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She was surprised when the door opened and Arbor stepped through. He had a food bag in his hand, which had her immediately shaking her head.
He chuckled. “Trust me. You need to eat.” He set the bag down on her desk, bent down to kiss her lips, and ordered, “Eat.”
She sighed, but nodded.
“Do you know how hot you are, right now?” He tilted his head and gave his mark on her neck a kiss, sending a jolt of pleasure to her core.
“I feel like a pile of shit.”
“You don’t smell like one,” he mumbled as he buried his nose in her neck.
“I love you, but—” His head popped up, and she stared at his face. “What?”
Slowly, a grin grew on his handsome face. “You love me.”
She felt the blush spread across her face as what she said registered in her brain. She didn’t know why she was embarrassed. They were practically married, after all. They were mated, which Arbor explained was a stronger bond than marriage in the shifter world. She had no real reason to be embarrassed by loving him. “Uh… yeah.”
He reached up and removed her sunglasses, dropping them to her desk. Gazing into her eyes, he ordered, “Say it again.”
“I love you.”
His eyes flashed blue light at her before his lips slammed down on hers. After a moment, he broke the kiss and whispered, “Love you, too, Kitten.” He nipped her bottom lip. “Now, eat.”
She watched him walk out the door, pausing long enough to wink at her before he stepped out, then she put her sunglasses back on her face. With a sigh, she reached into the bag and pulled out a wrapped burger and a container of french fries.
Her stomach rolled at the smell of the food, but she wasn’t sure if it was because she was hungry or the food wasn’t going to go over as well as Arbor expected. Trusting him, she unwrapped the burger and took a bite.
Flavor exploded on her tongue, making her mouth water. By the third bite, her stomach began to calm, and the headache began to ease. She looked around as she chewed, and her attention landed on the metal baseball bat slid into the umbrella section at the bottom of the coat rack next to the front door. Thinking that was odd, she made a mental note to ask Bruce or Arbor about that later.
If it was someone’s home, she would completely understand seeing it by the door, but it seemed odd for a business. She kept a sock-covered bat behind her bedroom door when she rented a room in a house in a not-so-great neighborhood when she was barely eighteen. It was the only place she could afford, so she took precautions where she could.
It was her last foster mother who taught Megan the sock trick. If she was being honest, it was the only good thing the woman ever did for her, and she only did it because she knew her husband had a bad habit of opening the door when Megan was changing. It was a matter of time before he took his peeping tom habits to the next level.
He tried it, but he only tried it once, and received a gash on the side of his head for his efforts. The next morning, Megan was told to leave. That was a week before her eighteenth birthday.
Yes, she would understand the bat’s place by the door if they were in someone’s home, but it was a place of business. She was definitely going to ask Bruce or Arbor. If it was there for safety, she wanted to know if there was a reason for the precaution.
She had just finished her burger and was working on her fries when Bruce walked through the door. He gave her a smile and said, “Good morning.”
His booming greeting made her grateful that the food, water, and medication did the trick.
“Morning,” she replied. “Uh… Bruce?”
He hung up his light jacket and turned to face her. “Yes.”
“Is there a reason there’s a baseball bat in the umbrella area of the coat rack?”
Bruce glanced down at the object in question, before he answered, “It’s a just in case situation. Sometimes, you’ll be in the office without someone else on site. We don’t keep money in the building, but most people wouldn’t know that. We also have a lot of expensive equipment and tools, things people could steal and sell. I don’t expect you to confront a thief, but the bat is for the very slim possibility that a thief shows up and confronts you.”
She gave a nod. “Mind if I put a sock on it?”
His brows drew together. “A sock?”
She nodded. “If I swing it and the hypothetical thief grabs it, I’m screwed. But if there’s a sock on it, I could pull the bat out of the sock and swing again before they realize they no longer have control of the bat.”
Bruce chuckled and nodded. “I knew I hired you for a reason. Yes. Feel free. There’s one at the back door as well.”
She gave him a mock salute and shoved another couple of fries in her mouth.
