I start work immediately with a local landscaper and am quickly promoted to leading a crew-my knowledge of plants and ability to speak Spanish the driving forces behind the advancement. Today is Friday and I plan to ask out the cute waitress for dinner. I had breakfast at the diner this morning, when she first arrived at work, so I know she's got the evening shift off.

The bell over the door jingles when I enter, sending my nerves into overdrive. A warm smile lights Raine's face when she sees me.

"Nice to see you again, Jon." She glances at her watch. "My shift is almost over." A faint flash of disappoint flashes over her features. "Damn. Looks like someone else will serve you."

"I was hoping you might join me for dinner." I clear my throat, nervous for the first time in months. "You know-someplace else-not here. Like a date."

Raine glances down my body, noting my freshly changed clothes. "I'd like that, Jon." The gleam in her eye turns predatory, triggering an answering heat low in my middle. "I've only got a casual sundress with me, is that okay?"

"You could be dressed in rags and I'd still be happy to take you out."

"Aren't you sweet." She smiles, the humor only halfway reaching her eyes. "Give me ten minutes."

The young Were retreats to the back hall where the employee lockers stand near the manager's office. There was a lurking sadness in her eyes when she agreed to dinner. I hope over our meal I can coax out of her whatever brought it on. My wolf wants to make her mine, and the human part of me doesn't quite know what to do with the new urges.

The noise of the Blue Ridge Grill fades into the background as I watch Raine polish off her second burger. "For a tiny little thing, you sure can keep up." My face freezes in horror as I realize I just told the attractive woman I brought to dinner that she eats a lot.

Raine's laughter trips from her lips in the first show of genuine humor I've seen from her all night. "Oh my God-you should see your face right now, Jon. Classic!" She wipes the tears from her eyes with the end of her napkin. "No one would accuse you of being a silver-tongued devil, that's for sure." She smiles to show she's teasing then shrugs a slim shoulder under her pale blue sundress. "What can I say? I work so much it's hard to keep the pounds on." Her face sobers, the humor draining as fast as it came, and she looks away. "We do have an excellent metabolism."

Something doesn't add up. Waitressing might be hard work and a lot of hours on your feet, but a healthy werewolf who eats like she just did shouldn't be waif-like thin. Maybe she has a second job. Trying to make ends meet on tips can't be easy. Especially without a pack for support or a werewolf roomie to share the rent.

I want to ask how she's doing financially, curious if she does indeed have a second job and why, but something holds me back. We don't know each other well enough for me to start prying, and asking might scare her off. If I want to start over here in Virginia, I'll need to slowly bring wolves to me, and that won't happen if I come on too strong.

Slowly bring wolves to me? Where the hell are these thoughts coming from? That sounds a lot like alpha tendencies rearing an ugly head. Am I ready for my own pack? After Manitoba, I sure as hell don't want to join another one. Could I become a true alpha and protect others of my kind?

The memories of Romeo-breaking up fights, mentoring others unhappy with their dual nature, and financially supporting ones who needed it-flare bright across my mind. We may have clashed, but he took good care of his wolves.

No, I'm not ready for another pack, even one of my own. Maybe that will change in the coming months, who knows.

After a moment, Raine's tinge of sadness disappears and a slow seductive smile crosses her face. The sexual pheromones I've suppressed all week seep out little by little. There's no denying that even sad, she's delectable to my raging libido. Raine's bare foot rubs my calf toward my knee. Instantly, the room narrows to the beguiling young woman and her seductive smile. Her arousal taints the air, calling me to act.

I reach across the distance between us and pull her slim fingers to my lips. "I could just eat you up."

Her brows rise. "Really, now?" A saucy superiority burns from her eyes. "You sound suspiciously like the Big Bad Wolf hitting on Red Riding Hood."

A sharp bark of laughter erupts from me, breaking the tension. I really suck at flirting. "Can't blame a guy for trying." Resigned to the fact we may not have any fun tonight if based on my flirting skills, and her wandering foot could be her way of teasing, I rise from the table and offer my hand. "Want to go out for a night cap or should you take me back to my jeep at the diner?"

"I know of a nice bar in downtown Leesburg." She winks and takes my hand. "It's not far."

Hope stirs in my heart as we exit the restaurant. Maybe things are picking up.

An hour later in a dimly lit bar, there's no way I'm mistaking Raine's intentions. She's been stroking my growing erection through my jeans for the last ten minutes. Randy bitch-and I say that with the utmost respect for the fascinating werewolf-just nibbled on my ear and told me to kiss her.

I stare into her midnight blue depths and whisper, "Not here." I brush my lips faintly over hers, promising more to come in private. I've never been one for public displays of affection and I don't want our first kiss to be surrounded by strangers.

