Page 21 of Kitten Kisses

Slater flexed for him, and Alex almost passed out. He already had huge biceps, and the curl only made it larger.

“No one likes a showoff.” He yanked on Slater’s arm to lower it but forgot what he was trying to do when he touched what felt like warm, hard steel. Then he pulled his hand back when he saw he was caressing the guy’s arm.

Slater looked tenderly at him. “You can pet me any time you want.”

Heat erupted in Alex’s face. “You get some kind of twisted thrill when you make me blush, don’t you?”

“Your whining isn’t the only thing I find endearing.” He lightly grazed a knuckle against Alex’s cheek. “Is your face the only place you blush?”

A burning heat sparked between them, a static charge filling Alex with a craving for those lips. Slater’s eyes reflected the same longing. Their heads gravitated closer, like two magnets irresistibly drawn to each other.

“What are you?” Alex whispered, their lips inches apart. “What do you want with me?”

He wasn’t speaking to Slater. Alex was talking to the glowing amber in his eyes. The beast was once again trying to pull him in, making Alex want to surrender to it.

“My Bengal tiger,” Slater said softly. “It—”

“Alex?”

He jerked his head away from Slater’s at the sound of his mother’s voice. Slater pulled back, his tiger receding.

“Mom?” He turned and saw her strolling across the street, looking as stunning as ever with her perfectly styled blonde hair and trendy outfit.

She was so beautiful, appearing a lot younger than her forty-six years. Any time they were out together, Alex had to scare away the vultures who hit on her.

Not that Alex was very intimidating, but so far, he’d done a good job of making the vultures fly away.

“I was heading to the diner to pick up the salon’s breakfast order.” She looked between them, her blue eyes wide with curiosity, silently asking Alex if this was the deputy friend.

“Could you be any more obvious?” Alex rolled his eyes. “Mom, this is Deputy Slater Kingsman. Slater, meet my mom, Rebecca Preston.”

“Becky,” she corrected, giving Alex a knowing smile.

“The pleasure is all mine, ma’am,” Slater replied with a charming smile.

“Is this the deputy who was at your place at seven this morning?” His mom raised an eyebrow.

“Nope. I like to rotate between all the deputies in town. Keeps things interesting.” Alex reached behind him and patted Slater’s arm. “Don’t worry, tiger. You’re still my number one cop.”

Both he and his mom turned to look at Slater when they heard him emit a low growl. Alex was just joking around, but apparently Slater didn’t find it very funny.

Alex slowly turned back around to face his mom. Slater said the tiger wouldn’t hurt him, but that deadly growl wasn’t comforting. Alex frowned when he felt Slater place his hand on the small of his back. Was that his way of claiming his territory?

“I have to get the food to the salon,” his mom said. “Make sure you two drop by my house for a visit. Don’t bring one of your other deputy boyfriends.” Her smile was teasing and pretty before she walked inside the diner.

Alex whipped around. “Seriously, you just had to growl in front of my mom?”

“You feel the strong pull.” Slater narrowed his eyes.

“What?” Alex scrunched up his face as he looked at him. “I fail to see how that has anything to do with that little snarl of yours.”

“Hummingbird.” Slater slowly blew out a breath. “Tease about rotating through men again and my growl won’t be so soft. Don’t even mention other men.”

“Screw you.” Alex punctuated each word with a poke to Slater’s chest. “You can’t tell me what I can joke about, and you can’t act like a jealous ape. I don’t even know if I’m your boyfriend or if we’re just friends who can’t keep our mouths and hands off each other.”

“We’re mates.” Slater’s voice was still a bit snarly.

Alex had a feeling he knew what that meant, but he was too pissed to care right now. “I’m going home. Go growl at a fire hydrant.”

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