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“I won’t hold anything back.” We had set strike tomorrow. Community theater meant we all pitched in. No union crew to take everything down. I put my bra on and pulled my sweater over my head. “But don’t hold your breath. We just met for real yesterday. It’s not like we’re old friends rekindling anything.”
Monica was already brushing her hair into a ponytail as her dressing table. “Damn, Winter, how old are you? You don’t have to marry the guy to enjoy him.”
I decided to leave the lashes on and just reapplied my lipstick. “I know, but I’m not going to walk out to his car and climb him like a tree in the parking lot.”
“Couldn’t hurt.” Her eyes sparkled. “Seriously. Unwrap that guy.”
I laughed as I reached for the door. “Night, Monica.”
The door closed behind me, and I grinned. Getting a werewolf for Christmas might be just what I needed.
I could worry about the future later.
CHAPTER 6
Jackson
After Winter disappearedthrough the backstage door, my heart still pounded like a damned jackhammer. That kiss was…mind-blowing. Fuck, I’d kissed plenty of women in my life, but nothing had kindled that kind of desire. I jammed my hand in my pocket, trying to adjust my raging hard-on as subtly as possible.
I sucked in a deep breath, attempting to distract myself from imagining her naked body pressed against mine and how my name would sound on her breathless lips. Okay, not helping. I raked my fingers back through my hair and struggled to think about something else.
Earlier today, my buddy in the records department had gotten back to me with the list of surrendered or abandoned babies in Salem from 1989. Across the country, thousands of babies are given up, often at hospitals and churches, but Salem wasn’t a huge city like Boston, so I had been banking on the number being small enough for me to track down.
I was right.
The records were sealed on a few of the cases, but in 1989 there had been ten babies surrendered in Salem and only three had been females. Winter was one of them. I didn’t read her file. She was my mate, and if she ever decided to share all she’d been through, I’d rather hear it from her lips, not some social worker’s notes. I kept it though, just in case she wanted to look through it.
I had planned to tell her I had found Ashley, or “Ashleigh” as it was spelled out in the records, but the mistletoe had distracted me. Truth be told, I’d been mesmerized by Winter way before the mistletoe.
From the moment I caught her scent in the theater, my wolf had been alert and on the edge of my consciousness, then seeing her on the stage, in the spotlight, had taken me right back to high school. My mate had been in my orbit all along, so close, but I never knew her. Had fate kept us apart on purpose? Maybe we’d been too young.
When I was a kid, my dad explained that the wolf wouldn’t recognize our mate until after we had our first shift, and I was nineteen when I had mine. Even if I’d known Winter and held her hand back in high school, I hadn’t bonded fully with my wolf yet. There wouldn’t have been that instant recognition when we touched skin to skin.
None of it mattered, really. She was herenow.
She returned to the lobby, this time in jeans and a blue and gray sweater, and I wanted to wrap her in my arms and kiss her all over again, but I reminded myself we barely knew each other. The last thing I needed was to scare her.
“You look amazing,” I said as she approached.
Her lips curved into a sexy smile. “I left the eyelashes on.”
I shook my head with a grin. “It has nothing to do with your eyelashes.” I took her hand and the invisible web between us tightened.
This bond that she didn’t even realize existed.
I tried to remember what Jaron had suggested telling her, something about always protecting her. It had sounded romantic at the time, but I couldn’t seem to get the words back into the right order.
I looked over at her as I opened the lobby door. “Are you hungry?”
Her eyes smoldered up at me from under the thick lashes. “Famished.”
That look had my blood boiling all over again, like her hunger had nothing to do with food. We hustled through the bitter cold to my car, and for once, I barely noticed the temperature.
My desire for Winter consumed me.
Did she feel the same about me? I wasn’t sure. I popped the locks and we both got in. The second I started the engine, she grabbed my shirt and pulled me to her. Surprise gave way to passion. I kissed her over and over, hungry for more. Damn, she tasted like freshly fallen snow. Our tongues tangled together as her fingernails slid through my hair, teasing my scalp.
Whatever grip I’d had on my self-control was gone. I needed her closer. Much closer. Knowing she initiated it made me even hotter. I reached down and caught the handle to release my seat. It jerked all the way back. Without breaking the kiss, I gripped her waist and lifted her onto my lap.
