Page 72 of The Thief

Bear cursed under his breath. “Everyone okay?”

“That’s what you call a seat belt check,” I said, putting mine on.

All the locks clicked simultaneously, and the door to my right popped open. A bag flew into the row as Lucian climbed in, wearing a black tank top and jeans. He was handsome in his own way with sinewy muscles and good bone structure, but brooding men always made me uneasy. Aside from that, he was a Chitah, and his gaze felt like that of a predator on the hunt.

Bear twisted around. “Was jumping in the road necessary? I almost ran you over.”

“It was either that or chase after you. For your information, I flashed halfway here in these shoes. My feet hurt.”

I glanced down at his oxford wingtips. Lucian often wore them when we went out, but he also owned sneakers, which were common Chitah apparel.

Bear resumed driving. “You need a lift somewhere?”

“Home.” Lucian leaned back and ran his hand over his scalp.

Noticing the gleam of sweat on his brow, I lowered the temperature in the back seat.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. “You look like someone kicked your puppy.”

“Too much family time. I need my privacy.” He widened his legs. “Everyone’s celebrating the mothers. I don’t have one, so it was awkward.”

A car blared its horn at us.

Lucian rubbed his forehead and groaned. “I forgot how much I hate the city.”

Joy turned her head and gave us her profile. “Isn’t your brother visiting?”

“And we visited. It’s not like we’re estranged. I’ve been living with them for decades.” Lucian closed his golden eyes. “Besides, I don’t owe everyone an explanation about why I shaved my head. You know why I like living with Shifters? You can’t sniff out my emotions. I get a little privacy around here, not like with my brothers.” He took a deep breath, and then his jaw slackened. After another puff of air, he asked, “What have you three been doing?”

“Furniture shopping,” I replied.

“Hope mentioned that already. Why do you think I’m down here? I meant what’s that smell?”

My heart did a quickstep when I thought about how we were the ones who didn’t have privacy around a Chitah.

“Joy was eating barbecue chips,” I explained.

She giggled. “I washed my hands since then. You’re smelling the car, Lucian. It’s that new-car smell.”

He lifted his nose in the air. “It smells like arousal.”

I could have passed away right there in the seat. Then I remembered he could smell my embarrassment and fear, so I steered my thoughts to the businesses along the street.

“I ran errands in sketchy places,” Bear said. “Did you see my new smoker in the back?”

He was exceptionally smooth at switching topics.

Lucian twisted around in his seat to look.

“It’s for work,” Bear continued, “but it’s mine. I’m keeping it at home. Hope you like smoked meat.”

“Nice.” Lucian faced forward. “These seats are hard.”

“Then you can walk,” Bear suggested. “Or I can drop you off with Lakota.”

“I got a job offer, so I needed to head back early anyhow. Someone wants me to look at their security setup.”

“Sounds like money,” Bear said.

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