Page 31 of Paws for a Minute

Yeah. He found Alana annoying, all right, but that didn’t mean he could keep away from her. That’s why he wouldn’t know what to say if she wanted to pretend last night had never happened.

If she wanted to erase their night together? No.

He wouldn’t be able to do that, even if she drove him nuts sometimes.

But hang on,his wolf argued.She was only annoying because you didn’t want to be into her. We are obviously so into her that we slept with her in her store’s living room. Not a classy move. You’re already going to have to make up for that, so don’t mess this morning up because you’re overthinking things again. Alana isNOTAmanda.

His wolf was right, of course. There was nothing of his ex in Alana Wixx, but that’s not why he felt so pulled by her. Cohen was sure it was because he had to be suspicious of her, but now he suspected there was a whole lot more to it.

There was nothing for it. He couldn’t blame the earthquake, and he sure as shit couldn’t blame their night together on a momentarily lapse of judgment. Not now. Not if he was honest with himself.

Cohenwantedto fuck Alana last night. This morning, he wanted to make love to her, and he didn’t know what to do with that.

The only thing he could think to do was to go into the diner and see if Alana felt the same way he did now that they knew how things could be between them.

With a resolute sigh and his back straight, Cohen walked into the diner and beelined it for the back booth that he and Alana had been fighting over since his very first day in Half Moon Key. No one in town was surprised to see him walk up to a woman he was always bickering with. In fact, the whole town would probably go through some kind of revolt if Cohen and Alanadidn’tfight.

This morning was different, though. This morning, when Cohen sat down, Alana didn’t flinch. She smiled at him warmly, her eyes nearly melting with the heat she threw his way. Maybehewas the one that was melting, though, because hers wasn’t the kind of smile that a woman gave to a man she was going to let down easily.

It was the kind of smile a woman gave a man she was happy to see. One she might have spent the whole night thinking about.

“Morning, Cohen,” she said. “I took the liberty of ordering you a coffee already. Hope that’s okay.”

He returned her smile. “It’s very thoughtful, thanks. Am I late?” He longed to reach over the table to take her hand in his. Cohen just wanted to touch her, any part of her that he could. Now that he had touched her so intimately, he found he wanted to constantly be close enough to touch her.

Alana shook her head. “Oh, no, you’re not late. I’m early. I couldn’t sleep,” she added with a shrug that made her hair flutter around her in a cloud of red softness. It gave Cohen vivid memories of last night, and he wanted to reach over and run his hands through the crimson strands. He knew they smelled like honey and sunshine and burning candles. It wasn’t a smell he had ever come across, but it was intoxicatingly his favorite aroma in the whole world now.

“Ah.” Cohen stirred some milk and sugar into his coffee. “And did you use the sleepless night to think about our situation?”

“Our situation?” she laughed, meeting his gaze before blushing deeply. “Is that what we’re calling last night? Our situation?”

“We can call it whatever you want, Alana.” He reached over and took her hands in his, about as bold as he could be. “I mean that, love. We can be anything you want us to be. I’ll let you take the lead.”

That he trusted her enough to even say that ... and mean it ... was a true testament that he had forgotten all about the pain of his past heartbreak.

“Cohen,” she looked into his eyes. “You can’t mean that. Tell me what you want this to be. This is a two-way street. I want us to be on the same page. I don’t think either one of us is ready to live through heartbreak.”

“You’re right. The town doesn’t deserve that either. Us fighting for real, I mean.”

Alana rolled her eyes, trying to hide her grin. “Well?” she pressed after taking a gulp of her coffee.

“If you insist on knowing where I’m at? Fine, here it is.” He took a deep breath and rushed out the words. “I don’t think it was just one time, one night. I would like to have more time with you, Alana.”Probably forever wouldn’t even be enough.

“Oh. Okay. Well, good. That’s exactly what I wanted too. To spend more time with you, I mean.”

He grinned. “Yeah, I understood.” He intertwined their fingers while his heart exploded with the sheer happiness he felt.

“Good,” Alana stammered. “So.”

“So,” he repeated, still smiling. “I can finally tell you that I really want to kiss you right now.”

Alana blushed, but she bit into her lip, apparently pleased that he wanted it as much as she did. “And will you kiss me?”

In tandem, they took stock of the number of people in the crowded diner. The breakfast crowd was one of the biggest Moonie’s saw throughout the day because Mason made the best chocolate chip pancakes. They were quickly becoming a favorite like the chef himself.

It was gratifying for Cohen to see that his flighty little brother was finally settling down with a woman who could keep him entertained for a long time. And that Lila had a restaurant they could run together? That proved to him the engaged couple really did belong together.

“I will only kiss you if you are okay with it. It’s entirely up to you. The second I leave this side of the booth to sit on that side, the whole town will know. The whole town will also know if I kiss you in this crowded diner.”

---