Midlife Wolf Captured My Heart (Fated To The Wolf #7)

6. Dakota

6

Dakota

D akota had to adjust himself before he could sit in his truck. “I know she wants me as much as I want her. What in the hell is stopping me?”

He had no answer for his own question. Dakota fought the urge to go back to her house, knock, and then take her to bed. He was positive that he could satisfy every need she might have.

His knuckles were white from tension as he headed home. A whirlwind of conflicting thoughts and emotions exploded in his mind. Her scent haunted him, permeating every cell in his body. Images of Sadie’s smile and incredibly expressive eyes danced in his mind. When he was with Sadie, he felt more alive than he had felt in years.

“There are twenty years between us. I’m the same age as her father.” He groaned and ran his hand through his salt and pepper hair, suddenly aware of every gray strand. Dakota didn’t have the wrinkled, lined face of an old man and thought he looked a lot younger than he was, but he couldn’t deny his age.

“What am I thinking? She’s in the prime of her life and I’m getting close to middle aged. Am I having some kind of mid-life crisis?” He sighed heavily and shook his head. “Before I know it, I will end up with some kind of flashy sports car and start dying my hair.”

The thoughts made him wince. He had always prided himself on his independence and his ability to stay detached from the rest of the world. However, there was something about Sadie. Somehow, she was able to break through his barriers.

Dakota tried to figure out why she was so attracted to him. “Maybe she’s just impressed with my career.” He made a sound that was a cross between a laugh and a cough and made a face. “She might just have daddy issues.”

As he pulled into his driveway, he told himself, “This is crazy. I’m leaving soon, anyway. It’s better to not complicate things. I should just walk away from her before she decides that she has feelings for me and she gets hurt.”

Dakota shook his head. He knew that he was lying to himself. It wasn’t just Sadie who might end up with a broken heart if he didn’t stay away from her. He felt something for her, too.

He walked into the house, tossed the keys on the small table by the door, and kicked off his boots. After grabbing a beer from the fridge, he sat on the couch and grabbed the remote. It was after midnight and he should be going to bed, but there was no way that he could sleep.

Flicking through the channels, he tried to find something remotely interesting. He stopped as his own face stared back at him from the screen. A video of a black rhino played in the background. He was tempted to watch the documentary to see how it turned out, but he changed the channel. Dakota had only watched a couple of the documentaries he was featured in. He knew that the producers had to edit out information to keep it within the time limits, but he felt like they had cut out important information. Unfortunately, all of the information was important, so he wouldn’t have been happy no matter what the producers cut.

He settled on reruns of NCIS. Dakota smiled as Ducky’s face appeared on the screen. “It was definitely a sad day when David McCallum died.”

As the characters bantered on the screen and Ziva mixed up her idioms, Dakota’s mind wandered. Thoughts of Sadie replaced the faces on the television. He loved her intelligence and the way she could talk about serious topics or be silly. Her laugh was contagious and her eyes really gave him a glimpse into her soul. He could still smell her scent. Fiery embers flared up inside of him.

“Come on, Higgins. Get your shit together. You aren’t sixteen.”

He tried to force his thoughts back to the television, but it didn’t work. Finally, when the show was over and he had no idea who was murdered and who did the murder, he gave up. Heading to the shower, he turned on the water as cold as he could possibly stand it. He stayed in until he was covered in goosebumps and he started shaking. Dakota fell asleep as soon as he made it into bed, completely exhausted. His dreams were filled with images of a red-haired, green-eyed beauty.

Three cups of coffee and two eggs with bacon and toast the next morning finally woke him up. He opened up his computer and forced himself to focus on his research. The lives of wolves finally drew him in and he started on the outline for the pictures he would need based on the family life of wolves.

It was almost lunchtime when his phone buzzed. He smiled when he saw that the text was from Sadie. Good morning. I’m feeling a little restless and wondered if you wanted to go to the mountain, shift, and go for a stroll. I know wolves like to run, but a bear can’t keep up. She ended with a smiley emoji.

His heart started beating a million miles an hour. He wanted nothing more than to accept her invitation. The thought of hanging out with Sadie was tempting.

Then, his doubts crept in. He wasn’t a strong shifter and he didn’t want to humiliate himself by going up on the mountain and not being able to shift all the way. His kind of luck, his head, tail, arms, and legs would shift and the rest of his body would stay human. There had been a few times when he hadn’t been able to shift at all.

He groaned. “I can’t risk it. There’s no way I can let her see me like that.”

Dakota wiped his face with his hand and texted back. I’m sorry, I can’t make it today. I have an online meeting with Lydia Jensen, the curator of the gallery where my pictures will be exhibited. I have to work on my speech, too.

He winced as soon as he sent the text. Dakota hated lying, even if it was just a little white lie to save face.

Sadie replied a minute later. I understand. Maybe another time. Let me know if I can help.

Dakota thought about the pack meeting. I will hit you up if I need help. Don’t go alone. There are dangerous hunters in the area.

