Free A Wolf's Mate by Vanessa Devereaux Page A

sweetheart.
    ****
    Nick’s
finger’s hovered over the numbers on his cell phone .
She’d told him she was falling for him. He was pretty certain that feeling was
mutual, but there was one big hitch, well besides her not being one of his own. She was here on a mission to check out Dane and
probably the rest of his buddies.
    It
would all work out . If this was meant to
be, fate would intervene. That was his business mantra and maybe he should
extend that to be his love mantra too. Finally taking a stab at the numbers, he
soon heard Ava’s voice on the other end. His legs shook just hearing her say
her name.
    “Hi,
Ava.”
    “Nick.
Maisey said that you were going to pick me up and drive me to her house.”
    “Yeah,
that’s why I’m calling. How does five thirty work for you?”
    “That’s
perfect because I have a report, I mean an article I need to finish and I
should be ready.”
    “Hope
you like chili.”
    “I
love it.”
    “Okay,
see you then.”
    “Sure.
Oh, and Nick?”
    “I
had lots of fun last night.”
    “Yeah,
me too.”
    He put the phone down. Fun. Yeah, he hadn’t
let his hair down like that before.
    ****
    Ava’s
stomach rumbled as she got into Nick’s car and smelled the chili in the slow
cooker he’d placed on the floor behind her seat.
    “I
think I could dive into that right now,” she said as they drove along.
    “You’d
be in big trouble from Maisey. She and Lucas love this stuff. In fact, I think
they might ask me to make a huge batch of it for their wedding dinner.”
    “Is
Lucas a nice guy? I hope so because Maisey’s so sweet.”
    “He
really is a great guy. Hard worker and her perfect mate.”
    “Glad
to hear that.”
    There
was a sudden silence. “About what I said last night. I don’t want you to think
I’m the sort of woman who becomes overly obsessed after I’ve slept with a guy.”
    “I
didn’t think that at all. I needed time to think. I’ve been on my own too
long.”
    “And
why is that?”
    “Lone
wolf I guess.”
    She
turned to look at him. Had he just referred to himself as a wolf?
“Just an expression, you know what I mean?”
    She
nodded and didn’t know why but she suddenly wanted him to know what happened to
her and that she had a son.
    “I
guess I’ve been leery of good-looking men since high school.”
    “You
had a bad experience?” asked Nick.
      “I have a son.
    He
looked at her and she hoped that didn’t make a difference.
      “ His father was the high school jock. Quarterback on the football team.”
    “And
you dated him?”
    Only in my
dreams.
    “No,
I like every other girl in the school was madly in love with him. I guess I
should have known something was up when he called me over to walk with him
after one of the games. Romantic that I was, I thought maybe he didn’t care
about what a person looked like on the outside, he liked me for what was in
here.” She touched her chest. “He seemed really nice, talked to me, started to
kiss me and then before I knew it we were on the ground having sex. Me having
sex with the guy every girl wanted. I was naïve and a virgin and when it was
over…”
    Ava
squeezed her eyes shut because she could still remember those awful minutes
after he’d pulled out of her and began laughing. She’d never forget that sound.
    Nick
reached out and put his hand on hers and squeezed it. She opened her eyes and
looked at him.
    “When
he was done, he took my panties and said he’d need them as proof that he’d gone
through with his dare.” She bit her lip. “Fuck the fat girl and do your best
not to throw up.”
    “Bastard,”
said Nick.
    She
nodded as a tear splashed from her face and fell onto her lap.
    The
next shock for her had been the pregnancy.
    “My
father hit the roof when I told him I was having a baby.”
    He’d
thrown her out and made her go live with her aunt. It had been her who’d held
Ava’s hand while she’d given birth to Jake. She’d never revealed to her father,
to anyone,