Chapter Six
Harper never ran late, but this morning she’d woken up later than usual. She wanted to blame Mateo for her tardiness. It had been a long time since she dreamed about him, and this recent dream unnerved her a bit. She never thought of being … with him. At least not recently. Seven years apart would do that for a woman.
Arriving at her store, she came to a stop when she realized the very man himself was right there, ready. Ready for what, she didn’t know.
She was tempted to leave for the day and complain of stomachache or tiredness, but then the pack would be worried. On previous occasions when she had gotten ill, she’d had so many visits. There was no way she would let Mateo turn her into a liar.
It felt like she was about to face some kind of demon monster, and yet, it was just Mateo—the mate who rejected her. Good times.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
Mateo spun around, and it took her a moment to take him all in. This was strange. Whenever she thought about him, normally she’d feel a sense of betrayal and pain, but right now, she was feeling something different.
She stared at him, and she was pretty sure there was a small smidge of desire. Holy crap, this didn’t work for her. She held onto her keys and continued to glare at him. She couldn’t help but wonder if Franny might be right. They were approaching a full moon. This was the first time she’d ever been in her mate’s company.
“I, uh, I figured you might need a hand.”
“For what?” she asked.
“You know, helping around your shop. I’m not here to pressure you or anything, but I’m strong, I can help you move boxes, and do whatever you need.”
“You want to help me?”
“Yeah, I’m kind of useless in this pack. I’m still an alpha, just not to this pack.”
“Why don’t you go back to your own pack?” Harper asked.
“You’re not there,” he said, after several seconds of silence.
The wolf in her liked that.
No! Damn it. She was not going to fall for any of his tricks, and she refused to believe a word that came out of his mouth. It was all a trick. Still, she wasn’t going to be cruel to him. That would make her no better than him.
“Fine.” She brushed past him, and how did he suddenly smell so good?
Harper put her key into the lock, gave it a twist, and stepped inside her shop. This had been the one place to give her solace over the lonely years, and now, the man who’d caused that loneliness was stepping into her sanctuary, and what was worse, she was letting him. This was insane.
Instead of dwelling on the mistake she’d just made, she got straight to work. Last night she’d not had time to stock the shelves, so she walked straight through to the back. She tried to reach a box on the top shelf in her stockroom, only to find Mateo there.
Did he have to stand so close to her? She ignored those feelings, and focused on the now.
“Uh, so, if you take that into the main shop and place it near the foundations section, that would be great.”
Harper watched him go, and it took her just a second to realize she was checking out his ass. What was the matter with her? “Get a grip,” she said, whispering the words to herself.
Seven years of betrayal. She needed to remember that. Seven long and lonely years. Whenever Mateo looked too appealing, all she had to do was remember the word “seven,” to jog her memory.
With that in mind, she went back into the main shop and started to give him instructions of what to fill, the boxes she’d need, and where to put them.
They didn’t have any customers as she never opened the shop before nine in the morning, and she always liked to arrive at work a little earlier, around seven-thirty.
This also meant if anyone in the pack needed her first thing, she was already there. As it happened, one of the pack males did surprise her before she opened. He knocked on her glass door.
She recognized Mitch, and went straight to the door. “Anniversary present, right?”
“Yeah, and I need it pronto. Dawn has been dropping little hints here and there. Something about a beauty collection she would really love to have.” Mitch and Dawn were a newly mated couple, and had only been together a year. Harper had loved their ceremony, as they insisted on mating and getting married.
“Come in,” she said. “I’ll assemble one right now.”
She was always happy to help, and this beauty selection was a gift of small luxury items. The gift wasn’t cheap, but it was more affordable than trying to buy them at full price. Also, it meant they could try them out before they invested their money in the full-size product.
Mateo came out of the shop, took one look at Mitch, and Harper sensed his annoyance.
“Mitch, I’d like you to meet Mateo. Mateo, this is Mitch. He’s here for a gift for his mate.” That was all she was going to say.
“Mateo?” Mitch asked, holding out his hand. “Why do I know that name?”
“He’s the man that rejected me and banished me from his own pack. He’s Mateo Fox, the alpha of the Fox pack.”
“Oh, right,” Mitch said.
Harper left him alone, made her way through her collections, and grabbed a small travel bag.
In the last few years, her shop had become a bit of a sanctuary to the men who didn’t have a clue what to buy for Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, or any other special occasion. It was kind of funny and she didn’t mind at all.
She made sure to gift wrap it for Mitch, and he paid for it without batting an eye at the price. He was a good man.
And then, she was alone with Mateo once again.
****
Mateo didn’t believe he was getting anywhere. So far, he’d moved all the heavy boxes for his mate, and then watched her stock the shelves. He tried to help, but it would seem she was a little controlling, and she didn’t want anyone else to do anything for her. He understood it, within reason. She had her own routine.
