Fated From the Start

First Date Woes

Monday morning came before I knew it. I had set our coffee date for Will's work, for safety, but made her promise not to get involved for anything shy of life saving measures. We agreed to meet around 11, a little late for some, but when you worked from 8pm to 2am, that was as morning as it got most days. Ash was more than willing to accommodate me which I appreciated immensely.

I got to Brewster's a few minutes before 11 and asked Will to make me my usual, an extra large Vanilla Caramel iced latte with an extra shot and extra drizzle. I didn't want Ash to have the opportunity to offer to pay for me and I also didn't want Will to have to pretend she didn't know me straight to my face. 

I found a two top table near the window and sat staring absentmindedly waiting for Ash to arrive. The bell on the door snapped me back to reality. There he stood in all his god like glory, even more attractive in actual daylight. He was wearing a navy perfectly fitted suit with a blush dress shirt that was unbuttoned just enough at the top, making me very self conscious for my choice to wear my favorite skinny jeans, a fitted scoop-neck baby blue tank top, and a black flowy lace cardigan. My breath caught in my throat and my heart hammered in my chest, my skin began to buzz and my hands trembled slightly as I stared at him. What magical freaking control did this man have over my body? 

"OH MY f*****g GOD" Willow mouthed enthusiastically in my direction when she saw him, I waved a dismissive hand her way in attempt to get her to drop it before he noticed her.

He turned and locked eyes with me like I was the only person in the entire building and I swear for just a brief second his irises went black. I could see the labored rise and fall of his chest under his tight suit jacket, breathing like he'd just run 6 miles to get here, but every other part of him was impeccably in place so I knew he hadn't. It was good to know my presence affected him the way his affected me and I wasn't the only one losing grip with reality over here. 

Willow rushedly made his drink and had him on his way to me. He sat down across from me with his triple shot flat white. He flashed me a dreamy smile, but I could see the nervousness in his eyes. Sitting so much closer to him and in actual light I could see that his stormy blue eyes actually had the most brilliant flecks of silver, it was mesmerizing. 

"Hello, beautiful." He finally broke the silence we'd been wading in a little too long. 

"Hello" I peeped out with warm blushing filling my cheeks. This boy's existence crumbles every bit of my tough exterior and I hated him for it. I cleared my throat and started firmly "You'll need to state your full name for the record, safety reasons and what not." I was smirking so it was pretty obvious I wasn't serious and he cracked a small laugh before feigning seriousness to reply.

"Ashton Reed Embers" he extended his hand for a handshake like this was a stiff business meeting "and yours milady? For safety reasons of course" 

"Harlow Eslynn Day" I quipped, meeting his handshake. I could see Will snickering about our weird exchange from behind the counter. "Now that the safety measures have been met, how has your day been so far?" I inquired. The hands we had clasped together in our handshake fell, but still clung to each other in the middle of the table, leaving us holding hands like it was no big deal.

"I was in work meetings all morning, hence the being massively over dressed for a coffee date," he joked gesturing at his ensemble, "so it's been pretty boring up until now."

"What do you do for a living?" I prodded further. 

His eyes flicked down at the table as if he was embarrassed, embarrassed to tell the strip club waitress what he does for work, this should be interesting. "I uh, well, have you ever heard of Embers Enterprise?" He countered, my eyes grew with dawning realization. "I'm the CEO…" He continued sheepishly. 

"You own a freaking multi-million dollar company and you asked a cocktail waitress on a date?" I barked, my eyes bulging from my head. 

"I don't own it, entirely, just 51%, the rest belongs to shareholders." He replied with a smirk. "And I don't care what you were doing when I found you, I'm enthralled with you… I had to know you more" he added softly, drawing circles with his thumb on the back of my hand that he was still holding. 

The blushing was back again, this man twisted me up inside in the best possible way. "I know the feeling," I admitted. 

Ash POV

She admitted feeling the pull, I finally had confirmation that this wasn't as one sided as it could have been. I mean I could hear her heart pounding in her chest whenever I was near her, but for her to actually admit being drawn to me from the beginning outloud gave me the boost in hope I needed. I would wait as long as I had to in order to make this girl mine, but her also feeling the mate pull gave me hope that it wouldn't be as long as if she just thought I was attractive or interesting. 

I felt the lust flash in my eyes when I thought about making her mine, luckily for me she was staring down at her coffee and I think she missed it. This woman was divine, even in this most mundane of moments. I silently prayed to the moon goddess that I'd get to drink her in during every mundane moment for the rest of my life. 

"Tell me more about yourself." I stated inquisitively. I wanted to know everything about her to the point I couldn't even think of the right questions to ask. I'd also never been on a first date before, this was very uncharted territory. 

"What do you want to know?" She puzzled. 

"Everything." The word left my mouth before I had a second to think about it, but it was true so I was just going to go with it.

