Page 46 of What a Wolf Wants
“Because he knew you lived out here too and he could possibly date you while he’s staying in Oyster Bay.” Ethan shook his head.
“Which isn’t happening,” Charlene said.
“So was that your news then? That Noah is coming to have breakfast with us in the morning?” Ethan asked.
“Yeah. I had no idea he was going to be living with you.” Charlene couldn’t believe how quickly their plans could be torn asunder.
“All right. That’ll work out. He’ll see that we’re together.The thing is I can’t really tell my boss no, I can’t work with him,” Ethan said.
“No, and you shouldn’t. This way you’ll have some legitimate backup. If nothing else, Noah is good at his job. He has earned all kinds of accolades through his work. He’s just not a good choice as a boyfriend for me.” She took a sip of her wine and then she smiled, thinking she had the perfect plan. “Okay, so how about this. You stay with me, and Noah can stay at the DEA’s rented house. That way the idea that he isn’t dating me will really sink in.”
“That works for me. Hopefully, he won’t tell my boss that I’m staying with my girlfriend.”
“He better not. So the other news is that Leidolf and Cassie talked to Noah about becoming a member of the pack and essentially a team player.”
Ethan laughed. “Knowing Leidolf, he gave Noah a dressing-down in case he thought to create problems in the pack—particularly with regard to you and me.”
“Yep.” She chuckled. “Noah needed that.”
“I’m glad to hear it. I packed a few things with me to stay for a couple of nights at your place. I only brought my clothes with me to Oyster Bay for while I am on the mission because the rental house was completely furnished. I put most of my stuff in storage until I figured out where I was going to permanently retire.”
“When is Noah moving into your place?” she asked.
“Tomorrow morning. After we have breakfast, I’ll go to the rental house with him and pack my stuff up to bring it over here.”
“I sure hope this works out.” She was still worried Noah might give Ethan a hard time. She didn’t think Noah would leave Ethan in the lurch if Kroner or his other cohorts were gunning for him though. Noah still had his reputation to maintain as a great DEA agent, and he was new at the job so he had to prove to the boss that he made the right hiring decision. Not to mention that if Ethan was injured or killed during the operation, Leidolf would look into it himself to make sure that Noah hadn’t had anything to do with it.
“If you feel like you need your own personal space or it’s not working out between us, I can always move back to the DEA rental house,” Ethan said.
She smiled and leaned over and kissed his cheek. “No.Youare going to work out beautifully. When I said I hope this works out, I was referring to you and Noah working together on the mission.”
“We have a job to do, and if he’s as dedicated to his work as you say he is, we won’t have any trouble.”
“I sure hope not.”
“Truthfully, I doubt he’ll want to have me, Leidolf, and the rest of the pack on his case.”
“Okay, I’m feeling better about all this. I was worried you would be staying at the other house, and he would slip away to try to start up a romance with me again.”
“That’s not happening.”
“No, it isn’t. But he might not believe that until he sees it for himself. I was worried I wouldn’t be as much of a help to you in taking these guys down since I don’t have a badge. I guess this leaves me out of working with you on the case.”
“Yeah. It’s better this way. I don’t want you getting hurt and I’m glad I’ll have Noah as backup. Are you ready for me to grill the steaks?”
“I sure am.”
Once the food was done, they opted to go outside on the back deck to eat. She hadn’t thought she would have companionship like this, so she was glad that she had furnished the deck for company with two couches and two chairs, a coffee table and a table with four chairs. The patio was covered, so when it rained, they still could sit outside. It was just perfect for watching the sunset and eating meals out here, especially when the weather was really beautiful. They sat at the table and started to eat their steaks, corn on the cob, and baked potatoes.
“This is delicious,” Charlene said. “I’m so glad that you offered to cook the steaks.”
“Me too. I love grilling steaks, but I can make us grilled chicken, brisket, you name it.”
“It all sounds great to me. After dinner, let’s just find something to watch on TV.” She didn’t have a fancy grill, but she figured if things worked out between them, that would make for a nice investment.
“Yeah, what appeals to you?”
“Oh, some kind of a survival show? I always think of how it would be if one of our kind went on a trip like that and turned wolf to catch our food, were protected from the biting bugs because of our double wolf coats, could drink the water without boiling it or purifying it, take care of poisonous snakes with a chomp, chase off wild boar and crocs, or take them down to cook up and eat.”
