Read Online The Catalyst by Zoe Winters - Free Book Online Page A

cute as the
pup was and as much as he liked the little fella, he couldn’t
imagine being saddled with the kid until he was old enough to
leave. Plus, he could be stuck isolated with no pack, too. A wolf
that hadn’t been socialized with other wolves as a pup stood zero
chance of being taken into a pack as an adult. If he couldn’t find
the family, maybe he should look for a pack to adopt him.
    Z looked up and realized he’d been on auto-pilot the
whole trip to the Java Junkie. He glanced over at the courthouse’s
big, brick clock tower. Almost nine o’clock. It was Monday, so the
coffee shop was about to close.
    The bell over the door went off as he stepped inside.
Cherry was behind the counter, just where he knew she’d be. The
place was deserted.
    She looked up and gave him her sly, porn star smile.
“I’m sorry, I just closed down the register. I was about to lock
up. I could give you a coffee on the house, though, if you like.
Just don’t tell my boss.”
    “I’m not here for that.” Z, you stupid son of a
bitch. Don’t do it. You can’t afford to piss off the keeper of the
coffee, and you know her. She likes you too much. She might not be
on the same fuck and flee page you’re on. But Z ignored
the inner voice and flashed a dark smile, tossing in a wink to
garnish the flirtation.
    Cherry’s eyes lit up and she returned a one
thousand-watt smile of her own.
    “Lock up and let’s go. Yeah?”
    It took her a couple of seconds to make her head move
in a nod, then another few seconds and a throat clearing to manage
a breathless yeah in return.
    The barista tossed the washrag on the counter,
ignoring the biscotti crumbs trailing down the length of it, and
looped her arm in his, shutting off the lights and locking the door
behind them.
    Z continued to ignore the inner voice’s ranting. If
ever there was a time he needed to get laid, it was now. Fiona was
right. He could do nothing but use her and toss her out. And she
deserved better than that. No woman’s first time should be with a
playboy. It should mean something. The guy should be there the next
day. There should at least be the hope of a relationship after, or
at least some type of friends-with-benefits package. Z could offer
none of the above.
    He gave Cherry his helmet as she hopped on the back
of the motorcycle. “Won’t you need this?” she asked, as if she
would refuse the gallant gesture.
    “You need it more than me. I’m durable.”
    She laughed. It was the laugh that had amused him,
maybe even turned him on a little, but now it set his teeth on
edge. Still, he revved the engine and took them to the motel five
blocks down the street.
    Twenty minutes later they were in a room. It was
clean and nice enough, but still appropriate for a single night
with a glorified waitress. It wasn’t where you took your
girlfriend, which was good. He didn’t want to send any
inappropriate signals. Z peeled his shirt off and reclined on the
bed. He couldn’t seem to work up a chuckle or smirk at the way she
practically fainted over his physique.
    The female reaction to him had never gotten old.
Until now. He stood and paced, feeling like he’d been locked up at
the zoo with some stranger gawking and staring and admiring. If
this was how he defined freedom, why did he feel so caged?
    Cherry was in the process of unbuttoning her top, and
the oppressive, trapped feeling came on stronger, making the room
shrink to half its size. He wanted to crawl out of his skin. He
wanted to shift and… he didn’t know what. He just had to break free
of whatever this was.
    “Stop,” he said, to try to calm the chaos in his
mind.
    “What? Is something wrong?” Cherry looked at him with
a mixture of concern and apprehension.
    “I can’t do this.”
    Her eyes flashed. It was time for the anger portion
of the evening. He was batting a thousand tonight. Maybe he could
try to piss off a nun next.
    “You know I’ve been sending you signals for months.
You take me up on