Reflections of the Wolf (13 page)

It was like an icicle pierced his heart as the shock set in. He meant it. He cared more about what would make her happy than the consequences of denying his wolf its mate. They stared at each other for several silent minutes before Rafe sighed heavily.

“When your mate comes along, you can’t let her go. You would regret it until it would drive you insane. I won’t let you do that to yourself. Have you explained the mating bond to her? Does she feel it?” he asked.

“I think so, but she’s still fighting her instincts,” Liam said with a frustrated huff.

“Then charm her. Keep her on the edge of reason. You are a ladies’ man. You’re always flirting with women and always having phone numbers shoved in your hand. Why can’t you use some of that charm on Tina?” Rafe made it sound so simple. Liam sat there stunned as a spark of hope filled his chest.

“You mean date her?” he asked quietly.

“Sure, if that’s what she needs,” Rafe said. “Look, man, if she is your destined mate you two will be together for the next hundred years or more. What difference does it make if you spend the next few months getting to know her and easing her mind about mating with you?”

“And everyone says you’re the stupid one,” Liam said with a wink and a chuckle.

Rafe laughed. “I’m okay with that, because I’m also the pretty one. Thankfully
you
will be the married one, and not me! Now get your ass out of here. You need to get some sleep if you’re going to start wooing your mate in the morning.”

Liam stood and walked over to give an affectionate hug to his brother. “Thanks. I knew talking to you would help.”

He headed out of the garage, feeling the weight shift off of his shoulders. As he settled into bed for the night, he started to formulate a plan of attack for charming Tina. He was playing for keeps.

Chapter 10

“Hey, Tina, how are you today?” The wobbly voice startled Tina out of her daydreams, and she dropped the chart she had been holding. It landed on the floor, and all of the papers scattered.

“Damn it!” she yelled as she bent to pick up the mess.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you! Here, let me help.” Carter fumbled with the papers he picked up trying to hurry to help her, and in the end she just took them from him.

“Thanks, Carter. I’ve got it now,” she said and began to re-sort the medical history of her current patient.

“Oh, okay. Well, I just came by to say hello. I haven’t seen you around lately,” he said. He stood rocking on his heels with his hands stuffed into his scrub pockets. His messy brown hair needed a good brushing, and his scrubs were a size too large for his slim frame. He was painfully awkward in appearance, but he had always been polite, so Tina accommodated him.

“I’ve been pretty busy. I’m helping Caroline plan her wedding, and I picked up another class to teach at the studio,” she said distractedly.

“Yeah, I heard she got engaged. Is it true that she is actually marrying
two
men?” he asked, and Tina’s head shot up.

“Where did you hear that?” she asked warily.

“Rumor mill. I met the twin guys that she left the hospital with, so I figured there must be some truth to the rumor. They seemed pretty into her,” he said with a shrug.

“She’s marrying Devin Gray, and his brother Damon is protective of her on behalf of Devin. Don’t believe everything you hear,” she snapped, and regretted her nasty attitude when he paled and swallowed hard.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I usually don’t spread gossip, but I wanted to ask. I like you and Caroline, so I feel a little protective myself,” he said, and she had to bite her tongue not to laugh. The idea of Carter Lawrence protecting anyone was hysterical to her.

“Don’t worry, we can take care of ourselves,” she said with a smile and a pat on his arm as she started to move away from him.

“So, I actually wanted to ask if you wanted to grab some dinner tonight after work?” he said, shifting around uncomfortably.

Thankfully at that second they were interrupted by the cell phone on Tina’s hip ringing. The hospital used cell phones to connect employees that were on the various floors, and as a charge nurse, Tina was never without one. She snatched it out of its case like a lifeline, relieved to have a distraction from Carter’s date request.

“Tina Jameson here,” she answered and listened as the nurse at the desk down the hall told her she had a visitor. Hanging up the phone, she turned back to Carter.

