The Human's Complicated Wolf [Nehalem Pack 5] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) (3 page)

Jensen turned around and pulled out a pair of jeans and a thin cotton T-shirt out of his dresser. Any other time he would have dressed up to meet a client, but in his haste to leave Silver Creek he hadn’t packed any of his nice slacks or shirts.

The drive from Southaven to Camden flew by. He got to the site fifteen minutes early. The man he was to meet hadn’t arrived yet, so Jensen grabbed his camera and got out of his car. The sunlight landed perfectly on the untouched roughness of the property. A large red oak tree sat off to the side, and its leaves shaded the ground underneath it. The grass stood tall, and Jensen waded his way through the long blades. He snapped off a few pictures, admiring the quiet beauty. A part of him thought it would be wrong to disturb the peacefulness of the environment by building a home there.

“Gorgeous, isn’t it?”

At the sound Jensen turned around with his hands raised. One still clutched his camera. He hadn’t heard the man approach. The newcomer had his arms crossed over his chest with a wide grin upturning his lips. He didn’t appear to be threatening. If anything, he seemed friendly.

“You must be Mr. Compton.” Jensen returned the man’s smile and walked back to where he stood. “Hi, I’m Jensen.” He held out his hand for the man to shake.

“Please, call me Ethan.” Ethan shook his hand. “You’re just as Andrew described, but he didn’t mention how handsome you were.”

Jensen swallowed around the lump in his throat. Ethan’s words flattered him. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” Ethan took a step forward into the grassy field. “Andrew said you were the best, and I hope he wasn’t just fucking with me.” Ethan winked at him, and Jensen’s smile grew wider.

“No, sir. Not that I like to brag, but designing homes is my passion. Some architects’ life ambitions are to design skyscrapers and be famous.” Jensen held up a finger. “But I’m a firm believer that a person’s home should be their individual skyscraper, work of art so to speak. We spend the majority of our lives in our homes, and it should be something to be proud of and comfortable in.” Jensen didn’t mean to ramble on, but the way Ethan’s eyes twinkled and the deep dimples in his cheeks were distracting him. “Sorry, I tend to go on and on unless someone stops me.” His cheeks heated, and not from the strong rays beating down on his head.

“No, don’t apologize. It’s cute.”

Jensen bit his lips to keep from rolling his eyes.
Cute?
No grown man wanted to be classified as cute. “So, Ethan, what did you have in mind?”

“That’s a bit of a loaded question, don’t you think?” Jensen’s mouth gaped open at Ethan’s forwardness. He didn’t know what to say. “Relax.” Ethan patted him on the back. His hand lingered. “But this is what I had in mind.”

Ethan walked around the property, pointing to where he wanted the front door to be, the master bedroom, office, and his kitchen. He spoke with such enthusiasm Jensen found himself getting excited just listening to the man talk. The low timbre of his voice pulled Jensen into a world where things like werewolves didn’t exist, or men who couldn’t return his affection.

As Ethan moved around, Jensen jotted down notes. He also took inventory of the man’s body from head to toe, and Jensen liked what he saw. Ethan had thick chestnut-brown hair cut short, styled as if he just combed his fingers through the mess. It stuck up in lazy spikes but looked good on him. To no surprise, Ethan was taller than Jensen. Not a big feat, being as everyone seemed to be taller than him, but that suited him just fine. If a man treated him with respect, he could live with the height difference and the strain in his neck it’d cause.

Ethan’s navy-blue T-shirt hugged his body tightly, and Jensen could see the beginning trails of sweat dampening his shirt. And his pants fit snug, cradling the man’s round ass just perfectly. Jensen bit down hard on the side of his cheek to keep from moaning out loud.

“So, do you think you can draw something up by the end of the week?”

Jensen quickly looked up but hadn’t been fast enough. Ethan had a playful grin on his luscious lips. Jensen had been caught ogling Ethan’s ass, and Jensen wanted to fall into a deep dark hole. “Of course. I’ll get started on it right away.”

“Good.” Ethan looked away then turned back to him. “I don’t usually do this, but would you like to go out to dinner with me sometime?”

