Nevertheless, other than school and group outings with her huge new family, Alyssa didn’t wander too far on her own.
Coincidentally Jessica had also been born into the same pack as Alyssa and was extremely sympathetic to Alyssa’s plight and need to break all ties. The Masters were an unexpected godsend. Alyssa shivered to think what would have become of her without their guidance, love, and acceptance. In the two years she’d been living with Nancy and Richard, she’d grown from a scared girl into a confident woman. Someone managed to remind her of that nearly every day.
Alyssa smiled and lifted her face into the afternoon sunshine. Spring was just around the corner. In early April the days were still chilly, but sitting in the confines of her car, it was warm enough to pretend she’d encounter the perfect temperature when she opened the door.
Alyssa set her forehead on the steering wheel and tried to run through the events of the last week again in her mind. She was in no hurry to go inside.
She wasn’t crazy. Was she? The man who should be courting her right this minute had taken one whiff of her, literally, and disappeared. Frustrated didn’t even begin to describe her feelings. After all this time spent fantasizing about the elusive Michael, an abrupt U-turn had her pondering a man she knew even less about. It was absurd, ridiculous, and ate into her during every waking hour and often the middle of the night.
Alyssa needed to get a grip. Move on. She wasn’t likely to ever encounter the wolf from the rodeo again, and her fake romance with Michael was just that—in her mind.
As she flung the door open, a cool blast of air assaulted her and made Alyssa smile. It was still winter out there after all. Darn.
Moving on autopilot, Alyssa headed for the back door and into the huge kitchen. She dropped her keys on the counter just inside the kitchen, and the screen door slammed shut behind her with a deafening clack. Something was different about the house this afternoon. Alyssa nearly jumped out of her skin in a brief second of fear, erased as she took a deep breath and inhaled the distinct scent she would never forget—Michael.
In the silent aftermath of the slamming door, the only sound was that of the ticking clock on the kitchen wall. Alyssa glanced at the clock, somehow knowing she needed to mark this moment in her mind. Four seventeen. Michael was home.
With a deep breath, Alyssa lifted her head and took two steps forward, bringing the entire great room into her line of vision. And then she stopped, frozen to her location, mouth open just enough to not only smell Michael, but taste him in the air. There he was, in the flesh, standing only yards away from her, a smile pasted on his face, and an intense look in his eyes that reached into her soul.
Alyssa shivered and wrapped her arms around her middle. She couldn’t speak. Her stomach tightened, and her panties dampened.
“Alyssa.” Her name was like a love song coming from his mouth.
She wanted to fling herself into his arms and demand he kiss her again like he had that day so long ago. Would it be the same? He looked at her like he intended to do just that. Her brain muddled just staring at his frame.
He was taller, not by much, but still… More filled out. Muscular where he’d been barely a man two years ago.
Alyssa scanned down his entire body as if he were a work of art in a museum, not considering this living being was watching her peruse him in such a way. Until he chuckled.
She jerked her head back to reality. A flush spread across her face, and she squeezed her legs together against the pressure and need pulling at her sex. Her head fell in embarrassment.
Michael seemed to find his legs quicker than her, and he closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye. Standing inches from her, he lifted her chin with one hand and gazed into her eyes. His look pierced her soul, and it seemed he knew things about her even she didn’t, as though he were an empath, and the touch to her chin opened her up like a book.
“What…” Her voice squeaked, and she licked her lips to gather some moisture. “What are you doing here?”
“I came home.” He smiled down at her as though this brief sentence explained everything.
The feelings he elicited were incredible. Warmth spread up her arms and down her torso to settle around her sex. She’d only experienced this sensation one other time in her life, and that was last week at the rodeo. The rodeo. Oh. My. God.
Michael was her mate. But… This was not the man she’d scented last week. What was going on?
Confused, and without words to describe her predicament, Alyssa bit her lower lip and tried to read Michael’s face.
Did he know? Was he as attracted to her as she was to him?
“Breathe, babe. I know.” He answered the question she hadn’t voiced. Maybe he could read her mind.