Page 36 of Ravenous

“That was weird,” I muttered, closing and locking the door behind us.

Remy yawned. “I didn’t like her.” She sounded matter-of-fact. “Even if she is a wolf.”

A wolf! So cute, and I loved her childish creative genius. Because the womanhadseemed like a predator. And had long nails.

“Me, neither,” I agreed. “Come on, I see you yawning. I’ll read you a bedtime story.”

“Okay,” Remy agreed and led me to her bedroom. She picked out a mermaid book and climbed under the covers.

I sat beside her on the bed and started reading. Remy’s lids grew heavy, and she yawned again. I made my voice soft and soothing. When I finished reading, I didn’t move. Remy was already half asleep, snuggled up against me. I quietly closed the book, and she sighed as her little body grew heavier.

Her breathing slowed.

Damn, she was sweet. I leaned over and kissed the top of her head.

Afraid if I moved too soon, she’d wake up, I stayed where I was for another ten minutes and soaked up the sweetness of having a tiny human sleeping against me. It was a preciousness I hadn’t experienced before, and it made my chest ache a little.

I’d always wanted kids.

I didn’t know where this thing with Wes was going, but I was not at all deterred by the fact that he had a kid and was a package deal. Single dads were not a turn-off for me. If anything, it made Wes all the more attractive. I loved seeing him in daddy mode–the way his gruff exterior softened when he spoke to Remy. The way she was the center of his life.

I knew it meant he’d have less attention available for me, but I didn’t care. He’d shown up at my place with his buddies to repair my house, even though they were busy at the ranch. Even though he’d already taken time out of his day to, er…punishme.

What a hot punishment that had been.

I heard the sound of his truck pulling into the garage, and my pulse picked up speed. It was as if my body was already conditioned to get excited when he was around.

I carefully extricated myself from Remy to meet him.

Wes walked through the door and took my breath away. He was every inch the muscled, manly rancher, and I found the fact that he did hard physical labor sexy as hell.

I smiled as I walked toward him. “How’d it go?”

He took off his hat and clomped over to me in his cowboy boots. His hands settled on my hips. “Okay. How’d it go here?”

“Great. She’s been asleep for about fifteen minutes. But you had a visitor.”

His brows lowered. “A visitor?” he asked blankly. “Who?”

I shrugged. “Someone named Soraya.”

The color drained from his face. “Soraya.Fuck.”

“What?” I asked, instantly on alert from the way he spit out the curse. “Who is she?”

He scrubbed a hand over his stubbled jaw, suddenly looking weary. “She’s Remy’s mom.”

16

WES

My blood ran cold.

Joy reached for me. I’d had my hands on her hips before she told me about Soraya, and now she mimicked the gesture, touching my waist, looking up at me with a worried gaze.

She was the only reason I didn’t pick up a piece of furniture and hurl it at the wall.

“Fuck,” I repeated. My wolf was pacing and snarling, really unhappy that she-wolf came around.

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