The Wolf on the Hill Read Free Page B

his eyes. Oh holy hell! Surely he can’t smell my arousal?
    “You know what? I probably should go home. Sorry, Naomi. I’ll be back as soon as I get this out of my system.” Glaring daggers at Olcan Hills’ latest resident, Mia took off her apron and admitted defeat.
    “Sure. Maybe you could bring some plastic cups for your next shift?” Naomi snarked, emptying another panful of glass shards into the dustbin.
    “Do you want me to give you a lift home?” Rory pushed his food aside and attempted to get up from his seat.
    “No thanks. I’ll walk. The fresh air might do me some good.” With the usually homely log fire burning nearby now seeming unbearably hot and the cosy bar suddenly claustrophobic, she just wanted out of there. Away from Caleb Jackson’s smouldering looks and I’m-picturing-you-naked smile.
    As had become his recent habit, Caleb jumped in to upset her plans. He put a hand on Rory’s shoulder to restrain him in the chair. “Don’t worry, I’ll see Mia home. You stay and finish your lunch.”
    “But… But…” Think, damn it! She fought for an excuse to decline the son of a bitch’s magnanimous offer, while Caleb calmly took her by the elbow and steered her towards the door.
    “I insist. Your brother knows you’re in safe hands with me.”
    Left with no choice but to go with him in case she aroused her brother’s suspicions, she followed Caleb out, vowing to ditch him as soon as they were out of sight. “If my brother knew what you did to me, he’d have you stuffed and mounted.”
    “First of all, I didn’t hear you complaining about what I did to you. In fact, I think I remember it went more along the lines of, ‘That feels so good… Don’t stop…’”
    She raised a hand, willing him to stop assaulting her with those delicious memories.
    He wasn’t done. “Stuffed and mounted, you say? You like it that way, don’t you, Mia?”
    She followed her sharp intake of breath with an exasperated groan and strode ahead down the path. Unfortunately, with only fields and scrub as far as the eye could see, there was no chance of avoiding him.
    He jogged up alongside her. “You know, I didn’t have you down as a beer and nuts kind of girl. I thought you’d end up spending your days lunching with the well-to-do.”
    Not for the first time did she find herself having to justify her job. “For your information, I went to medical school, but it wasn’t for me. Working at The Dog puts money in my pocket. I can’t complain.”
    He didn’t pursue the subject, but went on to tackle the other matter she wished to avoid. “So, are we ever gonna talk about what happened in the woods?”
    “No.”
    “We’re gonna pretend it never happened?”
    “Exactly.” She kept up her brisk pace.
    “Really? You’re not up for a repeat performance then?”
    Mia spun around. The guilt, fear, embarrassment, not to mention longing, spiralling through her body, were emotions she did not wish to court on a regular basis. “It was a mistake. I don’t do that… I usually don’t do that sort of thing.”
    “No?” A raised eyebrow questioned her virtue.
    “No.” She repeated firmly. Someone as obviously promiscuous as Caleb wouldn’t understand the significance of that one act to someone like her. The daughter of Edward and Gayle Blake would never dream of behaving in such a manner and running the risk of tarnishing the family’s good name. The free-spirited wolf on the other hand apparently got carried away in the heat of the moment.
    Fixing her eyes intently on his, she made it plain she had no desire for those two different aspects of her life to intersect and tear her apart. “I don’t need the likes of you screwing things up for me.”
    His face contracted into a frown. “Fine. Just pretend it was nothing more than a bad dream.”
    She should have felt nothing but relief when he walked away, ending a conversation she hadn’t wanted to have in the first place. But a pang of regret lingered