AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I pull my hand away now that he’s done licking my fingers. “You didn’t want a human wife.”
He shakes his head. “I’m—I’m too rough around the edges for human women.”
“What a ridiculous thing to say. I’ve seen your table manners, and you’re not nearly as scary as you pretend to be.”
He frowns. “Then why are you trying so hard to resist being my mate?”
“I—” I can’t tell Kai I want a brilliant mind instead of a hot body, and that he probably doesn’t qualify. “It’s not appropriate. I work on Life Shift and can’t be grabbing a match before other women have a chance.”
“You’re a rule follower,” he says.
I cross my arms. “I am.”
Kai leans in, but I pull back. He stops short, and his brow knits before he says, “You’re still not going to accept the fact that I’m your mate, are you?”
My heart sinks because part of me wishes I could. Our kiss didn’t solve my attraction. It made it stronger, and I’d love to have a physical relationship with Kai. But that wouldn’t be fair to either one of us, and I can’t start something with him with the knowledge it would never turn into the marriage required of us. “I can’t.” I stand up to indicate it’s time to leave. “I really shouldn’t have kissed you. I’m sorry I led you to believe we could be together.”
He smiles at me. “That’s only going to make me try harder.” He crouches down, and using a napkin, picks up our discarded cones. They thump in the garbage can where he tosses them. “You might think you can resist me, but I assure you when a werewolf meets his mate, he never gives up.”
“Kai.” I sigh. “Please stop. When we get back, I’ll finish getting you set up to find a match.”
We walk back, with feet tapping along the pavement, toward my office building. The sky is darkening as evening approaches, and the bright headlights of cars flash as they pass by. It occurs to me I got sidetracked earlier and never found out why he and Kevin don’t get along. “You didn’t tell me why Kevin wants to punish you. What did you do?”
“What restaurant did the steak come from?”
“You’re changing the subject,” I state. But as soon as the words leave my mouth, I get what he’s really telling me. I should be angry, but instead I’m amused, and since I did just bruise his ego, I go with it. “Seriously? I have to bribe that out of you too?”
Kai grins at me when I glance at him. His smile is infectious, and I give him one back. “Fine,” I say. “How about breakfast tomorrow? I know a place with donuts you can’t resist.”
“No. I have something much tastier in mind.” He waggles his eyebrows at me, and my cheeks heat up as my mind goes straight to the juncture between my thighs. Kai smirks. “I was thinking another kiss, but—” I gasp when he moves in and laps up my neck to stop behind my ear.
I stumble back, horrified that my first thought was to hope he’d bite me. “Stop that.”
Now he laughs harder, and when he recovers, he says, “Abby, you belong with me. And I’ll take as long as you need to convince you I’m your perfect match.”
How I wish that were true. I steal a sideways glance at the sexy werewolf walking by my side. When I recall our kiss, I resist the urge to touch my lips. It was the best kiss of my life, and for a moment, I let myself believe he’s right.
Chapter Five
“It’s the strangest thing,” says Mallory. I’m back in my office to see if she figured out what was interfering with our program. “I can’t find anything wrong with the code, but Kai’s profile won’t let the search work.”
“Maybe it has something to do with the fact we set this up for only twenty-five werewolves.”
“No, that’s not it.” A pen taps against the table as Mallory bounces it in her fingers. “I’m completely stumped.”
I reach over and grab her pen so she’ll stop the annoying noise. “Should I reload him? I could have done something wrong setting him up.”
“I doubt it, but sure, go ahead and delete his profile and start again.”
Mallory yawns, and I say, “Get out of here. I’m sorry I kept you late for this, but I appreciate your help.”
“No problem.” She shuts her laptop with a click and tucks it under her arm. “I’ll take another crack at it in the morning.”
I know better. Mallory is like a dog with a bone when a coding problem presents itself, and I bet she’ll stay up all night trying to sort out the issue. “No, you won’t.” I reach over and yank the computer out of her grasp. “This stays here.”
“Hey!”
“If I let you take this home, you’ll be working all night until you solve the problem.”
