Page 14 of First Love

“Because having a woman like you here is definitely a first for me.” He hooked my hair behind my ear then let his fingers trail through the long strands.

“A woman like me?” I held my breath.

“Yeah, a gorgeous woman who shares some of my interests and didn’t laugh at my guilty pleasure of reading werewolf books.”

I exhaled and smiled up at him. He didn’t know. Why did that disappoint me?

“You’re expecting me to believe women aren’t beating down your door for dates?”

“You’re the first woman I’ve invited to this place since I finished remodeling it,” he said. “One woman, from the hardware store, came over when I was in the middle of construction, but we never took any of the bedrooms for a spin.”

“Why not?”

He shrugged one shoulder. “She kept making comments about money and how much I could spend on renovations and such. I knew she wasn’t into me.”

“She was into your money.”

Jasper nodded.

“How do you know I’m not like that too? I mean, you just met me. Maybe I don’t like southern barbecue, bourbon, dogs, or werewolves. Perhaps I’m telling you what I think you want to hear.”

He angled his head to the side. “I suppose that’s all possible, but it doesn’t feel as if it is. I’m choosing to trust my instincts about you.”

Instincts for a werewolf were often what kept us alive so I’d been trusting mine since I was pup.

Except when I ignored my instincts to do my landscape architect job and put my entire pack at risk.

I squeezed my eyes shut. A finger to my chin made me open my eyes again.

“What just happened?” Jasper asked, his eyes so full of concern and compassion I nearly wept.

I backed up so his finger wasn’t touching me anymore. “Nothing.” I dragged my fingers down his chest and abs and hooked them on the waistband of his jeans. “Let’s get back to having our fun.”

I popped the button on his fly then slowly unzipped him. The bulge that waited behind his boxer briefs delighted me. I peeled the sides of his jeans down over his hips then he stepped back and pushed the jeans down his legs. Legs that were as muscled as the rest of him.

“Do you have a home gym in here somewhere too?” I asked, tracing a line along his thigh and the hard planes I found there.

“Yeah.”

“I see you’re making good use of it.”

He gently squeezed my biceps. “You’re doing some working out too.”

Actually, I didn’t need to exercise with gym equipment. Being a werewolf meant being naturally fit. I appreciated him noticing my body just the same though.

Sitting back on the bed, I went to the button and zipper of my own jeans, loving how Jasper had crawled onto the bed, looking poised to pounce once I was naked.

Let’s not keep the man waiting.

I slid out of my jeans and socks, leaving only my underwear and bra on. Fortunately, they were matching today. That wasn’t always the case. I tended to dress hastily in the mornings, eager to get to work and whatever landscaping project I was involved in at the time.

Making a mental note that I had to call at least one of my colleagues and somehow explain away my sudden disappearance, I rolled Jasper to his back and straddled him.

His hands clamped onto my hips then one of them slid up along my side, stopping when it got to my bra strap on my shoulder. Jasper hooked his finger under that strap and dragged it down so it fell loose on my arm.

“Oops.” He grinned up at me then let the same happen to my other bra strap.

I undid the clasp so my bra fell onto his stomach. Jasper picked up the black lace fabric and moved it to the side of us. He then gave a little tug on the waistband of my underwear.