She chuckled in a nervous way. "I'm really not that interesting," she quipped.

"I bet you are." I responded reassuringly with pleading eyes. This woman had so much confidence and yet was so unsure of herself, it puzzled me. 

"Do you wanna know that my favorite color is green and my favorite flowers are peonies, or like the deeper more dramatic stuff?" She smirked.

"Well now I know that your favorite color is green and your favorite flowers are peonies, so I guess give me the deeper stuff." I retorted with a wink.

"Well I grew up in small town boring ass USA, I graduated from the same school district I went to preschool in, my parents are both remarried, I have more siblings than I can count, and my family is A LOT of drama. Will's been the only consistently good thing in my life and we moved here 6 months ago to get away from all the suck." She rambled, and there was that name again, Will. Now was my window to ask about it.

"And Will is?" I inquired gently. No way was she on a date with me if she lived with her boyfriend, right?

"Will is my best friend since Sunday school when we were two, we've literally grown up together, done all of life together, and always been there for eachother." She smiled as she spoke, the love and fondness for Will eminent on her face. I still didn't feel I had a clear answer and felt like a d**k for wanting to pry further, but I had to know.

"And…" Harlow cut me off before I could form the next question.

"And Will is short for Willow. Will is my purely platonic love of my life that just so happens to be peering at us between those two Espresso machines over there." She pointed back towards the coffee counter with a chuckle, and sure enough there was a face squished between the Espresso machines now letting out a squealing noise because we were looking her way.

"Can I come meet him now?" Willow yelled enthusiastically.

"No, I'm still meeting him now. Go back to work Will" Harlow hollered back sternly, like a mother scolding an ecstatic two year old that they couldn't have a cookie before dinner. Goddess was this woman going to be amazing at raising my pups some day, my brain trailed…

"So tell me more about you," she stated drawing me back to the moment. "I know that you and the guys you were at the club with grew up super close, but give me the nitty gritty." She winked playfully. I loved how playful she always seemed to be, whether it was sarcasm or smartassery or outright joking. Goddess knew I needed more laughter in my life. Being the Alpha to one of the biggest packs in the country and the CEO of an international enterprise come with more than a little stress, Harlow seemed to effortlessly melt it away though. 

"Well, I too grew up in nowhere USA, but I enjoyed it a lot actually. We lived, still live, in a village on the mountains about half an hour outside the city. Everyone in our community is super close and growing up there was the most amazing thing. Brice's dad and mine worked together and our mom's were best friends so we've literally been friends from the womb and now he's like my right hand man. Callan's dad also worked with our dad's and his mom passed away from complications giving birth to the twins, Cypress and Cedar, so my mom and Brice's mom basically helped raise those three, making the five of us inseparable for as long as I can remember. I also have two little sisters, Aidene and Enya, who are 15 and 16 because my parents decided when they were like halfway through village raising a gaggle of boys, why not try for some girls." I smiled at her, hoping I'd made pack living sound as normal as I possibly could while still sharing with her what she wanted to know. 

"See I told you, I'm not interesting, THAT was interesting." She said holding her hand out pointedly in my direction. "I grew up in a crop town, hours from anything exciting, on giant farm land with no neighbors and thus no fun." She added dismissively. 

"What about your siblings, you said you have a ton?" I pondered.

"Ohhhh boy, you're gonna need a chart to follow that mess!" Willow yelled from behind the counter, Harlow immediately shooting her a glare for eavesdropping.

"Well you see, I am the product of teenage indiscretions," Harlow started with a snicker. "My mom and dad had me when they were 17, they didn't stay together, but they co-parented me amicably. In the 23 years since my birth apparently neither one has learned anything about how babies are created and have also both married people with equally as fertile pasts. Once you throw in Willow's five siblings that have always been like family to me, we have a grand total of twenty-seven brothers and sisters. Sure you want the complete breakdown on that?" She raised her eyebrow at me as if it was a challenge.

"THAT was interesting," I stated emphatically while mimicking her previous retort. We both doubled over in laughter and poor Will was hyperventilating behind the counter she was snickering so hard. 

"Do you maybe wanna get out of here? Go for a walk or something? I hate sitting still to begin with and now I have three shots of Espresso pumping through me." I invited her. She glanced somewhat nervously in Will's direction and I realized that the earlier joke about for safety reasons was only partially a joke, meeting me here was a safety net for her. "I will give Will my phone number and a copy of my drivers license and if you really want- the keys to my car so I can't abduct you." I added reassuringly. 

"Can I take it for a joy ride?" Will piped up.

"NO WILL!" We both sternly shut her down. 

I stood and held out my hand, helping her petite frame from her seat. I then pulled out my phone and attached a picture of my license to a text message, handing my phone to Harlow so she could send the text on to Will. "Do not give that girl your keys, I've watched her drink six shots of Espresso today and her self control goes down as her caffeine levels go up." She warned me as she started for the door.