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Chapter 1

Deceed to smile at her date as he pulled out her chair for her Her cheeks hurt frohter She should never have agreed to this date when she’d rather be anywhere else With so out with a randouy was the only way to show Liam and herself that she was serious about that

"Have you been here before?" her date--Mike soe, he wasn’t a local of her smaller mountain community, so it made sense he’d never eaten at the cozy Italian restaurant

She nodded "The bucatini puttanesca is really good So is the pollo caprese Actually, everything on the ood" The Russo fao, many years before she’d been born, and Russo Ristorante had become a staple in the mountain community The locals loved it and so did the tourists Occasionally they even got tourists froar mountains

Almost immediately after they ordered drinks, her date excused hi and had to take an important call Normally that would have bothered her in a date, but she didn’t really care about this one The brief reprieve was fine with her She wanted to get through the uy had been a colossal mistake no matter how nice he seeret had surged through her, but it had been too late then

All she could think about was Liam Liam with his broad shoulders, dark hair, and coffee brown, deep, knowing eyes When that ood kind Heat bloos when he was around He didn’t have to do anything other than train that heated gaze on her and she wanted to ht be built like a linebacker, but his hands were gentle At least the few times he’d caressed her face, they had been

Her ie of him was so clear she could almost see him now In front of her As she stared into space, she frowned Then blinked Good God, he was in front of her Walking straight toward her

"Crap," she ht if he saw her leaving her bookstore--because she’d seen hiet the hint and leave her alone If it was anyone else, shelike some sort of creepy stalker, but she knew him better than that As one of the few lupine shifters who lived in their town, Liaroup that wanted to hurt hu care of herself for a long time--and besides, they weren’t involved, so there was no reason for some fanatics to coive up so easily The uy directly to the table next to hers There was a decent a his gaze into her, heat the same table

"Hello, Dece voice forced her to acknowledge him

She flicked a quick look at his dark-haired friend, who cracked a slared at hi here?" she asked through gritted teeth It wasn’t for the daed as if it should be obvious "Eating"

She narrowed her eyes at him "You knohat I mean I’m on a date, Liam"

At the word "date" those espresso eyes of his got even darker Under norht playing tricks on her, but she knew better She’d seen hi her His eyes had changed then The whites had al into not-quite-human eyes He’d later explained that it sometimes happened when his inner anted to take over It had scared her then but not now She kneouldn’t hurt her Not physically Heand sometiht allow herself to care for hietting her heart broken and losing her only fa that happened between them couldn’t last He barely looked thirty, but she kneas over a hundred years old

"Get rid of hie to it

Maybe his tone should have made her nervous, but it just infuriated her He infuriated her with all his arrogance "Or what?"

"Or I’ll do it for you"

She balled her hands into fists under the table "You are so…so…"

In a fluid, graceful motion that reminded her he was more than human, he stood up and slid into the chair across froht to do so He half smiled and her traitorous libido roared to life Why did the soft candlelight have to play off his features, , handsome--"

His smart-ass response annoyed her even ant and annoying," she said in a loud whisper, barely containing the need to shout at him "Why would you think on any level of normalcy that it was okay to interruptto happen between you andI’ Or don’t you think shifters should be allowed in the same restaurants as humans?"

His words were like a slap Shocked, she jerked back She had issues with his kind--issues he didn’t even know about--but the thought of restricting so

Her dismay must have shown because he cursed under his breath "I didn’t mean that, December I know you don’t think like that"

"Then why’d you say it?"