Page 20 of No Harm No Howl

Since Russ was nowhere near ready to say goodnight, he insisted. “I don’t mind. I’d rather make sure you get home safely.” There was no way he was going to let her go by herself. The alpha in him scoffed at the very idea of it.

“Okay, thanks,” she said, shifting back to her wolf form.

“You really are a beautiful beast,” he said before shifting.

Her wolf seemed to be in no real hurry to get back to her house. Instead of the all-out sprint he had expected, she kept her pace to a steady trot, which was fine with him. It allowed him to spend more time with her, even if their communication was currently limited to non-verbal communication.

Her neighborhood was in a decent small town with the average homes that could be found all across the country. He was familiar with the area and had several friends who lived nearby. Glancing down the road, he saw her security detail in a blacked-out Escalade parked half a block from her house. They were easy enough to miss unless you knew to be on the lookout for them.

Hiding behind a large shrub, Gia shifted back to her human form, safely out of the sight of any prying eyes. They may have questioned why she’d been behind the shrub, but he was pretty certain that she would be able to come up with a plausible explanation.

“Do you want me to give you a ride home?” Gia asked as she punched in the code on the box for her garage door. Walking inside, she motioned for him to follow her.

Once she closed the garage door, he shifted back to his human form to answer her question. “I’m heading back to the office. My car is there.”

“Do you need a ride? I don’t mind.”

“That kind of defeats me seeing you home safely,” he countered.

“We’re ten miles from the office. Let me grab my purse and keys. I’m not letting you run that far. I’d worry about you getting hit by a car or something.”

“Don’t tell me you care about me already?” he said in a joking tone.

“Hardly,” Gia laughed. “I’d just hate to lose my job. I just started, after all. What would happen if my boss got hit by a car?”

“Fine, you can give me a ride back to the office.”

“You can come in,” she said, opening the door to the house.

Russ followed behind her, wondering what her inner sanctum would be like. She led the way through a clean kitchen into a tidy living room. The older house had been updated as far as he could see. “You have a beautiful home,” he said as he continued to follow her.

“Thanks. This was always my dream. Owning my own home. I bought it when I was twenty-two. It was the happiest day of my life so far. I worked hard to save the down payment.”

“You should be proud of yourself. Did you do all the renovations in here?”

“I did.” She beamed with pride. “I had to YouTube just about everything, but I’m pretty damn handy if I do say so myself.”

God, he wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss the hell out of her, but he didn’t. He kept his feet firmly planted where they were, not touching the woman of his dreams … his fated mate.

“Wow. That’s impressive.” It wasn’t a lie. Most people would never be able to pull off the amount of work Gia had accomplished. Sure, most would dream of it. But actually putting in the effort. That was incredible.

“Ready?” She grabbed her purse and keys from a nearby table.

He wanted to say no. He wanted to tell her that he wasn’t ready to go home. That he wanted to remain in her presence. He wanted to tell her how his heart skipped a beat every time she smiled at him and how badly he wanted to hold her … to kiss her, but he didn’t. He nodded and followed her back into the garage, knowing that all of his wants would have to wait until she was ready to accept him as her mate.

At least he would get to spend all day with her tomorrow and every day that she worked as his assistant.

THIRTEEN

GIA

Her first week at WSI had flown by. Gia had somehow managed to brush off those pesky feelings for Russ that kept popping up here and there. She’d found the first couple of days hard, but she’d toughed it out and made it through. She could do this. She would do this. For her career. For herself … her goals.

Tomorrow was the big day. Her first trip with Russ. Gia had packed and repacked … checked, and double-checked her briefcase and suitcase. A nagging feeling tugged at her, it felt like she was forgetting something, but she had no idea what it could be.

“Four different outfits, two evening dresses, five different pairs of shoes, shorts, tank tops, underwear, bras, and stockings. What am I forgetting?” she asked.

“Girl, are you going on a business trip or a damn vacation?” Kendall asked as she made herself comfortable, sprawled out across Gia’s bed.

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