Page 25 of Redeemed Wolf

“Well, in that case…” I began, unwrapping a straw to stab through the top of the juice box, before passing it across the table. “Maybe I could take you to dinner tonight. I promise it’ll be better than this pathetic lunch.”

He laughed, a musical sound that made my heart skip a beat. I instantly made it my life’s mission to make him laugh as much as possible, just so I could hear that sound every day for the rest of my life. When did I become such a sucker? I was only sad I hadn’t met him sooner.

“I dunno. I happen to think this might be the best lunch I’ve ever eaten. I can’t imagine how you’ll top it.”

Where I might’ve once made a sex joke about topping him, I kept it to myself this time. I was a changed man, after all. The way his eyes sparkled with mischief, though, made me wonder if he’d said it intentionally.

“Oh, I’m sure we’ll find a way.”

Chapter 12

Carter

I waited outside thelab, anxiously pacing, my shoes grinding the pavement on each pivot, before heading back for another pass. My insides were stretched to their breaking point. All afternoon, I’d been second-guessing my actions. I’d thought I was being bold by goading him into asking me out, but had I actually forced him into it? Maybe he’d never asked because he wasn’t really interested in me that way, but then I’d cornered him. Was he just being polite?

Stomach churning, I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to ignore the whispered commands flitting through my mind.Silas. Mate. Shift. Claim. I was seriously rethinking the decision to stop the meds. I reached into my pocket, fingering the pill bottle I’d stashed there. I could take one, I could make the voice stop… but the mere thought of it made my stomach clench, nausea roiling.

Whining, I let go of the bottle, dismissing the thought—for now.

Another minute passed, but it felt more like an hour. I should’ve gotten Silas’s phone number. Then I could’ve just gone home and waited for his text like a normal person, instead of stalking him outside work. I was going to scare him away, and it would serve me right. He was charming and sexy, clearly more experienced than I was, seeing as I had none. I was also his boss’s son.

Oh shit, what if he only asked me out because he thought I would get him fired otherwise?

Moaning, I gripped the sides of my skull as the noise got too loud, blaring and echoing and folding back on itself until I couldn’t possibly take another second of it.Gods, it… hurts…

But then the building’s front door opened and Silas stepped through, and everything came to a screeching halt. The doubt, the anxiety, the noise, it all just…poof. Disappeared. I sagged in relief as the tension evaporated.

I wasn’t even aware that I was searching out his scent until I had filled my lungs with it, holding it there as if I could somehow keep a piece of him inside me forever. And then his gaze came straight to me, as if he knew I was here and he was searching for me too.

His steps were hurried, not quite a jog, but eager nonetheless. “Hey,” he said, his smile almost shy as he approached me. “I realized too late that I never got your number. I was starting to worry about how I would get a hold of you.”

“I guess you would’ve just had to wait another day for our date.”

His pupils seemed to dilate, swallowing the iris until they were almost black. “I didn’t want to wait another day,” he said, his voice deepening until it was almost a purr.

The corner of my mouth hitched, and his eyes focused on the action. “Me neither. Which is why I’m waiting for you.”

“Well, then. Let’s remedy this little problem right now.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, unlocking it and passing it to me to enter my number into his contacts. Then I sent myself a text so that I would have his.

He peeked at his phone to see what I’d sent. “‘We haven’t even had dinner yet, and already I don’t want the night to end,’” he read, and hearing my words from his mouth made me feel so incredibly vulnerable. Was it too late to take them back? He looked back up at me, his smile blinding. “How did you know what I was thinking?”

I laughed, reaching for him before I’d even made the conscious decision to do it. I suddenly found his chest beneath my palm, warm and firm, and I blushed, stumbling back a step. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to—”

His hand snapped out and hooked into a beltloop, dragging me back until only a few inches separated us. “Well, then mean it next time,” he rasped.

His breath ghosted over my lips, and for one blissful second, I thought for sure I was about to experience my first kiss, but just as my eyes drifted shut, I felt him step back, a gust of cool air rushing to fill the space between us. I blinked owlishly, confused by the quick shift in temperature.

Silas glanced up at the security camera mounted on the corner of the building, pointed in our general direction, then over his shoulder toward the guard station at the gate. “Maybe we should save that for dessert,” he said, smirking playfully.

“I plan on holding you to that.”

He stepped back, retreating toward his car. My body was somehow reaching toward him, like a tether was dragging me after him, but I anchored my feet to the ground. “I’ll text you directions to the restaurant and meet you there.”

“Or I can just follow you.” He nodded, and I forcibly turned toward my own vehicle. Of course we needed to drive separately.It wasn’t like I was going home with him tonight. Was I? The thought put down roots in my mind, sprouting and blooming while I followed him out of the lot and down the highway. His chest had felt so solid through his shirt, and I had a pretty good imagination about what it might look like underneath. Would his freckles extend all the way down?

I swallowed hard, the seatbelt constrictive over my chest—and my lap. Fuck. I was about to show up to dinner with a boner, and he hadn’t even kissed me yet.

He pulled into a lot ahead, and I followed, parking beside him. My palms were damp with sweat on the steering wheel, and it took me three tries to unbuckle my seatbelt.

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