Page 20 of Meant for Her

No sooner had Malia slipped out of her car than the front door to their house opened. Who should be standing there but Luke.Damn. She painted on a smile and walked toward him with as much confidence as she could muster.

“Hey.” Malia tried to sound friendly.

“What are you doing here?” His tone was anything but nice.

“Can’t I stop by to see how you and Ryan are doing?”Whoops. She hadn’t meant to use that tired line.

“We’re fine.”

Malia wrapped her arms around her shoulders. “May I come in. I have some news about the rustlers.”

“Oh, shit. Have you been asking questions?”

Excuse me?She thought he’d be happy to have information that might lead to their capture. “Only to my relatives.”

The fact she was a Granger wouldn’t endear them to her, but there was no use hiding the fact at this point. “My uncle is the sheriff of Wildwood.”

“I know.”

He knew? How?

“So, may I come in? It’s kind of cold outside.”

Luke stepped to the side. When Malia moved past him to go into the house, invisible fingers seemed to touch every intimate part of her body.Holy hell. Okay, that sealed the deal—at least on her side. Luke was her mate too.

When she spun around to see if he was as affected, Luke once more looked away. She wasn’t sure what to make of it, but it was possible he was feeling the same thing. If so, why was he being so rude? Right now, she had other things on her mind.

He walked past her. “Can I get you a beer?”

“Sure.” She didn’t want to come across as being stuffy. “Where’s Ryan?”

“Out.”

The man was not exactly the communicative type. “That is dangerous.”

The refrigerator door opened and then closed. Malia debated following him into the kitchen, but she didn’t want to overstep her welcome.

Luke returned and handed her the bottle. Since he probably wasn’t going to ask her to sit down, she did anyway. Once she removed her scarf and jacket, she faced him. “My uncle is going to call Sheriff Hanson and ask about the cattle rustlers.”

“We can handle it.”

“Can you handle a human finding out that you and Ryan are werewolves?”

“How would he figure that out?” Luke asked.

“While your injuries weren’t terribly severe, Ryan’s were. If he’d been human, he’d still be in the hospital. How are you going to explain to the sheriff that you appear to be in perfect health a day after you were shot twice? He saw the bullet wounds and the condition of your face. If nothing else, you should be sporting some bruises.”

Luke stabbed his fingers through his hair. “Fuck. I hadn’t thought of that.”

“It’s going to be hard enough to explain why you aren’t in the hospital a day after the shooting. I hope he checks it out today since it’s my day off. At some point, he’ll come knocking on your door. I suggest you limp and wince a lot if he comes here.”

“Thanks for that suggestion.”

“How bad was the damage to the ranch’s bottom line?”

His lips pressed together as if he was debating whether to tell her anything. “I don’t know. Ryan is out there now assessing the situation. I’m hoping they didn’t steal our pregnant cows.”

Since it took a little over nine months for the cows to give birth, it would be a long time to wait for more to be born. “I’m sorry.”

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