Chapter 21

Harmless.
The word bounced around in Riley's head as he sat opposite Lia in a booth at the restaurant. That was definitely not the word he'd use to describe her. Sensual was one word that came to mind. Luscious was another. Tempting. Oh, yeah, tempting. Because she definitely tempted him. The volatile impact the moment he walked over to her table had shocked the hell out of him. Other women had affected him, tempted him, appealed to him. But not like this. This was something completely different, and it unsettled him because he felt it was something so much deeper.
The call from Jamie last night had tweaked his interest. But when she'd asked him to please check out this woman she was sure was stalking her, the last thing he'd expected to find was a petite woman with a body that begged for him to strip it naked, eyes the color of cobalt, and blonde hair that looked like a cascading silver waterfall. When she'd preceded him into the restaurant, his eyes had fastened of their own accord to her heart-shaped ass lovingly cupped by the jeans she wore. Her dark-purple blouse was made of some soft material that fell against her nicely rounded breasts and the hardened nipples poking at him with a sign that said take me in your mouth and suck me hard.
As light as her hair was, her eyelashes were that dark, a thick curtain surrounding those sapphire eyes. A straight nose, delicate cheekbones, and a mouth shaped like a bow completed a face he knew for certain would fill his dreams that night. By the time they were seated in the restaurant, his mouth was practically watering, and that was so far from who he was it shocked him. More shocking was the almost painful erection pressing against the fly of his slacks. Even his balls ached, and he had to work to find a comfortable seat in the booth.
Riley considered himself a man with a normal sexual appetite. An appealing woman could turn him on, and he was no slouch in the bedroom. But this instantaneous reaction floored him. Had she cast some kind of spell over him?
When Jamie, who he'd known since high school, had confided in him about Mike - all about Mike - he wasn't as stunned as she'd expected. He did have trouble accepting the whole shifter thing when he first discovered it, but Eastern European history was a hobby of his. You couldn't read a book about the area going back generations without learning about werewolves and their migration to this country. But the more he read, the more he came to accept the concept. Shock had given way to disbelief and then, unexpectedly, to curiosity.
Even now, although he still had trouble wrapping his head around some of it, it was no longer as farfetched as in the beginning. He'd never seen a werewolf in real life until the night he'd been standing in his backyard and gotten the shock of his life. Watching Mike shift had blown his mind, and it sure wasn't something he talked about.
That had been a real wow! moment.
It honored him that Jamie and then Mike chose to share their secret with him, but he hadn't known what to do with it. So she'd given him this ancient book to read, Legends of the Werewolf. Combined with his own personal attraction to all things Romanian, it hadn't been that much of a reach for him to believe her.
"Despite everything," Jamie had said, "I knew instantly he was it for me. Even before we had any kind of a date."
So, was that what was happening here? Did shifters somehow figure into this? Was Lia -
No, no, no. Too farfetched.
Still, he had never felt this way about any woman, an explosion of both physical and emotional impact. And if there was anything he'd learned about life by now, it was that anything was possible.
Okay, enough. He'd worry about his feelings for Lia later. He needed to get his shit together. His friends were counting on him. He had to find out what this woman was all about and make sure Mike and Jamie's secret stayed just that.
"Well." He took a swallow of iced tea. "I'm curious. Did you come all the way to Calderwood just to go to Jamie's book signing?"
"Like I told Jamie, I read about her book, the subject is one I'm really interested in, and I wanted to meet her."
"You said you're from Tucson. That's quite a distance to drive to meet someone. You could have waited to see if she was signing in your area."
Lia shrugged, a delicate lifting of her shoulders, an innocent gesture that shouldn't have sent his blood pressure soaring and set the vein in his cock throbbing.
"I had some time off coming, and I thought this would be a nice trip." She gave him a tentative smile. "Besides, her research is of particular interest to me."
"Oh, yeah?" He lifted an eyebrow. Was there more here than curiosity about the subject matter? "Any special reason?"
She rubbed her finger up and down the side of her water glass, a gesture Riley had learned over the years often betrayed nervousness. What did she have to be so nervous about?
"It's a subject matter I really want to know a lot more about," she repeated. "She referred to material I've never seen before."
The book.
Riley took another swallow of his drink. He knew all about the book the Volkas guarded so closely. Once they'd shared their secret with him, Mike had shown him Legends of the Wolf, the volume that held all the secrets to his ancestry. Not many people knew of its existence or would have had their interest piqued by it. To them, it would be just another reference volume.
Riley was acutely aware there could be others out there hunting for Mike, those not friendly or part of his family. His pack. Riley still had trouble using that word, but it was becoming easier and easier for him. But he also knew Mike was desperate to find more members of his pack. His family. Whatever.
"Maybe if you let me know specifically what you're looking for," he said, "I can talk to Jamie about it."
Lia gave him a penetrating look. "What's the real reason she doesn't want to talk to me, Riley? Or should I say Detective?"
"Riley will do fine. Like I said, why don't you let me see if I can get some answers for you?"
"But you don't even know the questions to ask," she pointed out.
"You're right, but I have a suggestion." He paused while the waitress brought their food.
"What's your suggestion?" Lia didn't sound too receptive. "I mean, a smart woman wouldn't even be sitting here now with you, a stranger, if you weren't a cop."
Giving silent thanks for his shield, he reached across the table and took one of her small hands in his. He was surprised the heat flashing between them didn't scorch the table. From the widening of her eyes, she felt it, too.
Oh Jesus!
Was it too soon to take her home, strip both of them naked, and lick every inch of her delicious body? God, he had to get a grip on himself.
"Spend the afternoon with me. Let me get to know you. Talk to you about what you're really after here. For Jamie, of course," he added quickly.
He waited for her to jerk her hand back, and when she didn't, he rubbed his thumb across her knuckles. Was that a flash of heat in her eyes?
"All afternoon?"
He grinned. "Can you stand it? If you're a good girl, you may even get dinner out of it."
Yup, that was definitely heat.
"Let's see how the afternoon goes. And maybe you could show me some of the books you've read on Romanian history?"
He chuckled. "You'd have to be really good for that."
She wet her full lower lip with her delicate pink tongue. "I'll do my best." She cocked her head. "Are you this courteous to all the women you suspect of stalking?"
She hadn't pulled her hand away from his. He lifted it to his mouth and placed a light kiss on the backs of her fingers.
"You're the first. Definitely." He lowered her hand to the table. "Shall we get out of here?"
For a moment, he was afraid she'd say forget it and take a cab back to the library. Then she smiled, a look so unconsciously sensual it penetrated right through his body to his already painfully stimulated cock and balls.
Say yes, he urged silently.
"All right," she said at last. "But if I think it doesn't feel right, you'll take me back to my car, right?"
"Whatever you want," he agreed. "Let's finish our lunch, get out of here, and start our tour."