“Much better, thanks,” I said, dropping my bag on the desk.“How are you both?”
“Help yourself to a doughnut.”
I examined the store-bought packaging and decided they were safe.
“Fine, thanks,” Carla said which was progress of sorts.
“What do you think about men with thick fingers?” Francis asked.
I looked up.
“Sorry?”
“This magazine.” Francis held it up.“She claims she has the perfect man but he has fat fingers.”
I stared at her.
“I don’t know why you read those. You might as well be on Reddit.”
“Good point.” She flicked her hair back and reached for her phone.“I don’t know why I’m asking you when I could just go to Reddit.”
Yes, work was a great distraction.
Until lunchtime.
Chapter 51
Conrí
My mum dabbed at her eyes and I watched my dad’s arm tighten around her. Now that I understood the bond from the inside, I understood them too—his instinct to pull her closer, the way she leaned into it without thinking. Years of watching them and it had taken my own mate to make it make sense.
“When can we meet her?” Mum sniffed.“Oh, this is wonderful news. The best in years.”
She set herself off again.
“Dad,” I said helplessly.
“Aye, yer brother told us.”
Of course he had.
“I was going to ease her in gradually. She’s never been part of a pack before. She needs time.”
“Your brother told us everything.” A pause.“I suppose I could wait a few days.”
Days.
“You’re coming over?” I asked, eyeballing my dad over her head.
“I’ll try and hold her off,” he said, and softened the blow by kissing her cheek.
She leaned into his shoulder.
I watched them for a moment. Was I looking at our future? Nika and I, decades from now—would she still have that bite to her, that wildness I loved unreasonably? I hoped so. I rather thought so.
I glanced at the timestamp on the laptop.
Not lunchtime yet.
