We pulled into a cul-de-sac at the end of the neighborhood, and Nico pulled the SUV into the driveway. He clicked a button to open the garage door. The house was just as big and nice as the others.
Once the garage door was closed behind us, I climbed out of the car and glanced around the garage. It was sparser than most I’d seen, with just a few cardboard boxes and a shelving unit that looked like it held a bunch of tools, tire pumps, and flashlights. Typical DIY supplies. Nico already had the back hatch opened and my two bags pulled out. He rolled them to the entry door.
As he stepped through, Nico called over his shoulder, “Follow me.”
I did as asked, still trying to think of the best way to apologize. When I stepped into the kitchen, my jaw dropped. Solid marble countertops, high-end tile floors, stainless steel appliances? The home was gorgeous. It definitely didn’t look like a bachelor pad. I wondered if he paid for a maid or something.
Nico led me down a hallway, and I saw he’d decorated his house with various paintings.Actualpaintings. Not prints or the lame pictures with paint splattered on them to give the impression of a painting, but honest-to-God paintings. One was a watercolor done in a way that could be confused with an abstract, but a second look showed that it was actually a howling wolf’s head. It was really cool, and I was so mesmerized by it that I almost lost Nico.
At the end of the hallway, we came to a stairway. He hauled my bags up, opened a door at the top, and rolled my luggage in. “This is your place.”
I stepped in and blinked in surprise. The bedroom and bathroom together were easily the same size as the tiny one-bedroom house I leased. I couldn’t believe how much room I had. The bed was king-sized as well. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself after spending the last five years sleeping on a full-sized bed.
“Anyway,” Nico said. “Go ahead and get comfortable. Relax or whatever. We don’t want your stitches opening before we goback to Doc’s clinic. Once you’re settled, come on down so I can show you how to use the security system.”
Without another word, he strode toward the door to leave. I closed my eyes and sighed. “Nico?”
When I opened my eyes again, he’d stopped, half out the door. He didn’t say anything; he just stood there. He didn’t even turn to look at me.
“I’m really happy you’re helping me,” I said, hoping he could hear the sincerity in my voice. “I also wanted to say I was sorry about earlier.” I swallowed my pride and went on. “When I was a bitch, I mean. I didn’t mean to question you or your motives. That’s all. I’m…I’m sorry. And thank you.”
Nico finally turned to look at me, and the irritation and anger that had been there a few moments ago had cooled. The lines softened and the handsome face underneath it re-emerged. My heart did a stutter-step in my chest, and that voice started whispering to me again—the voice I’d heard the moment I’d first seen him. It was telling me the same thing it said yesterday. That this man was mine.
I shook the thought away because it made no sense. Probably nothing more than my hormones screaming at me since it had been almost a year since I’d gotten laid.
After a few seconds of staring intently at me, Nico smiled. “You’re welcome. I’ll see you downstairs.”
I didn’t breathe easy until he’d closed the door and I heard him descending the steps. I put a hand to my racing heart and tried to figure out what was going on with my head. I had enough going on with everything that was happening. I didn’t need my body to take on a mind of its own and drool over a guy. Still…there was something intriguing about the thought.
8
NICO
The wolf inside me was going crazy with every stair I walked down. All it wanted was for me to go back upstairs. It was gnashing its teeth, slavering and whining, desperate to go back to Maddy. I’d never experienced anything like it before. Until I’d scented Maddy’s blood the other night, my wolf and I had been on the same page. Two wholly different beings, locked inside the same body, living the same life, working like the perfect intertwined team. This wasn’t something I’d ever encountered—or even heard of.
I stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked up at the door to the guest room. I let myself entertain the thought for one second. Going back up the stairs, opening the door, taking Maddy in my arms. Flinching, I shook the thought from my head, and forced myself to go to the kitchen. I opened the fridge and pulled out a beer, my wolf still battering at my mind. Usually, I didn’t need any help understanding what it was thinking, but this was one of the few times in my life it would have been really nice if it could talk. All I could get from it were these weird anxious and possessive emotions.
Popping the top off the beer, I pulled up one of the stools and sat at the kitchen island. She’d find me down here soon. While I waited, I fired off a text to the guys to let them know Maddy was getting settled, and I asked them to get together to figure out their work schedules so they could coordinate who would be with Maddy and when.
Almost immediately, the guys started texting back and forth. The conversation wasn’t what I needed to see, so I silenced my notifications. I sipped at the beer and stared off into space, thinking about this strange situation and trying to rein my wolf in.
“Hey,” Maddy’s voice said behind me.
I spun and saw her standing in the doorway. “Hi. Everything all tucked away?”
“Eh, I’m not a very good unpacker. I tend to live out of my suitcase whenever I go somewhere. It’s fine.”
I grinned at that and walked to the fridge. “Do you want a drink or anything?”
Maddy raised her eyebrows. “What do you have?”
“I’ve got beer. I have some wine. Bottled water, soda, orange juice?”
“Beer works.”
“Good answer,” I said, pulling a can from the shelf and handing it over.
After taking a drink, she nodded toward the front door. “You were going to show me the security system?”
