Page 66 of What a Wolf Wants
“I’ll let the two of you look at the house alone together.” Jennie went outside to give them some privacy.
Once Jennie had closed the front door, Ethan pulled Charlene in for another warm embrace. “I had to protect Renault if anyone bad was following him, but my main concern truly was you. I didn’t tell Noah to go watch over you. I just told him what I was concerned with and what I was doing. He wasn’t supposed to let you know he was observing your place.”
She laughed. “He was hiding in the woods, but I just happened to look out the window and saw him move into them. It was pure dumb luck.”
“Oh, good. I was going to give him hell for not doing it undercover.”
She smiled. “You don’t need to now. I want to learn what had happened to you and Renault, but I also want your opinion on buying this house as a rental.”
“Really? Yeah, sure. I would be honored. So Renault and I took down Thor and he is off to jail.”
“Ohmigod, really?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s so great.” She hugged him back and kissed him.
“I know, right? I’m glad we got him. So, what do you think about the house?”
“I love it, but I want you to look at all the bedrooms, the bathrooms, kitchen, deck, view, et cetera.”
“Wow, this is a really big place.” He discussed the open-layout plan with a kitchen that opened up into the dining room and living room.
“Yeah, I know. I was thinking”—she sighed—“that maybe I could move here if you would like to move in with me permanently.” That was the real reason she had wanted him here, but she hadn’t wanted to say that over the phone.
He smiled. “Are you asking me what I think you’re asking?”
“A mating? Yes.” She smiled. “If you agree and we want to have kids, this place is bigger. The beach access is great, and they have the same situation with walking right into the woods from the house.”
“Yes, on both counts. You have made me the happiest wolf alive.” He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off the floor and kissed her.
She smiled. “You make me feel the same way.”
“I want to take you right back to the house and mate you,” he said.
“Yeah, I’m pretty impatient about it too.” But then she took his hand and started walking him through the house. First things first.
“Well, the other home is lovely, but then you’ve decorated it beautifully,” he said.
“And it’s smaller. So having a family there would probably mean we would need to have the bigger place and yet the other house is big enough for renters.”
“True.” He eyed the master bathroom—the shower and the large whirlpool tub with jets. “Yeah, this works.”
She laughed.
The bathroom had individual sinks and lots of cabinetry for supplies. The toilet had its own separate little room.
“I love this closet in the master bedroom. It has even more room than the other house. The living room is bigger, and even the kitchen is,” Charlene said, walking back into the kitchen and checking out the pantry. “The kitchen is more open to the dining room and living room. This is really nice. It would be better for having friends from the Portland area visit, and we could entertain guests while we’re cooking.”
“We’ll have to get a wolf door for the house.”
“Yeah. I had one installed in the other house, but not in the rentals. With all the wolves renting them in future months, I’ll need to have those all fitted with wolf doors.”
“We will.”
She smiled. She really liked that she had a partner in managing the rental houses. “I guess when you truly retire, you’ll also be a rental manager .”
He smiled. “I can be on top of any maintenance needs too. You can take care of other customer complaints.”
