Harlow stares at the handsome and charming man in front of her, his hazel eyes are filled with confusion, and he looks kind of cute. It is the first time that she has had a chance to look at him properly without the annoying hood impeding her vision. He has a masculine charm that not many of the other boys of their age possess. Helped by his strong jaw line and thick dark stubble. His tanned skin is flawless. He is tall and well built, his shirt does nothing to disguise his sculpted chest, the material pulls tight with every tiny movement. A thought suddenly pops in her head and she looks at him, the first slight emotion shown on her otherwise indifferent face.
“You think I will sleep with you?”
Austin coughs to cover his embarrassment. It was a lot easier when she was clueless, to be asked in such a way, Austin is considering running away. He has had to deal with embarrassment so little in his life, yet in front of this girl it seems like the only thing he can do.
“Umm no, of course not”
“Good, that is not something to concern yourself with, it won’t happen”
Austin can’t help but feel a flicker of disappointment but quickly composes himself. When is he so h*rny? All the talk about being able to find his mate soon and he is disappointed that he can’t sleep with the gorgeous girl when he is meant to be training? What is wrong with him?
All he can do is regain his dignity if he even has a shred of it left to salvage.
“Good, at least we are on the same page”
Harlow tilts her head slightly and studies the man, unsure about his sudden change of tone, but she doesn’t think much on it. His tone and his words matter little to her, all she has to do is make it through this experience, somehow.
“Set your bag down and we will get started”
Austin nods, setting down his bag, his hand moves to his shirt to remove it, but he hesitates. Is that appropriate? It is the way he usually trains. Austin second guesses himself and decides to keep it on.
Harlow silently walks past him. Austin is once again astounded at her silent steps, even on the ground that is littered by dry leaves. Harlow takes off at a run without a word. Austin shrugs and takes off after her. He wants to speak, he wants to ask her why she doesn’t show herself at school, she is a beauty beyond compare, yet she packages herself as an outcast.
A massive force on his back pushes him straight to the ground and he is rendered incapacitated.
“Concentrate, this is not a joke”
Harlow jumps off his back and continues to run. Austin lays on the forest floor for a moment. What the hell just happened? She was in front of him one second and then taking him out the next moment. He pushes himself off the forest floor and chases behind her.
Harlow springs off the closest tree and bounds over him, taking him down once again. Austin lands heavily and Harlow rides him down.
“Concentrate harder”
Austin actually watched the whole thing happen and his stunned awe resulted in the same thing happening again, with her taking him down with zero resistance. He has never seen anyone so agile and the way her body moved, he is still reeling.
Harlow has no interest in the look in his eye as she says coldly.
“Now catch me”
The whole day is spent with Austin chasing Harlow, never once laying a single hand on her. They speed through the trees. She accelerates as he gets close and slows down when she loses him. She lets him get close and then evades in a spectacular fashion.
Before he knows it, Austin is led back to the cabin. The night has fallen and every muscle in his body hurts. He thought that he has trained hard for eighteen years but suddenly he cannot take a run? How is he so tired?
Harlow points to his bag without a word and walks in the cabin leaving Austin to hurry in after her.
“Bathroom”
“Bedroom”
Harlow points and walks away, never looking at Austin as she walks into the kitchen. Austin deposits his bag on the bed before heading to the bathroom. Hot water pours over his aching muscles as he thinks about the day, every time Harlow was at his fingertips she would be gone, every time he thought he had her it was all an illusion, it was like she was playing with him, taunting him, showing him all his own flaws.
Most people would hate that, but for some reason he thrived on it, striving for more, pushing himself harder.
If someone told him yesterday that his training with the Bailey family would involve a run through the forest, he would never have believed it possible and he definitely wouldn’t have believed that it could be the best workout he has ever had in his life.
He would have never guessed that Harlow Bailey was the strange girl from school.
Even though he never believed the rumors, he cannot even believe that Harlow is so attractive, so breathtaking.
