Tall Dark Handsome Lycan (12 page)

“And you?”
He asked casually. “Are you family-oriented? Do you want children one day?”

“If the right man came along,” she replied. “I
don’t know if he exists, though.  It’s a little difficult for me to fall in love when men are an open book to me.”

Leo
stiffened.  “Am I an open book to you?”

His question surprised her.  Was he implying he could fall into the category of a man she could fall in love with? 
“No. You’re one of the few people I can’t read completely.” She didn’t want to admit to him she’d been trying to read him for two months and finally managed to catch a small glimpse of his aura last night in her bedroom.

“Well, then,” he
said firmly, his hand reaching for the small of her back to guide her from the beach while his other hand carried their bags. “Since we will be alone for the evening tonight, that will give you ample time to figure me out.”

Sam laughed nervously.
“Perhaps tonight would be an ideal time for me to give you a reading.”

He flashed her a seductive smile.
“Actually, I am not as adverse to the idea anymore.”

“You’re not?
I thought—”

“People can change their minds, Sam.
It is done, then. After dinner you will give me a reading. Somehow, I have the feeling the experience will be very entertaining.”

She saw his car parked
behind the Volvo.  “Since Maria won’t be in, I will make us dinner,” she offered.

“As it happens, I will be the one cooking tonight.
I thought I would cook us a couple of steaks and grill some asparagus.” Sam’s expression made him raise his brow. “Are you surprised to find I know my way around a kitchen?”

“A little.”

“Well, it seems now you are the one who has formed a preconceived opinion of me. Tonight we will remedy that. We have all night long to get to know each other better.”

On the outside, she smi
led politely, but on the inside, she wanted to run.

“I will follow you up to the house,” he added smoothly.

                                                * * * *

It was almost six
and she wasn’t even dressed yet! Sam stared at the clothes she had placed on the bed, mulling over her choices.

She
stared at the black, mini dress with spaghetti straps and chewed her lower lip. Too sexy, she thought. 
Next
, she decided, and shifted her gaze to her following selection. The red dress was frilly and long, the bodice a snug, empire cut that lifted her breasts and gave her more cleavage than she cared to reveal. Wrong! If the black dress was too sexy, this one screamed
come and get me.

She
glanced at the clock and sighed. She would just have to go with her original choice, she thought, and looked at her white, short sleeved, silk top and black, A-line skirt that fell softly around her knees. Her pretty black and gold sling back sandals would be the finishing touch.

Quickly she dressed and dabbed a little perfume behind her ears.

Sam was nervous.  Was this a date?  She gave herself one last look in the mirror, satisfied with her appearance. Her tan gave her a healthy glow and her hair behaved, falling in thick, lustrous waves down her back.

Taking a deep breath, s
he left her bedroom and went downstairs. She had reached the mid-point down the stairs when she caught sight of Leo, dressed in black slacks and a navy shirt, coming out into the hall.  Her steps faltered as she ran her gaze over his tall, muscular physique. 

He stopped dead in his tracks and
looked up at her as she proceeded to make her way down. She smiled nervously at him, her stomach fluttering a mile a minute. He didn’t return the smile as he stared at her. A low, imperceptible sound reached her and she frowned.  Was he growling softly?  The sound stopped as soon as she reached him.  He raked a dark, smouldering gaze over her face.  His nostrils were flared, his dark eyes hinting flashes of amber, and a muscle was throbbed alongside his strong jaw.  Sam wondered if she put on too much perfume. 

“You
look beautiful, Sam,” he said, his tone husky.

“Th
ank you.”

She
almost blurted how gorgeous he looked and cleared her throat to cover the nervous giggle that rose in her throat.  She inhaled a shaky breath and smiled up at him. He took her hand and as soon as he touched her, an immediate wave of calm settled over her.  He led her toward the kitchen.

“I thought we would eat here.
It’s much more personal than the huge dining room. Is that fine with you?”

“Perfect,” she said.

She saw he had already set two dinner settings on the kitchen table. He walked over to the stove. “The steaks and asparagus are done.” He prepared two plates and brought them to the table.

“Can I help you with anything?”
She asked politely.

“No, thank you.
Everything is ready.” He opened a bottle of red wine and poured some into two crystal wine glasses. He picked up the glasses and turned around, watching her where she stood near the entrance. His gaze held hers as he made his way slowly toward her.

“To getting to know each other,” he said quietly, handing her
a glass.

Sam smiled. “Yes.
To getting to know each other.”

They chatted for a bit about day
-to-day things—the weather, how she enjoyed her trip so far, good stores to visit in town—and all the while, Sam knew Leo was trying to make her feel at ease. 

The steak was succulent.
Sam finished every morsel and smiled her appreciation at him. She complimented him on his cooking and he returned her smile with a pleased look on his face.  Their conversation turned toward his property.

“I have a couple of homes
in addition to this summer house,” he explained.  “One is in England and the other one is in New York.”
 
He paused, giving her a deliberate stare.  “You live in Maine.  It is not far from New York.”

“No, it isn’t.  You can say we’re practically neighbors back in the States.” 

He nodded, his expression curiously satisfied.  “Our twelve hotels are scattered all over the world. This villa is my place to get away from it all. I come here almost every summer.”

“You travel a lot.”

