Page 17 of What a Wolf Wants
She took a deep breath of the sea air. “Yes, I’m just taking a walk to check out some of the tidal pools.”
“I can’t wait to do that too. Just watch out for rogue waves.”
“Right. We could do this sometime, and I thought we could take a run as wolves later tonight after dinner, if you would like.” She thought it would be even more fun to do with another wolf.
“Yeah, that would be great. I would love to do that. I’ll let you go. You need to be careful on those rocks. The seaweed and plant life can be slippery, and you could fall and break a leg.”
“Thanks, I’ll see you later.” She was being careful to step on only bare rocks and not on top of any of the plant life that was exposed when the tide went out. Other areas were covered in mussels and barnacles that were now closed up. In the water she saw fish, a crab, a green anemone, and even colorful sea slugs. She was taking pictures of all of them, planning to eventually frame them and put them on her home’s walls and in her rental units.
She had been out there for quite a while and was cautiously making her way across the craggy rocks to another tide pool. She saw some pretty coral there and snapped some more shots. She was searching for more tidal pools when she saw a wave coming in and braced herself. It splashed across her boots, and she realized the tide was coming in. It was time to get herself back to the beach and up to her place.
Except for the waves and the intermittent cry of a seagull, it was really quiet out here, no people anywhere. It was just lovely.
Time just flew while she was out there, and it wouldn’t be long before Ethan arrived for dinner. She was really looking forward to it, more so than she thought she would. Despitethe reason they had met, knowing a fellow red wolf was welcome.
She headed up to her home and unlocked the door and got another call from Ethan. “Hey, did you get more nails in your tires?”
He chuckled.
She liked a guy who could see humor in a sore subject.
“I’ll be there on time. I’m nearly there.”
“Oh, you’re early.”
“I promise I didn’t speed too much.”
She laughed. “Where are we going to eat?”
“The Seabreeze Restaurant,” he said.
She found it on her computer. That was a really nice restaurant. She would wear a skirt. “Okay, I’ll be ready. That sounds great.” As soon as they finished talking on the phone, she hurried to go through her clothes and finally picked out a breezy boho skirt and a long-sleeved peasant blouse. She quickly pulled off her hiking boots and stripped down to her bra and panties, then dressed in the skirt, blouse, and a pair of high-heeled sandals. Oh, and she needed to brush her hair and redo her makeup.
She was all ready when her doorbell rang. She hurried to get it, but when she opened the door, she didn’t see Ethan as she had expected, but a man delivering a vase of a dozen red roses. From Ethan? What a sweet gesture.
She thanked the deliveryman and signed for the flowers, then took them into her house and set them on her dining room table. She read the card and it said, “From a secret admirer.”
She frowned. She would have thought Ethan would just sign his name to it. A few minutes later, her doorbell rang again, and this time, she was delighted to see it was Ethan. And he was carrying a vase of two dozen red roses.
“Wow,” he said. Just the way he looked at her and what he said made her feel like a million bucks, and she loved it.
She hadn’t dated since she moved to Portland after the tumultuous relationship she’d left behind in Destin. Noah had never looked at her like Ethan did, not in the eight months she had dated him. Never had he brought her flowers. So this was welcome.
Ethan was dressed in a long-sleeved, button-down collared shirt, nice trousers, and dress shoes and looked divine. He handed her the vase of roses and smiled.
She smiled back. “Thank you so much.” Then she carried the vase into the house and set the flowers on the table next to the others. They were beautiful.
He glanced at the other flowers and frowned. “It looks like someone else beat me to it.”
“Yeah, my secret admirer. I had hoped that they were from you.”
He looked over the card from her secret admirer like a police officer would who was on the job.
“I have no idea who it could be from. I don’t know anyone in the area.” She was glad she had dressed up for dinner since Ethan had.
He led her out to his car and got the door for her.
“You know,” she said, “I wouldn’t have eaten without you if you had been delayed later than the specified time.”
