Page 18 of What a Wolf Wants
His expression lit up. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, but only because I felt sorry for you for the nails in your tires and that you were so worried you wouldn’t make it in time for dinner.”
He chuckled. “I had no idea. I really figured you would stick to your guns.”
She sighed. “Well, you’re trying so hard to make it up to me for raiding my rental house. I give you an A for the effort.”
“Thanks.” He got into the driver’s seat and headed for the restaurant. “Do you want me to look into who your secret admirer is?”
She smiled. “Sure. If a guy wants to pursue me, I want to know who it is. Otherwise, it’s creepy.”
“Yeah, that was my thought too, especially since you’re not from here and don’t know anyone yet.”
“But now that you are retired, can you investigate something like that?”
“I still have friends on the force, so yeah. Adam or Tori would check into it for me in a heartbeat.”
“Oh, great. So I haven’t looked to see where your home is located.”
“About a mile from yours. I could actually take a run to get here.”
She smiled. “You didn’t raid the rental home I was staying at in a unique way to meet me, did you?”
He laughed. “Yeah, that was it. I wish I’d been that clever.”
She smiled. She was glad he was going to look into the person who had delivered the flowers anonymously. She didn’t need a stalker bothering her when she was startingover here, and she was relieved she had a wolf who could help her if she had any real trouble with someone. It was disconcerting that she had this new, weird mystery. She had just wanted to enjoy her time with Ethan.
When they arrived at the seafood restaurant, it had other dishes too—steaks, burgers, and even pizza. They walked in, and she was so surprised that Ethan had been thoughtful enough to make a reservation for them, which she so appreciated. Noah was a wing-it guy and never made reservations. If a place was too crowded, they just left and ate somewhere else. He would never wait in a long line for anything, and he would never plan a date in a way that really showed he cared.
The place was packed, so it was good that Ethan had made a reservation, or they could have been stuck waiting for dinner like a whole line of people were doing, sitting on benches outside. At least the weather was nice, the breeze from the Pacific Ocean cooling things down further.
The restaurant had miniature trees covered in fairy lights in various locations to give it a festive outdoors appearance. The walls were covered in whitewashed wooden panels, above blond wooden floors. All the booths and chairs were covered in aqua-blue vinyl and sea-glass walls between booths gave patrons more privacy. Large pictures of sea creatures from octopuses to sharks and sea turtles hung on the walls. She loved the color scheme and the decorations.
They ended up with a front-row seat overlooking the ocean, which would be divine for a view of the sunset on the water while they ate their dinner. This couldn’t have been more romantic.
The server brought them a bottle of champagne and a couple of glasses, and Charlene’s jaw dropped. For a moment, she was afraid it was from her secret admirer, but Ethan nodded to the wine steward, and he poured their champagne for them.
When the steward left their table, Ethan reached his golden bubbling glass of champagne out to Charlene’s, and they clinked them in a toast. “To new and much better beginnings,” he said.
“I second that.” She drank some of her champagne.
Wow, when he wasn’t trying to take down bad guys, Ethan was truly chivalrous. She was glad she could see him in a whole different light, and she was truly glad he was no longer working as a DEA special agent.
Chapter 5
Ethan ordered coconut shrimp to go along with his and Charlene’s champagne for starters. They couldn’t have had a more perfect table for watching the sun set over the ocean. Charlene was sipping her champagne and seemed to be enjoying herself, smiling, happy, not like she’d been when he’d first met her. He was glad he had chosen this place to have their dinner, and he had plans for taking her all over Oyster Bay and the surrounding coastal communities to sightsee, if she wanted to.
“So do you have any siblings?” Charlene asked.
“I had a brother who died in Hawaii due to a surfing accident. I always figured I would be the one to bite the dust first in the line of work I do.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Thanks. It was a tragedy. What about you? Do you have any siblings? Parents? Other relatives?” he asked.
She took a deep breath and let it out. “No. I had a twin sister and parents, but they were caught in a hurricane in the Florida Keys and didn’t make it.” Her eyes filled with tears and she swallowed hard.
He immediately reached out and took her hand and caressed it, trying to do what he could to show he was there for her.