“Yes, but I would like to put down roots one day and start a family.  Perhaps in my home in New York.”

Sam thought of
Leo with a family, living in a beautiful home, with his children playing in the backyard, while his wife made dinner.  Her heart tightened.  She gave him a contemplative look.

“I think you’d make a fine father one day,” she said, speaking her thoughts out loud as she recalled his kind gesture when he bought
Alek the paint set. As soon as Sam voiced the words, she was embarrassed.  “Leo, thank you for a wonderful dinner,” she added quickly to change the subject.

His face turned serious.
“You were nervous at the beginning.”

“A bit, but not anymore.”
She placed her glass down. She had drank three glasses and she was starting to get tipsy. “I think the wine helped. I’m not much of a drinker.”

“The night is still young,” he said holding her
gaze.  “You could give me my reading now. We could go into the library.”

“That’s
a great idea.”  They both rose and together the cleared the dishes from the table.

He took her hand and led her out into the hall.
He paused and glanced down at her. “Don’t you need your cards?”

She smiled up at him. 
“Oh, that’s right.  I’ll only be a minute.”

She returned in no time and found him in the library settled comfortably at a two-seater, round table by the window.
He caught her eye and smiled. Her heart tripped at the familiar look he gave her and a sudden realisation hit her.  This
was
a date.  Leo was clearly wining and dining her. The thought gave her a jolt of anticipation in the pit of her stomach.  Sam had no doubt where he wanted the evening to end up. Did she want the same thing? Was she ready to lose all her inhibitions and explore the passion that simmered beneath his dark, smouldering gaze?

A touch of nerves attacked her and she took
the seat across from him. Sam placed her Tarot on the table and without any sense of vanity, she put on the black wired reading glasses she had brought downstairs with her. She gave him a self-assured look. “Short-sighted, but I can spot a fly on a wall a hundred feet away.”

He smiled.
“You look like a school teacher.”

“I
feel like a school teacher when I wear them.”

“A
sexy
school teacher.”

“Oh,” she said
.  She proceeded to shuffle the cards, flustered as she tried to focus on what she was doing. She heard him chuckle. It was an attractive sound and she half smiled.

“I make you nervous, don’t I?”

Sh
e tossed him a sharp look. “Not at all.”

“Why do my compliments make you
feel uncomfortable.  I thought women liked compliments.”

“We do.”
She laid the cards down in the pattern of the past, present, and future.

“Don’t men compliment you?”

“Sometimes.”  She looked up at him. “Now, if you’re done with all these questions, I’m ready to read your cards.”

“Hmm. Curious,” she murmured.

“Indeed.”

“Yes, I’m picking up a lot of colors around you. The red signifies…er…passion and love, which is in the process of coming into your life, and the black is something secretive. You…and your family….guard something, a secret, perhaps.” She frowned and looked up at him curiously. “Does that make any sense to you?”  Why wouldn’t it, she thought?  Didn’t all families have skeletons in their closets?

“Yes.
Go on,” he said, his expression revealing nothing.

“Let’s see.
Odd, I keep seeing a full moon.”  She frowned unable to shake the image.  “Oh, wait.  I’m picking up a name. This person, a male, has a lot of dark energy around him.” Sam tensed and shot him an alarmed look. “Leo, this person must not be trusted. Who’s Carl?”

Shock fell over his face.
“Did you say Carl?”

“Yes,” she replied, noting him clench his hand on the table.
Something had changed about him. He was no longer the man trying to wine and dine her. A veil had fallen over his face, making him appear guarded and cautious.

“
That would be Carlos Ventura, but I have heard his associate call him Carl.”

“That must be him, then.
That’s who I see.”

His face tensed.
“You
see
him?”

“Not completely, but I can give you a general description.”

“Go ahead,” he said in a grim tone.

Sam could
feel the scepticism pouring out of his stiff posture, but she continued with the reading because she was used to his reaction. Mostly everyone she read to for the first time responded like this. People got spooked and she couldn’t fault him for feeling the same way.

“He’s six feet tall,” she
continued calmly, “lean, with dark short hair, but it looks greasy and stringy, as though he puts too much gel on it. And I see a mark below his left eye.”

“
That is a scar,” he offered coldly.  “What is it about him you don’t trust?”

“I see him as an unscrupulous man.
He has no regards for the feelings of others and he takes what he wants at any cost. Odd,” she added under her breath as her ears tingled. “I don’t know why, but I keep hearing ringing and bells.”

“That’s enough.”

Sam looked up at him sharply. “Excuse me?” “

“Who did you get this information from?
Tell me,” he demanded.

Sam knotted her brow in consternation.
“Leo, I don’t know what you mean. I’ve never heard of this man before now.” She paused, but he remained silent, immoveable. She pursed her lips. “Oh my God, you don’t believe me,” she added quietly. Her date with Leo was obviously taking a turn for the worst and the realization flooded her with disappointment.

He gave her a pointed
look. “I am a little hard pressed to believe you just gave me the name and physical description of the man I’m here to do business with. Carlos Ventura owns casinos—that’s the ringing and bells you…ah…
heard.
”

Sam took a deep breath, trying to rema
in calm.  “Leo,” she said softly, noticing his eyes flicker when his gaze dropped to her mouth. “A lot of people receiving a reading for the first time get a little nervous and have a hard time believing what they hear.”