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“Don’t stand there gawking, girl,” Gertie snapped as she whizzed by carrying three heaping plates.
“Oh, sorry, ma’am.”
“And quit ma’aming me,” she tossed back.
Grabbing her pad, Avery hurried to the men’s table, trying to ignore the sudden increase in her pulse rate and the warm flush spreading up her neck as they greeted her with friendly smiles and piercing looks.
“Nice to see you again, Avery.” Dan folded his menu, his gaze not as body encompassing as last night, but still just as approving. “I’ll take the meatloaf special.”
“Got it.” After jotting it down, she shifted her eyes to Grayson, somehow not surprised to find herself tightening her thighs against the effect of his potent, gray/green gaze. “Sheriff, what can I get you?” Her silent prayer he hadn’t caught her breathless tone went unheard, if she judged the tilt of his mouth correctly.
“I’ll take the same, thanks. How are you today, sugar? You looked flustered when you came in.” Cocking his head, he inquired, “Everything okay?”
Damn that astuteness, the casualness of his polite question not fooling Avery. Her gaze skittered away from the probing intensity in his eyes. “Yes… uh, thanks. Just running a little behind. I’ll get your order turned in.” She spun around so fast, she bumped into the other waitress and nearly caused her to drop her tray. “Oh, Barbara, I’m sorry!”
“I’ve got it, no problem.” As they stepped away from the guys’ table, Barbara leaned toward Avery and whispered, “Honey, I may have over twenty years on you and am happily married, but I’m not dead. I get it.”
With a wink, the experienced server trotted off and Avery breathed a sigh of relief her clumsiness hadn’t caused a big mishap. Without looking back, she rushed to turn in the order and get to her other customers. The busy Saturday night crowd kept her from thinking about whether Grayson would go to his club after dinner until she brought them their food. As he removed his toothpick, she couldn’t help but be drawn to his mouth and remember the feel of his possession as she set a food-piled plate in front of him. From his look, he knew exactly what she was recalling.
“Thank you, sugar. Looks good.”
She nodded and stepped back as if those few inches would put enough space between her and a temptation that seemed to grow the more she was near him. “Anything else I can get you? Either of you?” she hurried to tack on.
“Not right now,” Dan replied without wasting time before digging in.
“Not with food, but when you have some spare time, can I talk you into looking at my computer? Gertie sang your praises over fixing her problem.”
Grayson’s request caught Avery off guard; her first thought they would be alone at his place. As wary as that made her, she couldn’t very well turn him down after helping Gertie. It may even speed up the timetable of getting to know him better, a possibility she couldn’t afford to pass up.
“Uh, sure, I’d be happy to. I’m, uh, off tomorrow, if that works for you.”
“Excellent. I’ll pick you up…”
“No…” She sucked in a breath as his gaze sharpened at her flustered interruption. “I mean… I’d rather drive myself, if you’ll give me directions. I… I’m trying to get to know my way around.”
He picked up his fork and scooped a bite of mashed potatoes before answering. “I’ll write down directions before I leave,” was all he said before turning his attention to his meal, her cue to get back to work.
After living her entire twenty-nine years in Chicago, Avery thought she’d be used to frigid temperatures during the long winter months. But the windy city of Chicago had nothing on Willow Springs. The wide-open spaces of Montana didn’t offer any buffers against the wind or cold, not until you entered a forested area, as she did the next day when she followed the narrow but paved road off the highway that led to Grayson’s house.
The smooth pavement ended at a gravel driveway where Avery parked and sat for a moment, taking in the rustic appeal of the ranch home with its wraparound porch. A welcoming, enticing plume of smoke spiraled from the stone chimney separating the log wall along the side. Since the heater in her old car worked as poorly as everything else, she slid out looking forward to the promised heat inside. She’d only taken two steps toward the front door when a large wolf/dog lumbered to his feet at seeing her, his size and the slow curl of his lips revealing sharp teeth keeping her frozen in place.
Avery held her breath, too afraid to move, shivering from more than the cold. Gripping her purse, she prepared to swing it at the animal’s head should he attack, her only choice for a weapon.
“Lobo, down!”
Grayson’s sudden, hard-voiced command caused Avery to jump, but the wolf lay back down, his tail now swishing against the ground. She released her pent-up breath as he jogged down the porch steps wearing a sweatshirt and jeans that didn’t disguise the bulge of his thigh muscles as he strode toward her. It was one of the few times she’d seen him without a toothpick stuck in the corner of his mouth, but that didn’t keep her from zeroing in on those chiseled lips or remembering how they’d felt covering hers.
“He won’t hurt you,” Grayson assured her as he clasped her elbow and urged her toward the wild dog. “I’m showing him you’re a friend. Once he gets your scent, he’ll recognize it and warm up to you.”
“You keep a wolf as a pet?” Wary but intrigued, Avery went with him, stopping a few feet from the gray and white coated wolf now cocking his head as he peered up at her out of beady, inquisitive eyes.
“No, but after rescuing him as a pup and nursing him back to health, he decided I wasn’t so bad for a human and comes around every so often for handouts. Here.” He handed her a good-sized steak bone. “Hold it out to him. Trust me, he’ll take right to you.”
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Grayson’s emphasis on the words ‘trust me’ sent her gaze flying up to his, but she only encountered his bland expression. As Avery took the bone, she sensed he was asking for more from her than trusting the wolf wouldn’t harm her. “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she muttered, taking one more step forward and stretching out her hand with the meaty treat. “I never owned a dog as a kid.”
“That’s a shame. They’re loyal, bonding animals that can enrich your life, even crossbreeds like Lobo.”
