“Trust me. I’m the lucky one,” he insists, his deep baritone voice like sweet honey coating my soul.
I feel light with love and heavy with desire all at the same time. “You make me want to kiss you right now.”
After tucking my hair behind my ear, he leans in close, his scent of sandalwood and old paper filling my nose. “Want to go on a date Saturday? I can take us somewhere private and kiss you as much as you want.”
I nod like a bobble head, bouncing up and down as soon as the request leaves his very sexy mouth. “Yes, please.”
“So polite,” he teases in a way that has my lower belly turning molten. The way he kissed me with such dominance and control is seared forever in my brain, and it makes me desperate for him to do it again… and again… and again.
“About time he joined the bandwagon,” Mei announces, startling Kaleb and me out of our little bubble. “It was so sad watching you pine.”
Turning around, I notice Rand standing beside her with a dopey smile on his face as his gaze lingers on Mei. If his wolfy tail was out, it would certainly be wagging.
“Glass houses,” I murmur under my breath, pleased and amused by how obviously smitten he is.
Doing a very familiar hair sniff over the top of Mei’s head, Rand announces, “You smell nice.”
“Oh my god, stop!” She waves her hand in a shooing motion, even though the blush in her cheeks indicates she enjoyed the compliment. “You can’t just sniff people and tell them they smell nice.”
“Why not?” he asks, clearly trying to breathe in her scent more subtly this time. “I like your smell. Why wouldn’t I tell you?”
“Because that’s… I don’t know.” She flaps her arms at her sides, flustered by the intense attention that comes with the love of a wolf shifter. “If you’re going to compliment someone’s scent, you should tell them you like their perfume or something.”
Rand’s brows furrow with confusion. “But you don’t wear perfume, which is good, by the way. I don’t like the chemical smell that comes with perfume.” His expression shifts to the happiness usually found in golden retrievers. “I much prefer your scent. It’s earthy, like growing plants, with a hint of sweetness from all your baking.”
She covers her face with both hands and groans. “You are so weird.”
Apprehension seems to fill his amber eyes as he asks, “Do you like weird?”
Mei drops her hands and sighs dramatically. “Yes, I like weird.”
He lights up with that same golden retriever energy, and she can’t help but smile in return.
“Just be glad he doesn’t sneeze every time he sniffs you,” I interject with a bemused chuckle.
“Speaking of lumberjack teen edition, where is he?” She looks around our small gathering. “You seem to be missing a member of your harem.”
“They are not my harem,” I insist, pinching the bridge of my nose.
“Five dudes dating the same girl sounds like a harem to me,” she states with one of her leading grins.
Apparently done receiving Donovan’s special greeting, Nolan rocks his head from side to side. “She does have a point.”
“Of course I do,” Mei states like everything she says is full of obvious wisdom.
Kaleb presses a comforting hand against my lower spine when my fingers travel from the bridge of my nose to rubbing between my brows. “They are my boyfriends.”
“Yeah, a harem of boyfriends,” she replies in the sameno duhtone.
Donovan rolls his eyes as he crosses his arms over his expansive chest. “I don’t really care what you call us. We know what we are. Whatever title you want to call it doesn’t really matter.”
Felix taps his chin with a single finger. “During olden times, there was often a rotating favored concubine, and Callie has dubbed us best boy depending on the day. Kind of the same thing.” His face screws up in thought. “Can guys be concubines, or is there a different name for dudes?” His expression shiftsagain, this one excited and eager. “Speaking of, can I be best boy today?”
“You know it’s an empty title, right?” I ask, bewildered by how a one-off joke turned into a position the guys strive to win. “I love you all equally.”
“I know that,” he answers with one of his boyish smiles that is so fundamentally him despite it coming from James’s face. “But I like the title.”
My tone is wistful. “I love you, but alas, the title goes to the only one not indulging the harem concept.” I flash him a smile to soften the teasing. “Kaleb is best boy today.”
