Page 16 of Sunshine

“Oh, I wear the jacket open.” Julian’s grin turned hot again. “Or without my shirt on but airbrushing the bondmarks out.”

I shook my head. “Tell them to shove it and take whatever sort of pictureyouwant. For charity.”

“Yeah, I’ll think of the puppies.” Julian grabbed some popcorn.

“Yes, the starving orphans.” I struggled not to picture him posing shirtless. Failed horribly and grabbed my water. It was hot in here.

He laughed. “I’ll think of the cause and grin and bear it.”

“So will the public when we pay for the calendar.” I smirked.

“Speaking of, you’re coming to the First Responder’s Festival, right?”

“We’re working a booth this year.” I kept my attention on the TV. My face was hot, and my insides felt squirmy. I wasplastered against Julian’s side, but it didn’t feel close enough. I wanted more. More touching, more of his scent, more of that flirty smirk he gave me when he knew I was picturing him shirtless.

“I got roped into helping out with the ice bath booth again.”

“The what now?”

“The ice bath.” Julian gave me an innocent look, so I knew he was up to something. “I’m going to sit in a massive tub filled with ice water. People come sit with me and the longer they stay in, the more money gets donated.”

I was going to need some sort of ice bath to cool my hormones. My skin prickled, and I could feel myself getting wet from all the lewd images floating through my mind. Julian wet. Julian in a wet t-shirt. I edited out the part about freezing cold water and focused on Julian wet and sexy.

Thank heavens I wasn’t an omega, or I would be perfuming like crazy.

“That sounds horrible.”

Julian shrugged. “It gets your adrenaline going.”

“Aaand the real reason you became a firefighter surfaces.”

Julian let out a real laugh. “That and I get to carry a massive hose around all day.”

“Youwouldthink that was a perk.” I shook my head and changed the subject. It was going to be another lonely night for me when Julian went home to his pack.

Apparently to get railed by his alphas. I tried to get the images of the three of them thrusting into each other out of my mind, but it was too late. Sometimes Rob had become possessive about wanting Mason smelling like him and he’d come all over him. It wasn’t something I was part of, but I was allowed to watch, and the idea of being scented and marked had always made me squirm.

I pushed all those heated thoughts away. Julian wasn’t going to be mine, not like that. Their pack was closed, and I should be respectful of that.

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching TV. I kept my mind off how good it would feel to crawl into Julian’s lap, mostly, and when he left, he made me promise we could do something on his next swing shift.

I said yes because I was a glutton for punishment, and no matter how much I tried to keep my distance, being around Julian felt like home.

Chapter 6

Sunshine

The next week flashed by in a blur. The whole time, my sister Luna was being extra quiet, but she hadn’t talked to anyone about why. Stella was so happy with her pack, she was practically dancing. That was good. I’d hate to have had to help Zephyr hide the bodies if they hurt her.

As if I’d summoned him with my thoughts, my alpha cousin appeared in my doorway. Zephyr had thick brown hair that he usually pulled into a ponytail and deep brown eyes that made him look like a mournful poet. He was reserved, which meant people threw themselves harder at him.

He was barely a year younger than me but still acted like an overprotective older brother. With him and Terran being the only men in the family, they had their work cut out for them.

“How did the event go?” Zephyr asked, then glanced around my office which had gotten messier than usual. “Raina is going to pop if she sees your office.”

“Raina can bite me.” I crossed my arms over my chest. My temples had been pounding all day, and the headache was steadily growing worse. “I’m busy. You know, making money.”

“Yep. Speaking of, a new client has dropped by. She’s in the lobby. Said Chef Kahele recommended you.”

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