Page 33 of Cold Foot Komodo

One day, and he couldn’t remember ever feeling this open with anyone, or this seen.

As the tingling faded away from his skin, Reed realized he’d been close to a Change and hadn’t registered it. Reading those texts aimed to hurt Sasha had dredged up the monster inside of him, but there was nothing here to protect her from. There was nothing the animal could do.

It was the man in him who just needed to listen. It was hard, and not at all how he was used to handling situations, but he could tell an ear was all she needed right now while she worked through her feelings of being away from that toxic environment, possibly for the first time ever. He could imagine the heaviness, and even the guilt in moments of happiness, or feeling like she didn’t deserve to enjoy her life because she had a devil on hershoulder with its claws dug in deep, telling her she deserved nothing.

He would think on this and try to find a solution where she could just let go and enjoy the process of the move as much as possible, but for now, hugging her seemed to settle her.

She even started eating her breakfast sandwich again as he held open the door for her.

The frigid wind was a shock as it blasted against his cheeks outside, but more shocking was when Sasha turned around, walking backward, and said, “I’m going to make you a Komodo Kit.”

“What’s that?” he asked.

“I’m going to get my hands on some good antibiotics and wound-cleaning kits, just in case you ever make a mistake or lose control of the animal. I’ll make you a safety net.” She smiled, and the twinkle was back in her pretty brown eyes. “That will be my first present to you for being so nice to me, LB.”

“What’s LB stand for?” he asked.

“Lizard Boy.”

His face stretched into a pleased smile. God, he loved when she was happy and teasing and light. She was resilient. He could tell. She bounced back quick and with purpose when something dug at her, and he respected that about her.

The more he learned about Sasha, the more he wanted to know.

Chapter Seven

Sasha had totally thought he would kiss her when Reed had dropped her off at her rental house this morning. Maybe he didn’t because he was needing to get to work. Although, technically he was already working by the time he dropped her off. He talked to his boss and did her entire neighborhood, so he had his bucket lowered when he pulled up to the house. He’d patted her leg and given her a hug, and let that embrace linger. When she’d eased back, she’d waited a few seconds, eyes locked on his, but he didn’t make a move. The pause had been too long, and she panicked and said goodbye, got out of the truck, and made her way to the door. He’d been gone by the time she’d turned around to wave.

The quick exit had confused her.

Maybe her family stuff was too heavy, too soon, and she got that. A man shouldn’t have to reassure and comfort a woman during the first twenty-four hours of meeting her.

“Hey,” someone called.

It was the neighbor, Garret. He was jogging through the overgrown, snow-covered yard. “Sorry, I was trying to catch you before you headed in.”

She didn’t know if she liked this. She didn’t like being flagged down in her territory, and whether this was a rental or not, it was her territory.

“Can I help you?”

“Yeah, I was just wanting to clear something up real quick.”

“You don’t have to clear anything up,” she said, feeling uneasy.

He cleared his throat and hooked his hands on his hips. “Look, I really don’t want any trouble from your Crew.”

“From my Crew?”

“Yeah. I’ve been trying to stay off of the radar and just keep to myself, but I got a call last night from someone with a lot of power. Clearly you went to the big dog about me.”

She frowned and cocked her head. “You think I told someone about you?”

He shrugged. “I just wanted to make it clear, I don’t want anything to do with any territory disputes. I didn’t know you were going to move next-door to me. I bought this house last year,” he said, gesturing to his place. “I had no idea there would be an organized Crew moving into the territory, or that my neighbor would be connected to the Cold Foot Crew, either. I just want to say it plain—I want no trouble.” He held his hands up in surrender. “I’m just trying to get through life, same as everyone else.”

She was still baffled. “I can totally understand that, but I haven’t talked to anyone about you.”

The softness fell from his eyes. “So it was your man then?”

“My man,” she gritted out. “You’re talking about Reed?” Her protective instincts were wrenching up.

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