She replied quickly. I won’t.

He stared at his phone for a minute, not wanting their communication to end. However, he had just told her he was busy, so she wouldn’t text him back. He couldn’t think of anything to say to keep the conversation going.

Guilt for the lie gnawed at him, so he decided to make it the truth. He emailed Lydia and asked if she had time for a brief meeting.

She immediately responded. Absolutely . Lydia included a link for a Zoom meeting.

“I’m glad you reached out. Believe it or not, I was just about to email you asking if you could meet. I wanted to review the procedures for opening night with you.”

“That’s what I was hoping for.”

Lydia tilted her head to one side. “Do you have your speech written yet?”

He grinned. “I’ve got it started.”

She sighed heavily. “You need to get that done ASAP. I would like a copy before the event.” Lydia held up her hand to stop him from replying. “I know this isn’t your first rodeo, but I would like an advance copy to look over.”

Dakota nodded. “I’ll finish that up today or tomorrow and email it to you.”

At least I won’t be lying to Sadie. I really do have to work on something for the exhibit.

Lydia explained the timeline. Dakota nodded. It was the same timeline he had experienced in the past with other gallery showings.

“Of course, we’ll expect you to wear a suit and tie for the event.”

Dakota laughed. “That’s not going to happen. You know me better than that.”

She frowned. “Dakota, this is a very prestigious event. It is a formal event.”

“I’ll wear a pair of slacks, a button-down shirt, and my dress boots. That’s as dressed up as I get.”

Lydia knew from Dakota’s tone that it would be useless to argue with him. “Fine, I suppose.”

He could tell from her grim, tight-lipped face that she wasn’t happy about it.

“Is there anything else I need to know?”

She shook her head. “No. As you know, you need to be prepared to answer people’s questions and have a couple of cute, quaint, or funny stories to tell. Nothing graphic. No one wants to hear about how the lionesses chased down the weakest of the wildebeests and killed it.”

He held up two fingers. “Scouts honor.”

“Were you ever a scout?”

“Nope.”

She laughed. “That’s what I’m afraid of. Let me know if you have any other questions and remember to send me a copy of your speech.”

“Sure thing. I’ll drive up tomorrow to make sure that everything is arranged right, anyway. Have a good day.”

He ended the meeting and stared out the window. The mountain where the shifters visited taunted him. Dakota loathed being cooped up inside and he hated the idea that he was missing out on spending time with Sadie.

Instead of working on his speech, he got undressed and practiced shifting. He focused and couldn’t shift at all the first time he tried. Then, he managed to shift a couple of body parts, but not completely. He closed his eyes and breathed. Then, he focused again. Finally, he was able to shift entirely. Dakota managed to shift a few more times before he sat on the floor completely exhausted.

Finally, he managed to get dressed and sat on the couch. He shook his head at himself. Dakota had never worked so hard to try to impress a woman in his entire life – and it was for a woman he would only be with for a short period of time.

Needing someone to talk to, he called Patrick Flannery, his best friend. They had met on one of Dakota’s excursions and had formed a bond tighter than blood brothers. The two of them didn’t see each other often, but they talked often on the phone or through Zoom.

“What’s up, Brother? How’s Angel’s Creek?”

“It’s alright. I’ve got the gallery showing coming up and I’m doing research for my next project on wolves.”

“I knew that. Are you excited?”

“Actually, I am about both. You know I love planning my next projects almost as much as I enjoy doing the photography.”

“Me, too. It is the anticipation.” Patrick was quiet for a brief second and said, “There’s something else going on.”

“Yeah. There’s a woman. Sadie.”

“Interesting. She must be something to get your attention. Tell me about her.”

For the next couple of minutes, Dakota explained how he met Sadie and the attraction he felt for her and that he was pretty sure she was very attracted to him as well.”

“She sounds terrific. So, what’s the problem?”

“Well, for starters, she’s twenty years younger than me. I’m the same age as her father. I went to school with him.”

“If you both have real feelings for each other, then age isn’t a problem.”

“I keep telling myself that. We’re both adults. The bigger problem is that we want different things out of life. She wants to stay in Angel’s Creek and wouldn’t consider a nomadic lifestyle. You know me. I can’t stay still for more than five minutes.”

Patrick sighed. “You need to be honest with her. Tell her how you feel. If you want to have a short-term relationship with her, then go for it, as long as she knows the score.”

“You make sense, Brother. I appreciate the ear. What would I do without you?”

Patrick laughed. “Probably have long conversations with your camera.”

“You’re right.”

They talked for a while about their different projects and other things going on in their lives. Then, reluctantly, Dakota told Patrick that he had to work on his speech.

“Keep me updated,” Patrick said. “I’m going to try to get to your gallery opening, but I’m not sure I can make it.”

“No worries. You’ll be there in spirit.”

Dakota ended the call and focused on his speech. He decided that he would talk to Sadie when he got back from Albuquerque.