“But you know that it's intense. That for some reason, this place has success despite the awful name.” She pointed to the logo on Chance’s shirt. An upside-down heart wearing a thong.
“I brought her here broken, and you’ve been a shit to her. And maybe that’s your curse. You’re allowed to make other people happy while you stew in your own miserable juices, but you can’t drag her down with you. I won’t let you take her.” Claire was pointing at him.
Wolf sat behind his desk and held his head. He wanted to feel regret about all of it. Remind himself of the mistake he made. A lapse in judgment. Here, in his rented office with his best friend and her best friend, his brain wouldn’t stop.
A slideshow of mental snapshots he’d taken during his time with her was on a constant loop in his imagination. And it was magnificent.
He’d fucked up. Clearly. He’d hurt her. She wanted it hard, but not torturous—emotionally, anyway.
And Claire was right. Hazel was broken. Someone had taken the breath-taking energy that allowed her to care for a roomful of kids like his sister as not just a passion but a profession and ground cigarette butts in it.
And then he made it worse. Instead of letting that incredible orgasm session make her feel stronger, he'd made her feel cheap.
Claire was still railing at him. He had to go and dry his jeans with the hand dryer in the bathroom. He had to go buy her flowers and chocolate and get a boom box to hold up under Hazel’s window.
Chance might not have his “gift” of making matches, but he’d been in the game so long he knew the signs of good chemistry. He'd been impressed with Chance’s strong decision-making skills in the past. Chance wanted the redhead in front of him, so he'd handled it so she wasn’t a client. Done.
Wolf didn’t know how to do that without being creepy. He also knew that any relationship he got tangled in was doomed. His mother and grandmother had drilled that much into his head. And Hazel deserved to not have her heart get flushed down the drain again.
Wolf stood up. “It’s better for her to not let me get attached to her. I’m doomed, see? Ask him. He’ll tell you.”
He walked out of his office, ignoring the sneaky glances from his nosy staff. Wolf prided himself on being a constant. They never saw him lose control. They could trust him enough to follow his ass around the country, helping with this elaborate dating service.
He pushed the door to the men’s room out of the way and stood in front of the hot blow dryer for a few minutes before he realized that he should take his pants off and hold them under in order for them to dry quicker.
He did just that. While he held the denim under the blower, he gently punched the tile. He'd made a fool of her. And he was seriously pissed. He couldn’t have taken a second to tell her she was the most beautiful woman in the world? That his heart was nearly on fire when she was in the room? No, he'd wanted to cover his ass first. Like that mattered more than reaffirming the sexuality she’d displayed with him.
He knew that wrapping her up, dragging her away, and keeping her for himself was what he wanted, of course, but it scared him to think he could be the next pain in her life. Wolf was also scared of the pain he would feel if he faced how incredible she was. And that was pretty fucking selfish. Christ, he was so full of his damn self.
When the jeans were done drying, he slipped them back on and almost burned his dick when the metal of his zipper was four thousand degrees from the heat of the dryer. He pulled the material away until he could tolerate the heat.
Then he went to the sink to wash her off of him. He wasn’t even ashamed when he smelled his hands again before contaminating the perfection of her on his skin with soap and water. He washed his face, as well.
He grabbed a paper towel and was patting his face dry when Chance came in behind him.
“So, that happened.” Chance went to the urinal to handle his business.
Wolf tossed the towel in the trashcan. “It did.”
“Hazel’s got you screwed up in the head, huh?” Chance shook off and tucked himself away before going to the same sink Wolf had just used.
“Why do you say that?” Wolf felt his eyebrows knit together.
“Because you look like you were just run over with a truck driven by a vagina.” Chance went to the hand dryer and stuck his big, meaty mitts under the air stream.
Wolf almost chuckled. “Yeah. You know how that works out for me. No strings. No feelings. That’s what I do.”
Chance opened the men’s room door and held it for Wolf. “Not this time. In case you haven’t noticed.”
Wolf walked back into the lobby and started checking on tables and matches, staying out in the open far longer than he normally did.
He was trying to keep himself from going to her apartment building and finishing what they'd started.
Chapter 19
Him
Hazel was done. She was done with boys. Done with men. Her vagina was retiring. Her heart had tendered its registration without the benefit of two weeks notice. She’d known this man for barely any time. He wasn’t allowed to affect her like this.
Hazel stepped into the hot shower and took care of the business of washing him from her body. She blushed as she thought of the way she'd been with him. How dare he be an ass when she had finally gotten in touch with a sexual version of herself she was so proud of.
She washed her hair three times. When she was done and toweled off, she wrapped herself in her pink satin robe. It was ice cream time.
She had some in the freezer since Scott had pulled out of her body and her life. It had freezer burn, but it would do. She got a spoon and the container and sat on the couch.
Hazel hated how typical she was being, committing so many stereotypical stereotypes. But she deserved it. This was the second orgasm induced by the opposite sex in six months that ended in her crying.
