Page 69 of Feeling the Heat: Part One
Her mouth falls open. “Wait, you’re seriously a lawyer?”
Ambrose nods. “For once, he’s not joking.”
“Hey! I can be serious,” I protest. I try to think of the last time that happened to give as an example, but draw a blank, and scowl when Ambrose laughs.
In truth, I don’t mind the ribbing at all seeing how it amuses Camille. I’ll happily be the butt of any joke to make her smile.
God, that makes me sound like such a simp. Though, I guess I joke about myself the same way to make River laugh, so maybe that’s just my default.
Camille reaches across the table to touch my hand, and my skin tingles pleasurably at the contact. “I believe you.” Her smile makes my stomach go all warm and gooey. “Is it rude for me to ask why you’re working as a heat minder and not a lawyer?”
I shake my head, smiling back at her. “Not rude. The whole point of tonight is to get to know each other. I stopped working as a lawyer because I needed a change. I didn’t go into the profession for the right reasons and it never was a good fit for me. The only thing I miss about it is the income, because now I’m practically a freeloader.”
There’s a sharp sting of inadequacy and guilt at admitting I don’t pull my weight for the pack. It’s embarrassing as fuck to admit that to the woman we’re trying to court.
Ambrose frowns. “You’re not a freeloader. That job was killing you, Jackson. If you hadn’t quit on your own, wewould’ve found a way to get you fired. Anything to get you out of that cesspool.”
“Wait, what?” He’s never said anything about getting me fired before.
Camille’s eyes dart between us, watching the exchange.
I lower my voice so I sound calmer. “How would you have gotten me fired?”
“We thought about pretending that you stole Dahlia from your coworker. He was enough of a cutthroat asshole to have lied and gone along with it.”
I gape at him in disbelief, glancing over at my girl, who is currently burrowed under a blanket on her bed on the other side of the dining room.
“You stole your dog from your coworker?” Camille asks, brows shooting up.
“No! I didn’t.” I cross my arms and glare at the alpha beside me. “Dude, quit making me look bad,” I hiss.
Camille laughs. “She’s pretty cute. I wouldn’t blame you if you had.”
“She’s the cutest,” I agree. “But I didn’t steal her. My shithead of a coworker wanted to put her down after she injured her back. He should’ve known that was a common risk with dachshunds before he bought her. The vet said that she could still have an active and happy life with the proper care and accommodations, but he didn’t want to bother. I begged him to let me adopt her instead, and thankfully, he agreed.”
I leave out the part where he called her too inconvenient now that she was “defective”.
This perfect, hilarious, wonderful treasure of a dog was “inconvenient”.
Fucking monster.
I barely resist the urge to go scoop Dolly up and give herkisses to reassure her she never has to deal with that jerk again, though I doubt she even remembers him.
“God, that’s awful. Some people don’t deserve to have pets.” Camille gives me a look so tender that I swear my heart skips a beat. “You’re an angel for saving her. She’s lucky to have you.”
I know she’s talking about Dahlia, but there’s something vulnerable in her tone that makes me think maybe she’s talking about herself a little, too.
“I’m the lucky one,” I say thickly. To my horror, tears well in my eyes.
Shit, I can’t cry on our first date!
Thankfully, the sound of the front door opening interrupts me. Dolly immediately perks up, letting out a soft bark with the blanket still draped over her head.
“Hey! Sorry I’m so late,” River calls from the entryway. “I tried to get here sooner, but I got caught up in a project I had to take over and then the bakery was out of all their cookies. Can you believe that? Who ever heard of running out of cookies?”
My packmate appears in the arched entryway to the dining area and freezes, his eyes going wide and mouth falling open as his eyes land on Camille.
The nervous smile she’d put on as she heard him approaching falters at his reaction to her presence.
