Page 22 of Same One
“Woman, I would invite you, but you are a super-stepmom. I’m not sure Bay would be okay with you just picking up and leaving for a camping trip for a few days.”
She frowned and lifted those pretty blue eyes to him. “A camping trip? To Change into your wolf?”
“No, I can Change in the woods here whenever I want. We back up to a national park. Plenty of space here. No, I test out camping equipment for a living.”
She relaxed back onto the couch and drew her knees up to her chest. “You can make money doing that?”
“Yeah. I have sponsors, and I edit videos of the trips when I get home. Outdoor companies send me gear and ask me to test them publicly, and I get paid from the advertising and from the engagement on my social media platforms too.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Are you some famous internet guy?”
“What? No. Not at all. My Pack doesn’t even know what I do. It’s just something that earns me a good income and it’s kind of…I don’t know.”
“Kind of what?”
He pursed his lips and drilled the mount into the wall, then turned to her and let the drill fall to his side. “I kind of love my job. If you saw it online, you would think it’s lame, but I havefun doing it. I’m not stuck in a career I hate. I get to go out a couple days a week and find new places to set up and test out all this state-of-the-art gear. I mean I get hate on the internet. I’m a werewolf and I don’t keep it a secret. There’s some vitriol, but there’s also good parts to it. The good outweighs the bad.”
“Okay, now I’m completely invested in this.” She grabbed her phone, opened up the internet, and typed out his name, but nothing came up except for the bare minimum information about him being a Rogue.
“It’s under Wolf Outdoors. Look, you don’t have to search for it right now. Maybe check it out while I’m gone.”
Why was he suddenly so insecure about her seeing him on there? She was probably going to think he was so lame.
Her phone dinged, and her eyes went serious as she read whatever text came through. “Oh, I’ve got to get home. Bay is headed back.”
A glance at the clock on the microwave said it was midnight. “He’s heading back from a camping trip in the middle of the night. He was only there for the evening.”
“Yeah, he’s particular about camping,” she uttered, brushing off any real explanation. “Sometimes he stays overnight, and sometimes he changes his mind and just wants to come home.”
Huh.
“Are you okay to drive?”
“Yeah, I sobered up hours ago.” She stood and reached for her zippered hoodie on the arm of the couch. Damn. He’d been enjoying the view of that little cleavage-baring tank top. Fuck, she was so pretty.
She pulled her hoodie on and met him in the middle of the living room. “This place looks homier already,” she said, smiling sleepily up at him.
Tabian brushed a curl from her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. She had the softest hair in the world. “I don’t want you to go,” he admitted.
“I got sucked into this other world here,” she said. “I meant to drop by for five minutes and now look. I’ve been here for hours and met most of your Pack.”
“They like you,” he said. “You’re easy to like.” She should hear all the nice things he thought about her.
She gave him sweet smiles when he complimented her, and God, he would do stupid things to create that look on her pretty face.
The way she looked at him made his heart race faster, every time.
“Want to walk me to my car?” she asked.
He wanted to ride home with her and put his scent all over her den and then fuck her senseless, but sure, he would walk her to her car and pretend it was enough for tonight.
He didn’t bother with shoes, just followed her out and padded across the porch, trying to control the urge to hold her hand. He didn’t want to freak this one out. She startled easily, and he’d learned that Liam really had been right—Tabian did need to be patient with her. She’d been deeply hurt. Moving too fast with this one would chase her off, and he couldn’t stomach the thought. Not after spending time with her tonight. He really liked her. He really liked her calm vibe and the way his wolf went completely silent and watchful and protective around her.
She made it feel easier to be him, and he wanted more nights like this.
So…patient he was. He opened her car door for her and waited for her to get in. Tabian had never wanted to kiss a woman more than right now, here in the dark, by his new home, saying goodnight.
She looked deep into his eyes and he thought about it. God, he wanted to. Instead, he reached for her hand and pulled her knuckles to his lips, staring deeply into her eyes as he laid a kiss there.
