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Fruit and pastries have been left in the kitchen if you’re hungry.
I smiled. Even just reading the words he intended solely for me filled me with warmth. And I loved pretty lies in the morning or any time of day.Beautiful. I smiled again.
My stomach grumbled in desire for the fruit and pastries. I got out of the bed, had a quick shower, pulled his robe on again, and walked into the kitchen.
A small pile of clothes lay on one of the barstools, and I grinned. Apparently, I wasn’t to go walking around Lycan Heights naked or dressed only in Patrick’s bathrobe.
The pastries flaked inside my mouth and the fruit was both sweet and juicy. Once I’d nearly satisfied my hunger, I grabbed my cell phone and scrolled to Charmaine’s number.
“Hey.” My mouth was still full when I mumbled out my greeting to her.
“Good morning.” She laughed. “What are you doing?”
I swallowed. “Breakfast. Want some?”
“Sure. I don’t think I got the same concierge service you did. Want to see my place? It’s a-mazing.” She sounded awestruck. “I’m on the twelfth floor.”
I grinned. I doubted it could be as amazing as Patrick’s penthouse, but part of me was glad she’d invited me down. I didn’t want to share this part of Patrick with Charmaine, and inviting a guest into his space seemed a little presumptuous. “Okay. I’ll be right down.” I re-boxed the food, dressed quickly, and headed to the elevator.
Charmaine met me as soon as the doors pinged open. She took hold of my elbow, half-pulling me into a condo.
“Just look at it,” she squealed as soon as the door closed behind us. “Isn’t it crazy?”
I nodded. “It’s pretty spectacular.”
Nothing as epic as the space Patrick lived in, but it left my little brownstone looking like I’d converted a dumpster.
Charmaine grabbed the boxes from me and set them on the counter. “No, really, look,” she said. “Two bedrooms, each with a bathroom, and there’s a half-bath out here, and all this space. Doesn’t the living room just go on forever? And that view.” She wandered toward the floor to ceiling windows and sighed. “Everything here is so decadent. I’m sure it’s a culinary-grade kitchen, like a five-star restaurant, and the bedroom I slept in is like something out of a world-class hotel.” She closed her eyes and pressed a hand above her heart. “I’ll wake up in a minute,” she murmured.
I laughed. “You’re not asleep, and you’re not dreaming.”
She opened her eyes again. “But from so much of yesterday being a nightmare to this? It seems so implausible. Impossible, even.”
I handed her a pastry. “Yet here we are.”
Her eyes sparkled as she bit the end of the croissant. “Yes, here we are.” She chewed for a moment before her eyes widened. “And have you seen some of the amenities in this building? There’s a whole gym. And a pool somewhere down on the lower floors, too.”
I smiled and nodded. It probably wasn’t quite the time to tell her that Patrick had those amenities upstairs as well.
“I totally should have joined this pack earlier. Have you noticed how wealthy it is and how much everyone does for each other? It’s like the pack to aspire to be in, and here we are.” She stopped talking and took another bite of her breakfast, looking around and nodding as though confirming to herself that she’d made it.
I perched on the bar stool and watched her. Everything in her face said she wouldn’t stop gushing for a bit.
“I brought some of my stuff here, and Wes sent me his key from the hospital to grab some of his things for when he’s released. Do you want me to go to your place and get anything for you?”
I shook my head. “No, I think all of that’s in hand. But…Charmaine.”
She swung toward me, and it was like I’d pressed the brakes.
I smiled to soften my next words. “We haven’t joined the Silver Claw pack. We’re really just guests until we figure out what’s going on at Gold Moon.” I battled an unexpected sense of disappointment as I spoke. Apparently, I was a guest with a security detail and an unhealthy attachment to the alpha, but I could deal with that small issue in the future.
“Okay.” Charmaine sat next to me as she tore apart a second pastry. “I’ll buy into that. We’re guests here while we sort out the company. So after we’ve fixed the issues, and you’ve sold the company for millions, and taken care of all of the employees who weren’t part of the problem…” She stopped talking and raised an eyebrow.
I waited.
“What are you going to do with Patrick?”
I laughed, but the sound choked off. It wasn’t something I was ready to think about just yet. I was kind of enjoying exactly what we were doing now, but obviously it wasn’t something that was going to last. It was just a one-night stand.
