Page 41 of Same Rogue
She’d met Gina and Matt the sixth day, and understood so easily why Bridger remained loyal to them. They were deep-down-to-their-core good people. They had been so kind to her.
By the seventh day, she knew she had tethered herself to this place. To Coeur d’Alene. To Bridger. To his people. To the freedom and safety she felt here.
Tomorrow she was scheduled to check out of the hotel. They had avoided this conversation all week, and oh, she had gotten lost in just pretending their time together would last for always.
He had met her after her shift and taken her to the food carts and then given her a ride back to the hotel, where her car was still parked.
Twice on the way back to it, he had drawn her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss on her knuckles. He didn’t go a day without possessing her body, and truthfully, he’d gotten her addicted to him. She stayed ready around him now, her body yearning for that connection with his.
She’d never felt like this before.
Not even close.
Kit didn’t want to leave. This felt like so much more than a break from reality, or a vacation. This felt like a real life she wanted. She’d always yearned for this—she just hadn’t been able to imagine whatthiswas.
“You’ve been quiet today,” Bridger uttered softly as he parked beside her car in front of the hotel.
Kit inhaled and rolled her head to smile over at him. “It’s my last day in the hotel.”
“I know,” he rumbled. “What are you thinking?”
“That I don’t want to push you or ask for more. I like when you set the pace.”
“What do you mean?”
“If I tell you what I want, or ask to stay, I don’t want you thinking I’m trying to push you out of mourning.”
“Sensitive wolf,” he murmured, his smile so soft for her. “I’m okay. What do you want?”
“Well, I was thinking since you paid for the hotel, and you’ve been sneaky and paying for most of our groceries, I have saved up over a thousand dollars.” She shrugged. “I could buy a few more days here. I mean if you want me.”
“If I want you,” he repeated softly, drawing her knuckles to his lips again. “What has made you think I don’t want you?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I just don’t like the idea of pushing you too far too fast. I imagine this has to involve some complicated feelings.”
“Being with you?”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
“I think the guilt feels easier when I’m around you. I don’t stay underwater. You don’t allow it.”
She hid her smile. God, she loved the way he saw her. “I get scared that if I push you too fast, you will compare me to your last mate. And how could I ever compete with that? I don’t want to. I want her to have her place in your heart. I just want you to make more room for me too. I think that will take time.”
“I think you’re a very smart and understanding and caring woman, and if you were anyone else, we wouldn’t be sitting here together right now.”
“I don’t want to go back to the McIver Pack,” she admitted in a whisper. “Not ever. I have felt the way this place fills me up. How you make me feel. How the belonging feels.” She searched his whiskey brown eyes. “I think because of the time I’ve spenthere, I’m destined to be deeply unhappy in my old life. I’m not ready to go.”
Bridger’s lips curved up in a smile as he leaned over and kissed her. He gripped her hair on either side of her face and Kit got lost in the taste of him. He eased back and kept his eyes closed for a few seconds more. When he opened them, they were glowing gold.
“I had to take my time the first time around. Humans are different. With wolves, we just know.” He leaned in and pecked her on the lips. “Do you know?”
She gripped his wrists, wanting to keep his grasp hostage in her hair. Her chest was full of her heartbeat, pounding so hard that the sound filled the cab of his truck. “I do know. I knew before I met you, but getting to know the real you?” She shook her head. She couldn’t find words big enough. “You are the clearest thing I’ve ever seen. I’m easy though. I have never felt this before. I want to keep it. It is scarier for you.” She swallowed hard and nuzzled her cheek against his hand. “Do you know?”
The smile faded from his lips, and his eyes took on such seriousness. He nodded slightly. “I know.”
“Can I stay another day?”
Bridger brushed his thumb across her cheek, right under her eye. “You can stay as many days as you want.”
