Chapter 5
Adam
Adam sensed her before he saw her. This wasn’t entirely unusual. His heightened sense of sight, smell, and hearing meant he knew when someone was there before most people did.
But this was different. This was an awareness he’d never felt before. Something that made his wolf whine inside of him and scratch at his ribs to escape.
Faye.
He knew right away that she was nervous, a little scared even, and he wanted to drop the torque wrench into the old Chevy he was working on and rush into the lobby, find out what was going on, and then kill whoever it was that was making her feel this way.
But he did none of those things. Instead, he kept on working like any normal male would.
Doing anything else would expose him as something “other.” And although he worked there at the garage with the majority of the local wolf pack, there were also a half dozen or so non-shifter males and females who worked there with him.
Rocky, Adam’s best friend and companion for the past four and a half years, give or take a month or two, lifted his furry white head and stared at the door to the lobby.
His long tail thumped on the concrete floor as though he, too, sensed an old friend he hadn’t seen in a long time.
Adam watched him with curiosity. Rocky was half wolf, and although he was well trained and pretty chill, he didn’t normally take to strangers right off.
Sometimes it took him months to warm up to a new person.
A few seconds later, Tommy opened the door and yelled over the sound of the machines and Judas Priest blaring from the radio in the back. “Adam! You’ve got a lady requesting you!”
Acting surprised, he set down his wrench on the bench behind him and picked up a rag to wipe his hands.
“Rocky.” Adam made a sign with his hand and Rocky hefted his large frame up onto his giant paws and padded after him.
He would’ve been fine left where he was, but Adam was curious to see how he would interact with Faye after the interest he’d shown when she walked into the shop.
Dropping the rag on a table, he pulled open the door that led to the office and motioned Rocky through, then followed him.
Faye stood in the far corner of the waiting room with her back to him, watching the snow flurries out the window.
Her pretty hair fell in loose waves just past her shoulders.
Her coat was folded over her arm, and she was wearing a long-sleeved emerald-green shirt and black pants that hugged the curves of her ass and thighs.
A pair of worn sneakers covered her feet.
The heater kicked on and her scent—like a warm summer field basking in the sunshine—washed over him, warming him from the inside out and making him hard all at the same time.
Rocky stepped in front of him with his nose in the air, honed in on Faye, and headed toward her.
Worried the huge mutt would scare her, Adam said quietly, “Rocky. Hold.”
He immediately stopped and sat, but let out a whimper, his blue eyes glued to the woman who’d just turned around to face them. A huge smile broke out on her face the moment she saw the wolf dog. “Hey there, gorgeous,” she told him softly.
The whimper turned into a full-blown whine.
“You’re gonna give him a bigger head than he already has talking to him like that,” Adam said with a hint of amusement.
Her eyes flew to his face, then back to the wolf dog.
“Don’t worry about him,” Adam tried to reassure her. “Unless my life is in danger, he won’t move until I tell him to.”
“Oh, it’s okay,” she said. “He can come and say hello.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” she told him, still smiling. “Absolutely.”
Adam hesitated for a moment, and then gave Rocky the command to move freely about the room. “At ease, Rocky.”
Immediately, he stood and closed the distance between himself and Faye.
She held still as he gave her a good sniff, then his large head ducked under her hand so she could pet him.
Faye laughed and did as he asked. Adam didn’t worry that he would hurt her.
The only people that got on Rocky’s shit list were assholes.
And Faye wasn’t an asshole. He was just so large and reserved that he tended to scare people who didn’t know him.
But it didn’t look like he had anything to worry about with Faye. “Looks like he likes you.”
“What’s his name?”
“Rocky.”
“That’s a good name for such a sweet boy,” she cooed.
Adam raised an eyebrow, but his ferocious guard dog practically arched like a cat under the touch of her hands as she rubbed them over his head and down his back.
He was so big next to her—his back nearly hit her waist—she didn’t even need to lean over.
All Adam could do was shake his head and change the subject.
“So, I hear that we’re engaged now.” He assumed that’s why she was there.
