Falk Clan Tales - Chapter 62: Chapter 62

“Hey Jozi,” Clara Crescent greeted her from behind the counter.
From the time Jozette had first met her, Clara had walked with a slight limp and had been rather introverted. But over the last few months, the woman seemed to completely change. She was radiant. Ever since she announced her recent engagement and pregnancy, and Jozette could not be happier for her.
“Oh, um, who’s your friend, Jozi?”
She turned and tugged Castor towards her boss, smiling nervously. She hoped he didn’t do anything to give away his secret. Eeek! Nerves made her palms sweat, but she tried to play it off.
“This is Castor. He’s, um, just visiting. You don’t mind if he hangs out today?”
Clara stilled and her eyes seemed to look through her Dragony guest. Crap. Could she tell there was something unusual about him? Jozi bit her lip a little nervously, but eventually her boss just nodded.
“Not at all,” Clara responded to her question, a little belatedly. “I’m off to meet Kurt for lunch, but Delia should be in to lock up.”
“Have a good time,” Jozette said, placing her things behind the counter and showing Castor to the break room.
“You can hang out here,” she began, and he was already looking around, eyes filled with wonder.
“A TV? At work. It is amazing you get anything accomplished, but I suppose I should thank your Wolf boss for being good to you,” he said with a tiny smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
“My what?”
“The female is a she-Wolf,” he replied matter-of-factly.
“No shit?”
“Shit?” Castor frowned looking about the floor. “I see no defecation indoors. Surely, modern Wolves are housebroken?”
“What? Oh, sorry, it’s just an expression,” Jozette said, shaking her head. Her bosses were Wolves? How many supernatural things existed out there?
“Several, milady. But have I worried you?” Castor stood, taking her hands, concern glowing in his indigo gaze.
“Did you just read my mind?”
“I do not know. Did I?” he asked, not breaking his stare.
Jozette felt heat seep into her from where he lightly joined their hands. She’d never felt so much attraction and was uncertain if it was all hers or coming from him as well.
“You must work,” he muttered, letting go of her hands and stepping back. The space between them seemed to clear her mind, and Jozette blinked slowly.
"Um, yeah, I do.”
“I am grateful you allowed me to accompany you, and I vow not to disturb you whilst you are busy,” Castor said, making a small bow.
Jozette shrugged, taken aback by his chivalrous display. It was difficult not to feel guilty about the things she’d taken for granted when he approached everything with such gratitude and humility.
“Go ahead and have a seat. I’ll be right back.”
Jozette went to grab some magazines, newspapers, and a couple of world history books while she was at it. When she returned, Castor was exactly where she’d left him. Standing at ease, hands behind his back, just waiting for her.
“Oh, you could sit down,” she said, gesturing to the couch behind him.
“Thank you, milady⁠—”
"Call me Jozette or Jozi,” she replied, and handed him the pile she’d collected for him.
“Here. These are so you can try to get acclimated to current events and stuff.”
Castor frowned and took the books from her, then Jozi felt like an idiot. Could he even read? OMG. She was so thoughtless.
“Look, if you can’t read, um, I’d be happy to⁠—”
“No, no! I am sorry, thank you. Yes, I can read, milad-, I mean Jozette. I just never saw such fine printed materials before. The servants at the Castle would bring me whatever old books and scrolls they managed to smuggle out from under the Chief’s nose. I was simply surprised, is all. Thank you,” he said, placing his hand over his heart and bowing slightly.
Again, the old world gesture left Jozette feeling warm and tingly. Her cheeks heated, and she found herself drawn to him. In fact, she’d moved unconsciously closer. His blue-eyed stare so poignant she would swear he could read her thoughts.
Jozi wondered if it would shock him to know right then she was thinking of kissing him. Of pressing her body against his and melting into his rock hard body. A bell rang in the background, and she jumped, breaking the spell.
“I have to work,” she whispered. “Will you be alright?”
“Of course, Jozette. Thank you.”
She greeted the elderly couple who’d just walked in from the cold, noting it had started snowing again.
“Hello Mr. and Mrs. Fredericks, how are you?”
