APPETITE Read online

  "Her tires are in the bed of my truck," Damien said, wincing as Charlie pulled her hand out of his.

  "Tires?"

  "Apparently my spare was flat, too," Charlie said.

  "Uh huh. I can see where that would be a problem," Tony said, smiling at her.

  "You think? Maybe I'm just doing research on the best ways to pick up brooding giants," Charlie said, looking over at Damien. He was still scowling at Tony. She looked back at Tony and smiled. She didn't think he was a bad guy; in fact, she thought he was friendly, playful. He was about six feet tall, and also broad, with long blondish hair and eyes the color of amber. He was really good looking, but -- to Charlie -- lacked the appeal of Damien. And that whole wrist thing was kind of weird.

  Tony laughed, admiring her as she stood, hip cocked and looking at Damien. "What kind of car is it?"

  "A light blue Yaris," Damien answered. "About eight miles east on the highway."

  "Leo, get the tires out of Damien's truck and get working on them. Carl, get the wrecker out to the highway and bring her car in," Tony said, talking to the other two men in the office. They jumped up and did as they were told. Charlie turned and watched them for a moment before turning back to Tony with a smile.

  "Wow! Whoever said you can't find good help these days never looked for it in Buck Creek," she said, making Tony laugh again.

  "Why don't you go wash your hands and knees off, Charlie," Damien said, his hand on her back again guiding her towards the women's restroom in the back of the office.

  "Didja get hurt?" Tony asked.

  "Just some small scrapes," she said, showing him her hands.

  "Nothing deep, but you really should clean them," Damien said.

  "Going. Going. Sheesh, I'm 40, not 4, cowboy," Charlie said, making her way in to the bathroom and locking the door behind her.

  "Don't say it," Damien said, turning to Tony. "I don't want to hear it."

  "Don't say what, my friend? Don't say your mate is interesting?"

  "I said not to say it," he growled.

  "She's lively, Damien. Good for you," Tony said as he stepped up and patted his friend on the shoulder. "You should call Darian. Use the station phone. Tell him the good news." With that he made his way through the side door in to the service bay.

  Damien didn't think there was any reason to tell Darian about Charlie -- not willing to believe what Tony said, regardless what his brain and heart and wolf were screaming at him. But he knew he was going to be back late, and should call to let him know. He sat down behind the desk and picked up the phone, dialing his brother's direct line at the ranch.

  "This is Darian."

  "It's me. I'm going to be a bit late getting back."

  "Oh?"

  "Yeah. No more than an hour or two."

  There was silence for a moment, then Damien heard his brother laughing.

  "Who is she?"

  "Who is who?"

  "Don't play stupid, Damien."

  "I'm not."

  "I'm your brother, Damien. I can hear it in your voice."

  "I don't know what you're talking about," he mumbled.

  Both men were quiet for a moment before Darian spoke again. "What does she smell like?"

  "Lavender and chamomile, and it's like smelling moonlight," Damien said dreamily before he knew what he was doing.

  Darian burst out laughing, making his brother cringe. "I knew it!" he said, catching his breath. "Who is she? Which pack?"

  "She's not pack," Damien said, cocking his head and listening to make sure she was still in the bathroom. "She's human. Just passing through." He sighed, realizing what a cluster the fates had thrown him in to.

  "Oh," Darian said, sobered. "I'm sorry, brother."

  "I found her on the side of the road with tire trouble."

  "Are you at Tony's?"

  "Yeah." He heard her unlock the door to the bathroom. "I have to go, Darian. I'll see you in a bit."

  "Alright. Good luck, Damien."

  "Thanks," he said, surprised. He hung up the phone and looked up at Charlie as she hovered near him. They didn't speak for a moment. Charlie looked around the office and out the windows at the town. Damien was content to simply watch her.

  "All better," she finally said, holding her hands out for his inspection. She looked at the top of his head and wanted to pull out the elastic holding his hair back. "Am I keeping you from something?" she asked, motioning to the phone.

  "No. Just running some errands for the ranch. They'll keep."

  "Sure?"

  "Yes." The phone on the desk rang twice and they could hear Tony pick up the extension out in the service bay.

  "Who's Darian?"

  "My brother."

  "Older?"

  "By six minutes," he said with a nod.

  "You're a twin? That's so cool." He shrugged. "Hmph."

  "What?"

  "You don't seem impressed by that," she said, resting her butt against the desk and looking at him with an eyebrow raised. "But you've probably had a while to get used to it, huh? Like your whole life."

  "Are you impressed by it?" he asked, leaning forward in the chair.

  "I am. I've never met a twin before."

  "Never?"

  "Well, not knowingly, anyway. I mean, it's not like I know the full lineage of everyone I've ever met." She turned and watched as Carl pulled in to the lot towing her little car. He easily backed it in to the service bay.

  "You have any other siblings?" she asked.

