“Am I heavy?”
He looks at me like the question is personally offensive.
“I could have walked, you know.”
When we get to his white Chevy pickup truck, he opens the door and carefully places me in the front seat. I’m staring at his profile, wondering when he’s going to kiss me again. He reaches around me and buckles my seat belt before meeting my eyes.
“You hungry? We can stop for food.”
I nod. “Sure.”
He puts Buttermilk in the back seat before walking around to the driver’s door.
I wonder if I can convince him that I’m totally physically able to engage in nefarious activities, if he wouldn’t even let me walk out of here on my own…
We’re in Green City, Texas, the town with the nearest hospital. There’s also a university here, Ole Tex, where Rosie was taking online courses for her nursing degree. I drove her up here to enroll in courses, and we admired the hot college guys when we were only nineteen. They have an amazing baseball team.
Sam pulls us up to the local deli sub shop and runs in to grab us some food. I start rereading one of my favorite werewolf romance books while he’s in there. Once he gets back out, he insists on me eating right away to make sure my blood sugar doesn’t drop.
“I can wait until we get home,” I protest, despite my stomach growling and the two-hour drive back to Moonlight Ranch.
“No. The doctor wants you to eat every four hours, and all you had earlier was a piece of toast.”
I grumble but pull out the sandwich. I’m trying to eat quietly, and he must pick up on it because he reaches over to turn on the radio.
After finishing my food, I recline my seat a little and start reading my book. I’m just getting to a scene where the werewolf is chasing the vampire girl through the woods—she wants to be chased—and he’s about to pound her up against a tree and knot in her for the first time. Sam reaches over and grabs my hand. I yelp in surprise, my heart jumping in my chest.
“Sorry. Jeez, you scared me.”
He tightens his hand around mine, concern etching his features. “Are you reading a scary book?”
“Some people might say it’s scary, I guess.”
“What’s it about?”
“Umm … well, there’s this guy, and he can turn into a werewolf.”
“Like Jacob inTwilight?”
“Yes, exactly like that. So, he has found his fated mate, but she’s a vampire. And their species hate each other, and they’re at war.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah, it sucks, but you know, they figure it out.”
I turn to see him studying the road ahead, looking so fine that I could melt. His reddish-brown curls sweep out from under the edge of his faded blue ball cap. His shirt is a worn copper-colored plaid button-down, rolled up to his elbows. The jeans he has on must be his favorite because the knees are threadbare.
“Well, what’s your favorite part?”
My cheeks turn rosy, and my hand starts to sweat in his. I try to think of something about the book that’s not the smutty, chasing-through-the-woods-and-knotting part … but my mind goes completely blank.
“Uh, you know I’m only halfway through it, and I just don’t have a favorite part yet.” I rush the words out, adjusting my glasses with my free hand.
He chuckles. “You’ve always been a really shitty liar, Dollface.”
I squeeze my thighs together. “Well, if you insist, my favorite part is when he knots inside her.”
“Knots?” His interest is piqued.