Her phone kept dinging with updates from Claire. She kept her friend at bay, promising she was okay and just needed space. She also told Claire to enjoy her time with Chance. Lord knew what the future held for those crazy kids. They might get married in a few weeks and then have to deal with an extended time apart while he helped stupid Wolf with his stupid business.
She realized she was looking at a blank TV screen. Hazel set the ice cream on her coffee table and noted that the remote was too far to reach without getting up. Instead, she leaned back into the deep cushions of her couch.
And the scenes she’d just washed from her body came back almost as hard as she had earlier.
His fingers. His chest. Knowing that she had given him a completely raw version of herself. She’d been daring.
And she had only herself to blame. One kind look of respect and she was in his office with her bra on the floor.
Maybe she’d been too forward. Was the lack of Scott driving her to do stupid things? Obviously getting naked with the guy she'd been mostly fighting with should not be a proud moment. But she'd had trouble finding shame when his lips had been on hers. Either set.
She texted Claire again that she was okay and planning on turning in.
Hazel didn’t want to go to bed, so she stretched out on the couch in her robe. The beauty of living alone. The word “alone” echoed in her head as she closed her eyes.
XOXOXOXO
The knocking on her door was incessant. It took her a few minutes to realize it wasn’t part of her dream. It was really happening. She looked out the window; it was still dark. Clicking her phone to life, she saw that it was 2:30 a.m. Hazel grabbed a large statue of a horse from the end table by the couch for a weapon and stood. It had to be somebody from within the building. She hadn’t buzzed anyone through the front door.
She startled when the knock banged again as she tried to peek through the peep hole.
Finally she asked, “Who the hell is it?”
Maybe there was a malfunction in the fire alarm or something, but she’d lived too long in the city to throw her door open without knowing who was on the othe
r side.
“The big bad Wolf.” He looked right into the peep hole.
She looked down and fastened her robe when she realized she hadn't even put on her pajamas.
“Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin,” she responded from somewhere deep in her casual, weird-knowledge brain storage.
She watched as he sighed. “That’s original. I’ve never heard that before ever.”
Hazel didn’t say anything.
Finally he replied, “I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in,” while dragging his knuckle down the door’s surface. She set down the horse.
She was angry but she didn’t need a weapon to handle him.
He fanned out a bunch of hundreds where she could see them. “I want to refund your money.”
She was shocked, and her heart fell at the sight of the cash. His refunding her money communicated the conclusion of the fine print version of their deal, so he wouldn’t see her anymore.
Hazel didn’t want to end it. But she knew he was just as bad as Scott, sniffing around when his balls grew cold.
She unlatched the door and opened it.
“You’re not wearing anything?”
“You’re not getting any. So don’t ask.” Hazel held her hand out for the money. “I hope my interest is in here.” She gave him the coldest look she could muster without letting the heat her body was experiencing at his nearness interfere.
He handed her the cash. “It’s not.”
“Great.” She started to close the door.
He put his hand out to stop her. “I also wanted to deliver an apology. I was…”
“An asshole? A fuckhead? A selfish prick?”
“Unprepared for how hot that whole scene got.” He jammed his hands in his jeans.
“I’m glad it worked for you. Do I owe you money for your services, then?” She tossed the cash at his face. She guessed he wasn’t even close to who her imagination had painted him to be.
Anger made his jaw twitch. He stuck his foot out when she tried to close the door for the second time.
“Hazel, I just wanted to talk about it.”
“Okay. What’s there to say?” Hazel grabbed at her robe, which was failing to stay secure, being silk and all.
“I keep putting my foot in my mouth. I wanted to say it was great, you were amazing. I can’t be involved with customers, but if I could, I would pick you.” He left the money on the hallway floor.
“So, if tonight wasn’t involved for you, I wonder what is?” Hazel stepped backwards to give herself space from his excuses.
He stepped in and let the door close behind him. “It was involved, very involved. I can’t stop thinking about you. And I don’t want you mad at me.”
“The fact that you think this is me being mad at you as opposed to you apologizing for your mistake tells me a lot.” Hazel touched the horse sculpture on the end table thinking about holding it to ward him off.
“Are you afraid of me?” He held up his hands after noticing her reaching for the heavy horse. “For that, I'm sorry. I’ll leave right now. You were just so fierce it never occurred to me that I would intimidate you.” He reached behind him for the doorknob.
“Don’t act like the good guy right now.” Hazel lifted the statue and hugged it to her chest.
He opened the door again, and she set the horse back down. He knelt to pick up the money for her. This time when he held it out, she took it.
“You can still go on the dates if you want. I’ll make sure it’s all on the up and up. We like the customer to be satisfied.” He seemed to regret the words the minute they left his lips.
She left the obvious unsaid. He was so goddamned good-looking. The messy hair he hadn’t bothered to fix. The eyes that seemed to have a bit of the canine wolf in them when he looked at her. He was trouble.
“Okay. I’m going to go.” He stepped backwards.
She set the cash near the horse. Some fell to the floor; it certainly wasn’t in a neat pile.
A devilish comment came to her. She bit her lip for a second before delivering the parting shot. “So was this a booty call from Booty Camp?”
