His hair was dark brown almost black with hazel eyes. He must have been well over six feet, which allowed him to tower over her easily. He was broad with a muscled build that made her feel small. At the same time, James had a friendly, small town country boy look that clashed with the badass reputation.
Lacy tried to take advantage of Lily’s distraction to grab the book from her. The movement broke Lily from her mental drooling, and she pulled the journal away just in time. “Give me the book, Lily!”
“Nope,” she refused and smiled a nasty smile. “Maybe I should give it to James here?”
“No, you don’t,” Lacy said with a look of utter horror as she tried to grab the book from Lily’s grasp.
“What is going on?” James asked, letting go of Lily’s arm and looking at them with confusion.
“It’s best not to get involved James,” Andrew told him coming up to them. He looked Lily and Lacy both with disapproval. “How many times have I told you both to stop these silly races in and around the house?”
Lily and Lacy gave him a sheepish apology. Lily handed her sister the journal, and they tried to hide their laughter. The older man just shook his head. “James, as much as I regret the manner in which you have met. This is my adopted daughter, Lily Nawassa,” he said. He gave her another disapproving look. “Lily this is James Lacrosse.”
James held out his hand, and his large hand swallowed her much smaller one. Like all werewolves, his body temperature ran warm, and she could feel that heat run up her arm. Lily swallowed nervously, her mind going over all the things she heard about him. “Nice to meet you,” he said, still giving her odd looks.
“Same here,” she replied, glad she sounded normal. Lily wondered just how much of the twisted tale of James Lacrosse was true.
“Later we have some matters to discuss Lily,” Andrew told her, and she nodded. Lily knew when Andrew Roberts said the words matters to discuss that meant to they were to be discussed privately.
“Okay, sure thing,” she stated and grabbed Lacy’s arm and dragged her back into the house.
“Hey, hey, easy on the goods there, sister,” Lacy scolded her.
Lily exhaled the breath she had been holding. “Now that was embarrassing,” Lily whispered to her friend.
Lacy gave her a smug smile. “That’s what you get, journal thief,” she teased.
Lily rolled her eyes. “You were right, that man is hot beyond belief,” she whispered to Lacy. She couldn’t help but wonder if all of him was big.
Lacy chuckled and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively earning another eye roll from Lily. In a sing-song voice, she said, “I told you so!”
“Talking about me again,” Chris asked, walking over to give Lacy a kiss on her temple.
“You wish Playboy,” Lily told him with a scoff. Seeing he was in a perfect position, she gave him a little push causing him to trip over the couch. She burst out laughing as he fell over back on it and bounced off, hitting the floor. “Point one for Lily! Power to the human!”
He shot her an irritated look. “One day, you’ll get yours,” Chris warned her in a playful tone.
Lily was about to reply when Andrew and James entered from the back porch. James gaze turned to her and felt a shiver run down her spine. She had no idea why but his gaze made her feel tiny and prey-ish, like a deer in headlights. Lily closed her open mouth and instead gave Chris a threatening point of her finger. She got out of the room as quick as possible. She didn’t like the way he made her feel at all.
Lily went into the bathroom and splashed her face with cool water. Chill woman, she told herself. She grabbed a towel as she chastised herself for being so silly and heard Sandy call out that dinner was ready. A smile crossed her face as her stomach rumbled and she left the bathroom. Lily looked at the large oak table filled with several different dishes. She couldn’t help but wonder how Sandy had managed to make such a varied meal all by herself.
“You know some of us are hungry. Mind moving or at least taking a picture,” Tony shot at her.
“Well you can eat my socks, Rex,” Lily shot using her pet name for him. He couldn’t stand it, so she used it as often as she could. She turned to face her brother with a smug smirk, but it only lasted a second. She noticed James was behind him, and she got that whole small furry forest animal in danger feeling. So she quickly took her usual spot at the table.
Lily shrugged off the feelings the new wolf’s presence gave her. She preferred to load her plate with everything within her reach and some that weren’t. Lily tuned out the conversation that didn’t involve her. She preferred to keep her nose out of werewolf affairs. It was a world that she didn’t belong to, and she didn’t feel the need to belong to. Right now Lily preferred to keep her attention on her food and food alone.
She wanted to savor every last morsel and was quite content to ignore and be ignored. “Do you always eat like a pig or is this just a special occasion,” Chris whispered in her ear.
She smiled impishly and answered him with a swift kick in the shin that caused him to jump and hit his knee on the table. “Everything okay, Chris?” Andrew asked with a concerned look that had Lily trying hard not to laugh.
“Uh… yes sir,” Chris replied shooting Lily a nasty look.