Chapter 1 Stolen Glances

Like a wish come true, summer had finally arrived.

Even though it was fashionably late, it arrived with a kind of heat that people welcomed almost instantly. The streets were littered with people in all age ranges - from kids in swimsuits and shorts to grannies wearing shades that had since gone out of fashion.

There was so much activity everywhere- I mean that much was obvious.

The park was alive with kids and high school kids each in a different section, couples and tired parents laid on blankets on the grass chatting and laughing among themselves.

The air was sweet with a promise of even better summer days but as sweet and promising as the atmosphere was some people didn't want any more of it but that was not the case of a certain couple.

Inside an air conditioned restaurant, away from all the heat and fuss beyond the walls of the sturdy building a couple sat in perhaps the darkest and most inviting corner of the room. For some reason they seemed to not be in the same world as everyone else, it was clear that they were lost in their own special world.

The intensity at which they glanced at each other could light up a dishcloth if they paid attention to anything else in their surroundings.

A fine male sat opposite an equally stunning woman both of them fascinating to look at yet simple in a unique sense. He had such strikingly blue eyes. Those were probably the first alluring feature that anyone would point out on him and his happiness was as clear as diamond as it shone bright in his eyes.

Next was his beautifully sculpted face. He had that kind of face that you would not want to look at after a first glance because you thought it was too perfect to be real. With trimmed eyebrows, minimal eyelashes, a pointed nose, daring cheekbones, tempting lips and the straightest jawline you ever saw.

In simple terms, he was an Adonis.

"Carter!" the woman opposite him squealed, pressing her own handkerchief to her mouth to hide her laughter.

The man, Carter grinned showing pearly white teeth and a smile that could tug the heartstrings of any lady.

"It's the truth Eleanor. And you know it."

Eleanor smiled dropping the handkerchief that she had been holding onto her lap.

She shook her head at him trying to feign a disappointed look. "That's not true."

Carter laughed at her poor acting lifting his wine glass to his lips to take a sip of the wine they had been served nearly an hour ago.

He dropped the glass dabbing at his mouth like an English baron.

"Believe whatever you want to believe," he teased.

Resting his elbows on the draped table he leaned forward and dropped his voice, "Just know that you helped me prove my point by laughing."

Eleanor desperately fought with her mind to keep the smile from blossoming on her face but she couldn't help it and a second later she burst into another fit of laughter.

The other diners paid no heed to her laughter or their rather loud conversations. By the time the first hour passed they were already accustomed to it. So looking at them hoping to shush them would be a failed attempt.

Her dark hair fell gracefully to somewhere around her mid-back. It was that long even as she had packed it into a ponytail. Her face showed how young she was and her natural beauty was evident even without make-up.

A single necklace sat on her neck, minimal but eye-catching. It didn't particularly go with the dress she put on but honestly she didn't care about that at all. The necklace was a gift from her grandmother since when she was a little girl, she adored it the moment she set her eyes on it and she wore it every day. In fact she almost never took it off.

Eleanor was calm and effortlessly creative.

She would have been a sought out star if she didn't have the habit of stepping on people's toes unintentionally she would have been loved by many more people. But even as she was now, she was content, she hoped for nothing for she felt she had everything she needed.

Starting with the man seated across her.

She stared at him dreamily, remembering the memories they had shared in the past months so much time had passed she realized.

It was only recently that she believed the phrase, 'So much time passes by when you're doing something you love.'

Carter stared at Eleanor, wondering what was going on inside her pretty head. He knew she had a habit of zooming off into space right in the middle of an activity or conversation. Why and what she was always thinking about, he would never know.

"Eleanor."

On calling her name again he used the tip of his fingers to touch her arm. She jerked feeling the tingles that danced inside her veins and on her skin.

Carter hid a smile and with Ezra his hand from her skin, the sparks he felt from touching her skin made his fingers silently tremble.

At an early stage in their relationship they had already known each other's true identities. Carter was a hybrid wolf while Eleanor believed that she was a half werewolf and so this made them more compatible than each of them could understand.

"Is everything okay?"

Eleanor nodded and smiled at Carter.

"How about we get out of here?" Carter asked with a pleased glint dancing in his blue eyes.

Eleanor blushed and looked away from his intensifying gaze.

But she turned her head and met him with a daring look of her own. "Depends on what you want us to do after now."

Carter chuckled standing to his feet. "You'll know soon enough."

He went to her seat and helped her up like the perfect gentleman he was.

People watched without abandon as the glamorous couple made their way out of the restaurant.