“I recognize you,” the man said, stretching his legs out and crossing his big boots right next to Dylan’s ankle. “You bumped into me the other day on your way to your doctor’s appointment.”
Dylan’s gaze moved to the floor, an embarrassed blush turning his face red. He stared down at the man’s long legs, muscular thighs encased in tight leather, and tried to think of something to say.
“I’m sorry about that. I should have been paying more attention to where I was going.”
The man laughed. “Don’t worry about it. I may have seen you coming and let you bump into me on purpose.”
Dylan’s head shot up. The man was grinning over the rim of his coffee cop, and Dylan couldn’t tell if he was teasing or not.
“What do you mean?”
The man chuckled. “I wanted to talk to you so that I could ask you on a date, but then you were in such a rush and I didn’t get the chance.” The man’s grin turned wistful. “I wish I had. You didn’t smell claimed on Friday.”
The words confirmed Dylan’s sneaking suspicion that the man sitting across from him was a werewolf.
Humans didn’t refer to each other as smellingclaimed.
“I’m Steve, by the way.” The werewolf leaned across the table, stretching out his thickly muscled arm and offering his hand.
Dylan took it, his palm disappearing into Steve’s huge mitt. Steve’s index finger brushed his inner wrist and Dylan yanked his hand back.
“Dylan.”
“Nice to meet you, Dylan.” Steve leaned back in his chair, pulling his legs back. He planted one boot firmly on the floor and rested the other over his knee. “Am I interrupting your work?”
Dylan tore his gaze away from Steve’s huge boot and shook his head. “It’s okay. I could use a break.”
He closed his laptop and tucked it into the seat next to him. It wasn’t like he and Steve were going to do anything that would make him feel like he was cheating on Dr. Schaffer – not that he was in a relationship with Dr. Schaffer to begin with – and he was curious to talk to another werewolf.
Steve sank a little further back into his chair, resting his hand on his knee. He grinned. “Me too. I’ve been trying to get as much time on by bike as I can before we get snow, but it’s fucking cold outside. What are you working on?”
Dylan was struck by how much Steve reminded him of the popular jocks at his old high school. He had that same cocky swagger – as though the world had been laid out at his booted feet and was just there for the taking – and just like he had in high school, Dylan found it annoyingly attractive.
“My thesis.” Dylan grabbed his empty coffee cup, just to have something to occupy his hands. “I’m doing my masters in mechanical engineering.”
“Impressive,” Steve said, drumming his fingers on his knee. “What are you writing about?”
“I’m doing a project on different 3D printing materials.”
It was a little bit more complicated than that, but Dylan knew better than to go into a detailed explanation. More than once he’d made the mistake of talking someone’s ear off when they’d just asked to be polite.
“3D printing?” Steve said, though there was nothing mocking in his tone. “That’s pretty cool.”
“What about you?” Dylan asked, blushing. “What do you do, besides ride your motorcycle?”
“I’m a police officer. I finished my bachelor in criminal justice last year and this is my first year on the force. So far I’ve been directing a lot of traffic and writing speeding tickets.”
Dylan did not need the mental image of Steve all dressed up in a police uniform.
“Do you like it?” he asked.
Steve shrugged. “Not really, but hopefully I’ll be able to work my way up and make detective before too long, and then I can start doing some actual good.”
“Where-”
“Would it be-”
Steve and Dylan both started talking at the same time, neither one of them finishing their sentences.
