If I were the type of girl to blush, I would’ve turned crimson at the nickname. Not because it wasn’t true…I had deep dimples-craters really-but because it was spoken loudly.
“I go by Ness now. And you are?”
He grinned. “Shit. Ness. You’re all grown up.”
“Six years does that to you.” I raised an eyebrow as I studied his face, took in the light-brown skin with the dusting of freckles, the prominent but straight nose, the dark stubble, the cropped black hair, the hazel eyes. “August?” I asked hesitantly. “August Watt?”
He smiled wider.
And then I smiled, because August had been my absolute favorite person in Colorado after my parents. When I’d asked the pack to allow me into their ranks, he and his father had fought in my favor, joining their voices to Everest’s. They’d been drowned out by the chorus of absolutely-nots
A girl in an all-male pack? What a revolting idea.
I couldn’t help that I’d been born a girl. And it wasn’t like I could pledge myself to a neighboring pack, because werewolves couldn’t switch packs. The only thing werewolves could do was either be a part of their own pack, or move away-far away-so the distance prevented their bodies from changing. Those who stayed-lone wolves-were loose cannons hunted down by all.
August shook his head. “I didn’t think you’d ever come back.”
“I wasn’t planning on it, but shit happens.”
He got that look that drove me insane. Pity. I probably shouldn’t have mentioned the shit-happenspart.
“You okay?”
“I’ve had better days, but I’ve also had worse ones.”
His frown deepened.
I ran my hand through my long hair because, heck, nowI was uncomfortable.
Slowly, slowly, his chiseled face smoothed out. “Are you here to stay?”
“Haven’t decided yet.” My skin pebbled from the vent blasting cold air over my head. I hugged my arms to my chest. “Want to take the conversation outside?” I was chilly, but I also wanted to get away from my aunt’s prickly glower.
“Sure.”
As we walked through the open sliding-glass doors onto the overhanging porch that was almost as spacious as the living room, I said, “You don’t needto talk to me by the way.”
He draped an arm around my shoulders and tucked me into his side. My entire body tightened at the contact.
“Shut up. I just got my favorite girl back. Let me enjoy her.”
I snorted softly. “Favorite girl?”
He amended, “Woman.”
I peered up into his face. His freckles seemed to have darkened. “I imagined you’d have plenty of new favorite girls. I mean, look at you. You’re like a real man now.”
“A real man?” He chuckled. “If everyone wasn’t staring at us right now, I’d put you in a headlock and rough up that pretty hair of yours.”
“Don’t you dare.”
“Fine.” He looked down at me, still grinning. “Seriously, it’s so good to see you.”
“Likewise.” When we reached the guardrail fashioned from a tangle of sanded branches, I ducked out from underneath his heavy arm. “How’ve you been?”
“Pretty good. I enlisted a year after you left. It paid for college.”
“Navy or army?”
“Marines.”
I ran my fingers over the knots in the tawny wood that Dad and August’s father had put in after Jeb bought the inn. Dad had been a talented carpenter. He’d taught his trade to August’s father who purchased Dad’s company after he died.
I placed my forearms on the thick balustrade and squinted at the dense copse of pines running up the sharp ridges of the Flatirons. The view from the inn definitely beat the one from the unit I used to call home. Not that I would everadmit this to anyone.
“Heard you were working with your dad now,” I said.
“Yeah.” August stroked the wood, his fingers moving carefully over the knots, and then he turned and leaned against it.
“How’s business?”
“Booming. Want a job?”
“A job?”
“I remember you loved whittling wood.”
“That was”-Dad’s face flashed inside my mind-“a long time ago. Besides, I have a job. I work here.”
I wanted my uncle to pay Evelyn her full wage, so I’d offered to help with the housekeeping. My suggestion had made my prim aunt balk, but rather rapidly, when she observed how effective I was, she changed her mind. If Evelyn caught wind of this trade, she’d unleash a torrent of Spanish on me. Every time she became emotional, her mother tongue spurted out like steam from a geyser.
At the beginning, I’d helped with the actual cleaning, but after a week, my sense of smell had gotten so acute I had to stay away from cleaning products. I stuck to laundry and ironing and occasionally helped out with vacuuming and assisting Evelyn in the kitchen.
August’s thick black eyebrows almost joined together. “Something just occurred to me.”
“What?”
“Did you run into Liam earlier?”
“Why?”
As his gaze settled on a spot behind me, a vein throbbed in his temple.
“I do believe we’ve met in this lifetime, Ness Clark.”
Speak of the devil. I turned around slowly.
Liam glowered at me. I swear…little lightning bolts were zipping out of his eyes. “Where’s your feather duster?”