Borrowed Beauty

Chapter Ten: Sweetness and Light

JOSIAH

Asking Olivia out for lunch had been totally on impulse but, once I’d done so, I thought it was quite brilliant - if I do say so myself. Right on time, midday as I’d suggested, she came down the stairs dressed in a bright red blouse and dark trousers. I was beginning to recognize that bold, bright colors were her signature style. There was a boldness to that which I liked, even though I wasn’t quite sure why. It just seemed…different. Refreshing somehow. She had braided her hair, and while it looked nice, I preferred it when she wore it down. For a moment, I lost myself in a vision of me pulling the scrunchy off that braid, using my fingers to pull it apart, and then running my hands through the long waves while she tipped her head back and moaned, and I leaned down and kissed her neck…

Not that I’d been thinking about kissing her. Much. My day at the office yesterday had been a completely wasted effort. I had been so distracted thoughts of Olivia, all of them leading to scenarios where we ended up kissing. Elton, my beta had to call me out of my daydreams several times, until he finally put me out of my misery and called it a day. No doubt he would grill me over my preoccupation as soon as he got the chance.

Suddenly I realized that Olivia had come all the way downstairs and was waiting on me while I just stood there, staring at her. Gawking is probably what I was doing. I laughed at myself and she smiled graciously at me as she fiddled with the strap of her purse. I could feel a bit of nervous tension wafting off her body.

“Ready?” I asked inanely.

She nodded and I led her out the front door to the driveway where the car was already parked and waiting. I opted to drive myself since it seemed more casual. I could already tell that Olivia was not the type of woman who would be impressed with limousines and chauffeurs.

While she pretended to be relaxed in the car, she chewed the hell out of her bottom lip all the way down the mountain and through the small city of Prosperity Springs. That was a bad habit I would have to break in the future. If anyone was going to bite that full, lush lip, it was going to be me.

I had no idea where these crazy, possessive thoughts were coming from. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think it was my wolf was subconsciously influencing me.

Or her wolf perhaps?

We pulled up to the Tokyo House restaurant, and I found a parking place not too far from the front door. The establishment was always full during the lunch hour, but I had called ahead to reserve a table. As soon as the hostess saw us enter through the double glass doors, she smiled and waved us forward. I smiled apologetically at the poor, hungry patrons that were stuck waiting in line as we cut to the front and were promptly taken to the best table in the restaurant.

I enjoyed how Olivia seemed to be taking in the decor, and it made me look more closely myself. Although I had been to the restaurant many times, it seemed that I was seeing the place properly for the first time. The interior was beautifully decorated with wall fountains, fish tanks, and colorful Japanese murals on the walls. The waitress that came to our table was dressed in a traditional dark blue kimono, despite the fact that her hair was short, spiky, and dyed pink at the ends. She gave me an appreciative glance as she passed out the menu and a wine list.

Olivia was also watching the waitress, and I squirmed a little, knowing that she must have noticed the way the server eyeballed me like I was a cut of prime meat. I was used to the attention, but somehow knowing Olivia was witnessing it made me feel a little embarrassed. She gave me a small, tight smile, and then hid her face behind the menu.

I also picked up my menu and glanced over the familiar offerings. “Any idea what you’d like?”

She peeked at me over the top of the leather-bound menu, just her sparkling hazel eyes and her dark eyebrows. “It’s so hard to choose!” She said, her voice tinged with excitement, “What do you recommend?”

“It’s all delicious,” I considered the menu. "Why don’t we order an assortment of dishes and share?”

She lowered the menu and flashed me a genuine smile, “That’s a great idea!”

I signaled the waitress back and put in an order for a variety of appetizers, sushi rolls and entrees. The waitress’ eyes widened at the sheer volume of food I ordered, but I wanted Olivia to be able to sample a little bit of everything. Once the waitress left, I took the opportunity to scoot my chair around the table, so that we wouldn’t have to reach over to share the dishes when they came. Sure, it might have had something to do with getting closer to her, but I had my alibi. She stiffened a little bit at my nearness, so I distracted her by asking about her trip to Japan.

I watched entranced as she relaxed by slow degrees and became animated again. She explained how she’d stayed in a ryokan in Kyoto for two weeks while she explored shrines and historical sites, and sampled all kinds of street food. The Japanese words and names rolled off her tongue so easily, I began to wonder if she actually spoke the language.

“So why does a werewolf want to explore Japan?” I asked the question that had been burning in the back of my mind. “Did you find any of our kind there?”

She seemed taken aback by the question. “Well no, it's not about that.” Her brows drew together and something like disappointment flashed in her eyes. “You know there is more to the world than what goes on in our isolated little packs. There are all kinds of interesting cultures in the world, and so much to learn.”

