Chapter Five Vincent

T hankfully the shop wasn't brimming with orders right at open. I had a few regulars, to be sure, but with delivery not starting until four, most were willing to wait. But that gave me time to prep things for the night between taking care of a few customers dining in.

Around three-thirty my delivery guy walked through the door with a big smile on his face. And for some reason, it was directed at me.

"What are you smiling at?" I asked with a shrug. "Usually when you're smiling, that means trouble for me."

"Am I that predictable?"

"Yes, Cory, you are."

"You love it."

I just sighed, going back to the dough I was currently ladling sauce onto. Cory was another wolf of course and one of Sam's long-term residents. From what I heard, he'd shown up late last year during a snowstorm on foot. Not only did he have nothing to his name, but he was in wolf form when he arrived. His paws were raw from running across snow and ice for who knows how long. It took Sam nearly three days to get him shifted back into human form. Needless to say, the kid took a while to recover. Even so, he hadn't shared his story with anyone. However, his scent gave away a small amount of Alpha heritage, but that was as far as any of us ever got.

He came around eventually and when he needed a job to help him get back on his feet, Sam brought him to me. I needed the help anyway and Cory was a good worker. It took a while for him to open up to any of us, but once he did, we got to see his playful, sassy side. It would have been annoying if I didn't like him so much.

"So are you going to tell me why you're smiling like a Cheshire Cat or what?" I asked, moving the pizza down the bench to add the toppings.

"A guy came in here last night," he said, grabbing his apron from the hook and pulling it over his head. "He was looking for you."

My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach, my hands freezing mid air. "Oh?" I was trying to play it cool. "What did he want?"

Cory lifted an eyebrow in my direction. "Well, he said he was looking for the cute guy that worked here. Since he wasn't talking about me and you're the only other person who works here, I figured he was talking about you. Unless he got us mixed up with, you know, the other six pizza shops in town that don't exist."

"Huh." I was trying to concentrate on getting the toppings evenly spread over the pizza I was making while also trying not to panic. "Did he leave a name or anything?"

"Yeah. It was something odd… Lake or Pond or something?"

"River?"

Cory's eyes lit up. "So you do know him!"

The jig was up. I sighed and pushed the pizza away. "Yeah. I know who it is."

"Well, I didn't give him any specifics. But I did tell him you were working today."

"You know, you really shouldn't do that. What if he's some kind of serial killer?"

"He's after you," Cory scoffed. "What the hell do I care?"

"Who's gonna sign your paychecks if he kills me?"

"Hmmm… well, I suppose I could just take over the pizza shop." He gave me a wink. "Would anyone really notice? Hardly anyone sees you as it is."

"That's because I'm working all the time!"

"Except for yesterday, huh?" Cory wiggled his eyebrows at me. "You get lucky on the beach or something?"

"You are so nosy." I went back to the pizza, finishing off the last of the toppings before sliding it into the oven.

Cory just stood there with his arms crossed, drumming his fingers. "I'm waiting. Details, bro."

"I hate it when you call me that…"

"I hate it when you meet hot guys and don't share the gossip!" Cory grabbed one of the order slips next to me, took out a ball of dough, and started to get to work. "Nothing happens in this town! You can't keep it all to yourself when something spicy is going on."

I sighed. "It wasn't spicy. The man nearly killed me yesterday."

"Oh shit… is he actually a murderer?"

"Only if his plan is to run over people with his surfboard and then save them from drowning."

"Oh my god," Cory's flour-covered hand went to his mouth. "He saved your life?!" He leaned close, flour now covering his lips. "Did he give you mouth to mouth?"

"No… and you have flour on your face."

He wiped it away. "So what happened?"

"I told you. I was out swimming, he ran over me, and then he fished me out of the lake before I drowned."

"So why did he come looking for you then?"

I felt the heat rise to my cheeks. "Because… well… I don't know. He was being sort of flirty, maybe."

"Maybe?" Cory lifted his eyebrow again. "What's maybe?"

"H-He called me cute I guess."

"And what are you going to do about it?"

"Probably nothing," I replied honestly.

