“That good? Wow. I’m glad to hear it. Does that mean you’ll be sticking around permanently?”
“We haven’t done anything to guarantee that, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“But you’re considering it?”
“I have no protest against it.”
“Have you told Clay that?”
I sighed. “Do I really have to just tell him? Shouldn’t he know?”
She laughed. “Fat chance of that. Men are daft. They second-guess everything and aren’t as confident as they want us to think.”
“Was Thomas that way?”
I couldn’t imagine anyone calling an Alpha daft and getting away with it.
“Thomas knew what he wanted, and he wasn’t afraid to pursue it, but he’s still just a man, Winnie.”
“We haven’t really discussed it,” I admitted. “But things are good. Really good,” I tried to assure her.
“Great. So then tonight I’m dragging you to ladies’ night.”
“Um, no thanks. I have a lot of work to do and then we have a sort of evening routine to keep.”
I wasn’t about to admit how we’d broken that routine just last night.
Lily rolled her eyes. “I’m well aware of Clay’s evening routine. No one’s stopping him from watching his shows and all. I promise he’ll get over having you gone for one evening.”
I frowned, realizing I didn’t want him to get over that. I wanted him to want me to be there.
She shook her head. “You have it bad, girl.”
“I do?”
“Yes, and if you can’t see that, then you definitely need ladies’ night. Come, make some friends, hang out with me, drink some wine, eat some food, it’s the best night of the month.”
I didn’t want to tell her that nothing could possibly have topped last night for the best night of this month.
“I’m not taking no for an answer.”
“Can I just ask Clay first to make sure it’s okay?”
“You don’t exactly come across as someone who needs permission to do something. Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m usually pretty good about reading people, and I don’t get that vibe from you at all.”
I snorted because she was right.
“That’s what I thought, so come. I’ll pick you up here after work. Say around six?”
“No,” I told her firmly. “I am not going to meet a bunch of females from the Pack stinking of horse shit. You can pick me up at Clay’s instead.”
She grinned. “I like you, Winnie. I think we’re going to become fast friends.”
She was the Pack Mother, and I was nobody. I highly doubted she and I would ever be true friends, but I didn’t need her on my bad side either, so I would go and play nice, maybe even keep an open mind, and see how things went.
As soon as she was gone, I pulled out the cell phone my parents had given me and called Clay.
“Hello?”