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She faced forward. “No. It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
Not entirely surprised that she’d brushed him off, he pursed his lips. “Okay.” And then he once more found himself the sole focus of her intent gaze.
“You never push,” she mused.
“Hmm?”
“It’s something I’ve noticed about you. If a person says that they don’t want to talk about something or can’t share it with you, you don’t push for answers. You let it go, and you don’t bristle about it. It’s unusual for someone with an alpha personality.”
He shrugged again. “If someone doesn’t want to share something then they shouldn’t have to.”
“Spoken like a person who has their own secrets.”
“Everyone has secrets.” Before she could press for his, he added, “I bet I can guess what you’re so desperately trying to hide from me.”
She sighed. “This ought to be good.”
“You’re acting overly casual because you don’t want me to sense that you’ve fallen hard for me.” He gave her a sympathetic smile. “It’s okay. I expected it to happen.”
Her lips twitched in amusement. “Expected it?”
“I’m easy to fall for,” he said with a ‘what can you do?’ shrug, pleased when her mouth quirked again. “And I have a big cock—women tend to get attached to it.”
She started to laugh, her shoulders shaking.
“It’s true. They write it love letters and everything.”
“Oh, I’m sure they do.”
“I tell ya, being well-endowed isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Especially when, like me, you’re a grower and a shower.”
“Poor you.”
“I know, right?”
Larkin could only shake her head. The dude might be nuts, but he knew how to pull a girl out of her funk. There was simply no way to not smile or laugh when he was around.
Having Knox and the sentinels as brothers, she’d become accustomed to people pressuring her to talk, shoving themselves into her business, giving her no room to think, and insisting on dealing with her problems for her. Teague was different. The opposite, even.
It wasn’t that he didn’t care. No, if Teague thought that someone needed help, he wouldn’t ignore it. For him to back off so easily when she’d turned down his offer to be an ear for her problem showed that he respected her wish to process her issue alone. More, him not trying to worm his way into her business meant that he trusted she could take care of the matter herself. And Larkin had had no real idea how attractive she’d find that until she found herself in a situation where it was what she so needed.
Not that she would keep Holt’s visit completely to herself. She’d share it with her brothers so that they’d know he was in Vegas. But not tonight. Her demon was too tightly wound—it needed time to calm its tits, or it might surface and go hunting. That would not be good.
Since hopping into the truck with Teague, the sharp, spiky edges to her entity’s foul mood had little by little smoothed out. Everything about him was a distraction for her demon—his strength, his power, his confidence, his devastating good looks, even his strange idea of humor.
On the one hand, it was a good thing that he’d diverted some of her entity’s attention. On the other hand, it wasn’t so great. Because her demon had decided that they should spend the night in his bed, using him to distract themselves further.
The idea was seriously cold. And, if she was honest, somewhat appealing. She wasn’t going to act on it, though. She wouldn’t use him that way. But she could throw herself into their little ‘act’, could use that to distract her.
It would be hard not to think about Holt at all when she couldn’t shift the sinking sensation in her gut. But she was up for the challenge. The cambion didn’t deserve to take up any of her mental space.
Soon, Teague parked outside Jolene’s house and then turned to her. “Now, if you want to fool those people in there into thinking you’re fine, you need to go back to being your usual prickly self.”
She felt her brow crease. “I’m prickly?”
“As a goddamn porcupine. I like porcupines. They’re fun to play catch with, though it hurts like a mother.”
Larkin studied him carefully. “I can’t tell if you’re being serious or not. You know what, it doesn’t matter. Right now, our act matters. I’ll work on not looking overly casual. You don’t overdo the PDA, it’ll look suspicious.”
“And you don’t want to end up all wet and needy at a dinner table,” he said with a nod of understanding. “I get it.”
She gave him a flat look. “I’m quite sure my hormones can handle it.” Her demon snorted, knowing that was a total lie.
His eyes lit up. “Oh, you’re throwing down a gauntlet? Excellent.”
An arrow of panic zipped through her. “No. I was simply stating a fact.”
