My animal chirps inside of me, like she wants to get his attention too. Which is fucking weird, because she doesn’t like anybody. We have that in common. Our response is actually freaking me out a little. I shouldn’t be flirting with him. I don’t know what the fuck just came over me, but I need to knock it off.
“Thanks,” I say, my voice surprisingly husky, as I pass the cigarette back to him.
He clears his throat, like he’s just now realizing that he was practically stripping me naked with his eyes. Maybe he’s regretting this weirdly sexual moment too.
And then I remember the librarian and how the pink-loving female had been leaning over to talk to him, the two of them obviously close, and my mood sours.
His dark eyes morph into blue ones, his black hair into blond, and the face of Cliff flashes in my vision, obscuring Jericho for a split second.
Suddenly feeling awkward about the blatant fuck-me move I just did on his cigarette, I take a step back, hoping that will dissipate some of the tension.
“Where’s your girlfriend? Working late at the library?” I ask, and then I want to kick my own ass, because how fucking obvious was that?
Jericho drops the cigarette on the ground and stomps his boot over it as he continues to lean against the fence. The waning night does excellent things for this male’s good looks. He looks way too good right before dawn. “She only works late when there are scary vagabond females snoring on one of her tables.”
My eyes narrow on him. “I wasn’t snoring.”
He shrugs like he doesn’t believe me and then says, “She isn’t my girlfriend.”
“Hmm.” I don’t believe that for a second. He probably just doesn’t want to lose me for a second-round dick pick.
“So do you always slink around in the shadows at night?” he asks.
I shrug. “My animal is nocturnal, and so am I.”
“Nocturnal, huh?” he muses. “You know, there’s a big debate over what you shift into.”
“I’ve heard,” I say dryly. Addie’s mates keep debating about it every time I’m around.
They never guess right.
“I heard that you haven’t shifted since you’ve been here, either,” Jericho continues.
“So?”
He lifts a shoulder. “Just an observation.”
Everything is growing lighter now as the sun starts cresting the horizon. “Well, go observe someone else. Like Miss Librarian.”
He grins, showing off straight white teeth and cheeks that pull back into smile lines that accentuate his jawline even more. He’s just as hot when he smiles as when he’s serious. Fucking figures. “You’re really threatened by Hannah, aren’t you?”
Hannah. What a boring name.
I take too long to answer because I was too busy fucking it up by inwardly demeaning poor Hannah in my head. Jericho chuckles. “Don’t worry, Jet. Like I said, she’s not my girlfriend.”
“Don’t care,” I say, turning on my heel as I start to walk away.
“Liar,” he calls at my back.
I don’t stop walking, but much to my irritation, he starts to follow me.
I’m stupid. Why the hell did I bring her up three times? Now he’s going to forever think I’m jealous and interested. Which I’m not. Definitely not. I simply had a lapse in judgement. I’m overtired, that’s all. It’s the stress getting to me. I always did like a good stress-fuck to help clear my head. I miss Cliff, but this male is not Cliff, so attraction or not, I’m not going there.
“Where are you going?” he asks, matching his stride with mine.
“To the warehouse.”
“Hmm. Which one are you staying in?”
“Warehouse Three.”
Addie set me up in a room that I have to myself, which is nice, and if I sleep during the day, then that means less time that I have to be around people. That suits me just fine.
“I’m in number one. In case you were wondering.”
“I wasn’t,” I retort.
He chuckles. “I like that fire in your engines, Jet.”
“What are you, a fly? Buzz off.”
“I’m a wild boar, actually. Want to see?”
I do, because I’m picturing something like Pumba from the Lion King, and that image just doesn’t fit with how hot he is, but I shake my head. “Nope. Don’t care.”
“So cranky,” he tsks. “I bet if you shifted and let your animal out to play, you’d be in a better mood.”
A frustrated sigh escapes me. “Aren’t you supposed to be watching the perimeter? You suck at your job.”
“I was off duty at dawn,” he replies smoothly. “So we can walk together all the way back to the