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Eli raised his brows, looking down at me. “Really?”
“Yeah?” I frowned. “Why would I make that up?”
He frowned back. “But you’ve slept with another wolf before, right?”
I shook my head. “No. After two failed relationships, I sort of gave up on all of it. Besides…” I huffed. “You saw how difficult it was to coax my wolf forward. How weak she was. That was not something I wanted to explain toanybody,and once they knew? What wolf in their right mind would stick around?”
Eli shook his head. “Iris, you are an incredibly smart, determined woman and a warrior who has overcome things most people never even have to deal with. Any wolf would be lucky to have you as their partner.”
Warmth welled up in my gut and I smiled, reaching up with one hand. I found the back of his neck and tugged gently. Eli bent down willingly; when our lips touched, I felt my wolf rumble with delight. I smiled into the kiss.
If I knew kissing another wolf would be like this, I might have tried it sooner.
The position quickly became awkward,so Eli rearranged me into his lap. I didn’t mind in the slightest, my arms wrapped around his shoulders as I sat in his lap, eating up the attention as we traded long, luxurious kisses.
Bzzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzt!
I startled, giving Eli a face. “Is that a phone in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me, Mr. Archer?”
He looked a little abashed. “I should check it,” he sighed, and I leaned back, moving for him to fish his phone out. Whatever name he saw caused his brows to bounce up, and he motioned to me.
I slipped off his lap onto the ground as he swiped to pick up the call. “Hello, Ryan?”
My brows shot up. If I were in wolf form, my ears would be pricked, and my whiskers tipped forward. “Yes, this is Eli,” he was saying, nodding. I could hear the mumble of a male voice, but I couldn’t quite make out what Ryan was saying.
“Yes, now is fine — are you okay? — I… yes, sure. We can make that happen. — All right, yes, I’ll see you then.”
When he hung up, I looked at him expectantly. Eli gave me a wry smile. “Well, I must admit, I certainly didn’t expect Ryan to be in touch tonight.”
“Me either.” I huffed, reaching out to prod Eli’s leg. “What did he say? Did he find anything good?”
Eli shrugged. “I don’t know. He said he couldn’t talk over the phone but wanted to meet as soon as possible. I told him tonight was fine.” He pressed his lips together. “He sounded pretty nervous, so I assume it was important. At the very least, something spooked him.”
I hummed thoughtfully. I didn’t like the idea of Ryan being scared, but… hopefully, that meant he found something out for us. “What time—”
A twig snapped and we both jumped. Eli jumped to his feet, bristling; a massive, middle-aged man appeared from the woods a few moments later. Honestly, he looked like he could bench press Eli and me at the same time. I frowned as I stood, brushing some of the leaves off my pants.
“Damon,” Eli rumbled, his brows pushed together.
“Your father is looking for you,” Damon grumbled, sounding tired about the entire ordeal. “They’re going to break out the cake soon.”
Eli rolled his eyes. “We’ll be there in a minute. I have a damn phone, you know, and it has service.”
Damon watched him silently for a moment, his dark eyes falling on me next. His expression was difficult to read, but I’d made a business of reading people. I could tell he wasn’t thinking anything nice about me, and it took all of my willpower not to offer him a scowl in return.
Oh, who are you kidding, Iris? This man is clearly Eli’s people. He smells like his pack. They’re from an entirely different world… and not just ‘England,’ either.Cultural differences could be overcome, but… Eli was raised by a very wealthy man. Not only that, but they managed other people’s money. Money was no object for them.
And me? I lived out of my car. If I didn’t keep my plate full of cases, I would start struggling to keep it full with food…and the social graces?You just had an anxiety attack at abirthday party. How much more mundane could it get?
Eli was probably the sort of man who went to fancy galas and was invited to weekends on fancy yachts in the Mediterranean. I didn’t fit in that world — not at all. I was kidding myself if I thought I would. Kissing him was a mistake. Getting friendly with him was a mistake. It was clearly up to me, and I had to put my foot down.
I’d have to keep things platonic with Eli. I just — I couldn’t. Ishouldn’t.
I pressed my lips together and stepped forward, looking at Eli. “Well, you heard the man,” I said, nodding towards Damon. “They’re going to cut the cake. We shouldn’t keep the lady of the hour waiting.”
Damon made some noise that sounded like approval, but I barely heard him, already moving in the direction we’d come from.
Eli sighed heavily, shoving his hands into his pockets as he trailed after us both. “Can’t wait,” he muttered, everything about him screaming that he absolutely could.
