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“Also shocking.”
“It’s one of the perks of being my live-in girlfriend.”
I huffed. “You make it sound…” Ugh, I didn’t want to say it.
“Go on,” he encouraged. “Say what you think, Sadie. I’d like your thoughts.”
After piling my plate, I lifted my fork and sighed. “You make it sound like I’m some kind of escort.”
He coughed. “Goddess,no.”
“I mean, you have to admit…”
“On the surface, sure. But you and I would handle the finer details.”
I took a bite of the pork, getting lost in the delicious blend of spices while I closed my eyes. Nothing had ever tasted so good in my life. Had he used magic to cook?
When I opened my eyes, Andres was smiling. He looked a bit smug, which he deserved with how this food tasted. I set my fork down with a sheepish grin. “It’s convincing so far.”
“I’m pleased to hear that.”
“But…”
He perched the tips of his fingers together and leaned forward.
Goddess, he was eager enough. But why? I wasn’t anything special. I was just some aerobics instructor with dreams of breaking away from the usual mold. I didn’t even have any truly clear goals in mind. I just knew I didn’t want to be doing the same thing forever.
If he keeps staring at me, I won’t be able to say it. I hid my hands beneath the table, trying to get myself together. “I’m just not sure. I need more time to decide.”
That look of disappointment made me want to grovel on the ground. And I had no idea why that occurred to me at all. No one made me tremble like Andres. No one made me want to oppose and resist the way he did. It really felt like I let him down, and I wanted desperately to change that.
“I mean, that’s to say…I just think…I want to…”
I felt my cheeks explode with heat. The feeling worsened when Andres stood up, set his napkin on the table, and stepped toward me. Four steps was all it took for him to be right next to me, hovering like he usually does at work.
My body rumbled with hunger, but not for anything that was on the table. What I wanted pushed boundaries that were unspoken. What I yearned for made me quake just by thinking about it. But I couldn’t tell if I shivered at the possibility of him accepting the idea or rejecting it.
I swallowed the lump in my throat while holding his gaze. I guessed I was about to find out.
Chapter 7 - Sadie
I could have fled the dining room. I could have run down the stairs, out the door, and into the night. Every inch of me screamed to take flight, to shift into wolf form and sprint until my muscles gave out. Maybe instinct was telling me to avoid trouble.
But there was a darker part of me, a playful side of my animal that howled for Andres to make a move. That was my primary concern with a fake relationship. Blurred lines were easy to acquire in small spaces, and we’d be stepping on each other’s toes soon enough if I moved in with him.
Hope cut right through everything, forcing me to sit upright and place my chin right into his extended hand. Something about the way he moved drove me to obey, and I almost felt helpless to it. Was that why he proposed the fake relationship? Because of that silent tune?
My brows knitted together.Mates aren’t a real thing. My parents were proof of that.
Nobody had said anything aboutmating. But the way Andres treated me reminded me of the stories that Bella used to tell me. Her friends reported feelings of euphoria, bliss, and obedience that seemed to be natural. That had to be fairytales. That had to be complete nonsense spun into a pretty web to get people to stay in their packs.
“It’s no big deal,” Andres relayed in a sultry rumble. “Don’t worry about it, Sadie.”
I stumbled over a poorly tossed explanation. Honestly, I didn’t even know what I was saying at that point. I saw his dashing smirk, and then the words came pouring out of me like lava from an erupting volcano.
I couldn’t stop.
His thumb halted my verbal oil spill. His pupils expanded beautifully, nearly encompassing the bejeweled blue of his eyes. A subtle twitch from his thumb made my lips part, and then I was reduced to a shuddering mess as I stared up at him and waited.
