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“Who are you?”
“Nikan.” He held his hand out in greeting. “At your service.”
My eyebrow rose. “I’ve never had someone at my service before. What does it entail?”
His laugh was easy and free, a fact I liked about him. “I don’t know,” he said with a shrug. “Maybe it’s like a servant or something?”
I wrinkled my nose in distaste. “I definitely don’t need one of those.”
“What do you need…um…” His expectant look reminded me I hadn’t introduced myself.
“Kezia,” I told him, holding my hand out. “Are you new to the pack?”
Nikan’s hand was smooth and warm as he gripped mine in a brief shake. “No, visiting pack.”
Shit. Kris was going to kill me. He hadn’t even been gone five minutes, and here I was talking to the enemy.
“Oh, right.” I didn’t know what to do. To walk away was rude. If I continued to talk to him, my brother would pack my bag in seconds.
Nikan lost his easy smile. “Disappointed?”
He looked sad, and I felt a twinge of sympathy. “No, I just wasn’t expecting to meet a neighboring pack member in the store,” I answered truthfully.
“Wolf’s gotta eat,” Nikan said, smiling once more, but I noticed it was less warm than before.
“That we do,” I agreed, turning back to the packaged meat. Deciding, I reached for the ground beef. “Meatballs it is.”
“How are you cooking them?” Nikan asked as he picked up two large venison steaks.
“Rosemary, garlic, and cayenne pepper for a little kick.”
“Nice,” he said in appreciation.
We walked to the vegetable aisle, him seemingly comfortable, me not entirely sure how I felt about that. Picking up two large potatoes, I watched Nikan select two onions. He looked at me as I waited.
“What?” he asked.
“That’s it? Onions? For two venison steaks?”
Nikan looked down at his basket and back up at me. “Yeah?”
“Seriously?”
“You have two potatoes,” he argued, pointing at my basket.
“Because I’m making fries. What are you making with two onions?”
“A red wine jus.”
“A what now?”
“A red wine sauce,” he explained, fighting a smile.
“So venison, a fancy-named gravy, and…”
“Good company?”
I burst out laughing, and he joined me. We headed to the checkout, and I ignored the disapproving look the store clerk gave me.
