By the time he wandered into the kitchen, the aroma coming out of the oven was so amazing he almost started to drool. Seriously, he had to swallow twice so he wouldn’t drown in the stuff. Great. All this time, he thought his biggest worry was going to be fangs, claws, and maybe a unibrow. Now, he had to add drooling like a bulldog to the list.
Putting her phone in her back pocket, she washed her hands, then opened the oven and took out a large casserole bubbling and steaming with all kinds of yummy goodness. That was when he finally recognized the aroma.
“You made shepherd’s pie for me?” he asked.
It was all he could do to stop himself from hopping up and down like a kid. He hadn’t had a good shepherd’s pie in forever.
Rachel turned to look at him, brow arched. “No. I made shepherd’s pie for me. You happen to be the beneficiary of what would have been leftovers for tomorrow night’s dinner.”
Knox eyed the large casserole again, confident there were three or four dinners in there for a woman Rachel’s size, but he was smart enough not to say that out loud. He was outspoken, not stupid.
“Need help with anything?” he asked. She’d already set the table, but he needed to make the offer anyway.
Rachel motioned toward the fridge as she carried the casserole to the small kitchen table. “You can get us something to drink. I usually have milk with dinner, but you’re welcome to anything you find in there. Glasses are in the cabinet by the sink.”
Milk, huh? He was pretty sure he hadn’t touched the stuff since he was in elementary school. He poured a glass for Rachel, then thoughtWhy the hell not?and poured one for himself, too.
Knox brought the glasses over to the table to find her spooning huge portions of meat pie onto both their plates. The pile of mashed potatoes, vegetables, and beef almost made him start drooling again.
“I’m not complaining, but is there something about me that makes you think I usually eat this much?” he asked, setting down the glasses.
Rachel snorted as she took a seat. “Are you honestly telling me you haven’t noticed how much food you’ve been eating since you turned into a werewolf?”
Knox opened his mouth to say no, but then hesitated. Now that he thought about it, he supposed his takeout bill had been climbing recently. “I guess I have.” Shrugging, he slid into the chair opposite her and picked up his fork. “I just thought it was because I’d been pushing myself so hard lately.”
Rachel nodded, scooping up a forkful of casserole. He was about to do the same but got distracted watching her eat. He wasn’t sure when chewing had become a sensual act for him, but when it was the beautiful female werewolf across from him doing the eating, it was.
“Your metabolism is a lot higher now,” she said, thankfully missing the weird way he was staring at her mouth. “Whether you realize it or not, your body is going through a lot of physical changes right now, so you’re putting on more muscle. Those kind of changes require a lot of energy to make happen. That’s why you’re eating more.”
“Huh.” He finally took a bite of food, almost groaning at how remarkable it tasted. The beef was spicy, the vegetables tender, and the mashed potatoes that topped the whole thing were creamy and smooth. If he didn’t have to share with Rachel, he would eat the whole casserole dish himself. “So that’s why I have to keep buying new clothes every week.”
“Oh, yeah. You’ve easily put on twenty pounds of muscle. You’re probably a few inches taller, too.”
Knox considered that while he ate, wondering how this situation could get any stranger. What the hell was going to happen the next time he went home to visit his family and they noticed he was taller and heavier? Then again, they hadn’t seen him much over the past several years, since he’d been deployed so much, so maybe they wouldn’t notice. That’s when another thought hit him.
“If the guys on my old SEAL team could see me now,” he murmured softly, “they’d probably think I’m taking steroids or something.”
Rachel reached over to scoop more shepherd’s pie onto his plate. He wasn’t even sure when he’d finished the first serving, but he was still hungry, so he kept eating.
“You were a Navy SEAL?” she asked.
He nodded. “Eight years.”
She sipped her milk. “So how do you go from being a Navy SEAL to a hunter?”
Knox was silent, not sure how to answer because answering meant talking about a part of his past he’d rather leave deeply buried.
Across from him, Rachel stopped eating and looked up at him, her expression partly curious, partly suspicious. “What, was I not supposed to ask about that? Is the issue of how you became a monster off-limits?”
Something told him, when she referred to him being a monster, she wasn’t talking about the claws and fangs. No, she was talking about him being a hunter. He forced himself to give her a small smile. “No, not at all. It’s just that…well, it’s kind of complicated, and I’m sure you don’t want to sit around and hear me talk about myself all night.”
She gave him a wry look and motioned at her plate. “Unlike you, I don’t consume food like it’s going out of style, so we’re not going anywhere for a while. Besides, if you expect me to teach you about being a werewolf, the least you could do is tell me how you ended up in this situation.”
He nodded but still hesitated. There were few subjects he hated talking about more than himself, but at this moment, he couldn’t figure out a way around it. Not that he wasn’t willing to give it a try. “I’m not sure where to even start.”
Rachel snorted and took another sip of milk—she even made snorting sound sexy. “Most people start at the beginning. How’d you end up in the navy? Are you from a military family?”
Knox chuckled despite himself. “That would be an understatement. Dad is retired army and Mom is the epitome of a dedicated army wife. Of course, being in the army meant we moved constantly when I was a kid, so we never lived in any one place for more than three years, four tops, which sucks when you’re a kid trying to fit in at school, but my parents were all about that life. My brother, sister, and I are even named after the military bases where we were born.”
