Page 29 of Her Werewolf Lover
She started to shake her head, but her stomach growled, and she rolled her eyes instead.
“Always,” she said with a slight note of self-deprecation.
He’d talk to her about that later. Sunshine was fucking perfect, and she should never have to deny herself one single thing. Especially not food.
“Come on, we’re going out for breakfast.” He decided on the spot.
“What? But I’m not dressed,” she protested.
“You look great to me, but go ahead and get changed if you want to. We’ll get some food, then we can discuss which wall you’re going to tackle next,” he said and guided her gently towards the staircase that led to her room.
“Are you sure about this?” she asked, and he could see panic begin to build.
“A hundred percent, Sunshine. Now get dressed,” he told her and kissed her on the lips again in front of the half dozen men working behind him.
He watched her walk away for a minute before turning around and running his hand over his head.
This was going to get serious quickly. Most matings did once fated mates were involved. He’d already explained things to Maya and his Aunt Eileen, and being Wolves, they understood.
Michael was a single father. His attention had been fixed on Maya alone for so long, he feared his daughter wouldn’t be happy about him finding a mate.
Grinning now, he thought back to the conversation he had with his daughter in front of their aunt. Maya had let out a loudfinallyand told her father not to mess it up. She also told him to compliment Samantha on her shoes, her taste in tea, and books.
Apparently, girls liked it when you noticed their books.
He always thought if he ever took a mate, she would be a librarian or a preschool teacher. Not a former model.
But now he could not picture himself with anyone else. Michael wanted Samantha.
He understood desire was a natural response to someone who looked the way she did. He circled the kitchen, taking notes and marking ideas on the walls as he waited for her.
A shelf here. A new fan there. He wondered if she cooked. What did she like to eat?
Hell, he wondered a lot about her.
She came down the stairs a little while later in a pair of tailored jeans and a white Armani blouse carelessly un-tucked and unbuttoned almost to hernavel, with a wide leather belt wrapped around her waist.
Her hair hung in curls down her back, and she wore a light smattering of tastefully applied cosmetics. She looked good.
But Michael thought he liked her better in a ponytail with sweat still clinging to her brow.
He’d been talking on the phone when she’d returned. He held up a hand in a friendly gesture for her to wait a second. She nodded and jumped a little when the doorbell sounded.
That had to go, he added to his list as the ridiculously loud, somber bells rang out through the house. He watched her turn to answer the door when it rang a second time.
She stood with the door open, unmoving, when he clicked his cell phone off and started towards her. Then he looked down and saw what had shocked Samantha.
A smile crept over his face as he took in the small boy.
He was about four or five years old and stood in the doorway with big blue eyes and a head full of the palest blond hair Michael had ever seen.
The kid looked scared and shy. He felt Samantha’s helplessness as if it was his own as she gaped at the child.
He could tell she was out of her element, but he waited on her to make the first move, after all it was her house the kid had come to.
He didn’t have to wait long. Samantha bent down and asked the child, “Can I help you?”
The boy shuffled his feet and looked at them both warily, hiding his eyes with his chubby little hands. Michael crouched down next to her and tried not to react when she reached out with her hand and placed it on his arm.