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“Of course,” I said, pushing back from my chair and standing up. “Where’s Theo?”
“He’s helping Cole with some serious shop business right now,” she said with a smile, sliding her flats off and stepping into the room. “Here, I grabbed you a decaf vanilla latte.”
She’d noticed the damn shoe rack in the entry of my office, and she’d brought me adecafcoffee, probably gaining the information from Claire. Both just another example of why she was both considerate and also my perfect mate.
More than once people had taken my analytical demeanor as cold and aloof, and part of me was worried that she would too. But no, she simply eased herself into my life like she was always meant to be there.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I told her, accepting the drink. “Thank you so much.”
“It’s the least I could do after that feast you all organized last night.” She shrugged. “So what’s the damage?”
I gestured for her to take the seat next to my desk, the one Miller usually sat in when I was showing him the books. Yes, she could have taken the one across from me, but I wanted her closer.
Passing her the invoice the guys had drafted up, I waited for her impending questions.
“Miles, there’s no way this is right. Why does this only say $200 dollars? There’s four new tires on this thing, and that’s three times that amount.”
“You’ll see that there’s not a charge on that line item,” I pointed out. “We’re not charging you for things we already have in the shop, and we’re not charging you for labor. That’s non-negotiable for pack members. The items we did need to order you’re getting at cost.”
She pursed her lips as she glanced from me to the door as if she could will the rest of the pack, or specifically Miller, to come up here so she could challenge it. I could practically see her mind wrapping around the ridiculously low sum for the amount of work they proposed.
"This makes me uncomfortable," she admitted quietly, not quite meeting my gaze. Her eyes bored into the paper as she took a few steadying breaths.
Without overthinking, I shifted closer so my knees were pressed to hers. That brought her gorgeous blues higher.
"Look, I know how intimidating and overwhelming being taken care of like this can be. But they respect us as individual parts of a pack. Like this space." I gesture at my meticulously clean office. "They don't bring their grime into my space because of that mutual understanding. I know it feels like a lot, but they wouldn't do anything less for any one of us."
"It's just been me," she reasoned. "I find how I'm going to afford things. I go without if he needs something or pick up more freelance jobs. It's how it's always been."
"Not anymore." The words sounded so simple and confident that she raised her eyebrows. "This is what having a pack is like."
She let out a breath that fanned her blonde hair away from her face, and my eyes tracked the movement. She was so effortlessly pretty that I couldn't look away.
The fact she has a rough time accepting help was something I understood too. It was hard at first, to let them in, but once I did it felt right. We all help each other out any way we can.
"There's always other ways to make it up to them. That's what I do," I whispered conspiratorially, hoping it would help ease her mind.
Her eyes went wide and I winced, realizing how that sounded. Heat flared along my cheeks, and I waved her off. I definitely did not mean she should fuck them as repayment.
What the fuck is wrong with you, Miles?!
"No, no, I just meant like, paying before they can with coffee runs and things like that."
She burst into laughter, but it didn't feel like she was judging, only amused.
"You're adorable," she said as her giggles softened. Then her eyes flickered over to the website I was trying to figure out.
Her expression changed as she studied it. Her expression grew more serious until she was nudging me to move. Summer stood and leaned in close and I suddenly hated the fact I couldn't smell her scent.
"This website is..." she trailed off, and her nose scrunched as she tried to find the words and likely not offend me.
"Terrible?" I supplied. "We know, but none of us can figure out how to make it better. We paid someone to make it initially, and they're a hot mess to work with, so I've been doing my best to figure out updates and all that. It's clearly not going well." I gave her a rundown of my issue with the booking system.
Her smile was blinding as she turned to face me, her face only inches away from mine. Something else was on her mind than mine, that was for certain. My cock twitched at having her so close to me, her face within kissing distance.
When she pulled away, I nearly followed her like a moth to a flame.
"I can help with that. It's what I do," she said excitedly.
