Page 19 of Wrong Number, Right Gray Wolf

I narrowed my eyes. He was doing this deliberately. I was convinced of it because his spelling was accompanied by that now familiar smirk.

Clyde leaned back in his hair and put his hands behind his head. “Yes, you are my one and only, the first one I’ve ever had.”

That was a whole lot of information in one mouthful, but my fox was squeeing and saying he knew it all along when he hadn’t. I put a hand to my chest because suddenly there wasn’t enough space for my heart. Closing my eyes, I begged the universe not to let me die, not now.

As I gasped for breath, a hand was placed over mine, and my eyes snapped open. “What are you doing?” Gods damn it. I couldn’t say one sensible thing with this man around.

“I think it’s acceptable for fated mates to, you know, touch one another.”

I gulped because he said the magic word, mates. “Ummm, yeah, but… you’re not winding me up, are you?”

He tilted his head to the side. “Not sure what that means, but you’re my mate, and I’m pretty sure I’m yours.”

Those were the words I’d been hoping to hear for days, and now that he’d said them, I was lost for any other words. So I squeezed his hand, and he smiled. Not a smirk this time but a grin that had me melting and sliding down in my chair.

Clyde came around and propped me up. “We should order because you might have low blood sugar.”

I had something but doubted it was from lack of food.

As we were tucking into our meal, I kept sneaking peeks at his jaw, how he held his fork, and the little dimple on his chin. He was so damned cute and now he was mine.

“Feeling better?” He twirled some spaghetti on his fork, and I swooned. Yes, I’d never been 100% clear what that was, but now I knew.

“Mmmm.” I was more clearheaded than when he’d announced he was my mate, so I needed details about his life. “Let’s rewind a little. Your first mate wasn’t fated?”

Clyde launched into an explanation of how he came to be Posy’s dad. That was so sad but also heartfelt that he’d chosen to be her father. My eyes were misty, and I blinked away the tears.

“I have a confession. That night when I raced to your house, I thought you were either dead or a deadbeat dad.”

Now it was his turn to choke up. “That could have been a disaster, and it was my fault for not putting better backup systems in place. It’ll never happen again.”

I nodded and decided not to tell him I was going to report him. I would but not tonight, because once we finished eating, he took my hand again and didn’t let go.

“My house is empty tonight.”

Oh, he was missing Posy. That was sweet. “But she’s just next door, so you could go and get her.”

He pressed his lips together. “I adore my daughter, but I don’t want her at home until tomorrow.” He stood, still with his hand in mine. “I was rather hoping you might come home with me, mate.”

“My place is closer.”

10

CLYDE

My place is closer.

For a second, I stared at him, not because I didn’t want to immediately say yes and embrace him. It took a second for my wolf to process what had just been offered—our mate invited us into his space. To me, it was logistics. We couldn’t wait to mate together. But for my wolf, it was a huge step to be invited into his den, almost as huge as the mating itself.

I felt so much better now that we’d gotten everything out in the open. And he had too. There was no denying that.

“Are you sure about this? About the package deal?”

He gave my hand a squeeze. “I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t sure.” And then he brought his mouth to my ear. “I’ve been wanting to get my lips on you the entire night. Let’s go.”

We drove separately, and that sucked. It meant we were in separate cars instead of soaking in each other’s scent.

I buckled my seat belt and checked my messages quickly to make sure there was nothing from Miss Caitlin. I didn’t worry about Posy’s safety. She was next door with someone who loved us both dearly. She was with family.