didn’t expect Annie. Definitely didn’t expect Annie.” This time he was the one laughing. Sunbeams swept across the room as the sun popped up over the mountains. Lily got up to fix breakfast, and a little while later, Alex and Annie wandered into the kitchen, looking for coffee.
They all sat at the little kitchen table, talking and laughing, eating the big breakfast Lily had prepared, and planning the rest of the day. Alex had to meet with members of the local sheriff’s department, Annie was going shopping with her mom and a couple of other women from the pack, and Lily and Sebastian would be visiting the astral plane.
He was going to meet a goddess. One who really didn’t like him very much. Sebastian glanced out the window at the mountains to the east and thought about that. This morning might have been the most surreal in his life, but he had a feeling the rest of the day just might top it.
14
It was a little after eight by the time Alex left with Annie to walk her back home. Lily knew he wasn’t looking forward to seeing Tinker, but she’d suggested before he left that the two men were going to have to establish a working arrangement where Annie was concerned.
Alex had agreed. Poor Annie had just wrapped her hands around her waist and stared off in the distance, toward her parents’ house. It really wasn’t going to be easy, but if Alex really loved Annie, he’d figure out a way to make it work.
Lily watched through the kitchen window as the two of them walked away, hand in hand. Alex leaned close, obviously listening intently to whatever Annie was saying. She’d never seen him like this with any woman, and definitely not with her. More proof, as far as Lily was concerned, that she and Alex were not meant to be mates.
Thinking of mates had her glancing to her left where Sebastian stood in front of the sink washing breakfast dishes. He looked really good standing bare chested in her kitchen, wearing nothing but a pair of Alex’s old jogging shorts, his hands in soapy water, and bubbles glistening in the dark hairs on his wrists. Damn, she really had it bad, but she turned the thought around and said, “Alex has it so bad.”
She took the plate Sebastian handed to her and added, “But it’s not going to be easy. Annie’s dad really is wonderful.” She finished drying the plate, then took the next one Sebastian handed to her and carefully dried it. She thought it was pretty cool that he’d cleared the table and started rinsing dishes while she put leftovers away. Obviously he didn’t mind helping out around the house.
Score more points in his favor.
“Why do I hear an obvious but at the end of that sentence?” He waited while she put the plates away and then handed her a well-scrubbed frying pan.
“Do I even have to say it?” Laughing as she dried the pan, Lily couldn’t help but think of how much she loved Annie’s father, but the reality of the man made her sigh in frustration. Poor Annie. “Tinker is big and he’s very strong, and Annie is such a little thing that he’s always been protective. Way too protective. And just wait until you meet her brothers. They were the really huge dark gray wolves who left with Annie’s mom last night. All the McClintock men are big and strong and extremely protective, and it’s not easy for Annie. Everyone treats her like she’s such a fragile little girl because she’s petite, but she’s thirty years old. She’s got a will of iron, and she’s had a lot of self-defense training. She was good enough to compete in the sport while in college, and she won competitions all around Europe, but Tinker’s having a hard time accepting that she’s a grown woman.”
“It can’t be easy for any father who loves his daughter.” He chuckled. “I’m surprised your father has been so nice to me. I can’t imagine how I’d deal with some strange guy showing up to court my daughter.”
She tilted her head and studied him for a moment. “Is that what you’re doing? Courting me?”
“You mean you haven’t figured that out yet?” He leaned over, kissed her cheek, and went back to washing dishes.
Lily watched him, amazed by how calm he seemed about taking their relationship to a new level. She was still getting used to the idea she’d actually met