Page 45 of Cold Foot Croc

She huffed a laugh. He was a good man. He was a caregiver. “In a little while. I don’t want this to end just yet.” Or ever, if she was being honest.

His eyes softened and he relaxed beside her, allowing her to tuck the double layer of sleeping bags over them.

“Tired?” he asked softly, as if he was trying to protect the magic of the moment.

“Relaxed.”

Garret ran a finger gently down her cheek. “None of that bothered you?”

She frowned. “Why would it bother me?”

“Because of what happened to you in Cold Foot.”

Ooooh. He was talking about her being a breeder, and not a willing one. Her eyes widened as she thought about it. Something huge hit her. “Do you know, I didn’t think about any of that?” Shocked, she told him, “You just made my head go entirely quiet.”

“Good,” he rumbled. “I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you.”

Her heart was so touched by his oath. She believed him. She could tell he believed himself.

She’d been around the other couples in the Cold Foot Crew, but she’d never understood the invisible bond that hung so thick in the air between them until now. She’d never understood the chemistry. Never understood the devotion, or the confidence they had with choosing their forever person.

The smile faded from his lips, and he propped up on his elbow. “Your eyes.”

She shook her head, not understanding.

“They’re brighter, and your pupils are just little slits.”

She checked herself. She felt fine, but she could feel the animal pressing against her mind.Not yet. Soon, but not yet,she told herself silently.

The animal didn’t answer, but Raynah could feel how she felt. There was no animosity, no panic, no desire to Change and risk the baby. Raynah could tell why she was pushing to be here.

“She is just saying hi to you,” Raynah whispered.

He traced her jawline and lay back down beside her, head resting on the jacket she’d wadded up for a pillow. “Beautiful Raynah,” he murmured. “You were wrong earlier.”

“About what?”

He swallowed audibly and traced his finger under her eye so gently. “You’re the one a man brings home to his mom.”

She didn’t know why, but those words made her want to cry. He was teaching her so much about herself.

“I take back my answer earlier,” he told her. “I would go back to my hometown again, when you and the baby are ready. I’ll take you.”

It wasn’t a blatant “I love you,” but it was as close as she’d ever come to hearing one from a man.

She should say something smooth back. Something where he would know she was falling in love with him too. “I promise I’ll never eat you.”

A split-second of surprise commandeered his face, and then he rolled onto his back and belted out a laugh.

“I’m serious. I won’t.” Leave it up to her to ruin a romantic moment.

“I never once questioned if you were going to eat me, Raynah,” he punched out through his laughter.

“Well, I was trying to be romantic!”

That made him laugh even harder, and now she was giggling because laughter was contagious.

“Good Lord, Raynah.”

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