So in case nobody knows I own nothing only my OCs. lolOkay so here is the second chapter. Again I want to apologize for any editing mistakes. I tried to catch them all! Thanks to those of you who took the time to review! It means the world to me. There are quite a few of you who alerted this story and favored it after one chapter so I will assume you guys like it. lol Please review and tell me what you think! The more reviews I get the more motivation I get to write!
Chapter 2
Paul gazed down at the small girl next to him. Who would have thought his entire reason for being would be suddenly standing next to him. He forced himself to look away because he didn't want to freak her out. He looked to his pack brothers who were all staring at him with knowing looks on their faces. He just scowled and shook his head causing them to chuckle.
"I really should be getting home. My mom is probably worried. And hungry. All our groceries are in my car at the store," Lauren said wringing her hands together nervously.
"Yeah, sure. Come on," Paul said placing his hand on her lower back and began leading her out.
"It was nice meeting you all," she smiled.
"You too," Emily said for everyone. "Don't forget to come over tomorrow for dinner. I'm sure Paul can pick you up and bring you."
"No problem," Paul said right away giving Lauren no room to say no.
Finally they left the house and were sat in the car. Paul had one hand on the wheel and the other casually on the back of her seat. Lauren shifted awkwardly. It was the first time they were truly alone.
"Thanks for doing this," she smiled softly at him.
"It's really no trouble," he grinned. But then his eyes softened as his eyes glanced down to her nose.
"I'm just sorry I hurt you," his hand came around to caress her cheek running his thumb over her nose.
She shivered even though his hand was hot against her face. Shaking her head she grinned.
"It doesn't hurt anymore. Besides I know you didn't mean it."
Paul just smiled gently at her and turned his head to face the road. He kept his arm on the back of her seat. It was a comfortable silence. He was enjoying having her next to him. He didn't want her to leave. But knew eventually they would reach the grocery store again. It seemed to soon to Lauren when they reached her car. She didn't want to leave the truck. It was warm in there where as the weather outside and gotten colder. It was cozy.
"Well I guess I should go. My mom is probably worried," Lauren said but made no move to leave. Paul gazed at her like he had just found his reason for being. She bite her lower lip embarrassed. She didn't know why Paul was looking at her like that and she didn't know why she felt like she just wanted to leap on top of him and kiss him like there was no tomorrow.
"I want to see you again," he said softly.
She looked over at him and her heart started pounding at the way he was gazing at her. She knew one thing for sure. She wanted to see him again as well.
"I'd like that," she said. His face broke out into a wide smile.
"There's sort of a party going on down at the beach tomorrow night. All the guys and their girls are going to be there. There's usually a huge fire and lots of food. Maybe you want to go with me?"
Lauren grinned and nodded her head, "sure. That sounds fun. Do you want me to meet you there or-?"
"Give me your address. I'll pick you up around six tomorrow night," Paul began scrimmaging around his truck looking for a piece of paper and pen.
"Do you have a cell phone?" Lauren asked.
"Yeah, here." Paul reached into his pocket and pulled out the small phone. She grabbed it and put her number in it.
"There. Just text me and I'll send you the address."
Paul stared down at the phone then up at her with a smile.
"See you later," she said as she got out of the truck. Paul watched her as she got to her car and got in. He waited until she had gone down the road and he couldn't see her anymore before pulling out of the parking lot himself.
"Hey Honey, bout time you got home. I'm starving," Sandra said as she saw her daughter finally walk into the door with the bags of grocery. She looked up at Lauren's face and gasped.
"What happened to your nose?"
Lauren shook her head, "nothing serious. Just had a little accident. Not a big deal."
"Not a big deal? Your shirt is covered in blood. What if its broken? We should go to the hospital to get it checked out," Sandra's motherly instincts were coming out in full force.
"It's not broken. I just walked into a door. The swelling and bruising will go in no time. Nothing a little make up can't fix, " Lauren waved her mother off and went into the kitchen.
"Besides," she continued, "it got me a date tomorrow night. Well I think it's a date. More like a get together with a bunch of people I hardly know."
"Really? Already?" Sandra said raising an eyebrow.
"Mom, you've got to meet this guy. He's so sweet and hot and kind and hot," Lauren smiled sitting at the kitchen table. This was one thing she would never give away for the world. She and her mom were best friends and talked about everything. There was nothing that she couldn't say to her mother. Sandra smiled at her daughter. It had been awhile since she had seen her look like that.
