He shut his eyes like they were hurting him again.
“I will be outside.”
He made it all the way to the kitchen and then out the front door without cracking those pretty grey peepers open once. Not that such a thing should have surprised me. He could probably walk every inch of this property in his sleep, counting the measured paces like sheep as he went.
What a weirdo.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t judge him. Because, more than likely, I was incurably weird, too.
Smiling to myself, I put on the pants.
15
LUALHATI
“Ihate to admit it,” I said as Warden Hallum helped me out of the sled, “but you were right about the pants.”
They’d kept my buns nice and toasty on the frosty sled ride through the forest. I very much appreciated it. My tiny little skirt and skimpy panties certainly wouldn’t have been up to the task.
“Why do you hate to admit it?” he asked, holding my elbow as I tried not to let my heels stab down into the mucky snow and trap me. “It is merely a fact.”
“I guess I don’t really hate it. It’s just kind of a saying.”
“It seems rather dramatic,” he griped.
“That’s humans, for you.”
“Not you, though.”
That made me laugh. It puffed, misting, into the bitter air as we reached the door.
“I just about threw a temper tantrum when you very reasonably told me to wear proper pants outside in the cold.”
“That was not you being dramatic,” he said, almost sounding defensive on my behalf. Who the hell did he need to defend me against? Myself? “That was merely…whimsy.”
“Whimsy,” I repeated blankly.
“Yes.”
“You think I’m whimsical?”
“Yes.”
Huh. I wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or not.
Considering who it was coming from, it likely wasn’t. I couldn’t think of anything Warden Hallum might value less than something like whimsy. Maybe messiness? But he’d likely place me in that category, too, due to the sheer volume of crap I’d stuffed into his house.
Lovely.
“I need a drink,” I announced. “And a dance.”
I was going to get a little buzz going and shake my butt on the dancefloor until I no longer felt like such a sad sack. Warden Hallum gave me a bit of an odd look, but he held the door open for me anyway, gesturing me inside with his tail.
The saloon was dark, with a few strategically placed candles here and there, and the fire burning low in the hearth. It was fantastic mood lighting, and coupled with the music playing from somebody’s tablet. I totally felt like I was at some kind of real dance.
Shiloh and Tasha came over to me right away, looking for hugs.
“Just give me a second!” I said breathlessly, trying to get out of my pants without removing my boots or flashing my ass at anybody in the process. Once I’d gotten them off, I held them in a crumpled pile, looking for somewhere to put them.