Austin turns the hot water off, letting the cold water pour down on his head.
Harlow is amazing, but he needs to cool down his raging blood. That is not the point of this training. She has made it clear that she is not interested and what happened to holding out for his mate?
The pack house is full of girls, he should be used to it, but why does the thought of sleeping under the same roof as one stunning woman sound like it is going to be hard? The cold water chills his veins for long enough, suppressing that desire that he should never have.
Austin has always prided himself on looking beyond what was on the surface, to dig a little deeper. Harlow has hardly spoken to him and he is so attracted?
As Austin grabs the gray fluffy and surprisingly luxurious towel to wipe his hair. He comes to a conclusion.
No, he appreciates her beauty, but the attraction is stemmed from an interest. The interest started when he had no idea what she looked like.
The source of the interest? Well, that is a mystery that he may never know. Maybe there are certain people in life that you naturally gravitate toward?
Yes.
Austin wraps the towel around his waist, feeling a lot better with his clear and concise thoughts. His resolve to approach and get to know Harlow has not diminished, only strengthened. But it is not about getting to know her as a woman, it is about getting to know her as a person.
Austin walks out of the bathroom and sees Harlow in the kitchen busying herself. She moves quickly and methodically, showing no sign of the fatigue of the day.
Harlow throws the last pieces of vegetable into the wok. She places two large steaks down on the griddle with a hiss as the meat hits the hot surface.
The movement behind her causes her to turn around and look towards the bathroom.
"What are you wearing?"
Austin looks at her momentarily confused before shrugging.
"A towel. I sleep naked, so there is no point putting on an interim pair of clothes that just makes more laundry"
Harlow is shocked and doesn't know what to say nor does she know where to look. Her eyes are glued to his figure and she can't seem to look away, his hard taut skin pulling over his chiseled pectoral muscles, her eyes lower to find and strong abs with the v leading down beyond the towel that is looking in a very precarious position, looking like one wrong move will expose everything to her.
For the briefest moment a strange thought crosses her mind and she suddenly wishes it does, but she shakes her head to dispel the random thoughts.
His dark hair is messy and wet and sticks slightly to his forehead, giving him a wild and unrestrained look. Water droplets run down his chest and over those washboard abs.
While nudity is common within pack wolves, as Harlow has grown up with her family as a pack. This is not the norm for her and even what she has seen before. This is different. Why is it so much different? Shouldn't it be the same? Why does it look so?......so what?
Harlow feels a rush of heat through her body. Her pale cheeks flush pink, making her look all that more adorable.
She somehow manages to come back to herself when she hears the hiss of the steak. Harlow turns back to the stove top, stirring the vegetables and flipping the meat before serving it up on two plates. She slides one plate towards Austin over the kitchen counter. Not daring to look directly at him again, just sitting straight down and looking at her own plate like it is the most interesting thing in the world. Harlow thinks back to those series that she would make herself watch, the ones that she thought were too removed from real life. Is this attraction in a purely physical sense? When the girls go crazy for a handsome face and gorgeous body, is that real? Interesting.
Harlow felt like she nearly lost her mind for a moment when he first came out.
Austin views Harlow’s heavily blushed cheeks with a smile, her reaction surprises and amuses him. The usually emotionless girl can actually blush from looking at his bare chest. The Bailey family are a family of enforcers and he can only assume that it is true for her. Her skills show that she is.
Yet a shirtless man shocks her? Shouldn’t she have seen more with a trip to the beach? He wonders what type of sheltered life she lived before this. He studies her for a bit longer before his eyes drop to view the meal in front of him.
It actually looks surprisingly good. Austin raises his fork to his mouth, raising his eyebrows as he eats.
Is there anything this girl isn't good at?
Austin stabs a piece of food, lifting it up to his mouth as his eyes widen slightly, taking in the amazing taste.
“Harlow, you are a good cook”