"Nothing?!" Cory scoffed. "Are you crazy? That guy is a walking smokeshow! He's an easy ten! I can't believe you didn't hop on that already!"

I let out a long sigh. "You and I both know that someone that pretty doesn't want anything to do with me. Besides, he said he's just in town for the month. Even if I got involved with him, it wouldn't turn into anything."

"You don't know that–"

"Yeah, I do," I corrected. "He told me so himself. He's going home to take over his pack at the end of his stay here. The guy isn't going to give that all up for me. I mean… look at me. Who would give up a life of leadership and comfort for this?"

"I think you sell yourself short."

"Just speaking from experience. If somebody wanted me to begin with, I wouldn't be here in Shifter Grove." I looked up at Cory who had a big smile on his face again. "Why do you keep looking at me like that?"

He tapped my shoulder and pointed behind me. "Obviously somebody wants you."

I turned around to see River standing at the counter, leaning on one elbow. He had his chin resting in his palm as he looked my way. As soon as my gaze met his, he flashed me that big smile of his.

"How do I get a pizza made by the cutie here?" he asked.

"I'll make it for you," Cory replied, raising his hand. I shot him a glare. "I know," he laughed. "I know. You want the Italian. I can take a hint." Cory shooed me away from the workbench. "I'll take care of this. You go chat with the hot one."

I was mortified to hear him talking like that when River could so plainly hear him. Giving him one last dirty look, I headed for the counter, swapping out my glare for the best smile I could muster. I tried not to look nervous, but in the end I think I just ended up looking constipated.

"S-So," I said, my voice shaking. "What b-brings you in?"

River lifted an eyebrow in disbelief. "Obviously I need a pizza and the company of a cute boy."

"Damn he's smooth…" I heard Cory mutter to himself.

"Zip it!" I turned back to River. "Well, the pizza I can do. As for the rest of it, we'll have to see if we can find a cute guy."

River reached across the counter and grabbed my shoulder. "Oh! Look at that. I found him already. That was easy."

I blushed so hard I could barely think. "So… uh… you here to hit me with your surfboard again? Back to finish the job?"

"Only with your consent," he smiled. "But let's do an early dinner first, huh?" He looked over my shoulder. "If your boss is okay with it?"

Cory just laughed.

"I'm the boss," I replied. "This is my shop."

River's eye's lit up. "Oh. Well you're a bit sneaky, aren't you? You didn't tell me you owned the place!"

"It's not a big thing…"

"Running your own business is huge! That's like, real fucking work!"

I was blushing again. "Thanks…"

"So about that early dinner," River said, leaning close to me. "Do you think the boss would be okay with that?"

"As long as you don't mind chatting with me while I work, I don't mind at all." I glanced back at Cory. "But we'll wait for the nosy one to go out on delivery before we get into anything too important."

"Hey!"

"See?" I jabbed my thumb over my shoulder. "He's always listening in on everything…"

"How about this then," River offered, pulling the order pad toward him and grabbing a pen. "I'll give you my number and you can call me when you're off work. Then we can have some… private time together and talk about whatever we want."

My stomach was a knot of nerves. "You sure you want to waste time on me?"

He smiled. "It would be my honor, cutie."

River quickly wrote down his number. I thought he'd just push it back to me, but instead he tore the sheet of paper from the pad, folded it in half, and walked around the counter. He stepped so close to me that I could feel the heat of his body rolling off him. His earthy scent nearly bowled me over, causing every nerve in my body to tingle. Without missing a beat, he leaned close and tucked the folded sheet of paper into my back pocket, his fingers lingering on my ass for a moment or two before he pulled away.

"Call me, hot stuff," he whispered in my ear. I could barely hear him over the sound of my heart pounding.

And, without another word, he left, leaving me standing there with a halfie and my brain scrambled.

"Holy shit…" Cory muttered, suddenly right behind me. "That guy is fucking smooth . Jesus." He patted me on the shoulder. "Good luck resisting that. Woof."

Cory went back to making orders, but I just stood there, realizing he was right. There was no way I'd be able to resist River. Even if I wanted to, this magnetism between us was already too strong for me to pull away.

I was in trouble.