“Then why not leave?” I asked, forgetting myself. “If you don’t like LA, why not move somewhere more honest?”
He grinned and his eyes crinkled around the edges in a way that made my heart do backflips. “Cities are where most of the murders happen. I go where the work is.”
Don’t get used to this, I reminded myself.Don’t let this gorgeous human with his kind face and amazing lips charm you. He’s leaving soon. He has to, for his own good.
Already, I didn’t particularly want to leave his side. Everything else seemed to fall away at his nearness. And my pack needed me. None of us could afford for me to lose my sense of purpose.
When I went quiet, he added, “I don’t need much. And some space to think wouldn’t hurt.”
“Well, you’re going to get that here, whether you like it or not.”
“This isn’t your cabin, is it?”
I shot him a speculative look. “What makes you say that?”
“There’s nothing of you in here at all.”
“You don’t really know me. Maybe I’ve lived here all my life.”
“No. It doesn’t smell like you.”
Before I could stop myself, I asked, “What is my scent like for you?”
“Like Christmas,” Harris said immediately. Then his cheeks darkened and he amended that to, “Err—pine, I mean. You smell likepine. Cedar, too, I guess—that’s whatever soap you use. But under that, you smell like pine. Like a Christmas tree.”
“Interesting,” I said, trying not to be interested by the fact that my scent was distinctive to him, the way his was to me.
Because this is real for him too, a little voice in the back of my mind whispered.
I ignored it.
Instead, aiming for coldness but missing the mark entirely, I added, “Most humans don’t pay that much attention.”
He smiled at that, even though it hadn’t really been meant as a compliment. “I’m a detective. I notice things. It’s kind of hard to turn it off.”
“Right,” I said.
I realized, way too late, we were here alone and Harris had kissed me earlier. I hadn’t even processed that—on purpose, given that it was the best kiss I’d ever had. It had been exactly right—masculine and filled with need and urgency, but also a tenderness I hadn’t known I would even enjoy. Usually I’m more of a rough-and-tumble sort of guy, but I suspected Harris would bring out a much softer side of me if I let him.
Hell, if we wanted to, we could make great use of the mattress up in the loft right now. Or the couch. Or the kitchen counter. I wasn’t sure I was that picky.
My cock started to harden at the mere thought of it.
I took a step back from him.
“Uh. Well, now that you’re settled in, stay here. I need to go check on the bar. Lacey is going to kill me as it is.”
I turned to leave.
“Tell me one thing. Was Lacey turned into a wolf, too?” Harris asked, his voice low and quiet. “Like Oliver? Do—do any of these people have a choice?”
“Yes, they have a choice!” I snapped, turning to glare at him. “We don’t just turn humans into wolves for the hell of it.”
“But you can. You don’t need to be born a werewolf.”
He seemed awfully fixated on this. I searched his expression. “I thought you were having a hard time with the idea of werewolves existing.”
“I mean, it’s nuts to me that a human can shift into an animal. But I’ve seen enough to know that the world is a way crazier place than I thought. And hell, vampires and witches are real, so I guess why not werewolves, right?” He paused. “How does it work?”
