Not that Kat had much sex.
Maybe that’s why she kept gawking at Prince like a woman whose ovaries had just come out of hibernation and were about to implode. Her stupid wolf had a thing for alpha males, and she had scented him right from the start. Her inner tail was wagging, so Kat needed to pull it together before she mounted him at the next red light. The one thing that steered her alpha hormones in the other direction was knowing that Prince was one of those planners who strategically placed rose petals on the floor, creating a trail to his private chambers.
A trail Nadia would soon follow.
“Well?” he pressed.
She’d forgotten the question.
“I was asking if you associate with other Breeds,” he reminded her.
She scratched her cheek and watched a little boy in the car in front of them stick out his tongue. “It depends.”
“On?”
“If they’re dickheads. I’m not sure what exactly you want to know, since you’re pretty good about beating around the bush.”
“I dislike that idiom.”
She snapped her gaze at him. “Well, I dislike euphemisms.Associate with other Breeds?Why don’t you say what you really mean? Not that it’s any of your business, but yes, I’ve dated non-Shifters.”
“You’re an alpha wolf,” he ground out. “Your standards should be higher. You could have your selection of any Packmaster you desired.”
She snorted and stretched her legs. “Yeah, they’re just beating down my door to put their claim on a bounty hunter who sometimes forgets to shave and likes to watch TV all day. I’m a real collector’s item.”
“These are traits you can change.”
“My tummy’s all aflutter at your compliment. Look, I’m not changing who I am,” she bit out, sitting up straight in her seat. “Oh, wow. There’s a taco stand! Let’s hit that on the way back.” Kat twisted around in her seat and stared through the back windshield at the little shack on the left side of the road. “And they sell quesadillas. Put that intersection to memory.”
Kat faced forward, and the silence that followed turned into an awkward moment. “What?”
He looked sideways at her with his brown eye. “You’re unpredictable. I never know what you’ll say or do next.”
“Thanks,” she replied sincerely. Kat didn’t dwell on hidden meanings.
“Are you upset with me?”
She felt bad for a minute because he was serious. Kat sometimes had an abrasive personality, but she didn’t like to hold grudges. “We had a disagreement. That’s all.”
He pulled the car up to an urban apartment building—the kind with indoor elevators and no balconies. When Kat got out, she could feel the heat rising from the concrete, telling her it was going to be a scorcher.
A few tufts of cottonwood floated in the air, and she rubbed her nose. “What do we do if it’s not Vlad?”
“We decline his offer for lemonade?”
She patted his arm, holding his bicep long enough to sigh inwardly at how strong he felt. “You’re funny, Charming. Iknewthere was a sense of humor hiding in there. Stick with me long enough and you might crack a smile.”
When they reached the main door to the building, Prince paused and traced a finger over his eyebrow. Kat watched his reflection in the glass, wondering why he was hesitant about going in. Probably having second thoughts.
“I don’t think this is him,” she said, adjusting her white tank top and then rolling up her sleeves.
“What makes you say that?” he asked as they moved through the doors.
Her voice reverberated off the beige walls of the first floor. “I know a few things about Vlad that aren’t in the records—unsavory things you don’t want to know about.” She smoothed her hand along the walls, studying how close together the apartments were. “These are tight living quarters. Too many people can hear what he’s up to. I can’t believe they don’t even lock the main doors.Anyonecould walk in.”
“This is it,” he said quietly.
Kat glanced down the hall to make sure they had privacy. “Go ahead and knock; I’ll hang back.”
