Nessa sighed, shifting in the passenger seat of Murphy’s SUV to stare at the handsome man behind the wheel. She’d just closed up shop for the night and he was taking her back to her house, the quiet drive only giving her more time to fret about everything.
Murphy hadn’t talked much since Jasper left. The entire day, he’d merely sat back and watched her work, apparently content to observe her in her element.
The silence between them should have been unsettling, or at the very least nerve-wracking—Nessa hated silence, and she had never been good at basking in a quiet environment—but something about Murphy’s presence made that quietness easy. She felt comfortable under his watchful gaze.
He hadn’t even lost his cool around any of the humans who’d come in for a cup of tea or a small meal, and she’d honestly worried he might have, given his condition and his hatred of people in general.
“You’re staring,” Murphy commented, his deep, rich voice startling Nessa from her thoughts. He kept his eyes trained straight ahead and his knuckles tight on the steering wheel. “What’s on your mind?”
“Hm? Oh, I was thinking of ordering pizza,” Nessa replied, fighting back the urge to ask him about that ‘almost kiss.’ She might have had the courage to if she wasn’t terrified he’d pin the blame on his bear again. She didn’t think her ego could handle that. Besides,ifit wasn’t his bear then that just opened up a lot of other scary possibilities. Perhaps it was betternotto hear the answer at all. “Do you like pizza?”
He cocked his head toward her, a smirk playing on his lips. “I’m a bear shifter, Nes. Of course, I like pizza.”
Nessa opened her mouth to respond, and then closed it immediately. Less than a second later, she had to ask, “What does being a bear shifter have to do with enjoying pizza?”
Murphy grunted, and for a split second, she thought he wouldn’t answer her. “A shifter’s metabolism runs a lot faster than a human’s. Everything in our body is more advanced—it’s part of what makes us superior. Because of that, we enjoy foods with high calories and fat content. Meat is also required for its protein. We’ll indulge in healthier foods, obviously, but it’s not our primary source of nourishment.”
“And you don’t gain weight or suffer any kind of side-effects from eating like that all the time?”
Shifters didn’t get high cholesterol? Or gout? Nothing?
Now it made sense why she’d found so many sweets tucked away in his pantry. If she could eat whatever she wanted without a care in the world, she’d devour chocolate cake like it was no one’s business.
Murphy grinned, sending her a quick look from the corner of his eye as he turned left onto the main street in town. Streetlights illuminated the world around them, shining down on the hood of Murphy’s vehicle as he drove. “Maybe when I’m old and my body falls apart, I’ll have to worry about my health. But for now? I need to eat a lot to maintain my muscle mass.”
She bet he did; Murphy looked like a god with all of his heavy muscles, good looks, and brooding aura.
Nessa whistled lowly. “So you guys have better senses. You can shapeshift, look hot, and eat whatever you want?” She wrinkled her nose in distaste. “Being a human sucks.”
“I’d have to agree.”
Nessa gasped in mock outrage. “Hey!”
Murphy turned down another street before sending her a curious look. “What?”
Reaching out, she shoved playfully at his shoulder. He didn’t budge an inch. Her hands stayed on him a moment too long, her fingers curling into his sweater and soaking up his warmth. As soon as she realized she was basically groping him, she jerked her hand back to her lap, fighting off a blush. “You’re not allowed to agree with me about it.”
“Why not?”
“Because that’s like when you bully your siblings,” she explained, ignoring the brief sting of heartache that blossomed as an image of her brother flashed through her mind. Pulling herphone from her purse, she opened a food delivery app. “It’s fine if you do it, but if someone else does? It’s unacceptable.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“You better.” Quickly, Nessa found the place she was looking for. She clicked on the store’s icon, bringing up the menu. “What kind of pizza do you want?”
The SUV came to a stop right in front of her house. Murphy put it in park, shutting off the engine before turning in his seat to stare at her. “What?”
“I’m ordering dinner.” Nessa waved her phone toward him. “What kind of pizza do you want? And don’t say something ridiculous, like pineapple and anchovies, because while I’m nice on most occasions, I willnotorder that.”
Murphy studied her, going completely still as if she’d just told him there was a bomb stuck to the bottom of his vehicle. “I didn’t realize we were having dinner together.”
“Oh.” Nessa deflated, dropping her phone onto her lap as her stomach knotted with disappointment.
He didn’t want to stay? It made sense. She shouldn’t have assumed. He’d been with her all day just so he could drop her off home, and he still had an hour’s drive back to his own place before he came back to get her in the morning.
Besides, hadn’t he called her irritating earlier? Maybe he was tired of being around her and needed a break.
She’d heard that line before; all her life, actually. From her older brother, some friends in high school, and especially Tony. By the time she’d fled that asshole, he’d already beaten it into her that she was pathetic. Annoying. She talkedtoomuch, and even when she was quiet, apparently, she’d found other ways to drive him mad.
