Page 7

I’m getting carried away.

But I can’t help it. Galen’s hands softly stroke my back as his strong arm grips my waist, and his slick, hot lips slide against mine. Thrills run through my body, stealing my breath and making the hot place between my thighs ache.

I can barely stop myself from squirming against him as the throbbing increases in my core. My fingers tighten on his shoulders, and I don’t know if I want to pull him closer or push him away.

He’s an even better kisser than before.

But wait… how much practice has he had since me?

Anger flashes through me from jealousy over his past lovers, whoever they might be. The thought flees quickly, completely obliterated by the red-hot lust still raging through me.

Suddenly, Galen pulls back, and all I can see is his eyes. So big, deep, and green, they look like still forest pools, reflecting the lush beauty of the canopy above.

We stare at each other, caught in a moment of stillness that belongs to us alone, even as I hear the low murmur of people crowding around us. It’s almost as if no time has passed, and we’re the same two lovers who parted so long ago.

But we aren’t. I’ve changed, and I’ll never let him hurt me again.

My hands tighten on Galen’s shoulders as I get ready to push him away, but before I can, a third person joins the hug.

“Clara!” Winnie says, appearing by my side to hug me with all the force in her small body. “I didn’t get a chance to chat this morning with all the old fuddy-duddies around. Let’s catch up!”

As she wraps her arms around me, Winnie goes up on her tip-toes to whisper in my ear.

“Don’t mind that old hag! Some of us are glad to have you back.”

Winnie pulls back from me and smiles, and I smile back. Even though I’m still wary, Winnie was never mean to me back in the day, and it looks like she might be the only ally in town I have right now.

But did she ever stand up for me or try to be my friend when I grew up here? No. But she is quite a bit younger than me, and it isn’t likely she could have stood up for me even if she tried.

“Auntie Winnie!” Nico yells, tearing across the playground. “Hi!”

“Hi, kiddo!” she yells back, running towards him. The two collide and roll into an untidy heap on the green grass.

“We’re going to have our hands full dealing with both of them,” I mutter.

Galen nods solemnly. “Winnie might be well and truly out of high school, but she still acts like a kid.”

I don’t say anything, secretly envious of how Winnie has embraced her goofy personality and stubbornly remained herself, even under the criticism of others. Especially her mother’s, I’m sure.

The two of them finish rough-housing and run back over to us, giggling like fools. I never imagined how wonderful it would be for Nico to meet his family, and not for the first time, I feel guilty about keeping him from them.

I was so worried about what could go wrong, I couldn’t see how much he needed his pack.

“Hey, bro,” Winnie calls, giggling at Galen’s immediate frown. “Why don’t you get us some snacks while I catch up with Clara for a bit?”

“Yeah, I’m hungry,” Nico chimes in. “I’ll come with you.”

“Okay, kiddo, let’s go,” Galen says, walking away with Nico slowly, throwing glances over his shoulder as if he’s afraid of what we might get up to without his supervision.

Winnie leads me over to some shaded picnic tables and sits across from me, reaching out to squeeze my hand as she grins at me.

“It’s so good you’re back,” she says. “I missed you.”

I chuckle. “I think you’re the only one who did.”

“Look, I’d like to argue with you,” she says sympathetically. “But sadly, I can’t.”

“I’m not exactly happy about this, Winnie. It’s no fun being back in a town where everyone hates me.”

Winnie sighs and looks away before bringing her eyes back to mine again. “I don’t know what it was that turned the town against you, but none of it matters now because you’re Galen’s wife. And you’re the mother of his child!”

Winnie’s eyes glitter with curiosity, and I suddenly understand the real reason for this conversation. Luckily, Galen and Nico return with milkshakes and fries, saving me from having to answer.

She wants to know how the match was made.

Quite frankly, so do I.

I don’t want to say anything in front of Nico, though, so I wait for him to go back to playing on the park equipment before I steer the conversation back around.

“So, Galen not having a mate has been a thing for a while now?” I ask.

Winnie nods, rolling her eyes. “Oh my God, yes. Mother and the other elders would not shut up about it.”

“It was that hard for Galen to find someone to date?” I reply with disbelief.

