Page 8 of Lawful Mate
“Uh… no?”
Was that a question?
He turned on some music to lighten the mood. A pretty tune his sister had programmed into his phone came on, heavy on the drums, violin, and piano. Something to break up the monotony of your hard rock and metal, she’d said.
Ivy looked at him sheepishly. “I was in Kim’s office when she was talking to Delphine on the phone.”
“Why was she talking to Delphine?”
“Well… er.”
Theo understood Ivy’s hesitance. She clearly had some sort of familiar relationship with his mother, one he was certain preceded a one-week acquaintance.
She took a deep breath. “I think Delphine kept trying to reach you at the office. Kim sort of went all alpha and mama be… tiger on her.”
“Poisonous lynx, huh?” He shook his head. That definitely sounded like his mother. No wonder his week had been Delphine-free. Though, as Ivy had put it, his mother was very much a mama tiger. Add to that, she was an Alpha, which made his mother a lethal combination to anyone who dared mess with her kids. She didn’t often interfere. She left Theo and Roslyn, with their own alpha blood, to fight their own battles. Delphine must have hit his mother’s very last nerve, and Ivy bore witness to it all.
“Sorry if I was out of line. You seemed so tired of her bullshit as if you had nothing left in you to deal with it.”
“Thank you.” She hit the nail on the head there. He was touched she felt such concern for him.
“I just…” Ivy turned her head to face the window.
“You just what?”
“I felt suddenly protective of you—” A hiccup interrupted her.
Despite Theo being moved by her speech, a low throaty laugh escaped him. In his peripheral, he could see Ivy’s smile in the reflection of the car window.
“You’re so damn cute.” Fuck! That slipped out.
The song changed to a contemporary rock ballad about someone having to keep from drowning, which is how he felt right now. He was about to apologize when Ivy whispered, “So are you.” If it wasn’t for his shifter hearing, he might have missed it.
His tiger paced back and forth inside his mind, and he could have sworn the bastard smiled. There was no mistaking it now—Ivy was his. Now, all he had to do was convince her… but not tonight. She’d had too much to drink.
He walked her to her apartment. After Ivy unlocked it, she turned around to face him, leaning back against the door. Theo stepped in close, caging her between his arms. He wanted so badly to kiss her, feeling the ache deep inside his core, and he had to fight back the sudden urge to bite her.
The door of an apartment a few doors down opened, breaking the spell. A man in his late thirties to early forties peeked out his head and unabashedly leered at Ivy.
“Skeezy guy,” Ivy muttered in disgust.
He did look rather skeezy with straight, shoulder-length, mousy brown hair plastered to his face, thick, frog-like lips, and matching bulging eyes—definitely on something.
Theo pushed back against the door, reluctantly putting some distance between him and Ivy.
“Can I help you there, buddy?”
The guy just stared, and Theo could sense Ivy’s frustration.
“Why don’t you go back inside, yeah?” He wasn’t worried about Ivy’s safety—poor schlep didn’t know who he was messing with—but he hated that someone was making Ivy uncomfortable. Theo smiled widely, baring all his teeth menacingly. His prey’s eyes widened in fear, then Skeezy’s bulging eyes, along with the rest of him, disappeared back into his apartment.
“Does he do that often?” he asked Ivy.
She shrugged. “A lot less lately. I think I scare him.”
“Atta girl.” He leaned in closer, closing his eyes and inhaling her scent. “Have dinner with me tomorrow?”
“I can’t,” she said to his utter disappointment. “Not because I don’t want to,” she quickly added. “I’m going home for the weekend.” She gave him another one of her breath-stealing smiles. “Maybe if I’m not back too late on Sunday?”
