Chapter 3: Riley’s Mate—Chapter 3

As Riley unpacked her suitcase, her gaze strayed to the window with every trip she made from the suitcase on the bed to the bureau and to the closet.

What was Tyler Vargas doing here? Last she’d heard, he’d just been picked up by the Cardinals after years playing for the minors. She’d even seen his name batted around a few times over the years when she’d just happened to be checking out the sports section.

Not that she had any particular interest in baseball.

He’d had some nerve hugging her like that. Like nothing had happened. Like ten years hadn’t passed without a word from him.

She’d never forgotten the look of horror on his face after she’d shifted. She’d felt safe and loved with him after they’d made love for the first time that night. She’d wanted to share that secret part of her that no one else knew about.

Instead, she’d been shamed. She’d tugged on her clothes while holding back the tears. The tears had come, though. She’d been blinded by them as she raced home.

Never again. Never again had she let anyone know about her inner white Bengal tiger, much less shown it to anyone.

It was one-trial learning for her. She’d left the next day. She’d been accepted to a university in Boston. Instead of waiting for September, she’d left early at the end of May. After unsuccessfully trying to talk her out of it, her father had gone with her. He’d known something was wrong, but she never told him.

She froze as she saw him walking toward the house. Just seeing him set every nerve on fire. Tyler Vargas had grown up nicely. If she’d thought he couldn’t get any hotter at seventeen, she had a lot to learn. He was the same height, just over six feet. Wearing flats, like today, she could tuck her head just beneath his chin. He was toned and filled out nicely. His shoulders were broad and his stomach firm.

But even more than his toned body, she was drawn to his eyes. When he smiled, his smile reached his eyes. Eyes that now had little lines creasing out at the edges. She sighed. And then there were his perfect white teeth beneath those lips that she knew could drive her crazy.

He walked toward the house with purpose, sending her heart rate into a danger zone. She could walk downstairs and run right into him.

Back into his arms.

No. I’m here to tend to my father, not to hook up with an old boyfriend.

Especially not the boyfriend who had haunted her dreams for the last ten years.

She slammed her suitcase shut along that part of her brain that lusted after Tyler Vargas, high school baseball star, class president, and star of her nighttime fantasies.

Her resolve lasted all of about five minutes. The five minutes it took for that object of her nocturnal fantasies and daytime anguish to knock on her door.

He stood there, looking at her with those eyes, whose intensity would cause any girl to squirm with every fiber of her being shooting toward that area between her legs. He had one hand on the door casing, the other in his back pocket. A lock of his short, dark hair fell across his forehead. He hadn’t shaved today. He was wearing Levis with a rip in the knee and an untucked blue flannel shirt that brought out the blue in his eyes.

She turned and walked back toward her closet.

He followed her. “I’m sorry,” he said.

She turned and shot a look that she hoped would pass as shooting daggers toward him. “Sorry for what?” She unfolded a sweater, refolded it, and placed it back on the shelf. Stay calm.

“Sorry for everything. That night. Not knowing what to do. Not finding you… since.”

“Ha.” She kept her head turned away. She couldn’t let him see the effect his words had on her. “You can’t just waltz in here and expect to fix everything by saying you’re sorry.”

“What then? What will it take?”

She had no clue. He was standing too close. Her room was too close. The lodge was too close. Even the ranch. “It’s too late.” She spat, inadvertently letting some of the hurt and pain seep into her words.

She immediately wanted to take the words back. She didn’t want him to know how much he’d hurt her. That she’d harbored that hurt for ten years. He’d doubtless forgotten about her and moved on.

He closed the distance between them and took her arm. “It’s never too late.”

She jerked away and turned to face him. She wanted to wipe the grin off his face.

But he wasn’t smiling now. His eyes bore into hers with a simmering intensity. He was definitely too close now. She could see the shards of gray that mingled in his blue eyes.

He ran his thumb along her cheek, and the fight went out of her.

“We were young,” he said, his breath against her lips. “And you have to admit that seeing your girl morph into a tiger isn’t something someone, especially a teenager, could possibly expect to see.”

She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling. When she wasn’t mad at him or missing him, she couldn’t help but see the humor in imagining what that teenage boy must have been thinking.

“If it hadn’t been for your Uncle Nate, I would have checked myself into a mental hospital.”

She chuckled. “What did Uncle Nate have to do with it?”

“He turned into a bear.”

Her eyes widened in disbelief. Then she laughed. And some of the weight she’d been carrying since that night under the stars lifted.

“Actually,” he said. “I’d seen some of the Hunter brothers shift, so I was familiar with the concept. But you and I dated for two years, and you never said anything. So, needless to say, I was surprised. Besides, I wasn’t exactly thinking clearly in the moment.”

“Apparently, I wasn’t either. In the heat of the moment, I just wanted to share myself with you. All of it.”

He ran a finger over her bottom lip, and she closed her eyes. She wanted him. She wanted his hands on her. His mouth. She’d become very accustomed to his mouth long before they’d gone all the way that night. But that was then. He’d been with others. She could sense it on him; this was one of the drawbacks of being a shifter. “No.” She stepped back and turned away. She willed her body to stop throbbing before she did something she’d regret.

“Riley.” His voice was pained.

She laced her fingers together but didn’t turn to look at him. “I won’t be just another of your conquests. I know you’ve been with many women.”

“That’s a bold assumption,” he said. “Don’t tell me you’ve been celibate for ten years. If you do, I won’t believe you.”

She turned back to face him then. “Yes. I’ve been with other men.”

“Riley. Help me understand the difference.”

Every time she heard her name on his lips, he chipped a little away at her resistance.

“It’s different because I know you.” She blurted.

He stared at her a moment, then laughed. “So, you only have sex with men you don’t know?”

She rolled her eyes at him.

“That’s intriguing.”

And something she never told anyone. “Forget I said anything.”

“Oh no.” He took a step toward her. “You can’t just say something like that and expect me to forget it.”

“I didn’t want a repeat of what happened with you.”

“Is that how it works?” He asked.

“I think I was really relaxed and felt safe. And that’s when it happens.”

She gave him credit for looking guilty. “Maybe you could give me another chance.” And that charming smile was back on his lips. “We could see.”

“No.” She turned and straightened her hangers, one inch between each one. “Again, not one of your groupies.”

“Riley.”

She shot a seething glance at him.

“Come on. I’m not asking for sex. Though it would be nice. Surely, we can at least talk and catch up on the last ten years.”

She turned and pointed toward the door. “Go.”

“But—”

“I know what you’ve been doing for the last ten years. And I’m willing to bet that you’ve managed to keep up with me whether you wanted to or not.”

“A little, but…”

“A little is more than enough.”

He crossed his arms and grinned at her.

“Go.” She repeated.