Hers for the Holidays

Chapter Three

Emily turned at the sound of someone saying her name, she could feel the warmth of the pizza inside of the cardboard box in her hands. The smell of the food had her mouth watering in anticipation, she looked up at the tall man that had spoken.

Woah, he was so hot.

He was well-muscled and looked like he spent a lot of time at the gym, the stubble on his chin and cheeks didn’t hide his well-defined jaw or the dimple that flashed at her when he smiled a smile that would be perfect on a toothpaste commercial with his straight white teeth.

Emily could feel the blush heating up her cheeks, guys like this didn’t notice her, she knew she attracted a certain type and that was usually nerdy guys who liked to play games as well, not guys who looked like they did mixed martial arts for fun.

How did he know her name? She clutched the box tighter as he repeated her name, hmmm, he sounded strangely familiar to her. She really liked the way her name sounded coming from his lips.

“Yes?” She asked, raising her eyebrow questioningly at the man in front of her.

“Vincent,” he said in answer holding up his hands in what he hoped was a non-threatening gesture, he was nervous that she would think he was some kind of creep and take off running. He tried to fight down the grin that threatened to take over, as his wolf thought about the fun he would have chasing her down. Vincent could imagine how she would look running through the forest as the moonlight dappled the ground around them, her dark hair streaming behind her as she looked over her shoulder, her eyes widening in surprise at him. He could almost hear her breathing out his name as he finally caught her.

Oh wait, she was saying his name right now.

“Vincent,” Emily said again, she watched as he shook his head almost as if lost in thought.

“Small world huh?” He said shrugging his shoulders and digging his hands into his pockets.

“I guess it is.” She said and then bit her lip, unsure of what to say next.

“I don’t live far from here if you want to come over and game sometime or hang out,” Vincent said, not sure what he was supposed to say or how to go about this, he didn’t think it would go well if he tossed her over his shoulder and carried her back to his place cave-man style.

“Well, I guess I’ll talk to you later tonight?” Emily asked she didn’t know if it would be too forward to give him her number or if that would scare her fellow gamer off, you could never tell with some gamer guys. She smiled politely at him as she moved closer to the doors. She opened the door and the wind ruffled her hair again as she stepped out into the crisp night air.

Vincent wanted to kick himself as her sweet scent hit him again, he turned to go back to his booth then looked back at the door.

No, he wasn’t going to let her get away that easily. His wolf wouldn’t let him, he didn’t know what was the matter with his beast. Normally the beast was relaxed as it rested within him, but something about Emily had him awake and ready for the chase. He moved to the door and headed outside, his heavy boots hitting the pavement.

“Emily, wait up.” He called after her as he got nearer. She turned to look at him with a small smile of surprise playing across her peach-colored lips.

“Yes,” She said looking up at him through lowered lashes and Vincent felt his heart beat faster.

“Is it okay, I mean. Can I have your number?” He asked almost shyly. Where was his alpha wolf hiding now, he thought kicking himself.

She smiled up at him as she shifted the pizza box to her hip and pulled out her phone, she looked expectantly up at him. He told her the number and she dialed the number, she pressed the call button and held the lime green plastic-covered phone to her ear. Vincent’s phone rang and he answered it holding it to his ear.

“Now you have my number,” she said with a smirk at him as she saved his number to her phone.

“Can you call me when you get home?” He asked as she turned away, he didn’t like the thought of her walking home alone in the dark.

“Maybe,” She said in a teasing voice, “I doubt I’ll run into anything scary on my way home.”

Vincent’s eyes flashed with the amber color of his wolf’s eyes at the thought of something or someone threatening Emily on her way home. He didn’t know how he felt about how protective his wolf seemed to feel towards this small human woman.

He turned and headed back into the pizzeria to get his pizza and head home, his cell phone clutched in his hand the entire way as he looked at her number with what he was sure was a goofy grin on his face.

***

Emily made her way home, she balanced the pizza box with one hand as she unlocked the door. She planned to fix herself a plate and then head over to her computer.

Her phone rang as she made her way to the counter and sat the box down, she pulled the phone out of her hoodie pocket, half hoping it would be Vincent. She frowned at the small screen, it wasn’t.

It was her mother.

“Hi Mom,” Emily said as she answered the phone and brought it up to her ear.

“Hi baby, I’m just calling to see if you’ll be bringing your boyfriend this year? We’re all excited to meet him, I know that you’re nervous about it. You don’t need to be though, I’m sure we’ll love him.” Emily’s mother said in a rush and Emily bit her bottom lip. She didn’t want to tell her mom that she would again be coming home to visit them alone. She hated to think about seeing her sister's and their happy little families or her younger brother with his girlfriend and the looks she would get again, being single for the holidays. She’d tell her mom later that they had broken up when she figured out a way to break the news to her.

“Yeah mom, we’ll be there.” She said trying to make herself sound excited about it as she added, “I can’t wait for you guys to meet him.”

“I just know we’ll love him baby.” Her mother sighed happily on the other end, Emily could hear the voices of her nieces and nephews as they ran past her mother excitedly. “Your sister just got here, we’ll see you soon sweetheart.” She said before saying her goodbyes to Emily.

Emily nervously bit her lip as she stared down at the phone, what was she going to do now?