“Sorry, Carter, but I have plans tonight. And that was Anna. I have a visitor, and I wasn’t expecting one. I need to go see who it is.” She turned away from him and almost ran down the hospital corridor. She skidded to a stop when Liam’s large, muscular body came into view.

He stood leaning on the counter at the nurse’s desk smiling at the Anna, the young CNA manning the phones, who looked like she was about to melt into a puddle at his feet. Tina could relate to that feeling, but a spark of jealousy skittered through her brain. Partially dressed in his fireman’s uniform, he looked mouthwateringly good. A dark-blue T-shirt with the Battalion One emblem was plastered to his impressive chest, and he wore his uniform pants, boots, and suspenders. She almost laughed out loud when she realized that she thought the huge fire-retardant pants and suspenders were sexy as hell. Watching him, she could tell that he wasn’t flirting. It was clear by his distracted body language that he wasn’t interested in the young woman’s attempts at charm. His eyes landed on Tina, and his whole body tensed. He smiled widely as he moved toward her. His graceful, loose-limbed movements reminded her of a predator stalking its prey.

“Hi,” she said breathily, smiling at him.

“Hey, Sweet Tina. I’ve been missing you so I thought I’d stop by with lunch. I can’t stay for long. The other guys are downstairs in the truck waiting for me, but I wanted to see you.” He stood a foot or so away from her, like he was unsure that she would want him to touch her in such a public place. Out of the corner of her eye she could see several of her coworkers gathering at the desk to watch them. Her ego was ballooning rapidly at the gaping faces that focused on the two of them.

She smiled wider at his surprising reason for visiting her. He was thoughtful, and he said he missed her.
Wow!
was all her inner female could say, and she grimaced inside her head. On the outside she shifted the chart in her hands over to her hip and reached her hand out for the paper bag he held.

“That was really sweet, Liam, thank you.” She leaned forward and brushed a kiss over his cheek, enjoying the feeling of his rough whiskers and his jaw muscle flexing under her lips.

“Anytime, sweetheart. I got you a burger and fries, but next time I’ll get you something more interesting. I better go. I have to get back to the station.” He leaned down and brushed his lips over hers this time, and she was helpless to resist. He tasted so amazing, and the strong arm that went around her hips to hold her against him felt spectacular. He deepened the kiss just long enough to get her heart racing before he pulled back.

He tweaked her nose as he grinned down at her glazed expression.

“See you later, my Sweet Tina,” he whispered, and then he waved at the gaggle of women that were currently drooling all over their scrubs before he disappeared into the elevator. The smirk on his face as his eyes met hers right before the elevator door closed was enough to make her clit pulse with need. She had to take several deep breaths before she could speak to answer the questions zinging around her.

“Who was
that
?” one of the young nurses said, fanning herself with a piece of paper. “Tina, he is
fine
with a capital F.”

“That would be my…boyfriend,” she said and blushed lightly at all of the comments and innuendos. She wasn’t sure how Liam would feel about the label, but she was sure that she needed these girls to get the picture that he was off-limits.

“Why didn’t you tell us you were dating a fireman?”

“Does he know any other
single
firemen?

“Are you guys in a monogamous relationship?”

“How long have you been together?”

“Is he as yummy as he looks?”

“Where did you meet?”

“What did he bring you?”

Tina started to put her hand to her forehead, before she remembered the paper bag containing lunch. She smiled at it, and then looked up at the women peppering her with questions.

“Caroline Trainor’s fiancé introduced us, and it’s a new relationship, but trust me, I don’t share men. And he is definitely as yummy as he looks,” she said, winking, and she sauntered away from the laughing group. She headed directly to the break room to eat her food and daydream about the man that thought enough of her to bring it. There was definitely more to him than she first thought. He was a puzzle she wasn’t sure she would be able to put together.

