Chapter 31

Shirley

I hadn’t expected what it would be like seeing Keith again, nor had I anticipated that I’d run into him so soon. However, my body seems to have a mind of its own as our gazes remain locked. My heart races, my cheeks tingle with nerves, and I feel my knees locking as I’m reluctant to move.

But I have to. Keith is waiting for me and I have nowhere to go - unless I want to go sprinting into the trees. I can’t really say that I do. Besides, even if I didn’t think our paths would be crossing this fast, I’d known that seeing him at some point would be inevitable.

Still though, I have little time to prepare myself as Keith waits for me, clearly not willing to come down the steps and cross the twenty feet between us. He wants me to come to him, and all I can do is try and quickly put a brave face on as I do.

After all, Shirley doesn’t know Keith - she’s never met him. In fact, she shouldn’t be aware that this man standing on the porch even is Lockheart’s Alpha. I need to spin my reaction as pure surprise of finding a random stranger waiting for me.

And that’s just what I do. I force a smile on my face as I loosen my shoulders. Finally, I ease away the ache in my knees as I take those first steps forward, pulling my suitcase along.

“Hi!” I call out as I grow nearer. However, Keith does not reciprocate my good humor. He just keeps staring at me, as unreadable as ever as he remains emotionless.

Maybe he’s stunned too. I mean, he had no idea that I was the one coming to help the pack. Alana hadn’t even included my name on the emails, now making him connect the dots in real time as he realizes that the auditor he’d hired was the same Shirley that “Anya” had mentioned. Now he’s been blindsided, only more shocked as he sees a resemblance between the girl who left and myself.

Keeping myself moving, I pickup my suitcase as I walk up the stairs, ignoring the way my heart staggers as I reach him. It nearly pops out of my chest as I stop right in front of him, holding that same smile as I meet his gaze again.

“Are you one of the Alpha’s men?” I ask casually, watching as his jaw ticks. “Or did Warren drop me at the wrong house?”

Keith doesn’t respond as he still studies me with a quizzical stare, his brows even bunching as his eyes flick up and down my front. However, as I don’t squirm under her evident scan, he eventually speaks.

“I’m the Alpha,” he informs me, and I feign surprise by widening my eyes. “Keith Galtin.”

“Oh,” I pop out. “My apologies. There wasn’t a photo provided with the documents you had sent over.”

“That’s alright,” he states tightly.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you,” I reply. “I’m Shirley. Shirley Creed.”

As my name leaves my mouth, I see Keith jerk back and stiffen as if I’ve just slapped him. And his eyes, they widen as mine did a few seconds ago as his gaze once again flickers over me.

“So you are -“ he begins.

“The Senior auditor,” I finish with a nonchalant shrug. “Yup, that’s me.”

“No,” he brushes out, still trying to recover - and I’d be a fool to pretend not to know why. But the Shirley I’m portraying isn’t supposed to be aware of what I know, so I make myself lift my brow, slip confusion onto my face.

“Is something wrong?” I ask.

But Keith doesn’t respond - he just starts studying me again. His eyes jump everywhere as he takes in my sleek ponytail, wrap dress, and defined features that have been enhanced by makeup. And then his gaze stops, landing right on the mole that I drew on myself. Slowly, he appears weary.

“You’re Shirley,” he states, not answering my question.

“That’s right,” I nod.

At my response, his eyes snap back up to mine and makes his apprehension evident. I’m not surprised in the least though - Keith’s dubious nature is expected and normal at this point. I might be more worried if he was so casual about this all.

“Shirley Creed,” he says the name, stopping to roll his jaw as he allows his words to hang between us. I have to admit that it causes me to force myself to appear calm as I feel warm at his mention of my name. Just like the first time, it’s strange to hear him say it.

“You know…” he draws out, his voice dripping with skepticism. “I’ve heard that name before…” His slow statements cause me to prepare myself as I already know what he’s going to say.

“I met a girl a few weeks ago,” he insists. “She claimed to be your sister. I’m assuming you know -“

“Anya,” I finish for him, my voice blank as I throw out the name. I even blink at him, appearing startled that he somehow happens to know of Anya. That earns me another dubious stare.

