Page 68 of Hers to Call
He put in in the cup holder between them. “It’s small enough to fit in your pocket…you know, for emergencies.”
Calita eyed it, her stomach roiling. For emergencies he said. Her gaze darted to him, but he was looking out of the window, his body relaxed. She could take the knife or not, it didn’t seem to make a difference to him. Something else the women had shared with her on clan night occurred to her in that moment...
“Is it true that mates can share feelings, like tell what the other person is feeling?”
Zeke turned back to her and gave her an assessing glance, but nodded after a moment.
She sighed, relieved. If there was truly an emergency, then Simon would know. Oddly reassured, she put the car in reverse. She could, in fact, do this.
***
Simon checked the time on his watch, his mind, as always, on Calita. She’d been gone the whole day. He hadn’t had time to dwell on it while he’d been working. His day had been spent as he’d told her earlier, riding the fence line and repairing any holes they found. He checked over some of the empty cabins to make sure they didn’t need repair, and visited some of his more introverted bears. The government may have made laws that put them all in proximity to one another, but some of his bears still hadn’t adapted. Yeah, they’d moved onto the Sanctuary, but they kept to themselves.
Once a month he and Gavin made it a point to visit them and make sure they had everything they needed. Every bear he’d come into contact with as he went about his day, sniffed at him and then offered congratulations. He knew the news would be all over town the moment Calita stepped foot into the diner. He was very happy about that. Gavin had teased him all day and was still at it as Simon dropped him off at the Beta cabin, done with their day. For all Gavin’s ribbing, it didn’t remove the smug smile Simon had worn on his face all day. Night had fallen and he was still smiling.
His phone beeped and he hoped it was a message from his mate telling him she’d made it home. He’d texted her earlier in the morning to make sure she’d made it into work, but hadn’t heard anything else from her. It was a text from her saying that she would be a little late because she was packing her hotel room up.
Simon smiled, his bear excited. He realized that the text was hours old, which meant he’d missed it while he was out. Hopefully she wouldn’t worry. As though a dam had burst, his phone started beeping with messages he’d missed while he’d been in the woods checking on his bears. He ignored them all when a call from Nate came through.
“Yeah?”
“Me and a deputy followed Charles and Miranda across the county line.” Nate told him.
“Good. Any trouble?”
“Not so far. I’ll keep you posted, of course.”
“Thanks, Nate.”
“Anytime, cousin.”
Simon pulled his truck around to the parking spot where he normally parked and made the trek to the house, his heart lightened.
The smell of baking desserts greeted him as he sat down in the mudroom. His smile widened. Having Calita with him in the house was having some serious benefits.
He walked up on her as she was icing a cake. “You smell amazing.” He inhaled at the side of her neck.
“You talking to me or the cake?”
He gripped her waist and brought her into his hard on. “What do you think?”
“I don’t know, you could have a cake fetish.”
He snorted, licking over his mating mark. “How was your day?”
She put down the utensil she was using and turned in his arms. “It was full of congratulations and gossip.”
He sipped at her lips. “Any gossip I should know about?” Not that he cared, if it was important, it would filter back to him eventually.
“Well…”
He tuned her out as she launched into town gossip. The smell of her was rousing his bear, the animal caring only for wallowing in her scent. How amenable would their mate be to heading upstairs before dinner? He slid his hand under her shirt and closed his eyes. Her skin was soft under his calloused hands. Everything about Calita was soft, in all the best ways. She stopped talking and he looked up, his eyes hooded, drunk off her scent. She smiled and shook her head.
“You didn’t hear anything I said.”
He debated admitting that he’d zoned out, but instead changed the subject. “Did you clear out your hotel room, or do you need more help?”
She turned back to her cake. “I got everything. It was just clothes.”