“I totally agree,” I was quick to assure her. I didn’t want to look like some unsophisticated, primitive animal, even if I kind of was. “You know I have worked very hard to make Prosperity Springs a diverse and inclusive community, where shifters and humans can live in peace together.” Although the wolf wasn’t fully out of the closet, we had made great strides in leaving the forest and entering into the modern world.

Our conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the food. There were so many dishes that it took three waitresses to carry it all out, and there was barely enough room on the table for all the plates, platters, and bowls. Heads turned as patrons wondered what the band of servers was doing with all that food, and I was a little concerned that their attention might make Olivia feel self-conscious. But she was laughing. The sound of her laughter made my wolf purr in contentment, while my whole body felt warm and comfortable. It was as if everything was right in the world, as long as Olivia Forest was happy. I would have been alarmed if it didn’t feel so damn nice.

She picked up her chopsticks and glanced over the table. “Where do we start?”

“How about this?” I used my chopsticks to pick up a piece of gyoza dumpling, and held it out to her lips. Just as she opened her mouth to take the morsel, it slipped from my chopsticks and rolled down her chest before it dropped to her lap, and finally landed on the floor.

I held my breath and waited for her to erupt in anger. Her cheeks grew red, but instead of indignation, she burst out laughing again. “I’ll pay you back for that,” she said, as she used a napkin to try and clean the trail that the dumpling had left down her blouse.

She took her own chopsticks and dug into the noodles. She leaned closer to be able to reach my mouth. She was better at using the utensils than I was, and was able to put them up to my lips without dropping any, but the soupy noodles still dragged across my chin as I sucked them in. “Touche!” I chuckled as I wiped my chin. I liked this playful side of her, and I really liked that she didn’t seem overly intimidated by my alpha status.

After that, all the awkwardness that had been dancing between us dissipated. Olivia chatted easily in between bites of food, fearlessly trying everything on the table, from the raw fish sashimi to the octopus and eel. She chewed everything thoughtfully and then gave her honest opinion. “I don’t like this one,” she said, pulling a face, “It's too fishy.”

“Well, it is fish, isn’t it supposed to taste like…well, fish?”

“But there is good fish, and there is fishy fish. This one is definitely fishy fish.”

When she found something she really liked, she would close her eyes and moan and make all kinds of indecent noises. That’s all it took for my d**k to jump to attention. If she made that kind of noise over a sea scallop, what would it sound like when she climaxed? Would she close her eyes when I slid inside her, or would she watch me with those brilliant, changing eyes, wide open?

Woah, down boy!

There was a little bit of sauce left at the corner of her mouth. Despite a voice telling me that I was about to slip into some celluloid cliché, I leaned forward and wiped the drip off with the pad of my thumb. I may have accidentally stroked her full lower lip in the process.

Her eyes widened, her pupils dilated, and I heard her heartbeat accelerate. I saw the flash of raw lust flicker in her expression before she blinked it away. She was good at hiding it, but I was quite certain I wasn’t the only one feeling the heat. I leaned forward, ready to test my theory of mutual attraction, and was just about to taste those soft lips, when an annoying voice pierced our intimate little bubble.

“Olivia!” Renee’s voice was unnaturally high and sharp, so her greeting sounded more like a scolding. “There you are!”

I cringed and sat back, while Olivia flushed and cleared her throat. “Renee? What are you doing here?”

“I was just out shopping with the guys, and I told them we’d find you here. Japanese is my favorite! Oh my god, look at all that food!” Without being invited, the blond pulled up a chair and the twins reluctantly followed. They gave me an apologetic look as they sat on either side of Renee like they were trying to box her in and contain her. If it had been anyone else besides Olivia’s sister, I would have immediately scolded her for her disrespectful behavior and sent her away, and probably have had her banned from the restaurant for life. But out of deference for my date, I bit my tongue instead.

“You hate Japanese food,” Olivia frowned at her sister.

“Don’t be silly, I don’t hate it. In fact, I just love trying out new things.” She pretended to be perky and excited, but I saw her blanch as she looked out over the table.

“Well then, by all means, dig in,” I said dryly. I was already full, and I had a feeling that Olivia was also comfortably stuffed. Her expression kept flickering between amusement and annoyance as she watched her sister, and then glanced back at me to gauge my reaction.

“Try this one,” Olivia said sweetly, passing a piece of sushi to her sister on one of the small serving plates. It was octopus, the bit of purple and white tentacle curling out of the rice, the suction cups still very visible. I saw Renee’s face go positively green, even under the copious amounts of makeup she wore.

I chuckled to myself and absently reached out to play with the end of her braid, curling the fine ends around my finger. I guessed Olivia Forest was not all sweetness and light, after all.