“Yes!” Jensen didn’t mean to answer so quickly. It made him come off as desperate, but it felt good to have someone be interested in him. “I’d love that.”

“Great.” Ethan’s smile came back to light up his face. “How about tonight if that’s not too soon?”

Before he could answer, Josh’s handsome face flashed before his eyes, and he hesitated. A small ache in his chest had him rethinking Ethan’s offer. But then he remembered the surly look on Josh’s face when he said he wasn’t gay. No matter how attracted he was to Josh, Jensen wasn’t going to set himself up for more heartache. “Tonight sounds good. I look forward to it.”

The minute he got in his car and drove away, guilt weighed down on his shoulders. For some odd reason he felt like he was betraying Josh by going on a date with Ethan. But why? Josh made it plainly clear he had no intentions toward him, but it still didn’t make him feel any better.

“God damn it, Josh.” Jensen banged his fist on the steering wheel. “Get out of my fucking head.”

It seemed all his thoughts always came back to Josh and his inability to accept what was right in front of his face. They only shared that one kiss, but it had been so much more than just a kiss. It had shattered all of Jensen’s defenses. The connection between him and Josh seemed to be ingrained in his DNA, and he could have sworn their hearts beat in sync with one another. And he just couldn’t understand how Josh couldn’t feel it.

“I have to accept the fact what I want and what happens are two different things, and I can’t make him like me,” Jensen mumbled to himself.

It seemed that was all he did lately was talk to himself. The truth hurt, and he didn’t have to be told twice. Josh rejected him, and he wouldn’t let the man wreck his date with Ethan. Granted they just met, but the man seemed interested and he was nice. Right now that was all Jensen could ask for.

* * * *

Josh hung back and watched as Jensen talked to the other man. He could barely make out what they were saying from the distance that separated them. Josh didn’t want to get too close for fear of exposing himself to Jensen. And from the way the man reacted to finding out he was a wolf shifter, he thought it best to keep his distance. He didn’t want to upset Jensen any more than he already had.

The dark-haired man with Jensen waved his arms around wildly when he talked, and Josh could see the way Jensen followed the guy’s every movement. A smile graced Jensen’s lips, and Josh’s pulse began to rise. He didn’t like the way Jensen looked at the other man. It was obvious Jensen was attracted to him even from this distance.

Mine!
Josh shouted but only in his head. He was in wolf form and couldn’t speak words, but his mind was still sharp as a tack, and he wasn’t blind. Oh, god, how he wished he were, because then he wouldn’t feel so miserable.

Unable to stop himself, Josh moved forward, staying safely in the cover of shrubbery growing wild all around him. He moved until he could hear Jensen and the man talking.

“I don’t usually do this, but would you like to go out to dinner with me sometime?” the man asked Jensen.

“Yes!”

Josh’s legs wobbled from shock, and he had to rest against a tree to regain his balance. His mate just accepted a date with another man.

Has Jensen lost his mind?
Josh’s voice echoed in his head.
Oh, quit your whining. You turned your back on him. What did you expect? Him to wait around until you changed your mind?
His subconscious chastised him. And the sad thing was it was right. After that one kiss, the one kiss that made his heart beat rapidly and his body shake out of control, he turned his back on Jensen and left.

The man had every right to seek other dating options if he so chose to, but Josh didn’t want him to. Deep down, Josh knew it was his fault and shouldn’t have a say in what Jensen did. He practically pushed Jensen into the arms of another man with his rejection. Josh still didn’t know if he wanted to mate with Jensen
officially, but he knew for damn sure he didn’t want the man seeing other men in the meantime.

Selfish? Yes, but it was the way he felt.

He watched as Jensen got back into his car, not before he overheard the two set up a date for later that night. Josh waited for few minutes before he began to follow.

The journey back to Southaven seemed twice as long. His legs were heavy, and he could barely keep his head up to see where his legs carried him. Not until he bumped his head on a low-hanging tree limb did he start to pay attention.

