The Werewolf Dates The Deputy - Kristen Painter Page 0,12
“I can’t say as I feel particularly amorous, however.”
“Good,” Jenna said. “Let’s keep it that way.” But inside, she was the slightest bit miffed. Was he really not attracted to her even the tiniest bit? How was he ignoring the magic’s pull when she was definitely feeling it? Of course, she was also ignoring it. Hard. But feeling it all the same.
“So what are you two going to do if you can’t be apart?” Birdie asked.
Neither Jenna nor Titus answered right away.
“Well?” Birdie said.
“I guess we haven’t thought that far,” Titus finally replied.
“What we need is for Alice to work out a way to dissolve the spell.” Jenna stood. “Maybe we should test just how far apart we can get.” She already had an idea about that based on where she’d been in the parking lot when her stomach had started hurting, but the truth was, she was outnumbered by werewolves at the moment and needed some air. Air that wasn’t saturated with the scent of Titus.
He raised his brows. “Where were you when your stomach started to hurt?”
She sighed. He was ruining her chance to escape. “Pulling out of the parking lot.”
He looked out the window. “This room is almost directly over the main entrance, so that makes the lot exit about, what? Thirty yards? I think we can use that as a gauge.”
Birdie whistled. “A hundred feet? That’s it? Doesn’t give you two a lot of options, huh?”
Titus made a face. “No. It doesn’t.”
“So,” Birdie said. “Whose house are you going to live in when you get out of here?”
Titus looked at her. So did Jenna. Then they looked at each other. In horror.
Jenna recoiled. “I can’t live with you.”
He shook his head. “I’m not living with you.”
Birdie laughed like it was all a big joke. “You two. So funny. What other option do you have? You can’t be away from each other. Look on the bright side. It’ll be easier to work together on figuring out who planted that package.”
“That’s not the job of the fire department.” Jenna paced to the door. “And Alice will have a remedy soon. I know she will.” Jenna knew nothing of the sort, but she refused to believe anything different.
“And if she doesn’t?” Titus asked.
A nurse came in, saving Jenna from having to answer. “There you are, Deputy Blythe. We’re ready to start the new round of tests now. If you could just come with me. Chief, Nurse Lawrence will be in for you shortly.”
Jenna hesitated. “Where are we going?”
“Back to your room next door. I have everything set up in there.”
“Okay, great.” Jenna exhaled, glad she didn’t have to explain why she couldn’t go too far away from Titus. The hospital was a mix of human and supernatural workers. This nurse was definitely human. “Let’s get this testing done so we can get answers.”
That was paramount. Because living with Titus could not happen. It was one thing to be stuck in a room with him, but to be with him twenty-four seven? She might be a legendary warrior with the stubbornness of a thousand hellborn mules, but she was also a living, breathing, red-blooded woman with needs and urges and… She swallowed and glanced back at Titus.
Even lying in that hospital bed and wearing that silly gown, he radiated maleness. The kind that turned up her internal thermometer and put her hormones into overdrive.
Being around him for any length of time would definitely break her.
As soon as Jenna left with the nurse, Birdie went to stand closer to Titus. She took his hand and patted it. “Are you really feeling okay?”
“Sure. A little headache, but that’s probably just because I need to get all the garbage I inhaled out of my system.”
“A nice run in the forest would do you good.”
He smiled. “It would. That’s exactly what I’m going to do when I get out of here.”
“With Jenna, of course.”
He sighed. “Thanks for reminding me.”
Birdie laughed. “Oh, Titus. Stop that. She’s a beautiful woman. Accomplished. Smart. Wicked sense of humor. A body like—”
“Aunt Birdie.” He narrowed his eyes. “Can you stop selling her to me?”
“Do you really not like her?”
“She’s a pain in the—”
“Language.” But Birdie smiled. “Why does she bother you? Because you’re so much alike?”
“We are not.”
“No? I think you are. And I know you both pretty well.”
“Then you should know how annoying she is. She’s stubborn and opinionated and, frankly, a little full of herself.”
Birdie rolled her lips in like she was trying not to laugh. “You