Page 29 of Silver
“I thought about you and how I wanted to have an intimate connection with you.”
Immediately, I thought the same. The sexual advantages aside, I wanted that with Silver. It would be wonderful to be able to communicate with him that way. I couldn’t have my phone out while at work, and the ability to still have that connection with him would be wonderful.
“And there you are,”Silver said suddenly in my head. I gasped, looking at him with wide eyes.
“I heard you!”
Silver smiled, leaned in, and kissed me. “You did. That’s our connection. That’s the mate bond, and we can use it to talk to one another at all times. It’s going to be wonderful to be able to talk to you while I’m in the middle of a meeting with a client that I’d rather not be dealing with.”
“I was just thinking the same thing,” I told him. I took the initiative this time and leaned toward Silver and gave him a quick kiss. “I can’t have my phone out at work. That means I can’t always message you. But now, I’ll be able to talk to you. I won’t bug you all the time though. I understand you have things to do.”
“You wouldn’t ever be bugging me, Charlie.” Silver reached up and brushed my bangs to the side again. My hair was getting to be a bit unruly, and it was probably time for a trim, but that was going to have to wait. “I know it’s going to take time for you to get used having someone that wants to be with you. I do. More than I think you realize. I want us. I am all in here, and I plan on doing all of the romantic stuff. Not just because you’re my mate but because you deserve it.”
I looked down at Silver’s chest, remembering what he looked like without his shirt on. We’d done all sorts of things together last night and well into the early morning hours. So why was I suddenly feeling unsure and a bit guarded when he was talkingabout romance? “I would love nothing more than to have all of that. I know it would hurt not only me but my animal side a great deal if you didn’t really want me.”
Silver raised my face with a finger under my chin. “I do. I can tell you that I will always be truthful with you, and yes, like I said last evening, I’m going to be protective. It’s in my nature. I can’t help it. The fact that you’re my mate is going to make that even more so. But you can still have a life outside of us.”
I snorted. “I don’t have a life, Silver. I work, then come home and watch sitcoms. On my days off, I clean, run errands, and I do all the things I need for the upcoming week.”
“Yes, about that. Why were you saying you would have to skip meals next week?”
I sighed. “I can’t afford to eat out every day. I only get a thirty-minute break for lunch, and it takes at least twenty of that to leave the zoo. The restaurant is great, and its lunch menu is quite good. But it’s expensive. I can swing it once or twice a month, but I have to budget. I don’t make a whole lot. I really like my job though, and it’s low stress, but the pay isn’t anything that affords a life of luxury.”
“We won’t have that sort of talk just yet, but know that we’re going to have to eventually. I’m not asking you to quit, and I never will unless it starts to negatively affect you. But we will have that talk soon. But I can bring you lunches, and I am a good cook. I can help you meal prep if that’s what you really prefer.”
He was just the sweetest. “I appreciate that.”
“It’s what mates do, cutie.”
Silver’s phone ringing in his pocket interrupted us. He growled, and it was so damn sexy. “That’s Clay’s ringtone.”
I moved to get off Silver’s lap. “You should get it, then. I need to go find my phone and message Sam. I think it’s on the floor in your bedroom. It wasn’t in my pants when I put them backon this morning.” I looked at Silver. “Do you mind if I go look around under your bed?”
“Not at all. Feel free to look anywhere. I have nothing to hide from you.”
I nodded. I wasn’t going to go snooping through Silver’s things. I just needed to see where my phone had landed. Of course, knowing my sister, she’d probably sent so many texts, emails, and phone calls that it was probably dead by now. That would be something she would do. That or she’d go completely overboard and have Justin have one of his work buddies search for me. I groaned at that thought. Maybe I should call Justin first. Forget that he might be sleeping.
I wasn’t going to get myself worked up. I needed to find my phone first and see if she’d actually done something like that or not. It was possible that she’d only sent a message or two. Doubtful, but I could always hope.
As I entered the doorway to Silver’s bedroom, I heard what sounded like a vibrating phone. Well, it wasn’t dead just yet. That was a plus. Luckily for me, the vibrating continued, and I was able to locate my phone under the end of Silver’s bed. When I looked at it, my heart dropped. Thirty-two text messages and seven calls. I sighed. Yeah, she needed help. My first call needed to be to Justin and not Sam. The question was, would Justin answer, or would Sam? Only one way to find out. I found Justin’s contact, touched the number, and then waited.
Chapter Thirteen
Silver
“Charlie seems sweet.”
I glared at Clay. “My mate is incredibly sweet. What about it? Why are you mentioning Charlie?” I was…struggling today. My gorilla was on edge because Charlie had gotten up at the ass crack of dawn this morning and gone off to work. I’d been unable to go back to sleep and instead had come into work. I’d been able to catch up on some things that I’d missed yesterday, but as the day had gone on, I’d started to struggle a bit.
“Whoa,” Clay said, holding his hands out in front of him and taking a step back. “I didn’t mean anything by it, just stating what I noticed yesterday when we were helping you two move his things into your place.”
“Our place. It’s mine and Charlie’s home now.” That reminded me that I needed to schedule a time with Charlie to get to the bank to add him to my bank accounts, and I also needed to get him added to the deed of the house. It was ours now.
“You went somewhere.”
I focused back on Clay. “Thinking about all of the things we need to do. I should probably ask Charlie if he has any time off saved up that he can use a few days off. We need to get paperwork filed, and with him always at work when those offices are open, that’s going to be a bit of a challenge.” I leaned forward to grab the pen and start jotting down things that we needed to do.
“I’m surprised you came in today at all. Actually, we all are. With the way the two of you were staring at each other yesterday, I would have thought you’d spend the day in bed together.”
