How to win a mate...

Third person POV
That kiss, on the doorstep was… toe-curlingly spectacular, she couldn’t remember a kiss like it in her entire life, not that she had kissed anyone other than family in a long time.

So that made her next actions even more awful. When they broke for air she pushed him backward and shut the door in his face.

He lifted his hand to knock, confused by what had happened, wanting an explanation. Then he heard it, things a normal man wouldn’t… the sound of clothing sliding down the door, her shuddering breaths as she tried not to sob, and tears hitting the laminate floor. Fear was rolling off her through the composite door and engulfing him.

His eyes went from blue to violet, her fear making his hackles rise. With some difficulty Peter got his wolf back under control. Now was not the time for attack, but time for a strategic retreat. Reluctantly he got back in his car and drove home.

Once he got in he texted her.

‘Em I had a lovely time with you. Looking forward to seeing you again. Peter xx’

He hit send then started to second guess the message, was 2 x’s enough? Or was it too many? Was the message too pressurizing, would she see that he was letting her set the pace but that he wasn’t going anywhere? Goddess he wished Fel was there to give him advice, but her sudden trip to London had been a complete surprise to him too.
…
Emma sat on the floor, her back against the door, trying not to sob. She heard the car door slam shut, and the throb of the Ferrari engine slowly faded away.
She realised she had driven him away, and that is when the tears really began to fall. Great gasping sobs wracked her body. He’s never going to want to go out with me again, she thought to herself. What the hell was I playing at, why did I do that? But she knew. Deep down she knew that the feelings of arousal, of desire, of need for this man were scaring her witless, and rather than face her truth she had just shut it down.

Romeo wandered over to check her out, but the cat realised there was no food in it for him, so wandered off again.

Bing… her phone chimed to announce she had received a message. Probably one of the kids she mused, wanting to know how lunch went. She couldn’t deal with that now, so she just ignored it, continuing to sit and brood in self pity.

The floor was cold against her rear, and the chill seeped up through her spine, numbing her, punishing her. She could hear John screaming at her what a disgusting lump she is, unlovable and unlovely. Why wouldn’t he stop haunting her mind, she wondered.

The sun set on Emma before she moved from her hiding place behind the door, and she started to get up and get on with her evening chores. As she moved her phone skated across the floor, and she glanced at it, seeing the earlier message was from an unknown number.

She opened the message and read it. Once, twice, three times. How could 15 words be so difficult to comprehend, he must be taking the mickey out of her, she thought. But a small smile formed, lifting her mouth just a little.

She held off responding immediately, terrified that it was all a joke, but manners demanded she acknowledge his note, so once she had fed the cats, washed up and eaten her dinner she felt ready to reply.

‘Thank you for a delicious lunch, and for being a charming host. Em x’

She never usually put x’s in her messages, but maybe, just maybe he would realise she was reaching out to him too.

Peter had been waiting for his phone to chime for hours. He had tried to get some work done unsuccessfully, then to watch a film even more unsuccessfully, but mostly he just stared at his phone, willing it to light up with a message from her.

When the message arrived he fumbled his phone, almost dropping it, as he rushed to unlock it, and then smiled at her stilted and formal thanks. She replied, so he was going to keep this going. ‘Are you okay? Peter xx’ he messaged back, a taciturn acknowledgement of the events earlier, but giving her the opportunity to avoid the subject for now.

No I am not okay she thought when she saw his message. A glass of wine with dinner had helped relax her, lowering her inhibitions a little.

‘Not really. Em x’

‘Is it me? Peter xx’

She typed ‘Of course not’… then deleted it, then ‘It’s me’ and deleted that too. Finally she sent ‘No. I just can’t believe you are interested in me, and I am scared.’

Scared is exactly what she was, but the anonymity of texting allowed her to be more honest than she would have been if she had to face him. A nervous 90 seconds passed.

‘I am so interested in you. Now tell me why you are scared, so I can fix it. Please’

The floodgates were open and Emma and Peter texted, back and forth, well into the night. Finally she bid him good night and fell asleep hugging her phone.
…
It would be great if one night of texting would sort out everything, but life is not that simple and needs a bit more work than that.

Peter woke up early and started developing his plan to win her once and for all to his side. Phase 1 of operation ‘Win Emma’ meant he needed to talk to her daughters.

Tracking down people in 2021 is scarily easy if you have their name and a vague idea of where they live. He started with the ParkRun website to find out Jo’s full name… Jo Ecles. He wasn’t sure how common the name was, so he just typed Ecles into FaceBook to see what would come back. Lots of Eccles but only three Ecles… Jo, Sam, and Emma. He sent friend requests and messages to all three, then settled down with a cup of coffee to wait for their responses.
…
Peter reached out to Jo and Sam when they accepted his request, asking if they could all meet up for coffee, so here they were in Starbucks, sipping lattes and discussing Emma.

‘Ladies,’ Peter started. ‘Thank you for agreeing to meet me here… I want to ask you both for your blessing to woo your mother’

‘Woo!?! What kind of period romance are you out of?’ laughed Jo. Her blond sister laughed as well. ‘Aren’t you meant to ask her father or something? But if you mean can you date her if she wants, then sure. She hasn’t dated anyone since dad’

‘Yes,’ he said tentatively. ‘About your father, what’s the deal?’

‘Dad was an arsehole,’ Sam began, shocking Peter slightly. ‘Best thing he ever did for mum was die in that car accident.’

‘You wouldn’t recognise her if you had met her back then,’ Jo continued. ‘I know she tried to protect us from it, but I hated hearing him shout and yell at her late at night. Always saying how useless she was and how unlucky he was to be stuck with a stupid fat ugly cow like her. After he died she barely left the house for six months, and she wouldn’t look anyone in the eye, unless it was for us. Then she would go full mama bear.’

Sam’s eyes glazed over. ‘Do you remember that last Christmas?’ she asked her sister. ‘He was out of control, tipped the dinner all over the floor. Smashed half the plates doing it and said mum was trying to poison him. As if anyone spends four hours in a hot kitchen just to poison someone.’

‘Yeah,’ Jo responded. ‘Then he fucked off out, probably to see his mistress. I remember we didn’t see him until Boxing Day, and mum tried to make it right, not to cry in front of us, rustling up cheese toasties for dinner because he had ruined what she cooked, but she looked so broken.’

Peter was having problems with Braon again. His eyes kept flashing purple.

‘Your dad sounds like he was a right piece of work’

‘Yep,’ the sisters chorused matter of factly. ‘Definitely a shitty parent.’

Jo continued ‘I am not sure what would have happened if dad hadn’t died when he did. He was killing her with his behaviour. We didn’t realise it at the time’ She looked at me directly. ‘You ever treat her like that and I will hunt you down and kill you,’ she promised.

‘I would expect nothing less,’ Peter replied. ‘So any other questions?’

Sam sucked her teeth. ‘So are you rich, mum deserves to be looked after and spoiled’ she asked cheekily.

‘Your mum will never want for anything as long as I have breath in my body’ he replied.

With the information from her daughters and their blessing Peter felt ready to commence stage two of operation ‘Win Emma'