“You’re probably right. I hate to be pushy, but we have back orders to fill. When we ran out, I made the mistake of creating a list and promising customers they’d get the next batch. I shouldn’t have done that, and now I’m worried I’ll lose their respect if we can’t deliver.”
He squeezed my hand. “My father will hear about the woman he does business with. He’ll find your integrity impressive—something he respects far more than success. If this woman backs away from the contract, I’m sure my father will know someone who can help.”
While holding his hand, it struck me how thoughtless I’d been. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
I padded down the hall to the bathroom and gathered fresh sheets from the linen closet. When I returned to the living room, Tak was standing in front of the dark windows, looking out. His fervent gaze consumed me through the reflection in the glass as I approached.
“You can help yourself to anything in the kitchen. No sleeping naked on the pink couch, and try not to drool on the upholstery. Mel wasn’t able to find another just like the pink one, so we had to get the grey couch as a companion. I don’t have a spare pillow, but you can use the small ones on the sofa.”
“Are you asking me to stay the night?”
Tension crackled in the air like wood burning in a hearth. I set the linens on the sofa and felt the heat of his gaze still on me. “If the alternative is you sleeping in your truck, then yes, I’m asking you to stay the night.”
“Lakota wouldn’t like this.”
I squatted and collected the game pieces. “He looks out for me, and that’s why he wouldn’t approve. But if he were in my shoes, he’d do the same. I don’t plan to disrespect him by having sex under our roof.”
“You assume I would expect intercourse to be included in your hospitality?”
I set the game box on the grey sofa and stood up. “I can’t read minds, so I don’t know what you expect from this. All I can give you tonight is a couch.”
Tak swaggered toward me and placed his hands on my shoulders. “That’s up for debate. You’ve already given me good company, laughter, and more stuffed peppers than a man could dream of.”
I smiled, enjoying the weight of his hands on my shoulders. “They weren’t anything special.”
He tilted my chin up. “You could have made a cheese sandwich, and I would have savored every bite.”
“How about a bologna sandwich instead?”
His eyes twinkled. “Let’s not push it. So, no man parts on the couch, no drooling… Any other rules I should know about?”
“No shifting. You’ve met my wolf, and I’ve met yours, but our wolves are strangers to each other. Without someone I trust supervising, I don’t feel comfortable.”
His brows furrowed. “If we’re sleeping in separate rooms, why does it matter?”
I shrugged. “Sometimes I shift in the middle of the night in my sleep, so I keep my door cracked. If I don’t, my wolf howls until it wakes everyone up. Lakota and Mel are used to it, but I don’t want to chance an encounter.”
He stroked my cheek with the pad of his thumb. “My wolf would never harm yours. I feel it. I know it.”
Part of me wanted to invite him into my bed—to make love and hold each other until dawn—but it would go against the way my pack raised me. I’d made a mistake once before, and even though Lakota, Mel, and I weren’t packmates, it was crucial that our wolves trusted one another. Maybe it wasn’t a big deal with other Shifter types, but wolves followed rules within a house. Lakota couldn’t dictate who courted me, but until he resolved his dispute with Tak, he had every right to forbid intimate relations under our roof. Tak had saved my life, so the couch was a fair compromise.
“Do you trust me to be alone with you?” he asked. “Don’t be hospitable if you have a shred of doubt. I can sleep in the outside hall. If that’s not far enough, I’ll leave.”
“I trust you, Tak. If I had a lick of sense, I wouldn’t.”
He closed his fist over his heart and inclined his head. “I won’t betray that trust. You have my word, and my word is my bond.”
I placed my hand over his and believed his solemn vow. For the past few hours, Tak had made me forget all my troubles. Not once since dinner had he asked me about River. Nor had he brought up my business or all the happenings of the week. He’d told me stories about living with the tribe, and I realized our experiences weren’t so different. I liked imagining him in rolled-up trousers, wading through a stream to sit on his favorite rock and cast his fishing line. I could almost see his packmates gathered near target boards to throw axes and shoot arrows. His tribe was more off the grid than most packs I knew, but we didn’t come from completely different worlds.
I traced my finger over his Adam’s apple. “I have to leave early for work. You’re welcome to stay as long as you want, but if you have somewhere to go, you’ll need to wake up early so I can lock the door behind us. There isn’t a spare key, and it wouldn’t be right to give you mine. If you want to come back here instead of waiting all day for me to get off work, I can drop you off here at lunch. But you’ll need to come by the store around eleven.” I glanced around the room. “Why don’t you just sleep in? There’s plenty of food, and we have books to keep you entertained.”
“I don’t think I can sit on this pink couch for twelve hours.”
I inched closer and looked up at him. “Austin is a big city, but alphas don’t go unnoticed around here. Howlers is a good place to go if you want to make connections with the local packs. You’ve already met Wheeler, and it’ll pass the time. I probably shouldn’t recommend a bar, but roaming the streets isn’t really a good idea if people don’t know what you’re up to. The games are free, and not everyone goes there to drink. It’ll give you a chance to get to know some of the local packs. Promise me you won’t sit in your truck all day and watch my store.”
His lips twitched. “Who says I would watch your store?”
I tickled the stubble beneath his chin. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed your wolf outside my shop every night.”
