I considered arguing, but I hadn’t even been able to argue my way into making myself some goddamn tea with Dom, so what was the point, really?I let him slip the jacket on me, and when I was still busy finding my hands in the overlong sleeves, he started zipping me up.
“Can you not?”
Dom shrugged.“My jacket, my rules.”
“Thought you said it was Linc’s?”
He waved dismissively.“Same difference.Come on, Little Red, let’s head out.”
“What?All you’re wearing is that flannel shirt?No jacket?”I pointed, but since my fingers were barely sticking out of the long sleeves, I ended up looking like a scarecrow shooing off ravens.
“I run hot.”
I sighed.“Of course you do.”
“Don’t worry, Little Red.You’re plenty hot yourself.”
I rolled my eyes and groaned.
He winked before opening the door and swaggering out ahead of me, stopping when he’d crossed the threshold and looking left and right.I had to squeeze past him as he stood there like some bouncer, which put me closer to his geraniums and gave me a chance to get a sense of the area.
All I knew about the house was that it was larger than it seemed at first.The rustic chic continued out here.The front porch appeared new, the wooden boards lacking that seasoned discoloration, that wear of boots and shoes, feet passing over them for years and years, but the rough stone walls of the building itself looked decidedly older.
The geraniums really were a theme, but I also spotted a beautiful 3D sculpture showing three wolves.It sat in the center of a little round table surrounded by some outdoor furniture—a perfect place to sit and watch the drive, or the tree line that followed you around like a stalker out here.
I had no idea how one went about carving anything from wood, so to me the sculpture was even more impressive than the geraniums.I went over to the table and pushed one of the chairs aside to get a better look at it.
“Like my centerpiece?”Dom said, making me jump.He’d appeared directly behind my shoulder.
“Yeah.Wait.You made this?”
“Yup.Don’t do a lot of artsy stuff these days because the house is keeping me busy, but whenever I do, it’s a nice change of pace.”
“Maybe if you spent less time tending to the geraniums,” I said, completely unable to help myself.
A sharp slap on my ass made me jump and yelp.
“I did warn you, Little Red,” Dom purred in a low baritone.Hot damn.“Come on, let’s get going.”
“You just—oh, fine, but you slap my ass, you buy me a chai latte,” I informed him, because seriously.Had no one ever taught these werewolves manners?
Dom chuckled.“That’s all I have to do?I guess I might do it again, then.”
“You wish.You better pay up first.I don’t give latte loans.Where’s the nearest place that has good drinks here?A day’s hard travel into the sunset?”
“You’re real lucky we get tourists and our diner is fancy.”Dom clicked his tongue.“Pleasant Peak is hip as far as small towns go, and we have all the nice drinks—everything to get your ass nice and rosy.”
Okay, I hadn’t meant to insult their chosen rural small-town life, which was an issue, but I figured I was allowed to speak my mind after everything that had happened.Going by the spring in Dom’s step, he didn’t mind.He was the kind of person whose good mood was contagious.
I followed him down the front steps and around to the side of the house, where a jeep and a sleek black SUV were parked.I really had no doubt as to which car was Dom’s, and he unsurprisingly held the jeep door open for me.Like, held the passenger door for me, in all seriousness.
He closed the door in my slack-jawed face once I was in the car, and I considered his words while blushing furiously as he rounded the jeep and got in on the driver’s side.He looked over at me expectantly.
“W-what?Nothing rosy to see here.”
His grin stretched while his eyes lit up.“Seat belt,” he said, that voice still low and warm and doing things it really, really shouldn’t.
I rolled my eyes to give the impression of nonchalance and put it on.“You people do realize I don’t need to be pampered and wrapped in bubble wrap, right?”