  "A sister. Darlene."

  "Another 'D' name?"

  "My parents were David and Diane."

  "You're kidding."

  "Nope. We're the Dimeos."

  "What?"

  "David, Diane, Darian, Damien and Darlene Dimeo." He smiled at her shocked expression.

  "You're the alliteration family?"

  "I guess."

  "Are you Italian?"

  "Yes. Well, my father's line was."

  "It's kind of odd to find an Italian rancher in the Columbia River area, isn't it?" She snapped her fingers before he could say anything. "Although I guess it really isn't that odd to find an Italian rancher. I mean, much of Italy is still pastoral, right?" She cocked her head and looked at him. "I think I would have guessed Italian. You have the gorgeous coloring and lips." She laughed at his expression. "I do tend to ramble a lot, don't I?"

  "I like listening to you," he said quietly, surprising both of them. They looked at each other in silence, and Charlie found herself wanting Damien to grab her and kiss her.

  "I got some bad news," Tony said, coming back in to the office. Charlie jumped and moved away from Damien to stand on the other side of the desk.

  "What is it?" Damien asked, keeping his voice even and resisting the urge to grab Charlie and pull her in to his lap.

  "The rim has a crack in it and when you had the blow out you dented the front axle."

  "That's really bad, isn't it?" Charlie asked.

  "Well, not terrible. It can be fixed. But it's going to take some time," Tony said, glancing at Damien.

  "How long?" Damien asked, his face neutral.

  "Five days or so. Shouldn't be more than a week."

  "A week!" She looked at Tony in shock.

  "Sorry. We'll get it done as quickly as we can, but you should be prepared to stay a week," Tony said. He gave her an apologetic smile.

  "Don't suppose there's a Holiday Inn or Best Western in town?" she asked with a sigh.

  "There's a motel one block over," Damien said. "It's small, but clean and safe. Get your stuff out of your car and I'll take you there."

  "Really, Damien, it's a block. I can walk. I hate that I've kept you from doing what you need to."

  "Let me take you, Charlie. You haven't kept me from anything." She opened her mouth to speak, but he continued. "I'll feel better dropping you there."

  "Alright." She looked at him closely. "You know, you keep up all this gallant nonsense and I'll be forced to take you with me whe
n I leave," she said, poking him in his chest. She turned and walked out to the service bay.

  "Oh my friend," Tony said. "You should thank Luna for her."

  "Shut up, man," Damien growled.

  Tony turned and followed Charlie in to the service bay, chuckling. Damien shook his head and followed. He growled a bit, low in his chest, as he watched Tony's hand brush Charlie's when he took her suitcase from her. He stalked over and grabbed the suitcase from him, taking it to his truck and carefully placing it in the bed.

  "What's that about?" Charlie asked Tony, her voice low.

  "He's kind of protective, you know, with the whole rescuing thing. Just a personality quirk."

  "Really?" she looked at Tony and laughed as he nodded. "Huh. Well, as far as quirks go, that one's way better than the 'chopping women up into itty bitty pieces' quirk."

  He laughed as they walked over to the truck. "I'll call when I have a better idea how long it will take, alright?" Charlie nodded and climbed in to the truck. Damien smiled at her and closed the door.

  "Thank you, Tony." He shook Tony's hand. "Would you mind keeping me apprised of the progress as well?"

  "Of course."

  Damien nodded and made his way to the driver's side. He climbed in and quickly buckled up, turning to look at Charlie. She had a pensive look on her face and was rubbing a finger across her lower lip.

  "Are you alright, Charlie?"

  "Yeah."

  "Sure?"

  She looked at him and gave him another dazzling smile. "I'm fine. Just trying to get my head around this. I wanted to be in Oregon by tomorrow."

  "I see." He started the truck and backed up. "Someone waiting for you?"

  "Huh? Oh...oh, right. No. No one waiting on me." She smiled, for some reason pleased he was asking. "Just need to get a place and a job."

  "Why did you leave Santa Fe?"

  "I started to feel claustrophobic." It wasn't the whole truth, but it wasn't a lie.

  "Really?"

  "Yeah. It was too far from the ocean, you know? More than a day's drive. It made me feel cramped."

  They pulled in to the lot of the Buck Creek Inn, and Charlie was delighted to find it was quaint and well maintained. It was a long building that consisted of eight rooms, an office at the far end, and behind that a large house. It was surrounded by well kept lawns and gardens. She hopped out of the truck and walked to the office, Damien following her and reaching over her shoulder to open the door for her.

  "You don't have to come in, Damien. I can manage from here," she said. She was enjoying his attentions far more than she wanted to. Far more than she considered safe.

  "Hush," he said gently, his large hand once again on the small of her back, gently guiding her through the door. "I'll see you settled before I leave."