"Well, I hope I get to meet him."
Lauren nodded enthusiastically, "he's picking me up tomorrow at six. Apparently we're going to the beach for a fire and barbecue or something like that."
"What's his name," Sandra asked amused.
"Paul."
"Paul who?"
Lauren opened her mouth but then closed it, "I don't know yet. I just met the guy, cut me some slack. As soon as I find out about him I will let you know."
"Okay honey," Sandra laughed, "now, what do you want for supper."
Paul was in a daze as he made his way back to Sam's. His mind was on Lauren and he couldn't seem to stop thinking about her. He took back all the things he ever said about the other guys and their imprints. Since he now knew how they felt. When he pulled up to Sam's driveway he could see that Embry had finally showed up with his imprint Carly. He and Jared were currently having a wrestling match in the front yard while Carly and Kim sat on the porch and talked. Well actually it looked more like they were gossiping. Carly had only just found out about the whole werewolf thing. She took it pretty good. She only ignored him for a couple days.
"Hey Romeo's home," Jared yelled, then grunted as Embry tackled him.
"That's not fair."
Embry grinned, "what are you gonna do? Cry?"
"Embry," Carly playfully scolded him. He turned and flashed her a wide smile before running up the steps of the porch to scoop her up in an embrace. They were clearly still in the honeymoon phase of the relationship. He couldn't wait until he could do that with Lauren.
"How are you doing?" Jared said as Paul walked up to him.
"I invited her to the bonfire tomorrow night. I know Billy's not doing any of the stories tomorrow so I figured it would be fine. Once we're more into our relationship I'll take her to hear the legends. When she's ready."
"Our relationship? You already made it official?" Jared laughed.
Paul smirked, "oh don't worry about that. I promise you. She will be mine."
The next day Lauren had busied herself with cleaning the house while her mother was gone to get things finalized for her flower shop. She was planning on having it open the next day. She hadn't stopped talking about it all day. Lauren was happy for her though. It had been a long time since her mother was this excited about something. Lauren on the other hand could not get her mind off of her date with Paul tonight. At least she thought it was a date. Usually a date was just the two of them spending time together, getting to know each other. But he had invited her to a barbecue which means there would be lots of other people around.
She shook her head as she began putting some ornaments her mom had on the shelves in the living room. There was still a lot of unpacking to do. But what was she going to wear. Obviously something casual. Maybe she could wear that cute striped long sleeved top she had. She could pair it with her skinny jeans. Yes that would work. Stylish but it will still keep her warm.
Running up to her room she started going through her bags of cloths trying to find the ones she wanted. Once they were found she placed them on the bed. Standing in her room with her hands on her hips she looked around. A faint sound caught her ears. She turned to her bedroom window. She reminded herself she still needed curtains. Walking to the glass she looked out at the woods behind her house. A flash of silver caught her eye and was gone in a second. What was that? She kept her eyes on the same spot hoping that whatever it was would come back but after a couple of minutes of looking she gave up. She would ask her mother if she knew about any animals that lived in the woods. She shivered at the thought of bears or wolves living behind her house.
Sandra Oliver smiled as she locked up the door to her new shop. She was opening for the first time the next day and she couldn't wait. She had loved flowers growing up so it seemed only natural that she become a florist. It wasn't very often someone could do what they loved for a living. She decided to pick up some dinner for herself and Lauren to bring home.
Walking across the street she felt her lips curve up when she saw the police cruiser parked on the side of the road. Her mind went to the chief of police that she had met at the diner. He didn't really fit the type of guy she usually went for. She usually hated mustaches but Charlie had a charm about him and she really wanted to see him again. She smiled to herself and began to walk to her car. She saw Charlie walk out of a building as she opened the door. He glanced up as if feeling her eyes on him. He grinned and waved to her before getting into his police cruiser. Sandra thought she was going to like it here.
Lauren started panicking as she went through her bags of clothes. She still didn't have everything in her closet yet. Paul had texted her and told her that he would be picking her up at seven. It was six thirty and she was running around her room in a towel trying to find the shirt she wanted. She had just finished her hair and decided to leave it down.
