Page 81 of Locke 2

I held my breath, waiting for his response. I felt his eyes on me, taking me in. “If I’m the wolf, what does that make you, Kali?”

What did that make me? My mind searched for a quick response, but the only thing I could think about was the name I loved hearing on his tongue. “A little lioness, apparently,” I said in a small voice.

I was glad he couldn’t see my cheeks flaming. It took serious effort to talk to Locke with a bit of wit and sass. One had to be quick on their feet around him. He was serious and heavy, and it didn’t bother me, but I couldn’t see myself responding in kind. We had to balance each other out.

“That you are,” he replied, much too softly.

My whole body flushed, his gentle tone having a strange affect on me. I cleared my throat. “Now that I’m unemployed and sort of homeless, what are we doing this morning?”

“Breakfast,” he declared and, sensing my confusion, his voice sounded light as he added, “One can’t go beating on doors without food in their belly, can they?”

“You’re so good at it, I would have thought you’d have found a way around this irritating time suck.”

He stood up, towering over me. In a fresh suit, it occurred to me he’d changed and washed up. I could smell his cologne, fresh and delicious. “Unfortunately, I haven’t discovered a way to overcome our biological needs.”

I smiled wide, watching him make his way across the room. I hated that he was leaving. “I’ll find you downstairs then?”

“Downstairs,” he confirmed. “With your dog.”

My eyes bulged as I instinctively looked around the bed. Oh, my God. “I forgot to bring her up.”

“She made herself at home in Jem’s lap most of the night.”

Jem? I frowned. The dude didn’t strike me as the kind of guy that was tender to anything, even animals.

“Where did you sleep?” I wondered before he left me.

He paused at the door and turned his head to look at me. “Are you going to invite me into your bed again?”

“That was one time,” I corrected him. “And you made it clear it would only happen if we did more than sleep.”

“I was greedy.”

“Why didn’t you lay with me?”

“The same reason you hide.”

His words took me off guard. I licked my lips, searching for a safe topic, but there was nothing left. We were stripped bare. Nomore branches poked out around us to swing off when things got tricky. “How do we go forward, Locke?”

His answer came swift before he left me. “We start by having breakfast together, little lion.”

???

Breakfast was lively.

Jem and Conor’s voices were booming. I heard them as I descended the stairs. The scent of food wafted through the air. Bacon and eggs and waffles. I entered the kitchen, surprisingly feeling relaxed around three huge guys as they sat around the kitchen table, shoving food in their mouths.

“Nice of you to join us,” Jem said by way of greeting.

I had to look at him to see if he was being snarky, but there was nothing mean in his eyes as he looked at me. “Coffee is made. It ain’t that fucking enchanted shit you had when you bumped into your fancy doctor, but it’s loaded with caffeine.”

My heart spiked at the mention of the doctor. My eyes swung to Locke. He was piling food on two plates, unbothered. “Don’t worry,” Jem whispered, though everyone could hear. “He knew all about that doozy, apparently.”

“I know everything,” Locke stated.

I cracked a smile. “Is he dead then?”

They stilled, looking at me with surprise.

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