Her smile froze, then fell from her face as she straightened, her fingers curling into Rocky’s white and gray fur, and gave Adam an apologetic look.
“I’m so sorry, Adam. That’s what I came here to talk to you about.
” She glanced over at Lex behind the counter, ringing out a customer. “Do you have a minute?”
Rocky stared at him, waiting patiently for his answer so he could get back to his petting. “If you give me about ten minutes, I’ll be done for the day. We can grab dinner and talk.”
Her shoulders relaxed, and she gave him a grateful look. “That would be great. I just need to stop by the museum first, if that’s okay?”
Adam racked his brain, trying to remember seeing a building in this town that could possibly house priceless artwork and came up blank. “Museum?”
“Yeah, I work there in the summer when it’s open. I just need to grab some boxes to take home.”
He still had no idea where the museum was, but he nodded. “Sure. Give me a few minutes to finish up.”
“Can Rocky stay with me?” she asked.
“I don’t think I’d be able to convince him to leave,” he told her honestly. “I’ll be right back. There’s water and coffee over there if you want some.” He pointed to the other side of the waiting room.
“I’m good, thanks,” she told him, taking a seat in the chair behind her. Rocky followed her, sitting beside her and laying his head on her lap.
Adam shook his head at the picture they made, and went back into the garage to finish putting the Chevy back together for his customer so it would be all ready to pick up in the morning.
Then he went to the break room and stripped off the coveralls that protected his clothes and washed his hands and face, getting as much of the grease smell off of him as he could.
He wasn’t sure what had possessed him to invite her out to dinner.
This whole fake boyfriend thing was fine if it was the only way to discourage somebody who just wouldn’t take the hint that she wasn’t interested, but that was about as far as he was willing to take it.
And as soon as that dude backed off and turned his attention to someone else, which hopefully would be this Saturday, this fake relationship bullshit was over.
Other than that, there was no reason for him to spend time and money on this woman.
Except that, whether he should or not, he fucking wanted to.
When he returned to the waiting room, everyone was gone except for Faye and Rocky, who were exactly as he’d left them. “Ready to go?”
Faye gave Rocky a pat on the head and stood, trying and failing to brush the fur from her black pants. “Yup.”
“I have a thing in the truck that’ll get that off.
” He started to take her hand, because holding her hand just seemed like the most natural thing in the world to do, but pulled back before their fingers touched, frowning at himself.
“So where’s this museum?” he asked as he held the door open for her and Rocky.
“Just down the street from the coffee shop. And I have my car. I can run by there and meet you at the restaurant. Where did you want to go?”
“Or you can just ride with me, and I’ll bring you back to get your car later,” he told her as they walked to his truck. What the hell? It wasn’t like he was breaking any pack rules. He was just taking his fake girlfriend to dinner. Check that. Fake fiancée.
Yeah, they needed to talk about that.
Faye gave him a shy smile that seized his heart. “That’ll work too. I live close to here.”
“Oh yeah? Where?”
She glanced over at him, and he had the feeling she was weighing the risk of telling a practical stranger where she lived. But in the end, she decided to trust him. “I live at the RV park just up the road toward town.”
Adam stopped as they reached the truck. “That’s kinda out in the middle of nowhere.” He didn’t know that he liked the idea of her living out there by herself. “Do you live alone?”
This time, she just smiled and didn’t answer him. “Are you going to unlock the truck so we can go get that dinner, or are we just gonna do our talkin’ out here in the cold?”
Reaching up and grasping the door handle, he waited for the telltale beep and heard the locks, then he pulled the door open for her.
“In the back, Rocky,” he ordered when the wolf dog tried to follow her into the cab.
With a huff, he did what he was told and went to the back to wait for Adam to lower the tailgate for him.
Normally, he didn’t like him riding back there.
But this town was so small, there wasn’t a road with a speed limit over 45 mph.
And Rocky liked to ride in the back. Usually.
“There’s a sticky roller in the glovebox,” he told Faye. “To get my dog’s fur off your clothes.”
“Thanks.” She found the roller and he closed her door, then walked around the back of the truck, opening the tailgate for Rocky and closing it behind him before going around to the driver’s side.