  "You're going to have to leave before I can settle down," she mumbled to herself, her voice below a whisper, but Damien heard it clearly. He could feel himself getting aroused at her words, and had to stop the thoughts of how unsettled he'd like to make her from taking over.

  "Hello there!," an older woman came in behind them. She had thick hips and the whitest hair Charlie had ever seen .She didn't really look old to Charlie, but she had the bulky sweater and tiny eyeglasses on a chain around her neck that were the universal symbols for senior citizens. "Damien! I thought that was you!" Her voice seemed to have a trace of a Scottish brogue.

  "Aunt Mary," Damien said warmly as she walked up to him and they embraced. Charlie watched, a wistful smile on her face. She didn't have much family, and what she did have was distant. "How have you and Uncle Vincent been?"

  "Och, you know us, Damy, we're tough old dogs." She gave him another squeeze and stepped out of his embrace, turning towards Charlie. "And who are you?"

  "Charlie Bell."

  "Charlie Bell," she repeated, looking her up and down. She smiled at Charlie and surprised her by pulling her in to her arms for a fierce hug.

  "Oh!" Charlie squeaked, her eyes looking over at Damien. "Okay. You're a hugger. Good to know." She stuck her tongue out at Damien, making him laugh again.

  "Any friend of Damy's is a friend to all of us," the woman said, finally releasing her.

  "Well then I am glad I am a friend of Damy," Charlie said, smiling mischievously at Damien.

  "What brings you two here?"

  "I need a place to stay for about a week while my car is being repaired."

  "Oh?" she said. She looked at her nephew, her lips pursed.

  'Why is she not staying with you? She's your mate,' Mary sent.

  'It's complicated, Aunt Mary,' Damien sent back. 'She's human.'

  'I know. Doesn't matter.'

  "Well, let's see. Let's put you in room 1. It's the biggest and closest to the house in case you need anything." She moved behind the counter and grabbed the key. Charlie stepped up to the counter and handed over her driver's license and credit card. Mary picked them up and put her glasses on her nose. She looked at them closely. "Charlotte? That's a lovely name."

  "Thank you, ma'am," Charlie said.

  "Och! Call me Aunt Mary," she beamed at Charlie.

  "Alright," she said, feeling a bit surreal. Not that she was worried or uneasy about Mary. It was everything. She had this feeling like she was a stray Damien had found at the side of the road, and he was going to make a pet out of her. The idea filled her with both fear and heat, and she was hard pressed to think of the latter as irrational.

  "Damy, you take your friend's case to her room and make sure everything is alright." She held out the key to him.

  'She's lovely, Damy. Just lovely. You need to take her to meet Darian and Eva.'

  'I know. I will.'

  'Make sure you scent her room good. I don't want anyone coming within 15 feet of her door and not knowing who she belongs to.'

  "Yes, Aunt Mary," he said, taking the key and giving his aunt a peck on the cheek.

  "Now, let me get a copy of your card, Charlotte," the older woman said as the door shut behind her nephew. She put Charlie's card in the imprinter and placed a carbon over it. Charlie hadn't seen one of those in years, and she smiled at how fitting it was she saw it here.

  "Please, call me Charlie."

  "You are too beautiful to be called Charlie. No, no, no. Charlotte does you far more justice." Mary looked at her over the rim of her glasses, making Charlie fidget.

  "Okay," she said in a small voice as Mary handed her back her license and credit card. "Think I'll go to my room now." Charlie turned and headed towards the door, feeling oddly shy under the older woman's scrutiny.

  "Absolutely. Let us know if you need anything at all. Just dial '0' on the phone and it rings here and in the house," she said, gesturing to the big house behind the little motel. "And Charlotte, would you tell my nephew to stop by before he goes?"

  "Certainly." She walked out of the office with a wave and smile, deciding that she did like the older woman, more for her warmth and overly friendliness than in spite of it. She saw Damien standing in the doorway to her room and smiled at him. "Your aunt would like you to stop in before you go," she said, walking up to him and holding out her hand for the key.

  "You going to be alright?" he asked, dropping the key in to her palm.

  "Yeah, I'm sure I'll be fine. Think I'll have a shower and maybe take a walk. See the sights." She gave him a wink.

  "Nothing you need?" he asked again. He had things to do but he was loathe to leave her. He looked in to her light brown eyes, noticing every fleck of gold and black in them.

  "I'm good," she said. She cocked her head at him and gave him that smile that he was quickly becoming addicted to. "There is one thing..."

  "Name it."

  "Let me take you to lunch or dinner while I'm here. As a thank you."

  "You don't have to thank me."

  "I'd really like to," Charlie said, visions of thanking him on her back with her hands on his ass pulling him harder in to her making her blush. That would never happen, she knew, so l
unch or dinner would have to do.

  "Alright. I'll let you know when?"

  "Sounds good. If I'm not here I'm at the opera or the yacht club," she said, smiling at him as she stepped in to her room.

  "Bye, Charlie."