She tore open another bag full of clothes. It was kind of chilly so skirts and shorts were out of the question. And it was on a beach. She dumped the bag all over her bed on top of the other clothes and grinned as she found what she was looking for. It was stylish yet causal for a get together on the beach. It was a thin long sleeved white and gray stripped top. She grabbed a pair of skinny jeans to go with it. She heard a loud knocking in the door. She was thankful that her mother wasn't home yet.
Running out of her room she ran to the door. She took a deep breath before grabbing the door knob and turning. Paul looked even better than she had remembered. And it had only been a day since she had last saw him. She was grinning down at her with his hands in his pockets. He was wearing ripped jeans and a long sleeved white v neck shirt which made his dark skin appear darker.
"Hi, come on in. I just have to get my shoes," Lauren stepped aside as Paul walked into the house.
She looked beautiful, was all he could think. He wanted to grab her and kiss her senselessly but had to hold himself back. He admired her as she opened a closed door and bent over looking for what he guessed was a pair of shoes.
"You might also want to get a jacket. It gets cold down by the water."
She turned to look at him, "do you have one?"
"Yeah its in the truck," he said. He didn't really need one with his temperature but she didn't know that yet. She grabbed a black button up jacket from the closet and laid it over her arm.
"Ready?" Paul asked.
She nodded and grabbed her keys. Locking the door behind her she headed to Paul's truck. He opened up the door for her and helped her into the truck. His hands burned her waist. But in such a good way.
The trip to first beach was a silent one but it was comfortable. She was surprised at how close the beach was to her house. Paul parked the truck and turned to Lauren. She took a deep breath. He could feel the nerves coming off of her.
"You okay? You look nervous. You met all these people yesterday," Paul chuckled.
"I'm fine," Lauren sighed before laughing herself. "It's just that this is the first," she stopped.
Paul turned to look at her, "Lauren is this your first date?"
"No," she snapped. "Maybe."
She looked down at her hands, "I had lots of friends, some who were guys and we all went out as a group all the time. But never just me and another guy. There was just no one there that I was interested in enough to date."
Because you were made for me, Paul thought smiling. He reached over and took her hand. She liked how warm it was. It made her feel safe.
"It's okay. I promise. I like that I'm your first date," he smiled. That meant he would be her first everything and he was just fine at being her first and her only.
She looked down at their hands entwined then back up to his face. She was a little shocked at the look of intensity on his face but smiled none the less. He let go of her hand and got out of the car. He made his way around and opened her door and helped her out.
"Thank you. And here I thought chivalry was dead," she laughed.
Paul grinned taking her hand in his again, "you will be surprised that we all practice chivalry around here. Except maybe Brady and Colin. I don't think they know what the word means."
Lauren laughed feeling more comfortable as they made their way to the crowd on the beach. She recognized most of the people there. She noticed Kim sitting at around a fire with Jared next to her with his arms wrapped securely around her. She saw another couple who she hadn't met yet and the one she remembered as Brady was throwing a football around with another guy. There was a table set up that was loaded with paper plates and food. Lots of hamburgers and hot dogs and plates of cookies and buns.
"You hungry? Want a hot dog?" Paul asked leading her over to the table.
"Sure," Lauren watched as he grabbed five hot dogs.
"I don't need that much. One is good for me," Lauren said with wide eyes.
Paul grinned, "you are getting one. The rest are for me."
He placed them on a plate and lead Lauren over to the logs surrounding the fire. The sun was beginning to set so it looked absolutely beautiful. Paul let her sit down first before sitting next to her. She looked on as Paul began to eat.
"Hey Lauren," Kim sat from across her.
Lauren smiled, she liked Kim, "hi."
"You all settled in yet?"
"Not yet," Lauren shook her head. "My room is still a mess. Clothes in bags, boxes on the floor."
Jared laughed, "sounds like our room on a normal day."
"Shut up," Kim laughed and playfully hit his arm. "If it was up to you it would be like that. But I have to clean it everyday."
"You guys live together?" Lauren was surprised. Kim seemed so young.
"They've been living together for a while now," Paul said in between bites.
"Yeah. We were together all the time and either he was at my house or I was at his so we decided to just make it easier and get a place of our own," Kim smiled as Jared kissed her cheek. Lauren smiled, they belonged together.
"Hey loser," someone shouted before tackling Paul. Paul fell into the sand and the forced caused Lauren to fall to the side but caught herself before she could hit the ground.
"What the hell?" Paul growled.
"Embry! Do you have to do that every time you make an appearance," a female voice scolded. Lauren looked over to see a pretty red head make her way over to them.
