Page 51 of Holly Jolly Heat
"I'm scared," she finally admitted. "Of losing control. Of losing my business. Of losing myself. But tonight, when those trolls were attacking you, I didn't think about any of that. I just thought about making it stop. About protecting you."
"That's pack instinct."
"I know. And that terrifies me. Because if I'm already acting on pack instinct, if I'm already breaking my own rules, where does it end? How do I maintain any professional boundaries?"
I stood, moving to sit on the edge of her bed, close but not touching, giving her space to breathe.
"You maintain boundaries by communicating them," I said. "By telling us what you need. By trusting us to respect those needs." I caught her eye. "Michelle, we're not trying to make you lose yourself. We're not trying to undermine your business. We're trying to build something with you. Pack and professional can coexist if we're intentional about it."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because I believe in you. I believe in your ability to navigate complicated situations. I believe that you're strong enough to have both, career and pack. I believe you don't have to choose."
Her eyes were bright with unshed tears. "What if I mess it up?"
"Then we'll figure it out together. That's what pack does." I reached out slowly, giving her time to pull away. She didn't. My fingers laced with hers. "Thank you. For tonight. For jumping in. For protecting me even though it scared you."
"You looked so hurt," she whispered. "When they called you lonely and said your girlfriend doesn't like you. You looked devastated."
"I was. Trolls always know exactly where to aim." I squeezed her hand gently. "But then you were there. Defending me. Choosing me. And I didn't feel lonely anymore."
A tear slipped down her cheek. "I hate that people hurt you. I hate that you have to deal with that."
"It's part of the job. But having you there made it better." I used my free hand to carefully wipe away her tear. "You made it better."
We sat there in charged silence, hands joined, close enough that I could see the gold flecks in her eyes and smell the sweet shift in her scent.
"Lucas," she breathed. "We shouldn't?—"
"I know. Boundaries." But I didn't move away. "Tell me to leave and I will."
She should have. Should have reinforced the distance, protected her walls, kept herself safe.
Instead she said: "Not yet. Stay. Just for a minute."
So I stayed.
We sat on her childhood bed, hands joined, close enough to kiss but not kissing, and it felt like everything I'd been searching for.
"Can I tell you something?" I asked quietly.
"Okay."
"When I saw you at Pike Place Market, I thought you were the most beautiful person I'd ever seen. And then I learned you were my manager, and I thought that was the cruelest cosmicjoke. But now, sitting here with you? I think it's perfect. We were building this before we even met. We just didn't know it was pack."
"We were building a professional relationship," she corrected, but there was no heat in it.
"We were building trust. Communication. Partnership. The foundation was already there. The pack bond just gave us a name for it."
She looked at our joined hands. "This is really happening, isn't it? We're really doing this."
"If you want to. At your pace. With your boundaries."
"I don't know what my boundaries are anymore. Tonight I broke all of them, well, most of them anyway."
"Then we'll figure out new ones. Together."
"You make everything sound so simple." She gave me a half-smile.
