Page 5 of Fur-Ever Home

"No?" He frowned. Then he sniffed at his armpits. With a tug, he pulled off his tie, unbuttoned his dress shirt until I could see a tuft of light blond chest hair in the V opening, and then removed his jacket. He draped it over the fanny pack beneath the seat before him.

Then he practically shoved his armpit in my face. "How about now?"

I coughed and tried to move away from him, but I'd already fastened my seatbelt for takeoff.

"Get away from me," I growled.

"But we're … you really can't smell it?"

From the moment I'd walked through a cloud of flowery fragrance in coach, my sinuses had been acting up. Through my stuffy nose, Connor smelled like an alpha. I didn't know whathe wanted me to say, so I focused on what I could see. He had a swipe of mustard across his massive pec. There were a few unidentifiable crumbs near the opening of his breast pocket. And the most offensive thing about him was my first line of attack. "Maybe if you shove your fanny pack in my face, I'll be able to smell it. It sits closer to your balls, after all."

He didn't miss a beat. He leaned over and picked it up. "You think so?" Instead of shoving it in my face, he offered it to me with a shrug.

"No, I don't think so! Why do you even have that thing?"

"It's my carry-on," he said.

Damn. And I thought I traveled light. Granted, I didn't check a bag, and his was on its way to Phoenix.

"Sir, please secure your bag under the seat until the seatbelt sign is turned off." The flight attendant crossed his arms over his chest as he glared at both of us.

"Sniff it," he whispered. As he leaned forward, he shoved it in my face.

It was a nicer bag than I'd first thought. Black leather. Well sewn with a side flap like a messenger bag. I sniffed, but all I could smell was leather with a hint of alpha.

He frowned when I shrugged and leaned back. The first-class seat felt more like a recliner. I liked it a little too much. I could sleep in a chair like this. I needed it after a rough week of paper-thin hotel walls.

This plane hadthe best pillows. Nice, squishy, warm pillows.

Warm. Pillows.

I opened my eyes to find a powder-blue cushion with a swirl of yellow in my line of sight. Mustard yellow. Beneath the stain, there was now a darker blue drool spot.

I sat up with a yelp. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry!"

"For what?" Connor blinked at me. "You looked so peaceful." He brushed a strand of hair behind my ear. "Cute."

"I am not cute."

"That look right there? So cute."

My hands ached from the futile effort of bunching them into fists. I couldn't punch an alpha on a plane. I'd end up on the no-fly list.

"Why are you going to Orange County?" I asked instead.

"It was as close to Barclay Foods as I could get." He smirked. "Why, are you also flying to Orange County via Atlanta and Denver?"

"You didn't already know?"

He shook his head. "All flights to LA were full."

"Yeah. I booked late." I sighed and relaxed against my seat, still too close to his gigantic shoulder. How was he so big?

"The seatbelt light went off a while ago," he said. "If you want to get more comfortable."

I didn't like the hopeful glance he gave me. Thanks to my vivid imagination, I pictured him pulling me into his lap the moment I had the seatbelt undone. "I don't."

"Suit yourself." He sighed and leaned his head against the window. His whole body shifted away from me, leaving me feeling … cold. He'd been so warm, and I'd enjoyed it. I never enjoyed being this close to an alpha. I'd never even slept with an alpha, always too afraid they would follow me home and try to make me their mate for life.

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