"Aw baby, you know me," Embry stood up and kissed the girl as she reached him.
"Did you just growl," Lauren chuckled reaching down to help Paul up. He didn't really need her help but he took any excuse to hold her hand.
"This asshole here is Embry and that's his im- girlfriend Carly. Guys this is Lauren," he said giving Embry a look. He seemed to know what Paul was saying.
"Hi Lauren, welcome to the pack," he smiled. Paul growled.
"Pack?" Lauren wondered.
"It's just that we are all a really close group of friends. Its just something the guys call us. A big pack," Carly said easily making Paul let out a sigh of relief.
Lauren nodded and turned to Paul, "are you okay?"
"Yeah, Embry thinks that trying to beat me up makes him more of a man," Paul smirked.
Embry opened his mouth to retort but Carly put a hand on his arm, "lets get some food. I'm starving."
He immediately nodded and lead her over to the table. Paul sat back down on the log and pulled Lauren down next to him.
"So that's Embry and Carly."
"She seems really nice," Lauren commented.
"Yeah, she's good for him. That over there playing football with Brady is Collin and Seth. The three of them are like the three musketeers."
"They're cute," Lauren laughed. "What about Emily? She's not here."
"Yeah she and Sam are usually here but since she's so far into her pregnancy she gets tired a lot faster so they usually stay home."
"Everyone seems so happy here," Lauren commented looking around.
"Are you not happy?" Paul asked softly.
"I am now," she grinned looking up at him.
"Wanna go for a walk?"
Lauren nodded. Paul stood and helped her up. He didn't let go of her hand and they began to walk away from the group. The sun had gone completely down now and the only light was the moon reflecting off the water of the ocean.
"So you like it here so far?" Paul asked once they were away from the group.
"It has a few nice qualities," Lauren grinned.
"Really, just a few?" Paul let go of her hand and wrapped it around her waist pulling her closer.
"Yeah," she suddenly remembered the thing she saw outside her room.
"Paul? Are there any animals in the woods. I mean I know there are animals but dangerous ones. Like bears or wolves?"
Paul stiffened, "I've never seen any bears. There are some wolves around but they are extremely rare. Not many people see them. Some people think they see them but they don't."
"Oh. I thought I saw one outside my window yesterday. Maybe I was just seeing things," she laughed to herself.
"You never know. You might be one of the lucky ones to actually see one," he grinned.
"Lucky? Too see a wolf? I would be terrified to see one up close."
"Nah, they are more afraid of you then you are of them. Just promise me you won't go looking for one. Don't go into the woods alone."
"Trust me. I have no intentions of going into the woods. Let alone by myself," she reassured him. They walked in a comfortable silence until they reached a large rock. The water washed up on the sand calmly barley brushing their feet. Lauren walked up to the rock and jumped to get on top of it. She wouldn't have made it only Paul's hands gripped her waist hoisting her the rest of the way. She sat on the edge of the rock and was now eye level with Paul who gently moved her legs apart so he could stand in between them.
"You are beautiful," Paul murmured moving a strand of hair behind her ear.
Lauren blushed. The bottom of her stomach felt warm. She gripped the collar of his shirt pulling his face closer to hers. She could feel his breath on her face. She couldn't believe the intense attraction she felt towards him. She had never felt anything like it. He placed his hands on each side of her and rubbed his nose against her cheek.
"I've never felt anything like this before. Not after a day," she whispered.
"Me neither," he said moving her hair away from her neck. He then placed a soft kiss under her ear.
"But I'm okay with it if you are," he said moving back to look at her. She nodded her head. He didn't need to say anymore as he placed his lips on hers. She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck. He placed his hands on her hips pulling her into him. She wrapped her legs around his waist as his tongue licked her bottom lip asking permission.
The kiss turned hungry as she opened her mouth to let him in and their tongues fought for dominance. Her fingers played with the hair at the nape of his neck, then moved under his shirt. He moaned pulling away and trailing his lips down her neck. She gasped as his hot hands slipped under her shirt and caressed the small of her back.
When he pulled away from her neck he rested his forehead against hers with a smile.
"Wow," she chuckled softly.
"Yeah," he laughed with her. He ran his hands up and down her arms. "We should head back."
Lauren nodded, "yeah they've got to be wondering where we are."
Paul helped her down and entwined their fingers again as they made they're way back to the others.
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