“Here,” he said, sliding the plate across the counter. “Coffee’s on. There’s hot water and bacon coming up.”

“You can cook.”

He wasnotgoing to be offended at the shock in her voice. Dex had to remember most human men were fucking garbage.

Dex nodded, and flipped the bacon, eyes tracking her on instinct as she went for the coffee. Then he refocused on the bacon, clenching his teeth. He definitely shouldn’t have looked.

Nova opened a cupboard and grabbed a coffee cup, setting it on the counter with a tired sigh. Dex was aware of every tiny movement she made.

She was wearing his clothes.

Now hereallyunderstood.

Thiswas what she was so pissed about.

Because the second he saw her wearing his sweats and one of his loose tank tops with her chest tat, clearly not wearing a bra…

Dex wanted to tear that shirt off her with his teeth and lick her nipples until she screamed.

“The bacon is burning.”

He growled in irritation, grabbing what he could with the tongs and tossing it on her plate. Dex put the burnt ones on his and tried not to look at her again.

“Thank you,” she murmured. “For everything.”

“Mhm. Need me to wash your clothes?”

He could feel her attention zero in on him as she took a bite of bacon. “Is there something wrong with what I’m wearing?”

“Nope, just offering.” Fucking hell, why was she so perceptive?

He poured his own coffee and then sat next to her at the counter on one of the bar stools, shoveling food in his mouth before he could say anything else stupid.

“So, I don’t think I can sit around and watch TV,” she said, still studying him.

“What do you normally do during the day?” This wasn’t something he’d ever had to deal with before. Dex had no idea how she managed. What kind of work did she even do?

“Exercise, and then anything I need to do to get ready to look for work.” Nova shrugged and popped a piece of fruit in her mouth. “Usually when the sun starts dropping, I can manage if I need to go out. I just have to be prepared for it.”

What a weird thing, but Dex figured it wasn’t all that different from his own schedule. His was simply by choice. “Does it hurt?”

“The sun?” Nova sipped her black coffee.

He wrinkled his nose at the idea of tasting nothing but bitter beans. “Yeah, does it physically hurt?”

“My left eye is very light sensitive to the point of pain, but otherwise, no. I just…don’t like it.” Her shoulders hunched like she felt stupid.

Dex never realized how much he relied on scent before meeting her. He’d never been so blind to someone’s emotions and it was super fucking frustrating to constantly be guessing.

But he wasn’t going to ask her to take off her scent charm. There was no reason she should other than to make his life easier, and her discomfort wasn’t worth that.

“So, what work are you looking for then?” Dex finished off his omelet and realized his mistake when the plate was nearly empty. If he wasn’t eating, he had no excuse not to look at her.

“Bartending. What are we listening to?” Nova tapped her finger on the counter in time with the beat and he couldn’t resist anymore.

Fuck, she wasn’t just beautiful but hot as hell too.

The stark black tats were begging to be traced with his tongue, and her wet hair was hanging around her shoulders and down her back. Dex didn’t dare look down where he knew the curve of her breast was peeking out.