Aurora (Tantalizing Singles #1)

Chapter 1

Creed

Nothing made Monday worse than a bunch of entitled fuckers trying to get in my face and push my buttons. I was minding my own business, taking lunch in the indoor arboretum like always instead of the cafeteria full of entitled assholes, and two of said assholes just had to find me.

I did my best to ignore them as they yapped their gums about me cleaning up their piss or the big shit they didn’t flush after. Were they really such fuckers they didn’t flush the toilets to stink up the bathrooms thinking the maintenance staff would have to do more work?

Were the doctors of ASH really that stupid and didn’t know the toilets auto-flushed after thirty seconds?

“Excuse me,” a timid voice interjected.

I glanced up and was struck stupid by the most gorgeous chick I maybe had ever laid eyes on.

She had long raven hair and blue eyes so light that I honestly wasn’t sure that blue was their color.

It was almost like I was looking into a diamond and I was seeing whatever color reflected back at me. It was seriously disarming.

“I feel this conversation is inappropriate,” she said, focused on the two doctors.

Whoa, and she was defending me? Who was this chick? Someone who gave a shit about the damn janitor?

“He might be a servant, but treating him…” she trailed off and frowned, glancing at me with a bit of fear. It made me realize I was quietly growling. “I apologize, English is my fourth language and I miss things a lot.” She frowned harder. “I’m also not worldly and it gets confusing.”

She knew four languages and wasn’t worldly? How did that work out in her head?

“Politicians and police are civil servants, so I did not think it would be such an offensive term,” she muttered, looking worried before glancing down. “I apologize.”

“Service industry,” I offered. “Maintenance would be considered a job in the service industry. I get what you mean.”

Her worry eased and she shot me a grateful look before focusing back on the two doctors.

“Yes, so while he is in the service industry, he is not your servant, and society has long since progressed past kicking servants when you have a bad day. There are laws now against having whipping boys and long overdue.”

Was this chick for real? Here as a patient to get shrinked?

“Look, I don’t know what you think you heard, but clearly—” the one doctor started to say.

“I know what I heard, thank you, my ears work fine, and you were rather loud in your bullying of someone sitting quietly,” she said firmly. “And the behavior was incredibly inappropriate and unsuitable of someone who works for ASH.”

That was the wrong thing to say, immediately pissing off the doctor.

He opened his mouth to blast her but stopped when the other guy yanked on his arm.

I couldn’t hear what he hissed in his friend’s ear, but they quickly tried to cover their badges before mumbling bullshit apologies to her and hurrying off.

What the actual fuck was that?

“I’m sorry they treated you that way,” she said quietly when we were alone.

“Thanks, but I’m used to it,” I muttered, glancing between her and where they had been standing.

I pushed to my feet and she flinched as I towered over her.

I took in a slow breath knowing I was about to make a mistake, but after she’d done me a solid, I needed to repay the favor. “You here as a patient?”

“No.” She cleared her throat. “I’m Aurora.”

“Creed.” I studied her another moment. “I don’t know why you’re here then, Aurora, but that sort of thing is typical at ASH. It’s not the miracle people talk about but a pit of vipers. So don’t get involved here if you don’t have to.”

I mumbled for her to have a nice day, wanting nothing more than to spend more time with the beauty, but chicks were trouble, and I was doing everything I could to stay out of that. Even if assholes at work made it really, really difficult for me.

I figured that was the end of it and mostly forgot about it besides the flash of her when I was getting ready for bed. I mentally swatted it away, pretending I didn’t even remember her name.

So nothing surprised me more than to find her sitting in the indoor arboretum with a legit picnic basket. Like a cliché wood fucking picnic basket.

I glanced around and looked for someone recording this shit. Someone had to be and this was some sort of punk social media channel, right?

Or one of those bullshit ones that “saved” people or something? Oh, she was fucking with the wrong person if that was her shtick.

Her face lit up when she saw me and I didn’t think anyone was good enough of an actress to fake the slight blush that crept over her cheeks.

I sighed and mentally cussed myself out when curiosity won out instead of me being smart and leaving—pretending like I didn’t see the beauty and just fucking leaving. I walked over to her and narrowed my eyes. “Why are you here?”

