Page 20 of Brick

“Hell no, I don’t want to be alpha.”

She laughed at his tone. “No?”

“Absolutely not. I deal with enough headaches as the number two, but Adam also has to play diplomat with the Wiccans, vampires, and other shifter groups, not to mention keeping our pack safe, plus his mate and their future children. It’s a huge job. He delegates a lot to me, but he’s got a ton of responsibilities. I’m happy being second-in-command.”

“That’s good, it would suck if you really wanted to be alpha but he changed the laws so you couldn’t be.”

“I’m sure it happens,” he said, “where someone believes they’re a better fit than the next in line, but that’s not me.”

While they drove to Alli’s, she told him about the visit with the pack females and how sweet everyone was, and he told her about the quiet afternoon on patrol. “I also set up the schedule for next week so that I had more free time.”

Her stomach flipped.

The way he said free time had a charged tone.

She bit her bottom lip, her cheeks heating as images played through her mind.

What the heck did he look like naked?

Good, she bet.

Fantastic.

Brick growled softly and reached for her hand, bringing it to his lips for a moment. “You smell incredible, Jade.”

She might have been a little embarrassed that he could smell how turned on she was, but she could tell he was too. He smelled amazing, like the best cologne she’d ever sniffed wrapped up in a devastatingly handsome package.

Dark eyes, dark hair, wicked smile.

Sex on a freaking stick.

Clearing her throat and trying to shove the sexy thoughts to the backburner for the time being, she gave his hand a squeeze as he rested it on his thigh.

“What are you planning for our first date?”

He glanced at her with a knowing smile. “Nice change of subject.”

“Well, I’m going to spontaneously combust if I don’t do that.”

“I wouldn’t want that to happen. At least not while we have clothes on.”

Oh my stars!

“Anyway,” he said, his voice rough for a moment, “I’ve got a reservation for dinner for us at this tiny Italian place. It’s close to Alli’s. When I say tiny, I mean it’s literally in the basement of a home that’s been kitted out like a restaurant. Everything’s fresh and made to order. Leo told me he’d seen something on social media about it, and Adam called on my behalf to see if they could seat us tonight, and they have a table for us.”

“Wow, sounds amazing, but honestly, it wouldn’t matter to me if we got burgers in a drive-thru as long as we were together.”

“I want to make sure we have the most amazing first date together. Whatever we do, as long as we’re together, I’ll be happy.”

She was sure she would be too.

Chapter

Ten

Brick couldn’t get over how good Jade smelled when she was turned on. Like melted sugar and sweet feminine heat. He wanted to pull over to the side of the road and kiss her and touch her and make her feel as amazing as he felt just being in her presence.

But he didn’t because he was a gentleman, damn it, and he was going to give his skittish sweetheart time to come to terms with her new life. He wanted to keep her safe, and he wasn’t going to be a caveman about anything. She could come to him when she was ready, and he’d be waiting.

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