She gave him a sardonic smile. “Such a polite way of telling me I look like shit.”
“Come on, tell me what’s wrong. You’re supposed to confide in me and make me feel important and special.” When she didn’t, he hit her in the chest with her own purse. “Spill.”
Hanging the purse over her shoulder, she frowned at him. “Hey, I don’t harass you about your private business. If I was going to do that, I’d say shame on you for flirting outrageously with another one of your clients.”
“I wasn’t flirting. I was being particularly nice to a particularly hot guy.”
“Uh-huh. Just try not to sleep with this one, okay?”
His mouth fell open. He followed behind her, spluttering, as she headed for the door. “I did not have sex with Mark.”
“No, of course not.…He had sex with you.”
“As a matter of fact, Mark’s not actually my client, he’s Paisley’s client. I was just filling in that day.”
“So it was you who did the filling and he who took—?” Stepping outside, her smile froze, as did her whole body, as she noticed the familiar figure leaning against a vehicle, waiting. Nick. Her stomach did about three flips, and her wolf instantly sat up, satisfied.
A part of Shaya had wondered if he’d keep to his word and come to give her a ride home, but that idea had been ruthlessly squashed by the distrustful part of her that had been born when Mason betrayed her; that part of her couldn’t bring herself to invest any hope in Nick. She wasn’t sure whether she was pleased or disappointed that he’d come, just like she hadn’t been sure earlier whether she was happy or annoyed when she had received a text message from him:
I had the urge to text somebody who’s smart, hot, and sweet…but sending messages to myself is just pathetic, so hi.
She had promised herself she would not laugh, but she hadn’t been able to hold back a smile. She really didn’t know what to do with this guy, but she knew one thing: she sure as hell wasn’t giving him any encouragement by getting in that car with him…even though her feet were throbbing and it was cold and she was exhausted and she knew from earlier that his car was so warm and comfortable.
Kent, being nosy, strained to see over her shoulder. “Could he be the source of your distractedness, I wonder.” She could hear the smile in his voice.
Moving aside, she allowed Kent to pass so he could shut the door and lock it behind them. Meanwhile, Nick was strolling slowly toward her with a predatory glint in his eyes. Although Kent was standing right there, Nick looked only at her. Having his intense focus on her was both daunting and thrilling. Her wolf loved it—the dangerous vibes he emitted didn’t faze her wolf at all, because she was confident her mate would never harm her.
Shaya wished that the possessiveness in that gaze could have annoyed her, but it instead comforted her…eased something inside her. Insecurities that she wished she didn’t have. His deep, rumbly, authoritative voice almost made her jump.
“Ready to go?”
“I’m praying someone spiked my coffee with some sort of hallucinogenic—the alternative that you’re truly here is much too depressing.”
If Nick’s wolf could have laughed, Nick was pretty sure he would have. Only Shaya ever had this effect on the animal’s mood. “I told you I’d be here when you finished work.”
“And I told you that I’m perfectly capable of getting myself home.” She noticed that Kent was staring at Nick in total admiration, fanning his face. When Kent looked at her, he mouthed, “Oh my God.” Typical.
“It’s just a ride.” Nick smiled innocently, shrugging. “Like you said earlier, a ride doesn’t mean anything.”
She narrowed her eyes. He was twisting her words and using them against her. Oh, that was sneaky. And smart, she could concede.
Kent offered Nick his hand. “As Shaya’s being rude, I’ll introduce myself. I’m Kent.”
Finally moving his gaze from Shaya, Nick shook what he knew was her boss’s hand—as he’d told Shaya, he’d ensured he knew what there was to know about her life. “Nick.” When the guy’s brow furrowed in confusion, Nick realized that Shaya had never spoken of him. And didn’t that hurt like a bitch. His wolf growled at that, wanting his role in her life to be noted. Nick was none too pleased about it either and thought about making it known right then. But he wanted Shaya to be the one to say who he was to her, wanted to hear her say it with pride rather than reluctantly through gritted teeth. “You’re a half-shifter,” observed Nick.
Kent nodded. “Very good. Not a lot of shifters are able to pick it up.”
Shaya was kind of surprised that Nick hadn’t firmly stated he was her mate. The guy was an extremely dominant alpha—the last thing he would want was any misconceptions about such a thing. Strangely, she found herself a little offended that Nick hadn’t cared enough to clear it up. He wasn’t even explaining that he was in town to see her. No, as he chatted to Kent, he was extremely vague, leaving his acquaintance with Shaya open to interpretation. Kent would undoubtedly think she and Nick had met in the last day or so. Again, she was offended.
God, what was wrong with her? One minute she wanted him gone, and the next minute she wanted him to declare she was his mate. But…maybe it wasn’t all that odd, considering that her pride had taken a huge blow when he rejected her, she mused. His failure to acknowledge what she was to him had stung like hell, and it seemed that a part of her still wanted that acknowledgment, wanted to know he was proud that she was his mate.
As if he sensed her inner struggle and was taken over by a reflexive need to comfort her, he came closer and began casually toying with one of her curls as he and Kent chatted about the local pack and the local group of human extremists. She slapped at his hand as if it was an annoying fly, but Nick either didn’t notice or didn’t care because he didn’t stop. So she slapped his hand harder. Without even glancing at her, he closed his hand around her offending one and nipped her ear punishingly. He then held her hand to his side, ignoring her struggle to reclaim it. Oddly enough, he seemed amused rather than frustrated.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the Sequoia Pack wants to talk to you, wanting to know what you’re doing in town,” said Kent. “You’re not exactly inconspicuous.”
Nick smiled. “I’ve already had that ‘talk.’”
“What?” demanded Shaya. “You talked with the Sequoia Pack?” And why had “talk” sounded more like “fight”? “Nick, those guys aren’t good. Please tell me you’re not thinking of joining their pack.”
Liking the concern in her voice, Nick ran the tip of his finger over her bottom lip. “I have no interest in joining their pack or any other.” He chuckled when she slapped his hand again.
“If you ask me,” began Kent, “the humans have a good chance of getting those laws put in place. It’s shifters like the ones around here that give us a bad name.”
“Is there more than one pack here?” asked Nick.
“No. The rebels are a small number of wolves who left the Sequoia Pack, but they refuse to leave town, so fights break out often between them and members of the Sequoia Pack. The human extremists use it as evidence to support their argument that we’re wild and dangerous. The humans also know how the Nazi makes his money, but they have no way of proving it, so they follow him everywhere, desperate to pin something on him. The rebels are closely watched by humans too, but they don’t have a permanent tail.”
“So the extremists in this town are particularly active?”
“Yes.” Kent gestured over Nick’s shoulder. “And I think they wish to speak to you. They’re at the end of the street, and they’re slowly coming this way.”
Nick had sensed them approaching before Kent’s response. A white van had been following him and Derren around all day, and he’d figured it was the extremists—shifters wouldn’t have delayed a confrontation for that long. He’d known it would only be a matter of time before they came to speak to him. Turning, he replied, “So I see.”