“Very well, thanks,” the pair replied.
Day by day, for a dull week, Jozi and the Dragon went to her job at Crescent Moon Books together. The long winter hours ticked by minute by minute. Each second dragging out longer than ever before.
February could be dreary in the Jersey Shore town, but Jozette had never felt such angst. Not since high school, at any rate. Her parents had decided to increase their vacation for another month, which was good considering she was living with a stranger in their house.
“Ugh,” she grunted after dropping a pile of the store’s mail onto the floor.
“Allow me,” Castor jumped up from around the desk and picked up the pile, tidying it deftly.
He was a great help. But she only admitted that when she was feeling generous. The jeans and tees she’d grabbed for him at the local Walmart with Marissa and Hector seemed to fit him well enough. Though she was pretty sure Marissa had gotten everything a size small just to torture Jozi.
He hadn’t liked the idea of her paying for them, but it wasn’t like there were any other options. Besides, he couldn’t keep walking around naked.
“You’re just sexually frustrated,” Marissa had said over the phone that very morning when she called to check in on Jozi and her new roommate.
Now that her friend had let that cat out of the bag, pun intended, Jozi couldn’t seem to put it back in. Castor was busy researching the White Pages for any sign of his brothers in between bouts of heavy reading. The man devoured books. But that wasn’t the issue. The problem was, even though he currently sat in the back room with her laptop and any number of tomes on the table beside it, Jozi could still smell him.
Oh my, could she smell him.
His scent reminded her of a burning bonfire on a summer night down on the beach, with a salty sea breeze wafting through it. The Dragon smelled good, warm, enticing, and so damn sexy she was liable to lose her mind any second now.
Dammit. Marissa was right. Jozi was feeling mighty frustrated. She tried to concentrate on work, splitting her time between helping customers and stocking shelves. She soon learned her mysterious guest could not only read, but he was incredibly fast at it.
By the time four o’clock rolled around, Castor had gone through a quarter of the new books she’d handed him that morning concerning the last hundred years of warfare and other atrocities that plagued the humans on their planet. Maybe it was different for Shifters, but since they all shared the same space, she figured he should know.
“Jozette?” Castor asked, walking into the room with his hands in his pockets. The gesture made the white cotton tee he wore stretch across his pecs.
A week of eating regular meals meant the man had filled out in all the right places. There was no more hollowness in his face or stomach. He was hot before, but now he was drop dead gorgeous. She looked down at her leggings and sweater and scowled.
Oh well. Why should she even make the effort? He was way out of her league. Besides, this was what she liked to wear. She was comfy and covered. And that was as good as it was going to get.
“Yes?”
“I am not interrupting you, am I?”
Castor asked, his indigo eyes gazing down at her from his incredible height.
“Not at all,” she replied. “Actually, I was just coming to get you. The snow is really coming down now, and Clara called to tell me to lock up early.”
“Ah, that is good news then. Do you require help?”
He stood there larger than life, his blue eyes searching, and Jozette’s pulse raced in response. She wished she had the right to walk up to him and drop a kiss on his full lips. To have the right to wrap her arms around his waist and just rest her head on his chest.
Eeek! When had she become one of those women whose innermost longings stirred at the mere sight of a man? She supposed it was ever since a Dragon had knocked on her door.
Too fast? Maybe. But sometimes she felt like her heart was going to beat her to death just from looking at him.
Silly. And for more reasons than one. Heck, she even made a list.
First, she was a realist, and just accepting the reality of him was asking a lot.
Second, he was way out of her league. Like light years.
Third, what kind of person would take advantage of a man who was completely out of his element and only just finding his way?
She would not prey on his gratitude by forcing him into anything he was not ready for. Yes, she’d caught his stares, but maybe that was a proximity thing. And even if she were modern enough to fall into bed with him, she wasn’t so sure she could do that and not fall in love.
There it was. The dreaded L word. No way. She had to stop looking at Castor like he was chocolate. The Dragon was officially off limits!
“Sure, you can help,” she replied to his earlier question. “Please turn off the lights and lock the back door while I get the alarm system ready.”