4. Emily
Chapter four
Emily
“ E xcuse me, miss?”
A.J. and I are loading up his ancient Honda with deliveries, when a man’s voice stops me in my tracks. My hormones must be out of control because my heart rate picks up at just the sound of these three little words. You’d think between the Gremlin’s daddy and all the weirdos like the guy earlier, I’d be tired of men. But you know what they say. Sexuality isn’t a choice because here I am still attracted to men.
I turn and have to bite my lip to keep a gasp from escaping. Standing behind me is another werewolf, plain as day. He’s only in partial shift with his ears high on his head and his hands tipped with claws.
“Yes, sir,” I smile up at him, hoping I’ve recovered properly. “How can I help you?”
If the man from earlier was gorgeous, this man is a god made to life. He’s easily a foot taller than me, if not more. I have to blink into the sun to look up at him. He notices my squinting and chuckles, then moves so the sun isn’t in my eyes.
“Your hours say you’re open, but there’s a closed sign. I was hoping to send some flowers to a family member in the hospital.”
“Sure, let me just get A.J. going on his deliveries and I’ll be right there to help.” He smiles at me and I can’t help but smile back. He’s obviously unafraid to let anyone know what he truly is. Though I imagine as big and broad as he is, he doesn’t usually come up against anyone dumb enough to start a fight. I shut the hatchback of A.J.’s car, give it a loud knock and he pulls slowly away.
The werewolf runs a hand through his beautiful, dark hair. It’s so unfair how men seem to have such great hair. Pregnancy has done a number on mine. I seem to lose more and more strands in the shower each day.
“Do you mind following me through the back?” I ask werewolf Adonis.
He smiles a smile that I’m sure has gotten him into dozens, if not hundreds, of beds and motions to the door. “Lead the way, fair lady.”
Gods and he’s silly too…where was he eight months ago? He follows me through the messy back area into the tiny retail side. As I stop to push a rolling cart out of the way to give Adonis room, he bumps into the back of me, abruptly pushing me forward. I reach out for the cart to balance myself, but it slips on its wheels and suddenly the floor is rushing to me. Thick, muscular arms wrap above and below my belly and pull me upright against the hard body of the werewolf. I suck in a deep breath of surprise and hear him do the same as he holds me tightly to his chest.
Sir Jon, of course, picks this exact moment to appear from the front. He prances towards us and runs his body against our legs as if I didn’t just nearly die. Asshole.
The werewolf continues to clutch me to his hard body. I’m pretty certain at this point I must have scared him too, because his breathing is heavy in my ear as he rests his face against the top of my head, his nose buried in my hair. For a long movement, I do not move as my heart attempts to pound its way out of my ribcage. “Thank you,” I finally manage to breathe after my heart slows down.
Be professional.
Reluctantly, I step out of his grasp. “So you said you need to send an arrangement to a hospital?”
I turn to find him making a grimace of pain, a large hairy hand up to his nose. “Oh, my. Are you okay? Do you have bad allergies?”
HIs eyes change to black for a moment and he says nothing as I stand perfectly still, afraid to make a sudden move. What does that mean? Is he about to strike? I hold my breath, afraid to make a sound. Suddenly, his eyes return to normal and he lets out a long breath. “Can I order outside?” he says in a rush.
“Sure, let me grab my tablet.” I tell him, but he’s out the door before I can get past the word sure .
God, what a fucking weird day.
Out back, I find him bent at the waist, hand over his nose, standing as far from the back door as possible. “Do you need an ambulance, sir?”
His eyes meet mine and flash black again for an instant. He puts up a hand. “No, I’ll be fine, just…give me some room.” He takes a few more steps away from me, putting him back to back with the disgusting dumpster I share with the fish restaurant next door. I reach out a hand to tug him away, only to have black eyes meet mine.
“Give me some room,” he practically growls. I take several steps back, unsure what to do.
“Sir, if the flowers are causing an allergic reaction, perhaps we should do this over the phone. I can give you my card…”
He blinks several times, as if he’s trying to focus on me. “Card?”
“Yes, you can place an order over the phone…away from the flowers.”
He nods. “Good idea.”
I take a step closer, only to have him back away again, but I don’t take it personally. I am probably coated in whatever he’s allergic to. I pull out a card from my apron, and holding it carefully by the edge, I stretch out as far as I can. He takes the card and pockets it.
“I’m so sorry I triggered your allergies. Are you sure you don’t need medical assistance?”
He shakes his head. “No. I’ve got to go.”
I nod as he hurries off–not quite running, but definitely getting the hell out of here in a hurry. I’ve never seen anyone react to flowers like that, but I guess there is a first time for everything. A werewolf’s sense of smell is probably as strong as a regular wolf’s, so allergies probably affect them even worse than they do us regular humans.
I close and lock the back door behind me and decide I’m done for the day. Two weird encounters is enough. Time to call it quits. Besides, my feet could use a soak. I count up the register, shut off the lights, and head out the front to my own tiny car parked on the street. I cannot wait to curl up on my recliner and take a nap. Hopefully tomorrow will be better, or, at least, less weird.