* * * *

Carter watched his woman interact with the fireman at the nurse’s desk. She seemed genuinely surprised by the large man’s appearance, but then she had let him kiss her. What was she thinking? She had a great man right here, and she was flirting with that pretty boy.

They had been coworkers for nearly a year now, and he thought now that Caroline Trainor was getting married, Tina would easily fall into his arms. It wasn’t like she could do better than Carter. She was a smart-ass with a sharp tongue that usually intimidated the men around her. Sure, she was beautiful, but she was probably going to give even a strong man like Carter trouble, so why was this stranger interfering?

Carter’s vision blurred in red haze of anger and jealousy, Tina was his woman, damn it. No pretty-boy fireman was going to interfere in his plans. He would have to step up his plan to woo her, and tell her how he felt soon.

* * * *

Four days later, Liam had delivered lunch to Tina every single day, along with a steaming, panty-drenching kiss at each visit. He hadn’t attempted to discuss mating or the future at all, and she was beginning to wonder what his angle was. It was a sweet gesture that he was willing to take time out of each day and spend it retrieving food for her, but she found herself missing him for some strange reason.

As she approached the nurses’ desk on day five of his stop-and-go visits, she told herself that she was going to take the chance and ask him out on date. He was obviously afraid to push her too far, and she was strangling with need. Seeing him leaning over the counter talking with Anna, the young nurse from the first day, sent a flame of awareness tingling across her skin. She wanted him badly and seeing him every day in part or all of his fireman’s uniform was killing all of her logical brain cells. He turned to her and smiled that million-watt smile, making her stomach muscles quiver, and she moved a little faster down the hallway, directly into his arms.

“Hi, sweetheart!” he said as she wrapped both arms around his neck without even reaching for the bag of food he held. She planted her mouth on his without a hello and sunk into him. Damn, the man sure could kiss! After tangling her tongue with his for several moments, she pulled back to smile up at him.

“Hi, hotshot. Thanks for lunch,” she said as she reached for the paper bag. He stood frozen in place with a stunned smile on his face. It was the first time that she had taken control and kissed him like she meant it. The shock and desire was evident in his clear blue eyes as his eyelids drooped half closed, and she could see his pulse spot in his neck fluttering fast. He was definitely affected by her.

“Damn! That was a hell of a hello!” he said, watching her. His eyes drifted over her body, taking in her scrubs and stethoscope. “Next time maybe I’ll meet you somewhere more private to give you your lunch. I think I would like that thank you more if I could join in,” he joked.

She laughed and then blushed when Anna heaved a big, forlorn sigh. “This will do just fine for at work, but maybe later we can revisit the issue. I do want to make sure you feel appreciated,” she said with a wink.

“About that, I’m off shift after six tonight for the next four days. Can we grab dinner and movie or something when you get off?” he said. His heated gaze had shifted to an apprehensive fidget, and he gripped her loose hand in his, running his fingertips across the back of her knuckles.

“I have a class tonight, so I won’t be done until like eight,” she said, and then felt terrible when his face fell with disappointment. “What about tomorrow?”

He hesitated and then smiled at her. “What if I meet you with dinner after your class, and we can eat sandwiches on the dock at the lake? It will be a picnic. Would you be too tired?”

“No, actually that would be great! I’m usually starving after class anyways. I’ll meet you at the dock at eight thirty,” she said, pleased with the excitement that lit his sky-blue eyes.

“Perfect. I’ll see you then, Sweet Tina. Don’t forget how appreciative you are right now!” he said and then brushed his lips gently across hers before turning and taking the elevator.

It was only a few breaths before Tina realized that there was an excited conversation happening behind her. Turning, she took in the fact that she and Liam had had an audience of about a dozen nurses and even a couple of patients. She blushed and shook her head, trying hard to ignore the bawdy comments. It was amazing how Liam seemed to draw women to him like sugar water drew flies. She had to wonder exactly how many women had been drawn to him over the years. She had no desire to find herself in the middle of a love triangle.