Okay, that was enough introspection for now.
“I’m going to get out of here,” Max said. “Take good care of Brandy, huh?”
He glanced at his watch, quickening his step as he headed for the exit. He was going to have to hurry if he wanted to change clothes and pick up Lana on time.
Max was halfway across the parking lot when he smelled Gage behind him. He stopped and turned to see his boss eyeing him with obvious concern.
“What’s up, Sarge?”
“Nothing. I just wanted to talk to you about Lana,” Gage said. “You know Zane’s probably right about her being The One, don’t you? The fact that you picked up her scent all the way across the room when Brooks, of all people, didn’t has to mean something. It sounds a hell of a lot like what happened to Remy when he met Triana.”
“Yeah, I know,” Max said, trying to sound casual. “It’s not a big deal.”
Gage lifted a brow. “Not a big deal? Really?”
Max wasn’t surprised his commander had followed him out here. Gage was the alpha of the Pack. He worried about all of his guys. But since pulling Max out of the downward spiral that his life had become after his family’s death, Gage had become more than his pack alpha. He was like a father to him.
Being the leader of a pack of headstrong alphas meant Gage frequently had to get physical with them. In some cases, there was simply no other way to get a jacked-up werewolf back in line. But because of Max’s background, Gage tended to be more proactive than reactive, putting a little extra effort into watching out for him and trying to make sure he didn’t get too out of control in the first place.
Not that Gage didn’t have to get physical with Max on occasion. Sometimes there was no way to avoid it. But Max knew that, unlike his real father, the SWAT team commander would never lay a hand on him if it wasn’t a crisis situation, and that made all the difference.
While this situation was nowhere near crisis mode, Gage was obviously worried about how Max would handle finding The One. Max supposed he couldn’t blame him. Some of the other members of the Pack who’d already found their soul mates had gotten themselves in a buttload of trouble in the process.
Xander had almost been kicked out of the Pack when he’d fallen for Khaki. Eric Becker had inherited an entire beta pack along with his mate, Jayna Winston. Landry Cooper had been blown out of a high-rise building for his wife, Everly. Alex Trevino had gotten suspended for his girlfriend, Lacey Barton. And Remy had run through the streets of New Orleans in wolf form in order to be with Triana. Hell, even Gage’s relationship with his wife, Mackenzie, had nearly ended in catastrophe, almost sending the entire Pack on the run to South America.
Up to this point, finding The One had come with a lot of problems for almost all the members of the Pack. It made sense Gage would want to keep the same thing from happening to Max. Then again, maybe Gage simply wanted to protect Max from getting hurt emotionally. Since Max hadn’t been in a serious relationship with a woman in his life—booty calls and one-night stands didn’t count—it wasn’t an irrational concern.
Max appreciated that, but it wasn’t necessary.
“Seriously, Sarge, it’s really not a big deal. I’m not a player like Remy used to be or an adrenaline junkie like Cooper, and I’m not going to do anything crazy like Alex and get suspended. I’m going to take my time with Lana and make sure the Pack is protected.”
“And if she is The One for you?” Gage prompted, a smile turning up the corners of his lips. “What then?”
Max almost said that any woman would have to be crazy to tie herself to him, but he stopped himself. “If someone as amazing as Lana is the woman I’m supposed to be with for the rest of my life, you’re not going to see me turning my nose up at her, if that’s what you’re asking. If Lana is The One, I’ll take it step by step, slow and easy.”
Gage let out a sound that was half snort, half growl. “Take it from someone who’s been there: if Lana turns out to be your soul mate, going step by step, not to mention slow and easy, might be tougher than you think. Make sure you focus on staying in control of yourself, for Lana’s sake if nothing else.”
His commander had a point there. Keeping his shift under control around Lana was going to be tough. But he’d do it.
“I will,” Max said. “I won’t do anything to risk the Pack.”
“I know,” Gage said. “One more thing before you go. Worrying about The One and how you’ll deal with that isn’t the only thing you need to think about. Keep in mind the woman you find so fascinating happens to be Deputy Chief Mason’s daughter. You screw this up, and you won’t just lose The One. You might end up losing your career, too.”
Chapter 2
“Man, this is good.” Max groaned as he took a big bite of his pepperoni pizza and chewed happily. “I can’t believe I never knew this place was here.”
Lana smiled as she took a much daintier bite of her slice of cheese pizza. She’d never thought watching a man eat could be sexy, but Max was proving her wrong. Then again, maybe it was the simple fact that everything about Max was sexy, from his handsome face to his mesmerizing blue eyes, to his muscular body and casually tousled, dark hair. The man was sinfully attractive and apparently had no idea. It also didn’t hurt that Max had a gorgeous smile that got her going every time he threw it her way. There was a bad boy hiding behind that disarming grin, she was sure of it. And while she thought he’d looked devastating in his dress uniform, he looked even better in jeans, work boots, a casual button-down shirt, and a leather jacket. In a word, he was smoking!
Max had picked her up right on time and they’d headed straight to Piggie Pies. Within minutes of getting in his Camaro, it felt like they’d been dating for months. Lana couldn’t believe how well they clicked. She’d been attracted to Max the moment she saw him at the awards ceremony, but it wasn’t until they’d started bantering and flirting that she knew she’d struck gold. If she’d known there were cute, athletic, interesting guys like him on the police force, she would have made the three-and-a-half-hour drive from Austin for every awards ceremony. Max and his fellow SWAT teammates alone represented more hunks per square inch than she’d seen in her lifetime. Then again, she’d spent the past five years going to college for science. There weren’t a lot of alpha types in the classes she’d taken.
Still, she had to wonder why her dad had always steered her away from any and all police functions. He had to know she’d be interested in guys who were as fit and charming as Max. But every time she’d come home during semester breaks, he’d made sure she stayed away from his office.
Well, she was going to make up for all that lost time now—with Max.
“I stumbled across Piggie Pies Pizza and Pasta a few years ago, and now I eat here whenever I’m back in town,” she said. “Their crust is so good, I think I could eat it plain. The pasta is awesome, too. And their veggie primavera is to die for.”
