Page 9 of To Teleport, or Not to Teleport?
I noted the empty foyer and ensuing silence as I walked down the hall. I’d only been maybe five minutes, seven tops. Reaching the foyer, I spun in a circle. When I found my missing guest, I stopped short, and my skirt wound around my legs as I stared at Grayson. He’d made himself comfortable in my reading nook. One ankle was crossed over the other as he leaned back in my cozy chair, Rita was on his lap, and his nose was in my current book.
“You better not have lost my spot,” I snapped.
One of his brows raised as his gaze peered over the book at me. “Don’t want to miss the part where Ken wraps her legs around his waist and—”
“Grayson!” I was equal parts turned on and horrified. “Don’t finish that sentence.”
“Oh,please do,” Rita purred.
He chuckled and set Rita on her hammock before pushing to his feet. He faced away from me as he grabbed one of the many bookmarks lying around and marked my spot. My mouth went dry when he discreetly adjusted himself.
Cami’s words came rushing back.Tell me if all of him is big.
If it was possible to blush with one’s entire body, I accomplished exactly that. My face was hot, and all the sensitive points in my body stood at attention. I couldn’t remember being so turned on.
“Rein it in, girl,” Rita muttered with an eye roll.
“Ready to go?” he asked, crossing my favorite room.
If only he knew how ready I was. “Yeah.”
“Always a pleasure, Rita,” he said, winking at my mischievous familiar.
I pushed him out the door before Rita could give a saucy reply.
“In a hurry?” he asked.
“Nope,” I said, popping the P.
“Rita looks good.”
I chuckled. “A diet of tuna, salmon, and anti-hair-ball dry food will do that.”
The timbre of his laugh swept through me, and I relaxed in a way I hadn’t during my bath. “I suppose so. Is it safe to assume that while you forgot about meeting me tonight, you also haven’t eaten?”
“I haven’t. I’m really sorry about… you know. Sometimes a book sucks you in and…” I shrugged.
He nodded. “Sometimes when I’m working on a piece, I become so mesmerized by sculpting the wood or metal into the image in my head, I don’t even realize the sun set and the moon rose. I get it, Lee.”
“Thank you.”
“Is the diner okay for dinner?”
“Yes. So where have you been all these years?” I asked, checking out his profile. He was taller than I’d remembered, and the lines of his jaw and neck were beautiful. If I had the talent of drawing or sculpting, I’d put them to work so I could always have a piece of him, in case he did decide to leave again.
“Here and there. When I first left, I wandered before settling in Man. There, a wolf Shifter named Shannon took me under his wing and taught me everything he knew. The man was a wizard at using a lathe. I’m still an amateur with the damn thing compared to him.”
I grinned at the admiration I heard in his voice. “He sounds like good people.”
“He was.”
Without thinking, my fingers threaded into his, and I squeezed. “I’m so sorry, Gray.”
Grayson returned my squeeze and smiled sadly at me. “You two would have loved each other. He was funny, smart, and had the biggest heart possible for a man who’d lost his mate.”
We turned onto Main Street and passed the school, barbershop, and hardware shop. Grayson pointed down a street we passed. “My shop is a block over that way.”
I grinned at him. “Well, I can’t wait to see everything you’ve learned.”
