You have amazing taste.” I couldn’t help taking in the teasing dress once more. I loved that thing.
“I think I’ll be fine for a while. Besides, I prefer shorts and t-shirts. Your t-shirts are the best.”
Damn. Blood boiling, I handed her my jacket and pulled off my sweater and t-shirt. Her mouth dropped open and her scent sweetened. I almost grinned as I handed the white shirt to her. The loose hold she had on my jacket helped affirm how much she liked having my shirt.
I stepped close. “I’ll give you my shirt whenever you ask.”
Her pulse stuttered, and I grinned slightly, hoping that was a good sign.
“So there’s no misunderstanding, we’re officially in the dating phase of our relationship.”
She nodded woodenly but remained where she was. Why was she so hard to read? I’d thought she’d give me a sign that she was ready for more, maybe lean forward or tilt her head to the side again. But, she didn’t do anything. Was she waiting for me?
Chapter 14
I leaned forward and brushed my lips against the skin of her neck, then left. Closing the door was hard, going back to my apartment across the hall was harder. The bed was losing Michelle’s scent and didn’t welcome me as it once had. So, instead of trying to sleep, I sat on the couch and wondered what I could have done differently to change the outcome of the evening.
Winifred and Jim didn’t leave me alone for long. With a barely audible knock, Winifred opened the door.
“She’s still moving around over there,” she said softly, closing the door after Jim stepped in.
Jim sat beside me on the couch and tilted his head to study me.
“Didn’t go well?”
I shrugged and leaned forward, bracing my elbows on my knees.
“It doesn’t feel like it ended well.”
“Couldn’t have ended too badly. You’re not wearing a shirt.”
“Emmitt, you just need to be—”
“Patient. I know. You do realize my upbringing taught me the complete opposite, right? You see your Mate, you Claim her. That was always the message because the chances of finding a compatible human were thought impossible. Until Mom. Then, finding a second one moved impossible to improbable. I never thought I’d have to go through what Dad went through. If I was lucky enough to find a Mate, I thought it would be our kind.”
Winifred considered me for a moment. “Would you consider giving up your right and hope for another?”
“Hell no. I just want to be done with the waiting. I want my Mate.”
“Would it help if Winifred made you some cookies?” Jim asked straight-faced.
“Stop talking about cookies,” I said with a groan. I sat back and looked up at the ceiling, recalling the details of Michelle’s dress.
“Well, since I don’t believe your night is going to get any better, I might as well tell you that your parents are sending Mary and Gregory here.”
A sick feeling settled into my stomach.
“Why?”
“They want to know more about Michelle, and they want to see the progress we’ve made on the apartments.”
Could my night get any worse?
“Winifred, Michelle isn’t ready for more of our kind. She didn’t enjoy our date because she was worried about leaving her brothers, and she trusts us. That trust is going to leave really fast when we start inviting our kind here.”
“That’s what this place is for, Emmitt. Our kind. The Compound is getting too crowded. We need to alleviate—”
“I know, Winifred. I know. At the cost of losing Michelle, though? How do you think she’ll react to this? With fear. The more people who come here, the more she’ll feel exposed. She’ll be terrified the next person to show up will be Blake. There is every chance she’ll leave. And if she does, I’ll follow, pack and leadership be damned.”
“You have a responsibility to your people,” she said with growing frustration.
“Not the way you do, or Jim will if he’s ever accepted as an Elder. I have a responsibility to my Mate. And through my Mate, the continuation of our people. That’s my first responsibility. Leadership takes a backseat to that.”
“He’s right,” Jim said quietly. “The Compound is crowded because the few women who were out there stepped forward to find Mates. This new generation is important. But only if we keep promoting the importance of Mated pairs. What message are we sending if we push Emmitt to be a pack leader over being a Mate? The pack is about family. We need to keep it that way.”