“You mean, you need to take your mindoffsomeone?”
“My mind is most definitely not on Grant.”
“Oh, I wasn’t talking about Grant, babe.”
The plate I was hand-washing slipped from my fingers, clattering against the metal basin, causing a loud, sudsy clang. “Is it really obvious?”
“To me, but I also know you inside out.”
I grimaced. “My brothers also know me inside out.”
“Your brothers are boys.”
“Do you think Mom knows?”
“Um. Yeah. Your mother knew I had a crush on Nash beforeIeven did.”
“Well, shit.”
Adalyn laughed softly. “Gotta finish Mrs. Mofett’s perm. Pick you up at seven?”
“It’s a date.” I rinsed my plate and slotted it onto the drying rack, then peered out at the pasty sky. Snow was coming. I could feel the cold humidity in my bones. Especially in my damaged knee joint.
I powered on my tablet to work when the front door opened. “In here,” I called out, expecting Mom and Storm.
Boy was I wrong.
My gaze scraped up Liam’s denim-clad legs, black tee, and black leather jacket. Lycaon, the male was a piece of art.
“Morning, Nikki.”
Even his voice was art. “Morning.” I cleared my throat and focused on my lit screen, hoping he hadn’t caught my once-over. “Storm’s out with Mom.”
That my mother sensed I had a crush was embarrassing. That my crush noticed I had a crush was a whole other level of distressing.
“Any new developments?” I bit my lip as I reworked my character’s posture. When he didn’t answer, I looked up, found him studying what I was painting.
“The coroner’s wife shifted last night.”
“Fully?”
“No. Not fully.”
Another halfwolf.
“Has the coroner turned back into skin?”
Liam shook his head. “The Sillin’s not affecting him.”
I set my stylus down. “Why do you think that is?”
“New species? Too soon?” He leaned his hip against the island. “We have yet to understandhowthey were made. I mean, we know they were bitten, but lots of humans have been bitten over the years, and none of them have ever turned.”
Had he ever bitten a human? I hadn’t. Then again, we only bit humans who knew what we were or they’d call the cops on us. It dawned on me that Storm’s mother was human, so Liam had probably bitten her lots since biting enhanced sexual pleasure.
Thinking of him fanging his ex made my wolf want to growl . . . my human, too. Pathetic. I was so pathetic. Liam was allowed to bite whomever he wanted. Plus, Storm’s mother was dead. Being jealous of a dead woman was a new low for me.
“You okay?”