“I’m right here, you know,” Galen grumbles from beside me. “And the answer is, I didn’t have time. Dating is just so… and, well…”

“I signed him up,” Winnie reveals with a devilish grin. “I was just scrolling and saw the ad come up. I’m always teasing Galen with my little pranks, and this looked so perfect. I presented it as the solution to all his problems.”

“You’re the cause of all my problems,” Galen counters with a groan.

Winnie gives him a shove. “He only went to the first meeting because I totally dared him. He was so pissed about me filling out the forms, he wasn’t going to go. But I said he didn’t have what it takes to woo a woman anymore. It’s been so long since he went on a date!”

All of this is adding up in my mind to one conclusion. When I look up at Galen, his averted eyes seem to confirm it.

He hasn’t dated much since I left.

Maybe he hasn’t dated at all!

“Really?” I say. “How long, exactly?”

“I’m not sure,” Winnie answers thoughtfully. “But definitely no steady girlfriend.”

I can’t stop looking at Galen, and his face is open and calm.

“It’s true,” he says simply. “I haven’t dated anyone. Like I said, I’ve been too busy.”

The last sentence is hurriedly tacked on as if he’s proving a point. My mind starts bubbling with ideas—first unpleasant thoughts of him with other women, then the far more attractive prospect that he’s been completely alone and pining for me every moment we’ve been apart.

I don’t even care. He can do whatever he wants.

“How did you end up on that site?” Winnie asks me. “It’s still wild that it matched the two of you. I mean, of all the people who applied, they contracted two people who already knew each other. What are the odds?”

Winnie props her chin in her hands and stares at me with an eager grin. I realize that Galen is also watching me with great interest, but trying to hide it under a calm expression.

“Nico,” I answer quietly. “His episodes and nightmares keep getting worse, and I know he needs a shifter to help him. We didn’t have much going for us back home, and I just filled out the form without thinking too much about it. I was pretty surprised to meet Galen at the lake, though.”

“And both of you had already signed and sealed the deal,” Winnie says, still watching me keenly. “It’s like Porter’s knew you had a past.”

A tense silence falls as I wonder how much Winnie knows. Since Galen looks a bit uncomfortable as well, I’m guessing she hasn’t been told our full story.

I don’t know if I should be happy about that or not. Did he protect my privacy, or keep me a secret because he was ashamed?

“Hey, Mom!” Nico calls, approaching from the park. “There are some other kids playing soccer. Can I go and play, too?”

“I should go with you,” I answer, standing up.

“I’ll go,” Galen says, gesturing at me to sit back down. “Don’t worry, I got this.”

I sit back down, watching them go. Nico is bounding at Galen’s side, staring up at his dad with big, excited eyes. As Galen reaches down and takes Nico’s hand, I see his expression soften. The gentle smile on his face as he looks at his son makes my heart ache.

They need each other. I have to make this work for both of them.

“Okay, Clara,” Winnie says, squeezing my hand. “Now that the boys are gone, tell me everything. How did you end up with Galen’s kid?”

“Well, the answer to that should be obvious,” I say, turning back to give her a frown.

“Ha!” Winnie shakes her head, grinning. “I need details, though!”

I give her a look. “That sounds a bit creepy, Winnie.”

Winnie lets out a long, loud cackle. “You really are a firecracker. The town will have its hands full with both of us witty women.”

“Well, Mrs. Haggerty will enjoy it,” I consider with a grin.

Winnie laughs even harder. “I’m so happy to have you for my sister,” Winnie says, practically breathless with laughter. “I always wanted one, and I never imagined you’d be so much fun!”

I smile back at her, a little taken aback by the idea that I now have a sister.

I’ve got a whole family now, and so does Nico.

“Let’s dial it back again,” Winnie says, smothering her giggles. “How did you first meet? I was so young at the time, I can’t remember.”

“Me and Galen?” I say. “You don’t ‘meet’ a superstar like Galen. You stumble around in the background of his life until he accidentally runs into you.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” Winnie says with a little wink. She pulls out her phone and flicks through it, turning it to show me a picture.

I lean in, examining the details. It’s a graceful lily, drawn in charcoal on a poster-sized piece of paper.

