Page 10 of Her Shifter Pack
Ollie came into the room and pulled out a beer for himself. “How did you find her, Mark?” he asked me quietly.
I didn’t want to admit I followed her delicious scent, as if I couldn’t help myself. I took a sip of my beer and stirred the chocolate mixture into the heated milk. “She was hiding in an alleyway, with nowhere to go. I couldn’t leave her there.”
Silence filled the room and when I turned around, Lexie was sitting at the table next to Ollie.
I placed her hot chocolate down in front of her, careful not to touch her hand as she reached for the large mug.
“Thank you so much,” she said, wrapping her hands around the heated mug. “I can’t remember the last time someone made me a drink.”
I bit my tongue and leaned back against the kitchen counter, crossing my arms over my chest. Nope. I wasn’t commenting or asking any more questions.
“So what happened with that jerk at the diner?” Ollie asked. “He said you hit him or something.”
I dragged my gaze up in time to see a heated blush spread across Lexi’s face.
I bit the inside of my cheek and stared at the floor once more.
How was it possible that everything she did was so damn cute? Even her blush tightened my jeans as my cock swelled in its confines.
“Oh, yeah. Well, I didn’t mean to hit him, but he was harassing me and hit my ass, and I just... reacted.”
I snorted out a laugh. “Sounds like he deserved it.”
I looked at her briefly, unable to help myself. Her little smile made my stomach ache, so I attempted to ignore her again by looking down. The floor could do with a mop, I thought, trying to distract my brain—and my dick—from her delicious allure.
Ollie wasn’t ignoring her; he was babbling out questions I already knew the answer to. “And what happened to your apartment or house? Not that I mind you staying here, but if we can help you out, we will.”
“Oh, well...” Lexie launched into the story about her money and rent, and I grabbed my beer again, clinging to the ice-cold lifeline.
Maybe I could go back to the bar? Pick up that girl and bring her home. Surely, that would be enough to satisfy this hunger clawing at my gut. But the thought of doing anything with another woman while Lexie was under the same roof seemed... wrong. Maybe I could pick up the woman and go to hers? Or a hotel?
My stomach churned at the thought.
“Well, we’ll help sort that out for you tomorrow,” Ollie was saying. “Right, Mark?”
I nodded, then tipped back my head and skolled the rest of my drink. “Yep.” That diner owner was gonna get a fist to the jaw if he didn’t have a damn good reason for not paying Lexi.
She yawned suddenly, and Ollie hopped to his feet like a lapdog, eager to please. “Come this way, Lexi, I’ll show you to your room.”
She smiled at him as she got to her feet. “Thank you. That would be great. I can’t believe an hour ago I was trying to work out where I might be able to find a bed, and now I’m here.”
I couldn’t help but ask, “Where were you planning on sleeping if I hadn’t found you?”
She leveled me with the seriousness in her eyes. “Well, there’s a few twenty-four-hour diners in the city that let you stay through the night if you order a coffee or two. Then there’s the movie theater. The security guards rarely lock the back doors, so I’ve stayed a night or two in there. Or—”
“You what?” Ollie asked, horror filling his face.
I was just as shocked at her revelation, but tried to school my features so it didn’t show.
She reached down for her mug and took another sip of her hot chocolate. “It’s okay. There are a lot of places to safely sleep if you need to.”
It’s not okay, I thought. She shouldn’t have to scrounge the city to find a safe place to sleep.
“But—” Ollie began, but I pushed myself off the counter and cut him off.
“Weren’t you going to show her bedroom, Ollie? She’s obviously exhausted.”
Ollie stared at me for several seconds, his brow furrowed, then he seemed to understand that I meant for him to abandon his line of questioning.