She nods and stands, adjusting her dress as she rises. The shift of fabric releases her aroused scent into the air. A hard fist of want punches me in the gut, requiring me to use all the restraint I possess to not dart out the doors toward the parking lot, dragging the tempting woman with me.

The steady sexual partners available in a large wolf pack are both a curse and a blessing. On one hand, having an increased libido and a host of willing single partners is great. On the other, trying to establish any kind of true intimacy or a real relationship is next to impossible.

Maybe that's why many Weres find their life mates outside their pack. Summer hunting expeditions, the rare regional pack gatherings I've heard tales of, or dating humans seem to be the best way to find a lifelong mate. No one ever mentioned the idea of two loners, like me and Raine, hooking up-but it certainly seems possible now that I'm living it.

The late May night wraps it's moist hold around us as we exit the bar and make our way to Riane's car. Short pants of breath reach my ears in the dark, indicating she's as turned on as I am at the prospect of being together. Her warm hand links with mine as hot coils of anticipation writhe in my gut.

Raine tugs our clasped hands, changing our direction from her car door to the nose of her vehicle, where the shadows from the building lie deep. She presses my back against the wood siding, leaning in to kiss me. Our raging desires, carefully held in check inside the bar, explode. Her hot mouth latches onto mine as her soft body molds to my front.

Eager hands reach under my t-shirt, lingering over my abs on their path upward. Raine breaks our kiss, whispering in a husky voice, "My, my, my, Jon." Her nimble fingers find my hardened nipples and she tweaks them with a twist. "You're hiding quite a nice body under here."

Heat races over me, along with a flash of Lori touching me like this a mere two weeks ago. I clasp her hands, settling mine firmly over hers to help block the unwanted memories. "What do you expect from a man who works outside for a living? A soft body and pasty complexion?"

The sexy Were nips my bottom lip lightly. "I guess I wasn't expecting you to be so... hard." Her hand slips free of my hold and skims down to cup my erection through my pants.

A soft growl erupts from me as I pivot, reversing our position and pinning her supple body to the wall. "You like to move fast, don't you, Raine?" I press forward with my hips, rubbing my arousal against her middle, effectively pushing her hand away as well.

I bow to gently bite the tender flesh between her ear and shoulder. "All 'pretty in pink' in that waitress outfit..." Another nip to her heated flesh draws a gasp from the young woman. "I never would've expected the fire..."

She reaches two hands to grab my hair, pulling me up to her mouth. "Well then, Jon, looks like you underestimated me." Raine plasters her mouth to mine, ratcheting up my already raised hormones. Lust courses through me, pushing to barrel ahead, to take her-wherever she wants me-even if it's in a parking lot.

In a few moments our kiss breaks, leaving us both panting and grasping at the other's body, desperate to rein our passion despite the waves of desire crashing over us. "Want to come back to my place?" she asks. There's a desperate edge to her voice that gives me pause. "It's out past Purcellville."

It would be so easy to take her offer. To follow her the distance to wherever she lives and make love to her all night. But things went fast with Lori, too. And look where that got me-dangling on the end of her raw sex appeal and oblivious to her baser nature of a two-timing horny Were.

I take a small step back and reach up to cup Raine's cheeks in my hands. "Would you hate me if I said 'no'?" Confusion mixes with the lust in her eyes. "I like you, Raine." I kiss her again. "I want to go slow."

Her spine straightens. "Uh... what?" She makes a last grab for my pants. "You want me. Why deny it?" She wraps a hot hand over me and begins to stroke. "We can make all the noise we want and no one will hear us." A cold, evaluating look comes into her eyes, making me wonder why she's so desperate for my attention.

I kiss her once more, ignoring the warning bells that she could be another manipulating she-wolf out to break my heart, and pour my pent up sexual frustration into the kiss before I break away. "I definitely want you." My breath pants in the darkness as I seek her eyes in the dim light. "You know that, right? You deserve more than a night of lust on our first date-we deserve more." Her calculating look fades, to be replaced by one of disbelief. "I want to make a life here, and I'd like to see if that can be a life that has you in it for longer than just a few hours of sex."

Raine slumps against the wall, her aggression and passion draining out of her at my words. "Wow, you really know how to take the wind out of a girl's sail-but, in a classy sort of way." She runs a hand through her short hair, pushing it back from her face. A small smile lights her features in the night. "At least I know you want me and it could lead to more."

"What do you say?" I can't believe I'm talking this woman out of jumping my bones, but until I get to know her better, it's for the best. "Want to go on a second date?"

Her face closes and she looks into the distance. "Sure. I might be up for a going out again."