Free Downpour (Alpha Love - A Paranormal Werewolf Shifter Romance Book 1) by Olivia Stephens Page A

distracting thoughts of his own.
     
    There are three wooden poles—all over 8 feet tall. One, in particular, captures Sofie’s attention. She walks towards it, tracing her fingers over the intricate carving of a tree that winds its way up the pole. At the top is an image of the head of a wolf, and there’s something magical about it; yet, it looks so real. Not only that, but there’s a dignity about it that makes Sofie feel like she shouldn’t be touching it, as if she weren’t being respectful. She draws her hand back, and Ashton seems to take the movement as dismissive.
     
    “They’re not done yet,” Ashton says, sounding almost embarrassed, like an artist that doesn’t like to show his work to anyone before it’s finished. But there’s something else in his voice, something that sounds a little like hurt at her reaction.
     
    Sofie whirls around, taking a few steps towards him, closing the distance between them. “They’re beautiful.” She looks up at him and feels the magnetic pull that draws her towards him. “The wolf…it’s so life-like. It’s amazing,” she says, breathing the words. Her heart is beating faster, and she feels like the temperature of the room is rising.
     
    “I’m glad you like it,” he says, gently. Sofie can’t stop herself from wondering what it would be like to have that gentle voice talking to her in the dark. “I don’t let people come in here usually.”
     
    His words touch her, and she knows she would be lying if she tried to deny that she got a little zing of pleasure knowing that she’s seen a side of him that few have been permitted to. “Well, I’m glad you let me,” Sofie says, softly. There’s hardly any distance between them. She feels like she could reach up and touch his face, trace his hard jawline, and plant a kiss on those full lips. She leans in towards him, almost instinctively, and she’s pretty sure she doesn’t imagine that Ashton moves closer to her. But before they get any further, the insistent sound of the store phone ringing interrupts them. Ashton looks conflicted, but the noise has woken Sofie from her daydream and made her realize just how pathetic she probably looks flinging herself at this guy who probably has no trouble getting girls. “You should get that.”
     
    Ashton frowns and looks like he’s going to say something; but, he follows her suggestion instead and disappears back into the store. Sofie is left in the workshop, trying to pull herself together. She reminds herself that she’s not a high school student, but a 27-year-old woman who knows better than to get involved. Her time with Tyler had taught her that much. Besides, Ashton probably had beautiful women following him around like lost puppy dogs and that wasn’t really her scene.
     
    She steals a look at herself in an ornate mirror that hangs in the room. A slim, tall woman stares back at her, her dark eyes bright and her cheeks flushed. She tries to convince herself that it’s from the heat in the room, but she’s fairly certain it’s from something or, more accurately, someone else.
     
    When she drifts back into the store, Ashton is hanging up the phone with a serious look on his face. However, they’re not alone anymore. A few customers have drifted in, including a hot petite woman, wearing shorts that would be classed as illegal in some states. It doesn’t take Sofie long to recognize her as the woman that she’d seen Ashton talking to the other day on the street. Miss Hot Pants gives Sofie an appraising look and takes in Ashton’s shirt, which she’s wearing. She finds herself about to give the woman an explanation and tell her that it isn’t what she thinks. Then, she reminds herself that it’s none of Miss Hot Pants’ damn business.
     
    But perhaps it is her business , Sofie wonders. The woman is one of the—probably many— female hangers-on that Ashton has. Looking like he does, it’s not likely that the guy has lived a life of celibacy