Drawn to the Alpha

9

I’m watching her as she continues to lecture the class. “It’s very rude to assume that someone is in love with someone else just because—”

“No, they’re right,” I say, interrupting her.

Her face drops and her adorable pink cheeks darken a little more as she stares at me.

“I knew it,” the blonde girl says under her breath.

Aubrey stares at me for a few silent seconds and then charges past me into the hallway.

“Oooooh,” the class says as they watch me with grins on their faces.

“No game,” the redheaded boy says as he shakes his head. “He’s got nothing.”

I give him a dirty look and then follow her into the hallway.

“Maybe that was too forward,” I say to her. She’s standing there staring at me with a face that I can’t quite read. “Or inappropriate, or wrong place wrong time, but I can’t stop thinking about you and I want to take you out.”

She looks at me for what feels like an eternity until her lips start to curl up into a smile. “You do?”

Relief floods my body and I feel like I could holler out in joy. “I do. I really really do.”

“Okay,” she says with a smile. “How about you pick me up after school? Three o’clock? Is that too early for a date? I haven’t been on many.”

She closes her eyes and drops her shoulders in embarrassment when she realizes what she’s said.

“It’s just my car,” she continues nervously. “It’s not working at the moment and the janitor drives me home, but his car is full of bleach and he only talks about baseball even though it’s November, and I—”

“Three o’clock,” I say as I step forward and take her hand. The feel of her soft skin sends bolts of lightning jolting through me. “I’ll be out front.”

She’s all smiles and giggles as she heads back inside the classroom.

I stand there for a full minute stunned.

I have a date with my mate.

Something I swore I would never do…

Then why the hell can’t I stop grinning?

Aubrey

“Where’s your car?” Carter asks as we drive away from the school. “How do you get to and from work every day?”

“It’s kind of in the shop right now,” I say as I fidget nervously with my purse.

“At Jason’s shop?” he asks. “I know him and can get it out faster.”

My chest starts to tighten with embarrassment as I stare out the windshield of his pickup truck. “Unless you can get my paycheck here faster then I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“Oh,” he says as he glances over at me. “I can cover it for you. I’d be happy to.”

“Oh, god no!” I say with a laugh. “How about you buy the coffee on our date instead?”

“I can do that.” He smiles at me and it makes me feel like everything is going to be okay. If this gorgeous man can be attracted to me (even with my hair looking ridiculous thanks to Max and the glue gun incident), then maybe everything will be okay. Maybe I haven’t been giving myself enough credit.

“Would you mind stopping at my place first? I have to let my dog out.”

Carter is not only good looking, but he’s sweet too. We talk about our jobs and where we’re from.

Maybe it’s because I haven’t been on many dates, but I feel a connection growing between us. I find myself leaning a little closer to him and taking in longer deeper breaths of his rich masculine scent.

My body keeps urging me to go to him. The butterflies in my stomach, the way my eyes keep darting over to him, the tingling in my fingertips whenever I glance down at his big arms and muscular thighs, the pounding of my heart, the warmth between my legs—it’s all pushing me toward him.

“How come you’re still single?” I ask him. “You must have your pick of the ladies.”

“Why do you say that?” he asks with an amused grin as he looks at me. Whenever his sexy amber eyes lock onto me, I want to take off my safety belt and climb onto his lap.

I clear my throat and try to clear my head. “You’re a hot fireman. You must have girls lining up at the station. How old are you?”

“Forty-two,” he says in that deep sexy voice. It makes my p***y clench. I’ve always been attracted to older men, and Carter is exactly double my age. “Am I too old for you?”

I take the opportunity to study his face and I start to get all lightheaded as I watch him. He’s got a massive body and it looks like it’s all hard muscle. He’s wearing jeans and a light grey polo, which shows off his tattooed biceps. My mouth waters every time I look at them.

His face is handsome but intense with rugged features and amber-colored eyes that are always alert. I can feel the possessiveness emanating from them whenever he looks at me. He looks at me like he wants to own me, or like he thinks that he already does.

Normally, I would hate that in a guy and it would be an instant dealbreaker, but with him, I can’t get enough of it. I love the territorial way he looks at me.

“No,” I say as he pulls onto my street. “You’re not too old for me. Hey, how did you know what street was min—what the hell?!?”

My mouth drops when I see all of my stuff in front of my place. My furniture, my clothes, my everything is just dumped on the snow in front of the tiny apartment complex that I’ve been renting. And my heart breaks when I see poor Buddy tied to a pole, looking freezing. The poor guy is shivering.

I’m in tears when Carter rolls to a stop and I jump out. Buddy barks as I run to him and wrap my arms around his shivering body.

“That asshole evicted me,” I say in disbelief when I see the yellow paper taped to my front door. I’d bet my life that he changed the locks as well. The coward is not even here to tell me in person.