Page 21 of Titan’s Mate

“Sebastian is helping us,” Brock called, moving to block her view of the table they were working on.

Mari narrowed her eyes. She’d had a lot of mermaid punch, and she was feeling belligerent. She also wasn’t sure these guys could be trusted.

“If you melt my duck, you are dead shifters.”

Titan got up and came to the doorway, looking down at her. “If I swear no rubber ducks will be harmed in the making of this Thanksgiving surprise, will you let us keep him until dinner?”

She gazed up at him. He really was very handsome and muscly. And he seemed trustworthy. But not everyone respected the duck.

“I’m trusting you,” she said, warning in her voice.

He smiled at her. Not the little almost-not-there smile, but a real one. It was breathtaking. While she was busy staring at him, he reached out and cupped her face, running his thumb lightly over her cheek. “I swear.”

He turned and went back to the table he was working at, making shooing motions at her.

Mari went back inside, her skin tingling from where he’d touched her.

That right there was a dangerous, dangerous man. She had to be careful.

Chapter 9

When everything was almost done, the guys took turns going to change. They claimed it was because one of them had to be watching the meat at all times, but really it was because they didn’t trust her not to peek at whatever mysterious thing they were doing out there.

Brock went first and came downstairs looking extra-hot in khakis and a soft green button-down shirt that brought out the green flecks in his hazel eyes. Judging by the crew pictures on the walls, though, all the guys were hot as hellfire, so this really wasn’t a surprise.

But when Titan came back from the cabin, Mari couldn’t stop staring. He wore a dark red shirt that was obviously tailored to fit him, tucked into black jeans that clung to that world-class butt like they’d been custom-made.

He was even wearing shoes—cowboy boots, to be exact. They somehow made him walk differently, making him look tougher and more badass. And hotter than all the other guys put together.

Mari realized she had her mouth open. “You look… nice,” she said. Nice. That was a vast, galactic understatement, but she probably shouldn’t tell him she wanted to jump on him and devour him like a bag of chips. “Very, very nice.”

He ducked his head a little, like he was embarrassed, and she wondered when the last time was that someone had paid him a compliment. “The girls made me get this stuff,” he said gruffly. “I’ve never worn it before.”

“Well, you should, because you look better than a plate of cinnamon buns.” There, that was an appropriate compliment.

It brought the little smile to his face—the one she was already starting to look forward to because it meant she’d tickled his sense of humor. “Now I know you’re lying,” he said. “You don’t think anything looks better than cinnamon buns.”

How did he know that about her in such a short time? “I’m a pastry fan,” she said. “There’s nothing wrong with that. I just wish you two weren’t going to outshine me. I’m completely underdressed now.”

Underdressed, and dowdy and impoverished. Usually she didn’t think about things like that, but she suddenly wanted to look pretty. Hot, even. Just this once.

Titan frowned slightly. “What’s wrong with how you look?”

That made her feel a little better—but he was still a guy and didn’t get it. Mari patted his arm. “You’re sweet. But girls like to dress up sometimes.”

His face cleared. “Oh. Okay. I’ll borrow something from one of the girls.”

He’d thought that would be the right thing to say, but it must have been wrong because she looked embarrassed. “I didn’t mean that,” she said quickly. “You can’t borrow someone else’s things for me. They don’t even know me!”

Oh. Well, that was no problem. “I’ll ask them if it’s okay.”

Titan pulled his phone out of his pocket and got on the messaging app. The crew had its own message group, so they could talk to each other all the time. Usually it was a pain in the ass because Colt and Remy talked about dumb shit all the time, but sometimes it was useful. Like now.

@Jaeda I have a friend here, she didn’t bring any dress up clothes. She’s your size I think. Can she borrow one of your sweaters for Thxgvng dinner? Or anybody?

Instantly, he got a barrage of messages back.

Damien: Wait, you have a girl there?