“Okay,” her small voice comes through the speaker, and the door finally opens.
“Good morning, sweet pea. That was awfully quick,” I say, breezing past her and into the kitchen where that damn teapot is going off. She was so intent on getting rid of me that she’d lether teapot make this horrifying sound for who knows how long it’s been.
“I know you must have your own life, Eddie. I couldn’t sleep if I was taking you away from that.”
“Willow, not sleeping wouldn’t be the answer. Where’s Layla?” I haven’t seen the cub yet today.
“Off to work already,” she says, sliding her hair behind her ear. She has her curls out today and is dressed in a corporate-appropriate matching set.
“She left without a chaperone? I could’ve taken her, or better yet, one of the Pack members could’ve. It isn’t safe?—”
“Try telling that to her. She wouldn’t listen to me. But I got her to call when she got to work and text on her breaks,” Willow says, her brows rising with each win she got out of Layla. She has a face of triumph, and I can’t help but smile at her wins, too.
“Are you ready to go?” She nods her head, and I pour some water into her to-go cup before leading us back to the door.
“Then let’s go.” This time, I let her out first. She isn’t going to lock me out twice in the same morning, that’s for damn sure.
“Where do you work again?” she asks, sliding into the passenger seat of my car.
“Cloud Designs. Are you working at Dainty Rebel headquarters today?” I don’t know where else she would go for work, but she and Flora travel often.
“Yes, sir.”
Yes, sir.She could say that again. In fact, I think I’ll have to insist she say that again, and again.Yes, sir. Goddess, she is doing things to me that aren’t fair. Do I have the same impact on her as she has on me? Is it suddenly hot in this car? I refrain from meeting her eyes. I can’t handle her gaze right now. I’m nearly breaking a sweat in this small car from her innocent words.Moon Goddess, I need you to help me now more than ever.
Letting the music drown out the silence, I drive Willow to work. As much as I want to get her talking, I can’t. Not when I’ll hang on to every word and fall deeper for this woman who’s not my mate. She can’t be feeling what I’m feeling, and that proves she’s not my soul mate. The thought crushes me further into a state of depression. I can’t stare at her. I can’t touch her. I can’t be with her.
I park the car with Willow directing me to which spot is hers. Sliding out of the car, I walk around and pull her door open, too. I grasp the doorjamb to make sure she doesn’t hit her head as she gets out. Even if she does, she’d hit my hand, which means she’d be touching me. All in all it’s a win-win situation. My hand might get hurt in the process, but I can’t give up a chance to touch her. I should jerk my hand away to avoid these kinds of incidents, but it’s another thing I just can’t do.
“You’re walking me in too? You don’t have to,” she says with a shy smile, fidgeting slightly as she gets out of the car.
“I want to,” I say with a shrug; it wasn’t rocket science. I want to, so I do. Similar to how I want to check the security measures taken at DR’s headquarters, and here I am.
I take her hand and let her lead the way to her office. Her hand is soft in mine, the perfect size, and my chest puffs, knowing she’s by my side. We get to the front door, and she gives me another quick glance ofokay, you can go now, but I’m not satisfied yet. I can’t let go of her quite yet.
Dylan, my Pack member and an ex-assassin turned bodyguard turned back to assassin, has hooked this place up, I’m sure. His mate, Flora, works here and had previous issues being stalked and kidnapped. I’m sure his crazy possessive-ass has security cameras covering every inch of this place.
I would be surprised if he’s not here himself, since when he’s not working on an assignment, he’s up his mate’s ass. I’m making sure the crazy fucker will protect Willow, too, since shehelped save his mate and is also his mate’s best friend. My skills don’t compare to his in the whole bodyguard and killing people aspects of shifter life, so I’ll trust his skills in the protecting Willow department. That’s what being part of a Pack is great for. We’re a team even when we’re apart.
“Eddie, how far are you going to go? I’m not sure if they’ll let you through security,” Willow says, pulling on my arm to a stop. They damn sure shouldn’t let me through, but just in case, I’ll make sure everyone’s doing their jobs.
“Let’s go see.” I drag her along to the front desk, where a young man sits, dressed similarly to me.
“Eddie, no. Go to work.” Embarrassment of denial or rejection is nothing to me when it comes to Willow. I’ll let them drag me out of this building, testing security to its limits before I leave Willow here without checking.
“Good morning, Willow; we missed you yesterday,” the man, whose name tag readsJason, says, a huge-ass smile appearing on his face. Was this part of his job, or did seeing Willow make him smile that damn big? Damn, someone call Batman and let him know a more effective signal would be this fucker’s smile.
“I missed you too, Jason; everything went smoothly yesterday?” Willow asks, only a small smile gracing her face. Good. Jason doesn’t deserve to see her real smile. Not the smile she gives me. I selfishly hold possession of that smile.
“Flora was only late for two meetings, and each time it was only by fifteen minutes,” Jason says excitedly.
“What an improvement,” Willow giggles, more to herself than to Jason, which is the only reason I don’t take him outside.
“Who’s this with you, Willow?” Jason asks, that big-ass smile blinding me still. This smile must be a part of who he is, then. Good.
“Eddie Enchanted, he’s... with me,” she says. At least she didn’t say I was afriend. I think I would’ve died if she’d said Iwas her friend; I already friend-zoned myself earlier, and I don’t need the confirmation on her end.
“Unfortunately, he’s not on the list of approved guests. I can’t let him in today, but, sir”—He turns back to me—“If you provide your ID, our security team will do a background check. They work fast. We could give you access as soon as tomorrow afternoon.”
