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“Just have a good time tonight. You had time to do all the preparations for the Fourth of July activities you’d scheduled at the lodge, so no worrying about anything while you and Nate are having dinner,” Roxie said and gave her a hug.
Kayla smiled. “Thanks. I know we’ll have a lovely time.” And really, after getting her other work done, she was feeling free for the moment.
She walked back to the house and got into her car. She’d already packed an overnight bag just in case she stayed with him and had put it in the trunk last night while Roxie was taking a shower. Then she drove into Silver Town where Nate lived.
As soon as she arrived and knocked at his door, he opened it and pulled her in for a kiss and hug. “You know, I only leave you alone because I know how stressed you are at work, but hot damn, when I get to see you, it’s like a wolf’s homecoming.”
“I feel the same way about that with you.” Andshe truly did. Feeling warmed to her toes, she kissed him back, tonguing him for good measure. “Yeah, no regrets. This is just where I needed to be tonight.”
He closed the door behind her, took her into the kitchen, and made them both strawberry daiquiris, her favorite. With drinks in hand, they headed out to the back patio and the grill. It was a hot summer night, though storms were coming through the area later and would cool things off a bit. He had already cooked the fries and put the hamburgers on the grill. “I should have made steaks.”
“Oh, I love burgers. They smell delightful. Do you want to run as wolves later?” She sipped from her glass and purred. “So good.” She hadn’t run with Nate as a wolf in ages, and she really wanted to do it.
“Absolutely. I was hoping you’d say that.”
They were soon sitting down to eat their burgers, corn on the cob, and fries, drinking their daiquiris. She smiled. “I love to cook, but I love it when you cook too. And I never have a daiquiri unless I’m dining out. This is so much fun.”
“I’m sure you could use a break, and I wanted it to be fun for you. How are things going at work?”
“Oh, great. Landon and Blake ended up back at the lodge for the day, so I had time to work on marketing stuff. I don’t know how you are about your work process, but I have kind of a schedule built in, and when I have to stop to do a ton of other thingsinstead, it really throws me off. Before I forget, Roxie and I found some keys in a room safe that were left behind. The guest registered through a third party, and we wondered if you might be able to locate him.”
“I’ll sure do it.”
“We’ll pay you.”
“Dinner will be enough.”
She chuckled. “You can have dinners with me at any time. This is great, by the way.”
“Thanks,” he said.
Nate had cleaned his place up completely in expectation of Kayla’s coming over, hoping to reassure her he was the kind of wolf she’d want to be with in the future. And he’d had every intention of fixing her favorite cocktail for when she arrived. He liked them too, though he was also fine with a beer. But since her being here with him was special, he would enjoy having one with her.
When she’d arrived and he had welcomed her into his place with a hug and a kiss, he’d thought she looked tired. “I’m kind of like you and plan my day out as to what I need to take care of first. But with the work I do, it doesn’t always fall into place like I hope it will. I can’t find out anything on one lead, so I try some other things, get stumped, andbegin working on another case when I’d rather just nail the first one, call it done, and go on to the next.”
“Oh, me too.”
He knew she’d feel better if she had her normal routine. With him, he could change plans with a snap of his fingers and deal with it without any real big issue. He had to be like that in the military.
He was glad she wanted to run with him as a wolf before the storms came, though if she changed her mind, maybe they could enjoy watching a movie after dinner. Just anything that meant she’d stay longer, and he was game.
“It’s supposed to storm later tonight. Do you want to stay with me?” He wanted to extend their visit, to enjoy more time with her now that she was at his place. They tended to see each other more during family visits where he would try to carve out some time alone with Kayla. This was a refreshing change.
“The storms are not supposed to happen until much later this evening. Though…” She hesitated to say something.
“What?” He hoped she wasn’t planning on running off right after dinner.
“I packed an overnight bag just in case I stayed.”
He released the breath he was holding, so glad she was staying with him. He’d wondered if she was just shy about staying there. “You’re not worried about what other wolves will think, are you?” Herealized right away he shouldn’t have mentioned it because if she had been, she might be convinced to go home instead of staying with him.
She gave him a heartwarming smile. “No. I’m not worried about what the other wolves will think.”
He gave an exaggerated sigh of relief.
She chuckled and forked up a fried potato. “I might be needed early at work in the morning though.”
“If you are, you can leave early. But I’d really love it if you stayed the night.”