She flinched at my tone and instantly looked down which I didn’t like.

It made me feel as if I’d kicked a puppy.

“I’m sorry if I upset you. I wanted to apologize for offending you yesterday.

” She cleared her throat when I didn’t say anything.

“I made lunch. I’m not very good and I’m just learning, but I like it. Cooking is fun.”

I snorted and she flinched again, making me swallow a sigh. “I hate cooking.”

“I’m not very good at it, so I can’t promise it’s high-quality, but I liked this recipe,” she said quietly.

“It’s better than my sandwich,” I mumbled but then remembered my worry. “Are you like some social media person who does shit for attention or—”

“No,” she said firmly but still stared down. “People who put their whole lives out there are—I could never be a person like that. I’m not made to be in the spotlight or to stand in front of people.” She cleared her throat after a few moments and then stood. “I’m sorry I upset you.”

“I’ll eat,” I said quickly, mentally kicking myself, but seriously, it was like kicking a damn puppy and the sadness I sensed from her killed me.

“Why are you so upset that I’m trying to apologize?” she whispered, not moving to sit back down.

I sighed. “People aren’t nice without a purpose, Aurora.”

She met my gaze then. “Yes, and that’s a shame. I don’t want to live my life that way. Is that so wrong?”

Gods above and below, I wanted to believe her… But I didn’t.

I just couldn’t kick the puppy again.

So I sat.

She did too and started pulling things out of her damn picnic basket. “Um, I should have paid closer attention to the recipe. It said provolone and I got sharp provolone. It’s a bit overpowering.”

“I like sharp provolone.”

“I hoped you’d like an Italian pasta salad,” she said quietly.

“You sound like Italians I’ve seen in American movies.

” She didn’t push when I gave a noncommittal grunt.

“I also used protein pasta. Amazing the options and things they have now. Pasta with protein. It’s good though. I couldn’t taste a difference.”

I accepted the deli-style plastic container she handed me along with the plastic fork. Then I picked between the two options of sparkling water she offered, assuring her that orange was my favorite.

“Okay, good. I thought you could tell I wanted the strawberry and just saved my feelings,” she mumbled and settled herself with her own food. “The recipe was supposed to have pepperoni, but that’s not my favorite, so I’m sorry if you like it.”

“I’m not picky,” I said when I realized she was talking because she was nervous. I took a bite and blinked as I chewed. “Shit, this is fucking delicious. This is legit shit that would be like twenty bucks at a bodega in New York.”

“I purchased high-quality salami and ham since I was going to put in more of it than the recipe called for,” she told me. “And I grated the parmesan fresh.” She took a bite and smiled. “I like it. Maybe not so much of the provolone though.”

I took another bite and savored it. “I like sharp provolone, but I get what you’re saying. If you think it’s overpowering, I’d say do half sharp provolone and like half torn fresh mozz. That would be damn good too.”

“Oh, I like that. Thank you, Creed.”

Shit, I liked the way she said my name. I cleared my throat and gave a firm nod as I took another bite before trying the sparkling water. It was like eating candy and somehow didn’t have many calories. Weird but good.

“Um, the brownies—I need to work on my baking,” she warned me when we were done with our containers.

“Still better than I would do,” I told her when she still hesitated. I accepted one when she gave it over and instantly knew why she was worried. I shrugged after taking a bite. “Recipe’s good. You just cooked them a bit long. So what? Not a fucking hockey puck or anything.”

She chuckled quietly. “No, not anything that bad.”

“Ease up then. You’re still learning. The world won’t end if the brownies aren’t perfectly soft. I’m grateful, and honestly anything would have been second best to that pasta salad.”

“I have more that you can take home if you want,” she offered with a beaming smile that affected me way too much.

“I’m good. You need to eat too,” I mumbled, focusing on my drink.

“I actually made the whole recipe not realizing it was meant to be for a party. It will go bad before I can eat it all,” she admitted. “I have to pay better attention and halve recipes. It was stupid of me.”

I really was an idiot. “Yeah, okay, if it’s—wasting food is bad.” I accepted the three containers and the extra paper bag she’d brought so I could easily carry them. I almost joked what else she had in that picnic basket but didn’t want her to hang her head again.

