Page 59 of Cold Foot Croc

Sexiest woman he’d ever seen, easily.

“You look so pretty today,” he murmured, eyes on the road again.

“Okay, I’m going to say something, and then I’m going to hang up, because I’m a coward, and I don’t want you to feel pressure to say anything back. If you want, you can ignore it and pretend I never said anything at all when you get here. Okay?”

He couldn’t help his baffled smile. “Say it.”

“I have a crush on you. Okay, bye.”Click.

He checked the phone screen and sure enough, she’d hung up. Now his smile was growing megawatt, and took over his whole face. He felt the stretch of it.

She had a crush on him? Well, he’d known that. He’d felt it this week, but hearing her say it out loud? Hearing the truth in her voice as she admitted it? No one had ever got his heart racing like this.

He’d never cared about someone this deeply, or thought about someone outside of himself this much. He’d never checked his phone this many times with such hope inside of him. He’d never gotten so excited and happy just thinking about seeing someone, or being around them.

He’d never craved for someone to understand him this much.

When he pulled his truck up to the front street parking, right in front of the entry door, Raynah was outside on the worn wooden deck, her left cheek in the soft orange neon glow of a glowing bar sign that hung in the window. Her hair was floating in waves in the breeze, and she wore the prettiest smile. She looked as relieved as he felt.

He could tell from here that her belly was tight again. The second he got the truck into park, he pushed open his door and jogged around to the other side, strode right up to her, pulled her into his arms, and rested his cheek on the top of her head as he held her. She let him sway them side to side, let him hold her as tight as he wanted, let him kiss her head and grip the back of her hair firmly enough to pull her face back and up for him to kiss her lips.

“I care about you too,” he murmured, because the first thing he wanted to say to her was a response to her telling him she had a crush. It was too soon to tell her he loved her with every bonein his body, but he could say he cared about her, and hope she understood what he really meant.

Her lips curved up in the prettiest smile. “Really?”

Garret brushed a flyaway strand of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear, then leaned down and kissed her again.

She trembled under his touch, and he eased back. “You’re cold.”

“I’m a mess,” she whispered.

“You’re fine,” he assured her. “Come on.”

Garret got her in the truck and settled in. As soon as he got in, he reached into the back seat and grabbed his jacket, then pulled it over her lap. He turned the heat up as high as it would go. He would be scorched alive in no time, but that was okay as long as Raynah warmed up.

He needed to do more research on crocodiles in the wild, and also crocodile shifters. He’d done a few internet searches, but they hadn’t given him much information. He needed to dive deeper into it.

She leaned forward in the seat, hunching over her belly. Worried, he slid his hand to the swell there. It was so tight. “Hurting?”

“Just uncomfortable. I probably did too much today. I read these can go on for a few weeks before the baby comes.”

“Okay,” Garret said, making a mental note to research the Hixie-things tonight after Raynah went to sleep. Maybe he could figure out some tricks to make them ease up. Maybe certain foods would help? Or a massage? Or maybe he could ask the doctor tomorrow when she got the scan of the baby.

All he cared about was making things easier on her. It was much too soon to admit it, but Garret was starting to breathe for her smiles.

He connected a call to Wreck, who had given Garret his number yesterday before he’d left.

“Yep?” the Alpha of the Cold Foot Crew answered.

“Hey, Raynah has asked me to come see her place. I wanted to check in with you and make sure it was okay.”

Wreck took a few seconds to respond. “Garret, you don’t have to ask permission to come up here anymore. You’re welcome here.”

The line went dead, and Garret had to check his feelings for a moment. It meant something that Wreck was okay with him in his territory. As an outsider, it meant something big.

Raynah slipped her hand around the back of his arm, and rested her cheek against his arm as he kept his hand splayed protectively on her stomach.

“You liked that,” she said softly.

---