Before the shop opened, she had gotten the shelves full, but not overflowing. Everything looked neat, so put together and tidy.
Other than Mitch, the male mate who nearly forgot his anniversary when the shop opened, no one came in, but Harper didn’t seem too concerned.
She moved toward a small closet and pulled out a vacuum, handing it to him. “Do you mind?” she asked.
He did, but he wasn’t about to tell her that. This was about him getting closer to her, and not complaining. He took the vacuum from her, started in the main shop, and once he finished, she asked him to go into the stockroom.
She was dusting some of the shelves, and then she stopped as soon as a customer came in.
Mateo stood in the shadows and watched Harper as she got to work. The woman was much older. Harper took her around the shelves, they gathered up some makeup products, and then she began to test them out on the woman’s skin. One of the colors was a little too light for her, and Harper placed it back into a tray and found the color just right for the woman.
“Stunning. See. You have your skin care prep right down, Pat. Does your face feel much better?”
“Oh, dear, yes, it does. Standing in front of a stove for nearly thirty years will do that to you.”
“Yep, it will, and we’ve got to learn to love our skin.”
“You know, if I had walked into a café or diner, or even some stinkhole with a bunch of creepy-looking men, that would have sounded so wrong,” Franny said. “Now, I’ve got visions of cannibals. Not a way to greet a lady who stopped off to get you breakfast.”
“It’s nearly eleven, you’re late,” Harper said, chuckling.
He saw Pat was also laughing.
“Yeah, well, a girl has to, you know, sleep from time to time.”
Franny was glancing around the shop and when her gaze moved toward the storage room, he lifted his hand in a wave. In response, she rolled her eyes.
“I take it the rumors are true, your mate is working here with you?” Franny asked.
“Is that why you got the third cup of coffee?” Harper asked.
“Your mate is here?” Pat asked.
“Yes,” Mateo said, stepping out of the shadows. At the same time, Harper had declared she had no mate. He was very much alive, living and breathing, and he offered Pat a smile.
“Oh, so you’re the man that banished this precious little lady?” Pat asked.
He saw Harper’s smile as she turned away from the two of them.
“You made a big mistake. This girl is one of a kind, and any guy here would love to take her as his mate.”
Franny started to cough. “You know what, I’m going to let Mateo have his coffee, and introduce him to the world of the cinnamon bun.”
She grabbed his arm and tugged. At the door, he noticed her stop and turn toward Harper. He didn’t look back. The coffee and the sweet treat was temptation enough. Also, he needed to know why Franny wasn’t there, helping him with his cause, because it felt like he was floundering on thin ice right now.
“You’re hiding in the stockroom?” Franny asked, whispering.
“I’m not attempting to hide. I’m trying to help her, and she shoved me in the stockroom, to clean it.”
Franny groaned. “I was hoping that with closeness, I’d come by and see the shop shut up and sexy moans coming from inside. Damn it. Leave a man to do a job, and he’s useless at it.”
“Hey, I’m trying here.”
“Not hard enough. I’m going to have to talk to her now, about using you. Ugh, enjoy your coffee.”
With that, she turned on her heel and made her way out the door.
She’d shoved a hot coffee in his hand, and small pastry bag. He was starving. Taking a sip of the coffee, he couldn’t help but close his eyes, as he knew it was delicious. The scent of the cinnamon was too much temptation, and wrapping the brown paper bag around it, he took a bite.
He also started to make his way toward the doorway, to watch Harper. She looked so … beautiful.
Harper had on a small amount of makeup. He didn’t know exactly what she wore, but it must be to emphasize her beautiful brown eyes, or make her lips look so plump. Damn, he never got to feel those lips. He couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to kiss her.
Once again, she wore a dress. Rarely was she in pants, but today it was a dress. A summery one, with thin straps, and he saw a hint of the bra beneath. She did have large tits. It was quite low-cut, yet it didn’t even skim her tits. There was no hint of cleavage, but it made him want to try and look deeper.
He took another sip of his coffee and felt his wolf begin to wake up. They both wanted his mate. When he turned so the door removed Pat and Franny from the equation, all he could see was Harper. She was who he wanted.
Mateo hadn’t thought in detail about the moment he banished her, removed her from his life, yet in that moment, he did. He’d been so filled with betrayal at his wolf, at the mating, at the revelation of who his mate was, he’d not even taken a moment to enjoy that he had a mate. There were so many men and women determined to find the right mate. He knew they craved to find their soulmate, and some waited so long, they never found the one.
His woman had been right in front of him the whole time. And he’d sent her away.
In that moment, he realized why his own pack had been so pissed at him. Sending Harper away had been easy, but it had come with far-reaching consequences. There were some of his pack who, to this day, didn’t agree with what he had done, and now as he thought about it, they had good reason.