crisp white shirt and red vest.

She hadn’t much time to assess the brick facet of the restaurant aside from the subtle dining light streaming from the polished windows. Ronan was suddenly there, opening her door and extending a hand to her. She accepted it tentatively, noticing immediately the many probing eyes that peered there way.

He released her hand but she felt it settle at the small of her back, those fingers pressing gingerly into the fabric of her dress, inciting a bit of warmth and inducing feelings in her that were a bit disquieting.

It felt almost too intimate.

The hostess was a pretty blonde with an outrageous display of curls piled high atop her head. When she spied the tall piece of muscle standing at Kate’s side, the girl beamed a smile almost absurdly.

“Mr. Morrissey, right this way please.” She gathered two menus and sauntered along, swaying her hips a bit too noticeably as her heels padded along the maroon carpet.

Kate was seemingly startled by the sudden pang of irritation that gripped her, very much peeved by those heels and pencil-skirt hips.

They were guided to a table and she eagerly took a seat, ready to see the hostess on her merry way.

Are seriously jealous of Heels?

She accepted the menu a bit grudgingly and viewed its contents, not really seeing the array of food but appearing as if immensely immersed. She felt her irritation somewhat dissipate as Heels swayed provocatively away in her peripheral.

She lowered her menu only to find gray eyes studying her intensely.

Her heart quickening, she said in an attempt to appear perfectly in control of her severely wound tight body, “It’s a bit extravagant.”

His eyes burned hotly into her, making her feel incredibly anxious as if no other patrons occupied the dining area, not even swish-swaying Heels.

“You’re very beautiful.” His eyes held her, sharpening to that uncanny silver as they all but brightened with a fervent flame of undisclosed desire.

A little breath caught in her throat, completely caught in those captivating eyes as a maddening heat surged her tensely laden body.

Beautiful?

She tore her eyes away.

Ronan narrowed his eyes perceptibly, thoroughly and utterly intrigued by every indication of secrecy that shadowed this woman.

He’d felt her unease the moment he’d stepped over her threshold. Her heart rate hadn’t lessened any in its frantic rhythm and he noticed now, she avoided his stare altogether.

She was affected by him but in what way?

He couldn’t deny the fiery flame she roused in him. He was utterly enthralled by her, seemingly entranced by those cat-like eyes and that pliant, soft mouth that all but put a surge on his manly yearnings.

He took a great risk he realized in entangling with a human, especially considering his rank among his pack.

If she only knew just what she dined with, she would flee at first chance, something he realized she was quite prone to doing.

He was werewolf and alpha of his loup-garou pack. He had incredible heightened senses, inhuman strength deemed impossible to the mortal eye and speed and agility so unlike the normal. There had been many to challenge his right as alpha but his prowess was impeccable and he had fought his way to his rightful place as pack leader.

He knew it was only a matter of time before another dared to challenge him. And he would fight until blood drawn upon fur.

His wolf growled in union at the thought, his muscles tightening with the surge of dominance that came with being alpha.