Page 16 of A Lady's Heart
Chapter Four
Justin waited outside the change rooms, nodding politely as other members of the class left. Some giggled as he dipped his head, but he barely gave any of the other women more than a passing glance, his focus fixed on the door Mandy should slip out of soon.
The bit of teasing between him and Mandy during the class had been nowhere near where he wanted to go, but the sweet, innocent interaction had felt right, as long as she didn’t plan to keep them going at that pace for another couple of months.
He’d hurriedly showered and dressed while considering hard. She’d been through a lot, he knew that. And for a human woman it would probably take a long time to recover from how she’d been treated. But as a shifter, she’d already made it clear she was taking steps to move on.
She never should’ve suffered in the first place, and the urge to track down her ex flared again. Justin let it go and refocused on the most important thing, which was him and Mandy, and finding how they fit.
More ways than one.
It was too much temptation for one man to bear, or maybe it was too much temptation for one bear to handle without losing control of his man. The woman he wanted with a desperate need had sat next to him clothed in a scrap of fabric he could ball into one fist and barely notice it was there.
Justin leaned against the wall and rested his head back, closing his eyes as he attempted to think of terrible things to get his cock to deflate.
The problem was, with his eyes closed it was too easy to drift back to the hot tub, the sweet scent of her filling his head. The scenario slipped farther in his mind than it had in reality as he imagined her straddling him, resting her hands on his shoulders as their bodies slid together.
He forced his attention back to the here and now, willing his body to stop tormenting him.
When she finally joined him, Mandy’s expression seemed dazed, and he jerked to attention. “What’s wrong?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know for sure. IthoughtI wore my watch, but it wasn’t in the locker. I was looking around to see if I’d left it anywhere. Sorry it took me so long—”
Justin went on high alert. “You think someone stole it?”
“Or I’m mistaken, and it’s back at my new place.” She offered him a sheepish smile. “I’m not completely settled in yet. It’s very possible I didn’t follow my usual routine.”
He didn’t want to alarm her, so he didn’t argue other than insisting they stop at the front desk where she left a description in case it was turned in to the lost and found.
Out in the parking lot, though, he couldn’t help himself. “Since we’re both going the same direction, how about we get down to one vehicle?”
Mandy considered the suggestion. “I suppose that makes sense.”
“Be nice to the environment,” he teased.
“I insist on paying for gas.” She tossed him her keys.
Okay, that was better than he’d expected.
With all the stalking—correction—with all thecasually happening to notice every single detail about her in a totally not stalker-ish creepy wayhe’d done, he’d figured she was going to insist on driving. He didn’t really care if it was her Jeep or his, as long as they were together in one vehicle.
He’d text one of the Takhini pack and get them to grab his vehicle from the swimming-pool parking lot. “What time is our art class, and do you have anything you need to do before then?”
Mandy asked to stop at the store, and he followed along happily as she selected a few things, pretending he was in dire need of some items himself. She strolled up and down the aisles wearing a contented expression, and he wasn’t about to do anything to wipe that expression off her face.
Shopping was followed by lunch at another a coffee shop, with sandwiches and pitcher-sized cups of coffee filled to the brim. It was brisk out, but both of them sat at their outdoor table in shirtsleeves, the cool air nowhere near enough to make their shifter blood need a jacket.
He let his gaze drift over her, admiring the bare skin he wanted to lick.
Mandy made a low noise of pleasure at the first bite into her sandwich, and a shiver raced up his spine.
He really had to stop connecting everything she did with sex. It was tough, because everything about her appealed to him on a completely animal level as well as fascinating his mind.
She daintily held her sandwich out. “You have to try this.”
He wrapped his fingers over hers and took a bite, overlapping where she’d already tried it, and he swore, as good as the sandwich was, the only thing he could taste was her.
“Delicious,” he said with a nod.
