Page 46 of Pack Scratch Fever

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10

POE

My own houseis torturing me.

My home office is hell.

The endless hours of work aren’t the worst part.

It’s the goddamn scent that wafts through every room.

Lemon and mint.

Sweet lemon bars and sugary, spicy mint.

Piper.

I have to reread words in contracts because my mind keeps drifting to a pair of pretty warm eyes and a lovely face, even when she’s scowling at me.

Or yelling at me for not being thrilled that the backyard is swarmed by cats.

Or telling me I smell like catnip, and that I need to get over it.

She’s a nuisance.

A gorgeous, ridiculous nuisance that I can’t stop thinking about.

Scent match.

The words Avery and Maddox keep using float around in my head.

Just because she smells exquisite doesn’t mean she’s a scent match.

And even if she was, so what?

There’s a knock at my office door, and then it opens.

“Hey.” Maddox leans against the doorway, grinning. “How’s work, sunshine?”

I grimace. “Contracts for rich assholes.”

He cocks an eyebrow. “Aren’t you a rich asshole?”

I narrow my eyes. “I’m not an asshole.”

Maddox laughs.

Ever since Piper waltzed into our lives, he’s been insufferably energetic. He’s practically bouncing off the walls, running around and being louder than he usually is.

And it hasn’t even been aweek.

“What are you doing later?” he asks, tapping his booted foot impatiently against the wall.

“Why do you have your shoes on in the house?”

He rolls his eyes. “Because I’m going out soon, and I wanted to know if you wanted to come with me.”

I sigh and spin my chair around to face him. “I can’t,” I grumble.

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