She was still just as beautiful as that day he’d met her in the woods those thousands of years ago. Her dark black hair tucked behind her ears, and her eyes already sparkling alive at the sight of him.
Her clothing was different, this being the twenty-first century. Navy skinny jeans tucked into leather boots and a bright blue tang top hugged her like a second skin as she moved forward, wrapping her arms around his waist. When she rested her head against his chest she let out a sigh that warmed him to the bones.
“ What are you doing?” she asked quietly.
“ I was thinking,” he said back, dropping his chin to the top of her head.
“ About what?”
“ Us.” He cupped her cheek when she pulled back to look at him. “Remember that day we met?”
A mischievous look came over her face. “Hard for a girl to forget.”
“ Oh, really?”
She slapped him playfully on the shoulder and then sobered a little. “What got you thinking about that?”
“ Tobias.”
She quirked a brow, clearly not understanding.
The elder Sinclair had been missing for a long time now, run off after breaking the law by turning a human. That very Were was luckily still alive, having survived the werewolf poison that had coursed through her veins. He’d left shortly after that, and hadn’t been heard from since. Until now.
“ Here’s here, Oli. In the city.”
She gasped, crossing her arms over her chest and moving away to think. She turned back a few seconds later. “Have you told Kiley yet?”
“ No.”
She nodded, then took his hand. “Remember how hard it was explaining to Tobias you’d left camp single and came back mated?”
He chuckled, appreciating her attempt to change the subject. “He couldn’t believe it. We couldn’t either. Took us a whole week to figure out that the fates hadn’t made a mistake.” He ran a hand through her hair, relishing the silky feel. “I should have realized I fell in love with you that moment by the lake.”
“ Which one?” she snuggled in closer. “Call Kiley. The sooner you get this over with, the sooner you can come to bed.” She lifted herself to her tiptoes and planted a kiss on his forehead.
He watched her hips sashay as she exited the room, throwing a flirtatious glance over her shoulder.
Jensen wasn’t looking forward to making this call. Even all these years later Kiley still had a temper. Still, Olivia knew him well enough to present him with the perfect motivation and before the doors shut behind her he whipped out his phone and was pressing speed dial.
Anything to be with his mate.
OPT
One of the perks of traveling for work is being in a different set of surroundings, which gives you options of what to do on your nights off. I had one night off and having blown the day away by sleeping, I figured that I needed to get out. I did a Google search and found two places that looked worthwhile; OPT and Club Asylum. One was a 15 minutes drive, the other was about 30 minutes. I figured it would be easier to hit up somewhere close.
OPT was one place out of three in this structure. Once I realized that its home was in the basement, I stepped inside — the place looked like it would hold maybe100. It was small enough that when I walked in, I could see the entire place from the entryway: There were about 10 people in the whole place, including the bartender. I felt momentarily shy, but people seemed relatively non-threatening, so it eased me up slightly. Two wall-mounted plasma TVs on either side gave it a pool hall feel, even though the place looked like it hadn’t been updated in 10 years. The pool tables were quarter-operated and given the appearance of the place, I wasn’t surprised. I was caught off guard when a female’s voice broke my train of thought. “Hey there! If you’re looking for pool, you can ask Jim and Sandy, I’m sure they’d play.” I looked in the direction of the female’s voice and replied, “Nah, I’ll just have a drink.” I approached the bar, sat down, and made myself comfortable. I noticed that the bar tap had a Coca-Cola logo, so I just ordered a Sprite.
As she poured the Sprite, I looked her over. Initially, I was impressed by her looks, but that’s all for show. It was my guess that she was the wife or girlfriend of whoever owned the place. “Just the one Sprite hun, or do you want to start a tab?” I took out my credit card and gave it to her. She was gorgeous! She looked to be in her mid 30s, having an accent like the locals, about 5’5, slender, gorgeous blonde hair that was put up and dressed in a top that revealed dynamite cleavage.
I didn’t notice any hours posted anywhere, but when people were scurrying out, I thought maybe they closed at twelve-thirty. As the bartender gave me my fourth Sprite, she asked, “Are you drinking, or just doing soda?” Not thinking about it, I tapped on my glass to show that it would be all I drank. She handed me back my credit card. “There’s no point in running your card for under $10.” I thanked her, but she turned it around. “It’ll cost me more in processing fees, than it will for the overall tab.” As I put my card back into my wallet, I noticed that she was beginning to clean up the bar. ”Are you closing soon?”
“ One-thirty, but I’ll likely be here until two-thirty, cleaning up.” Either her typical customers didn’t pay cash, or it was obvious I wasn’t a local. “So, hun, what brings you around here? I’ve never seen you here.”
“ Work. I have the night off, so I figured I would see what the area had to offer.”
She scoffed and replied almost mockingly, “Yet, you chose to come here.”
“ It was either this place or Club Asylum. I wasn’t in the mood for a club environment.”
She took a fit of laughing. ”Asylum sucks anyway. Six months ago, they were shut down for serving to underage girls.” She continued to chuckle while shaking her head, “the owners will do anything for a blow job.”
She got lost in the moment. ”I should apologize, that stirred up some old memories…” She reached her hand out, “I’m Lucy. Welcome to Fall River.”
I introduced myself and as I shook her hand, I kept glancing down her top as her tan, satin bra highlighted her cleavage beautifully.
Judging by her appearance and the way she spoke, I would guess that nothing offended her. There must have been a spark because whenever she and I would exchange glances, she would form an almost seductive grin on her face.
When I told her what part of MA I was from, she nodded her head in agreement. “I was born and raised in Fall River, but went to school in Worcester and I felt like I was in the minority.”
“ It can be like that, especially if you’re white and don’t try to act like a gangsta.”
“ My ex-boyfriend was that type,” she rolled her eyes in disgust, “after I graduated, I learned that he cheated on me, so I packed my shit and moved back here. My friend owns this place, heard about my situation, and gave me a job here until I figure out what the fuck to do now.” Her tone of voice told me that she’s been through some shitty circumstances in addition to the cheating boyfriend.
“ What’s your degree in?”
“ I got the ‘batch’ in Business. Next year, I’ll be going back for my MBA. I’m hoping to buy this place from my friend, once I finish up.” Talk about deceiving looks — she was hot AND determined.
I told her about my education and what brought me to Fall River. She told me that the owner was looking to have some flyers made up and possibly a commercial shot for the place, to which I offered my services — even offering to do it for free to add to my portfolio. “Do you have a card?”
“ I don’t yet, but like you, I’m also working towards a higher goal.”
She smiled back in approval.
Now that the bar was cleaned, she proceeded to start turning off TVs and cleaning up after the people that’d been playing all night.
I could feel my pulse accelerate as my gut was telling me to ask her out. I even felt my throat drying up and I think she could tell that I was feeling nervous. I looked at the wall clock above the bar. It was one-fifteen; the time was now: “This may be a stretch, but are you currently seeing anyone?”