Wolf shook his head at her bad joke. He seemed to want to expand on the conversation but hesitated. “So you know, the guy who gets to see you like that—” he gestured at her satin robe and what Hazel could only imagine was really wild hair—“is a lucky goddamned bastard.”
She touched the hair on her shoulder. The elevator sounded behind him, and Hazel made a confused face. Two thirty or so in the morning was a super weird time for the elevator to be hitting her floor. Scott used to call the third floor "the nursing home." A lot of her neighbors were retired.
And speak of the devil—Scott stepped out of the elevator. Well, stepped was being kind. He was blasted. He stumbled and sprawled.
“Hazel. You’re awake. I needed to feel you.” Scott rested an arm against the wall to balance himself.
Wolf looked from Scott to Hazel and back again. “Good night, then.” He turned and stalked back on to the elevator.
Hazel couldn’t believe her damn lady garden. It had been hoping for more action the minute it knew Wolf was in the building, despite all her good sense and heartbreak. It had no chill or loyalty. She slammed the door, knowing that she would hear it from the neighbors on either side for her noisy early morning. She sure as shit wasn’t letting a drunk Scott into her apartment.
Chapter 20
Leave Her Be
Wolf wasn’t in the elevator two seconds before the doors that had just slid closed reopened. He hoped it was her, that she’d come after him to welcome him into her apartment. He'd been a dick. Instead of telling her he was refunding her money so that she wouldn’t be a client anymore and he could ask her on a proper date, he’d gotten defensive and offered her another date with a different person.
He couldn’t get it right. It was probably because he refused to make a decision and stick to it. Go after her and stay after her until she was his, or let her have a happily ever after that could never come from being with him. Assuming she would even have him.
Instead of Hazel at the mouth of the elevator, her stupid ex-boyfriend came flopping in like a human noodle.
“Hold that door. Wait? Aren’t you the guy that was kissing her the other day? I should kick your ass!” Scott went for a weak-wristed punch that Wolf sidestepped. The man punched the elevator wall instead as the doors closed.
“I was. And aren’t you the bitch who broke her heart? And you have a girlfriend already?” Wolf couldn't let this guy make himself into a knight in shining armor in his own head.
“Well, not anymore. She broke up with me because I called her Hazel when I was balls-deep in her twat.” Scott slid to the floor.
Wolf was elated that Hazel had apparently rejected this guy who wanted to feel her.
Wolf looked down at Scott. “You’re a fucking prince, huh?”
“Hazel loves me. I know I can get back in between the juicy, you know. Tonight, after a few drinks, I had no idea why I left Hazel in the first place. Damn new girl laughs when she pops off her load.” Scott shook his head like this was a super disappointing trait. “It was cool at first, but now it’s horrible. But Hazel? When I got her off, she would get all pretty pink and scream my name. I miss it. I need to go back up there and talk to her. I love that robe.” Scott started climbing up the wall to get back to the buttons on the elevator wall just as they reached the lobby.
Wolf reached over and hit the emergency stop button. It started a loud, incessant, blaring alarm, which was probably a bad move, but Wolf grabbed a fistful of Scott’s shirt and shoved him against the wall. “You dumb fuck. If you ever go near Hazel again, I’ll knock some fucking sense into you. Do you hear me?”
Scott tried to fight back, but he was useless from alcohol. Wolf was able to collapse Scott’s knee by tapping behind it with the heel of his boot.
As Scott went down, Wolf slapped him in a friendly yet painful way. “Stay the fuck a
way from her.”
Wolf hit the button to restart the elevator. Restraining himself from beating up Scott took a lot. He knew there might be a video camera on him right now, and he didn't want to get arrested tonight. But he wasn’t opposed to an unrecorded beatdown for this fucking jackhole. No matter what Hazel thought of Wolf, he respected women. And Scott clearly didn’t.
Chapter 21
Wedding Plans
Hazel didn’t see Claire until Monday morning, but they had texted over the weekend.
Hazel was waiting in front of the school for the bus that had a majority of her students on it. It was always good to have a few extra hands to help with unloading Jonah.
Claire also had bus duty in the morning. The two stood close while they waited for the buses to roll in.
“So how are your parents taking the engagement and wedding news?” Hazel wanted to start in with Claire’s news so that maybe she could avoid talking about Booty Camp for a while longer.
“Went better than I thought. Mom was, surprisingly, on board. My father’s concerned that it’s too soon. My sister wants to know if Chance has a brother.” Claire laughed and sipped her coffee. Hazel hadn't brought hers out because she needed two free hands when the bus arrived.
“Does he?” Hazel smiled.
“No. The closest person he has besides his dad is…” Claire trailed off.
“His coworker?” Hazel offered.
“Yeah. Which is why Wolf is his best man. Is that going to be okay? We have a dress fitting later this week. Did I tell you yet? It’s going to be so fast. It’s just you and my sister and Wolf and Peter, the security guy from Booty Camp in the bridal party.” Claire looked worried.
“It’s fine. Wolf and I spoke on Saturday. It’s fine.” Hazel tried to be convincing.