“You know Anya?” I ask despite his nonverbal response.

“I did…briefly,” he tells me, appearing to grow more distant with his admittance.

“And she mentioned me?” I ask

“Only after I discovered your badge when it fell out of her bag,” he states.

“She has my badge?” I brush out, pretending to be concerned as I take in the “news.” I even turn to slide my bag toward my chest so I can begin digging through the contents, searching for the mentioned card. However, I know I won’t find it - I’d purposely tucked it deep into my suitcase as I’d prepared for this.

“Yes,” he finally replies. “She’d said she was hanging onto it because you were supposed to come meet up with her - that you planned to travel together.”

Allowing these words to hit me, I huff out a sigh as I abandon my search, soon shaking my head. “I can’t believe she’d do that,” I scold, just like a big sister would. I then look back to Keith. “I don’t know why she has my badge, but we never planned to travel together. I’ve been too busy.”

I then shake my head again. “This is just like Anya. She does things without thinking just to get my attention.”

“Is that why she left without saying a single word?” Keith asks abruptly, making me blink up at him again.

At his words, I press out another sigh, showing disapproval from this new discovery.

“Yeah, that sounds like Anya,” I tell him. “She tends to be impulsive just for the fun of it.”

Keith thinks over my reply, rolling his shoulders before he continues. “She claimed she was the Alpha King’s niece before she left, is that true?”

“What!?” I blurt, giving an incredulous laugh. “Of course not. Oh Goddess…” I pause so I can pinch my nose, briefly shaking my head again. “I’m sorry for her lies. She’s young, stupid, and tends to make up stories without any regard for anyone else.”

I look back at him, making sure my stare is completely apologetic. “I hope she didn’t cause too much trouble. I’ll have to speak with her about all of this.”

“No one has been able to contact her for days,” he informs me, making me raise a brow as if I’m interested in his attempts to reach her.

“Right…,” I finally say, my tone reflecting his own skepticism. However, I can’t help the way my skin prickles as I think about him attempting to call my old number, taking it upon himself to reach out. Only, I know I probably shouldn’t get ahead of myself as it was probably for Ralph’s sake.

“Well, I’ll be sure to look into that all later,” I say, finally attempting to squash the conversation. After all, I’m supposed to be here with my own goal in mind, which is a goal I’m actually quite enthusiastic about.

“So,” I begin again, trying to lighten the conversation as I try a smile. “Enough about that. We have a lot of business ahead of us. I understand the company is ready to move forward with the next steps?”

Despite my attempt to talk business, Keith doesn’t seem as eager to jump into the matter. His brows furrow as he presses his lips together, not returning my pleasantries. I try not to allow his reaction to hinder me as I wait for him to say something, anything. But the longer we hold each other’s gaze, I begin to anticipate for him to bring up Anya again, not ready to let it go. However, he eventually surprises me.

“That can all wait,” he advises rigidly. “We’ll discuss everything tomorrow. For now, you should get settled.”

As I see Keith’s hand reach out, my stomach flips as I believe he’s going to touch me. Only, I know my expectations are foolish, especially as his hand stops midway between us and I look down to see he’s holding out a key.

“I hope you’ll be comfortable in the house,” he says just as tightly.

“Thank you,” I say, unsure why the words seem so quiet. However, I try to bounce back as I reach out to take the key. Our hands barely touch - skin sliding along skin - but I feel the effects deep within my stomach. And maybe Keith feels something too as his hand twitches before we’re both pulling away.

Once more, he eyes me, his gaze a mixture of so many emotions that I can’t tell them apart - aside from one. Above anything else, Keith appears distrustful as he watches me, but he doesn’t say anything. He just gives me one last burning look before he begins to step away.

“Enjoy,” he states. But he doesn’t wait for me to respond. His back turns to me, his long legs carry him down the steps as he doesn’t look back. I watch him go though, staring at the evident muscles in his back contort as he makes his way down the drive.

And even though he’s walking further and further away, I can oddly still feel him all around me.