Page 112 of Beau and the Beast

He checked Beau’s face to see if he was aware of the effect he was having—even though it seemed unlikely that Beau would be teasing him at the dinner table on purpose. Sure enough, Beau was looking intently at Song, a placid smile on his face. He had no idea.

Wolfram could barely draw a breath for fear that it might shudder or be followed by a low moan.

“What did she say when she realized you weren’t Lee?”

“She got mad atme!Can you even believe it?”

“Holy hell that’s awkward.”

“Right—and then westillhad to spend another hour on the phone talking about the grant process.”

Should he pull the tail away from Beau? Was it wrong to sit here and enjoy himself?

The conversation went on around him, no one noticing that he’d dropped out entirely.

Then the worst-case scenario unfurled before him. Wolfram started purring.

He didn’t even notice it was happening at first. He’d been so wrapped up in the feeling of Beau’s fingertips as they traced shapes into the skin of his tail that he’d lost all sense of self awareness. But when the conversation came to a halt, Wolfram looked up and saw that he’d become the unwanted center of attention.

Everyone’s eyes were on him.

“What?” he asked—and even as he said the word, it was apparentwhythey had all turned to him because he could hear the purr distorting his own voice. “Oh God,” he said, immediately embarrassed.

He clapped his hands over his mouth as if he could block the sound somehow. It took a few seconds of horror and concentration for him to stop.

“Were you growling?” Geoffrey asked, looking like he was thankful that there were several people between himself and Wolfram.

“Purring,” Beau corrected.

There was a collective “oh myGod” from those gathered at the table—and thankfully, Beau had stopped stroking his tail long enough for Wolfram to get his wits back.

“You purr?”

“Since when?”

“Are you okay?”

“It’s a new development,” Wolfram said, frowning.

“So what happened? Is she going to have their team of interns work on the grant process or do they need more training first?”

Oh Beau. Sweet Beau.He’d jumped back into the conversation immediately, sensing Wolfram’s discomfort with the topic. The rest followed his lead, attention diverting back to Song, despite the fact that theyclearlywanted to ask more questions about his purring. Thank God for Beau.

Beau gave his tale one last squeeze, a smile slipping across his face, before dropping it.

* * *

“Wouldyou like to come back to the study?” Wolfram asked, catching Beau after dinner.

The invitation certainly had a new sort of gravity, Beau thought.

Between the past few days, the purring, and the conversation he needed to have with Wolfram about Noah, they had plenty to talk about.

“Definitely,” Beau said. They left the others to finish cleaning up, Beau following him back. Soon they were tucked into the study and Wolfram had poured them both a few fingers of brandy. They settled close to each other, not quite touching, and Wolfram absentmindedly flopped his tail into Beau’s lap.

He took it in his hands and stroked his fingers through the long tuft of hair.

“I’m sorry about what happened at dinner—the tail thing,” Beau said. “I didn’t realize…”

---