The girls didn’t even bother to wait for their change before traipsing around the corner to flirt with Daniel, so I dropped it into the tip jar. The money collected would be divided between all the employees at the end of our shift. It was never much, but my needs were simple: a good book, a warm fire, my own mug of hot chocolate, and hushed silence within myself. It was one of the reasons that I loved winter and had felt so at home at the resort. The snow absorbs so much sound and it creates a quiet that is more stillness than anything.
But with Daniel’s arrival, my little haven was no longer comforting. I was going to have to leave. The sooner the better. With those three girls distracting him, now was my chance.
“Do you want to take him his order?” Lisa asked me.
“No, I’m going to the storeroom to get some more to-go cups.” Before she could comment, I slipped through the swinging door that led into a hallway where the boss had his office. I felt a little guilty running out on Spike after he’d given me a chance—and he was so protective.
“You need any help, little girl, you let me know,” he’d said. At six feet eight inches, everyone was little next to him, but at five foot four, I was especially so. And while I appreciated his offer for help, I knew I’d never take him up on it. He wouldn’t stand a chance against a guy who could transform into a wolf at will.
I was grateful that his office door was closed as I slipped by. I didn’t want to have to explain myself or possibly make the mistake of deciding he could help. As I snuck down the hall, I resented that I was being forced to flee before I was ready. I’d hoped to save up a little more money so I could travel farther away more easily. I didn’t really have a final destination in mind. I’d thought I’d have more time to prepare. I’d allowed my happiness and contentment to lure me into a false sense of security. Stupid, Hayden.
I hurried down the hallway, past the storage room. I grabbed my white parka from a hook near the back door. Slipping off my sneakers, I stuffed them into my backpack and pulled on my snow boots. I jammed on a red-and-white knitted cap and tucked my ponytail up beneath it. I tugged on my gloves.
I glanced back over my shoulder. I didn’t want to leave the warmth and safety offered here. I desperately didn’t want to leave the peace and quiet. But I knew I had no choice. I had to run. Fast. Now. No way was I going back to Wolford.
I shoved open the door and stepped out into the snow and cold. Before the door had even closed behind me, I was turning toward the woods where the shadows were lengthening and could hide—
“Going somewhere, Hayden?” a deep voice echoed around me.
My heart in my throat, I whipped around.
Daniel stood there, leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his broad chest. He hadn’t bothered with a cap. His black jeans outlined his long legs. His thick black jacket, still unzipped, added to his dangerous allure—as though the weather was no threat to him. His dark features and clothes made his green eyes all the more vibrant. Hot really wasn’t the right word to describe him. Scalding, maybe?
Confidently he strode over to me, leaving a wake of footprints in the pristine snow. His eyes captured and held mine. I wanted to sprint toward the trees but knew he’d just follow at an easy lope.
He reached out to touch me, and I stiffened, preparing for the force of pride—I was certain he was swelling with it for locating me—to slam into me. Though I couldn’t tap into his emotions with space between us, I knew nothing would prevent his feelings from reaching me when he touched me. Experiencing others’ emotions was always more intense, more overwhelming when physical contact was involved. It was one of the reasons that I avoided it whenever possible.
I would have stepped back now, only I was curious. I wasn’t accustomed to being around a Shifter and not knowing what he or she was feeling. But when Daniel’s bare hand touched my cheek, all I felt was…warmth. Skin on skin. Roughened fingers gliding softly over my smooth cheek.
Even with this intimate contact, I couldn’t feel what he was feeling. I didn’t know what emotions were dancing through him. It made no sense. He was a Shifter. I should have experienced his passions long before he ever got this close to me. And when he touched me, I should have been rocked so hard that my own emotions would retreat.
But only my feelings were roiling through me. That stupid fear again, ratcheted up to panic now. But there was more. So much more. Anger, astonishment, disappointment, irritation, sadness. And fascination. Attraction. It was as though I’d just spun a wheel of fortune that was loaded with emotions instead of dollar amounts and they were rioting through me. Where would it stop? What would I feel when it was all done?
“Why bother running, Hayden?” Daniel asked quietly.
He leaned in close, so close, until I could no longer see his eyes, his cheek almost grazing over mine. I was too stunned by the sudden intimacy to move. I heard him inhale deeply, knew he was scenting me—a final, silent declaration to a job well done. I wondered why the knowledge made my knees grow weak. After our first transformation, all our senses heightened, but scent was always our most powerful.
“I’ll just find you again,” he said in a voice that was close to a purr.
He was making me feel crazy things. I didn’t know what some of these stirring emotions were, what they signaled. The wheel of emotions finally stopped spinning, selecting one with which I was familiar.
Full-blown terror.
TWO
“I—I wasn’t r-running,” I stammered, then swore beneath my breath because I never stammered. He’d unsettled me and it made me angry that he had. The terror receded and fury took hold, and I lashed out with a determined tone. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I was taking a break.”
“Uh-huh.” With his green eyes twinkling, he reached out and tapped the little red-and-white pom-pom on my knit cap. I made an ineffectual slap at his hand that served only to make him grin wider and made me feel powerless. I was too familiar with that emotion. I’d never liked it and disliked it even more now because it seemed to amuse him so much. “You sure bundled up just to take a break.”
I took a step back to get beyond his reach. “In case you haven’t noticed, it’s winter! Snow, sleet, ice, freezing temperatures. Never mind. I don’t have time to give you a science lesson. I have to get back to work.”
I started to trudge past him.