“That’s mine!” I exclaim. “I drew that!”

“It’s hanging on his bedroom wall,” Winnie says, smiling. “It’s been there for years. He took it from the art exhibition without telling anyone.”

I stare at the screen in disbelief for a few more seconds before I shake my head and look away. The idea of Galen knowing about my existence in the first years of school is impossible to contemplate.

“So, I’ll ask again. How did you meet?” Winnie asks.

“The library,” I say softly. “I used to hide out in there. I was always reading or studying something. He came by and offered to help me with a school project.”

“Ooh, tell me more!” Winnie presses, grinning. “Secret love between the stacks!”

Winnie’s comment is innocent, but I suddenly shy away from telling her all the details of my relationship with Galen. Even though I feel like I can trust her, there are some corners of my heart I’ve kept hidden for so long, it would be too painful to open them.

“No, it wasn’t like that,” I backpedal quickly. “We became good friends, but there was no big romance.”

“Right,” Winnie giggles. “No big romance, but you got pregnant?”

“Well, I never said there wasn’t some… interaction,” I reply, not able to stop a grin. “We were alone a lot in the empty library, and sometimes we met after school or on weekends.”

“Sounds like a very in-depth research project,” Winnie remarks. “What details were so vital that they had to be discussed over a weekend?”

“Well, obviously, I was helping him with more than one class,” I say. “We both know Galen’s never been that bright.”

Winnie cackles with glee, clapping her hands. “I fucking love you! The next family gathering is going to be a fire. I just know it.”

“I don’t expect I’ll have this kind of wit in front of the entire Ramses family,” I say with a sad smile, losing my edge. “They’re one of the main reasons I left town, after all.”

“This is it!” Winnie squeals, tapping her knuckles on the table. “This is the juicy stuff I was after. How did you end up leaving town, pregnant with Galen’s baby?”

“I was planning on leaving, anyway,” I correct her. “I had my own plans. I’d been fooling around with Galen a little, and one night, it went too far. Neither of us was really serious about our relationship, which is good because he knew his family would never accept me.”

Winnie narrows her eyes at me as if she knows she’s getting a heavily edited version of the story. “Hmm,” she says. “Okay. So, you just left, not knowing that you were pregnant?”

“Yes,” I say firmly. “Like I said, it was just a bit of a fling. I did ask Galen if he thought of becoming more, but when he opted out, I was totally fine with that. So I went my own way and found out I was pregnant a couple of months later. Since neither of us had been that serious about the relationship, I didn’t think it was worth tracking him down to tell him. I figured Galen wouldn’t really want to be involved with a baby, anyway.”

“But something is going on, isn’t there?” Winnie asks, still looking at me with that eager gaze. “The matching on Porter’s might have been random, but it wasn’t a mistake.”

“We both had needs we needed to satisfy,” I answer, smiling. “It was just a very odd coincidence.”

“Oh, wow, so we’re back to the artful dodging, are we?” Winnie cocks an eyebrow. “It’s okay. All your secrets are safe with me.”

“Of course they are,” I say with a sly grin. “Because I haven’t told you any.”

Winnie giggles. “I’m more than happy to perpetuate the story that Galen was pining over you for years, until he finally tracked you down and found you with a son he never knew he had, swept you away to marry you, and never let you go.” Winnie wiggles her eyebrows suggestively, making me giggle. “No one else knows about Porter’s,” she adds. “Nor should they.”

“No,” I agree. “They shouldn’t, and neither should Nico.”

We sit in silence for a few seconds until Winnie shrugs.

“I like that story,” she muses. “I think it will drive the town nuts. But if you don’t like it, I can tell them something else.”

I sigh. “I don’t know. It sounds a bit corny. If I start saying it, no one will believe me.”

“That’s why I’m going to do it,” Winnie says, smiling. “Coming from me, it’s a whimsical tale of romance. What do you say, Clara?”

I think for a moment about my long, lonely years by myself, struggling to raise my son and missing Galen. I also remember every smirk and nasty comment directed my way, and how much it would screw with all of them to find out they were wrong.

“You know what, Winnie? Go nuts.”