Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 59154 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 296(@200wpm)___ 237(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59154 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 296(@200wpm)___ 237(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
“Hey!” Marina stood on the far side of the island in front of a stand mixer. It was spinning, kneading something delicious. The room smelled of vanilla and coffee. Marina was Colton’s mate, and Audrey, Boyd’s mate, was her sister. And human. She was much younger than Audrey–and Colton. Closer to my age, she had long brown curls and a delectable interest in baking.
“Morning.” I tugged Lyssa close and wrapped my arm around her waist. “Marina, this is Lyssa. Lyssa, this is Marina. She’s… dating Colton Wolf.”
Marina eyed Lyssa with nothing but warmth–and curiosity. The fact that I said dating was an easy tell to Marina that Lyssa didn’t know about shifters, otherwise I would’ve called Colton her mate. “Hey there! Nice to meet you and happy to have another girl around. Want some coffee? I just made a fresh pot.”
I looked down at Lyssa, who nodded, so I went and made us both a cup.
“What are you making?” Lyssa asked Marina.
“Oh, this is for a five-year-old's birthday cake. It’ll be space-themed. Then an anniversary cake.” She cut herself off. Laughed. “I make a lot of cakes.”
“Is this your business?”
Marina nodded. “Yeah, but not officially. Just word of mouth. I don’t want a storefront in town as that’s a ton of work, and, well, I like to be here with Colton. But in a small town like Cooper Valley, I get plenty of requests.”
“I’m impressed.”
Marina cocked her head. “Do you like sweets?”
Lyssa waved her hand through the air. “Who doesn’t?”
“Johnny, I like her already.” Marina winked at me.
I gave a sly grin in return as I handed Lyssa a mug. “Want milk or sugar?”
She shook her head. “No, black’s fine.”
Colton came in and kissed Marina on the temple. He wore jeans and a t-shirt, his usual work clothes. At this time of day, I wasn’t sure if he’d recently come in from chores or was heading out.
Rob and Willow followed not far behind, hearing the conversation. I introduced each of them to Lyssa, and Rob and Willow poured themselves fresh coffee.
“So, where did you and Johnny meet?” Colton asked. It sounded like an innocent question, but I knew they all hung on the answer. I wouldn’t have brought a female back here unless she was my mate. Not to the main house especially.
“She, uh, works for Mitch Chapman up at his ranch.”
“Oh?” Colton’s brows shot up, clearly having heard about him from his brother. He turned his attention to Lyssa. “How long have you been working for him?”
She glanced away. “Oh, um…not long. A few months. It’s a…transition job for me.”
She sounded uncomfortable. Looked it, too. I smelled the tinge of anxiety that belied an untruth. But what would she be lying about?
Ah. I remembered what she’d said about her real profession and jumped in to put her at ease. “Lyssa is a special effects designer.”
“No kidding!” Marina exclaimed. “Like, for movies?”
Lyssa nodded. “Yes.”
I kicked myself for not already knowing the answer. I still had a thousand things to learn about the female I was going to spend the rest of my life with–the first being how to convince her of the fact that she was mine.
“So, who do you work for?” Willow asked. “Can you do that remotely?”
Again, Lyssa seemed uncomfortable. “I, uh, worked for a company in Hollywood, but I quit recently before I came here.”
Rob sent me a look.
Like me, he caught her hesitation. Almost as if she didn’t want to share something. But it could be anything. Maybe she got fired instead of quit. Maybe she just didn’t like being grilled by my pack mates.
Maybe this was all moving too fast for someone she just met yesterday. She thought she was having a wild fling, and I brought her in to meet the family. I guess that could be awkward.
I should get her out of here. We needed to get to know each other out of the sheets. In them, too.
But Rob was in grilling mode now. “How do you like ranch life? What does Mitch have you doing over there?”
Lyssa’s eyes widened, and she made a jerky movement that resulted in spilling her coffee on the kitchen floor. “Oh, whoops!” She looked around wildly for a towel.
“No worries.” I grabbed one from the oven door handle and mopped it up, trying to put her at ease. My mate was getting jumpy. I didn’t want her to regret coming here with me. “Okay, enough grilling of my girlfriend.”
“Girlfriend?” She turned her face up to mine, surprise etched in the rise of her dark shapely brows.
Oops. Did I freak her out? At least I hadn’t said mate.
I gave her a lopsided smile, trying to ease the tension. “Hot date? New friend? What do you prefer?”
Our gazes tangled and held, and a more confident smile widened her cheeks. “I don’t know. Let’s go with hot date. Lyssa is all about hot dates.”