Of Wolves and Oranges

Chapter 3: Jaco

I thought I had lost her. After being stuck behind three coal trucks for the past twenty minutes I was fed up. Having had the little Volkswagen Golf as a companion seriously made the long drive more entertaining. And my wolf had somehow gone all protective on her, forcing us to slow down from my usual flat out rush down the N2, and stick behind the girl with the huge sunglasses. I growled as I pulled into the filling station, I had been fantasising about what colour eyes those glasses hid and what kind of curves she would have. Now I would never know. I didn't even have her phone number, only her licence plate. Pongola, maybe my aunt would know a blonde angel with big sunglasses who drove a grey Golf.

But as I climbed out of the truck to fill up, I saw it. There, across the parking lot, in front of a few picnic tables was the little grey Golf. I grinned, the hunt was still on.

After filling up, I went into the take-out to grab some coffee. The place was packed. I guess everyone had had the same idea. I snuck a look out towards my truck which I had parked next to her car. If Golf was leaving, I would know about it. But as I stood in the line, a scent filtered through the human smells of cigarettes, toothpaste and body odour. One as fresh as the orange blossoms on our farm, yet warm as the allspice in the muffins my aunt had sent with me for breakfast. I turned my head and our eyes met. She had pushed her sunglasses up onto her head holding her shoulder length, caramel blond hair back, and I could finally see those eyes. They were brown, deep golden whiskey brown, warm and inviting. I scanned her body. She was tiny, just hitting 5ft4, with curves in just the right places. She was wearing skinny jeans and a long jumper which just covered her ass, but the loose-fitting top did little to hide the roundness of her beautiful full breasts. But then I noticed she was holding two coffees. My inner wolf growled, was there another man in the car?

Elizabeth Burnes, her name was practically the only thing she told me which wasn't a lie. And she was a really bad liar. Never mind that my wolf could tell it a mile away, her poker face was non-existent, her eyes looking up as she fumbles for the next bad answer. I want to laugh at her, but she is fiery and on the defensive and there is no way I am going to lose Elizabeth Burns again.

The hands-free was a brilliant idea, we have been chatting on the speaker phone for the past half hour. Golf had finally relaxed, now that she doesn't have to deal with my ugly mug. I had really let myself go in the past two years. My beard became a symbol of my fuck-the-world attitude and the fact that I hadn't been changing into my wolf so often due to studying, meant I had packed on the pounds. The combination of which must have been pretty intimidating.

"So, what were you doing all the way up at your aunt's place?" she asks, the music on our shared radio station playing in the background.

"I was picking up my truck", I reply. "I had borrowed her sedan when I went down to Cape Town since its better suited to driving long distances and driving around town than my truck."

"How long were you in Cape Town?"

"The past two years. I was doing my MBA."

She laughs, "And here I had you plugged as a farmer! But that explains a lot. Farm boy goes to Cape Town, discovers that it is now cool to have a beard like a hipster, only you didn't get the memo about manscaping. Hey, Ford, did you get a tattoo as well?"

I mirror the grin I can see in her rear-view mirror. "Yeah, Golfie, I've got plenty. Tell you what, I'll show you mine if you show me yours, and then we can compare all our landscaping techniques."

I laugh as I see her smile disappear and imagine her blush. Sassy girl, needs to be able to taken down a notch or two and I will take pleasure in being the one to do it.

After a moment she says, "Ford, you look older than someone who has done six years study. Did you take a few years out or a gap year?"

I'm impressed. Golf is pretty astute. "Yeah, my family has a tradition of volunteering time for the army. I took three years out after I did my undergrad. Where did you study, sweetheart?"