“You’ll see,” he answered, squeezing my hand but not letting it go. My inner girl squealed at the fact he kept hold of my hand, and I tried not to scoff at myself for being so ridiculous.
A few minutes later, and Jackson moved to the side so I could see what he wanted to show me. I beamed as I saw a picnic blanket laid on the floor, with a hamper full of food and a bottle of wine with two glasses. My eyes widened in shock as Jackson pulled me down next to him on the blanket.
“What is this?” I asked, still in a state of shock.
“I wanted to do something nice for you. You’ve been through some tough times since arriving here, and I wanted to show you it’s not always drama and doom and gloom. You handled finding out about us really well, and you’ve become a part of this town. You’ve lifted people’s spirits around here, so I wanted to thank you in some way.”
My heart warmed at his words and I didn’t think my smile could get any bigger.
“So, is it just the people’s spirits I’ve lifted? Because I swear I just saw a smile cross your face.” I nudged him playfully and gasped in shock as he pulled me in to his body so our noses were practically touching, and he stared in to my eyes with such intensity it took my breath away.
“You’ve done something to me, alright. I’ve never been that much interested in finding a woman. My main duty is to my pack.” His hand caressed the back of my neck and I shivered.
“I can’t explain it, but there’s something about you. You make me smile when I find it hard to, and I can’t stop thinking about you. I’d always scoffed at the idea of getting a mate, and never understood the love that Noah and Jasmine have for each other. But since meeting you, it’s become clearer in my mind.” I melted at his words, and tried to put my brain back in to motion and say something useful, when he leaned down and kissed me softly on the lips. I opened my mouth and his tongue entered, massaging my tongue and eliciting a moan from deep within me. I’d forgotten how much I missed just kissing. I felt his hand slowly reach under my t-shirt and I shivered when his heat touched my chilled skin. I pulled him closer to me when he ended the kiss, panting and looking at me like I’d hung the moon.
“Why did you stop?” I panted, cringing with how needy I sounded.
“I’m not gonna take you in the woods like a damn animal.”
“Well…when in Rome?”
He laughed and gave me a hard peck on the lips. “Are you calling me an animal?”
“If the shoe fits?”
“Any other sayings you want to throw at me there?”
I giggled, like a bloody schoolgirl. “No, I think I’m done.”
“Laura, I haven’t felt this way in a long time and I want to do it right. So, how about we start casual dating? You know, formally seeing each other?”
“Okay, so if it’s casual then you’ll be okay if I see some other guys too?”
He growled, and kissed me again with a ferocity that took my breath away.
“They can try, but I’ll kill them.”
I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. Oh yeah, he was definitely an alpha.
We sat there for hours just enjoying the picnic and learning more about each other. I admired the love he had for not only his family, but the members of his pack and it was shown in the pride that shone in his eyes when he spoke of them. He loved each and every one of them, and it made me like him even more. I knew that we had only recently met, but I’d felt more affection for him that I had ever felt for Craig and the feelings were so much more intense they terrified me. It was probably a good idea Jackson wanted to date for a while before anything happened. I had a feeling that if we had slept together in the forest right then, that I would have spontaneously combusted. And that would have been embarrassing for everyone, I think we’ll agree. He held my hand all the way back to the car which was still parked at the pub, and we drove back to his in a comfortable silence. His hand never left mine, the whole drive home.
****
“So, what did you do last night?” Jasmine shouted over the fitting suite door. We had both decided that some retail therapy would do us some good and perk us up, so we were currently trying on clothes in booths next to each other. Jasmine had been bombarding me with questions about Jackson since we’d left the house and it didn’t look like she was going to let up, anytime soon.
I was trying on a floaty, fifties style dress which I never had any occasion to wear anywhere but I’d fallen in love with as soon as I’d seen it.
“Um, the usual. Jackson drove us out to an amazing restaurant in the next town over.”