Josh didn’t know how much time had passed by the time he got back to Jensen’s. He walked around to the back of the house to look in through the sliding glass door. Jensen sat at the kitchen table with his head down, writing on a large piece of paper. The man seemed oblivious to everything around him when he worked, Josh had come to learn. The man missed out on so much around him, and Southaven had so much outdoor beauty to offer. Since Josh had been in Southaven he’d seen a black bear and quite a few deer that inhabited the woods behind Jensen’s house, and the man never seem to even notice.

The location in Josh’s mind was amazing. The home set away from the city. There was a ton of various wildlife surrounding the area, which allowed for some good nature watching. Him being a wolf, it also provided for some good hunting. Josh wouldn’t mind setting down roots in a place like this.

The sun began to set, and he watched as Jensen got up from the table. He turned on some lights, and Josh walked around to where Jensen’s bedroom was. The drapes were still pulled open, and he could see inside without any problems.

Jensen pulled off his shirt and walked into the bathroom. Josh’s mouth began to water as the light hit his mate’s body. He silently prayed Jensen would get naked like he did that morning. Josh had been pleasantly surprised when he caught sight of Jensen in all his naked glory standing in front of the window. His dick had hardened, and he debated shifting to his human form and taking the edge off but decided against it.

Seeing a man naked never affected him before, but now seeing Jensen like this had his mind racing with ideas of all the things he wanted to do to the man. No matter how hard he tried to deny what he felt for Jensen, he couldn’t run from it.

The bathroom door shut, and Josh growled his displeasure. A few minutes passed, and Jensen emerged already dressed. He fixed his hair then shut off the light. Josh skirted the back of the property until he could see the garage. When Jensen reversed out then turned the car in the direction of town, Josh followed a safe distance behind him.

Josh knew he was taking a chance of exposure by following Jensen on his date, but he couldn’t help it. He had to keep an eye on his mate to make sure he was safe and to make sure he didn’t do something stupid like kiss another man or go home with one.

Jensen checked the rearview mirror one more time to make sure he didn’t have anything in his teeth and finger-combed his hair. He was stalling. Jensen reached out for the door handle and gripped it tight. “I can do this. Ethan is a nice guy who wants to spend time with me.” He took a deep breath and got out of his car. He had been repeating the little mantra the whole drive into town.

They planned to meet at Rancho Grande, a little Mexican restaurant, at eight, and Jensen had arrived a few minutes early. Being a Monday night, there wasn’t a crowd and the hostess was able to seat him right away. He sat facing the entrance so Ethan would see him when he walked through the door.

Jensen picked up the menu and started to glance it over. He bypassed eating lunch to work on the project he was designing for Ethan, and now his stomach cramped with hunger pangs. A waitress brought over a basket of chips and salsa. He had just loaded up a chip when Ethan came through the door looking drop-dead gorgeous in his dark jeans and white button-down shirt. The first three buttons were undone, exposing his tanned chest. Jensen’s eyes fell to the light matting of hair peeking up through the opening.

“Jensen.” Ethan walked as if he were gliding on air over to him. Jensen held up a finger, signaling his mouth was full. “I must look good if I rendered you speechless.”

He started to laugh, and some of his chip and salsa combination went down the wrong pipe and he began to cough. His eyes watered, and he grabbed for his napkins so he wouldn’t spit up on himself.

“Jensen, you okay?” Ethan rushed to his side and rubbed his back between his shoulder blades.

Jensen took a drink from his water glass and coughed once more. “Yeah, just went down the wrong pipe is all. I’m fine, really.” Ethan’s eyes roamed over his face, and Jensen felt his already heated face burn brighter.

“Okay.” Ethan went back to his seat. “You haven’t been waiting long, have you?”

“No.” Jensen shook his head. “I just got here myself.”

“Just enough time for you to choke on some chips.” Ethan teased and winked over the top of his menu at Jensen.

Jensen couldn’t help it. He started to laugh. The man liked to joke around and gently tease Jensen, and he liked it. It was also apparent the man appeared to be comfortable in his own skin. Ethan didn’t hesitate to touch his hand across the table or wipe salsa from Jensen’s mouth.