It was a bit awkward when we were done with our brownies and drinks, but she seemed settled like her mission was accomplished.

“Thanks for this, but you didn’t have to. I wasn’t offended after you explained yourself,” I told her as I stood. “I’m glad you’re having fun cooking though. You should stick with it if you like it because you’re good—the food was.”

“Thanks, Creed. I hope you have a good day and no one bothers you again,” she replied… As that blush crept back onto her cheeks.

Fuck everything. I wanted to ask for her number or to see her again.

Which was why I forced myself to turn and walk away. Chicks were trouble and I didn’t need trouble. The last thing men on parole needed was trouble.

And yet she was sitting there waiting for me again the next day.

She smiled at me as I walked towards her ready to ask what the hell was going on. “Do you have any food allergies? There were a few recipes I was thinking of trying, but I wasn’t sure if you had any allergies. I know sometimes shifters can have them—their animals can.”

So this was just… A chance for someone to taste her cooking who wasn’t critical and would appreciate it? Was this beauty really cooking for me and coming here just because everyone else in her life were assholes?

Actually, that didn’t sound all that weird given I was in the same situation.

“No, no food allergies,” I heard myself saying. “I’m not very picky, but I don’t like spicy.” I frowned. “Peas and chickpeas have a weird mouthfeel when those skins come off in your mouth, but I like falafel.”

“I’ve never had falafel, but I’ve heard it’s good,” she muttered.

“But I can’t handle spicy, so we’re safe there.

” She patted the seat next to her and then opened the damn picnic basket.

“I made a pesto chicken salad and put it on sourdough that looked delicious. And made a lemon-blueberry sheet cake. I have some of that for you to take home because I will eat it all otherwise.”

Okay, so we were really doing this.

Apparently, because I sat down.

And everything was fantastic. Spending time with her was fantastic. A bit awkward but… Soothing too. She was kind and didn’t judge. She didn’t push. She was curious and asked questions, but she didn’t bother me if it was clear I didn’t want to talk about it.

Aurora was really too good to be true.

No, really she was, and I should have listened to my gut that chicks were trouble and not gone near her.

We ate lunch together for two weeks. It was an array of amazing food and always something for me to take home. She wouldn’t let me give her money for any of it, saying it was part of being her test taster. We both knew that was crap and she was being kind.

Until I realized there was a reason behind it all.

“Mrs. Re—Aurora, Ms. Reed wasn’t aware you were stopping by the hospital yet again,” a man said while we were eating. “Is there something you needed?”

“No, I just—is Ellie upset?” Aurora stuttered, shrinking into herself.

“You know the head of the hospital?” I asked, glancing between them. “You’re married?”

“I’m her stepmother and—” she started to explain, but the guy cut in and with an attitude I didn’t like.

“Former stepmother,” he corrected.

Aurora started wrapping up her lunch. “And I’m in the middle of my divorce, but I haven’t even seen him in centuries.”

Okayyyyyy then. That sounded beyond complicated.

The guy turned his gaze on me. “Yes, of course you were unaware of this. I think it best you—”

“Look, I don’t know your damage, but we didn’t even exchange last names or…” I trailed off and ran my tongue over my teeth when Aurora flinched. “You looked into me? Are you spying on me for the head of the hospital?”

“Yes, no—yes—I had—it wasn’t like that, Creed,” she rambled, getting flustered. “I swear.” She flinched when I stood. “Please, please let me explain.”

“Whatever is going on here does not need to be a floor show, so let’s take it to my office,” a female said firmly. I swallowed a groan when Ellie Reed stood there. The head of ASH and she was staring between the three of us like we were the last thing she wanted to deal with.

Hey, the feeling was mutual.

“I’m so sorry, Ellie,” Aurora whispered. “I didn’t mean to cause trouble for you.”

Who was the parent and who was the child here? What was with that reaction? I started moving in front of Aurora protectively before I even realized it… And it was immediately noted by Ms. Reed.

Fuck.

So off to her office we went. Great. Just fucking great.

Chicks were always trouble.