She narrowed her eyes. “We talked about this already. The shelter is important to me.”
“It should be. And it should be part of your life. But it shouldn’t be your life.”
“Says the person who works longer and harder than the other enforcers.” It was more than that, though. She’d come to realize that his job was all tangled up in who he was. Probably because he’d started training when he was just a child. “I’m not complaining. I’m just saying you’re being a little hypocritical here.”
“I’ve just said I’ll change some of my shifts around.” His mate slowly raised a brow at him. “You don’t think I will?”
“I think you’ll go stir crazy having spare time on your hands.”
He kissed her. “I won’t if you’re with me.” It was the truth.
She twisted her lips, pondering the idea. “I’ll take one day off a week.”
“And you won’t stay late each night just because you don’t have to work at the gas station anymore.”
“You work late hours.”
“I’ll stop if you stop.”
She searched his eyes, which was pointless, of course, as they rarely gave anything away. “You honestly think you can?”
“I want more time with you.”
How could she say no to that? She rubbed her nose against his. “Okay. As it happens, I won’t be working at all today. I need to go shopping.” Dante and Trick had picked up her things from her landlord yesterday—there hadn’t been much left undamaged. Most of her clothes had been slashed with her own kitchen knives. She’d been more upset to hear that her Mustang now looked like a heap of scrap. It would seem the extremists had had some fun with it.
“I’ll come with you.”
Makenna blinked. “You heard what I just said, right? That I was going shopping?”
“Yes.”
“I really don’t see you having the patience for a shopping trip. You’re a tracker; you have a hunter-type personality. I’ll bet you treat shopping like military missions: you go inside, retrieve the item, and then leave just as fast.”
Yes, that was exactly what he did.
“Me . . . I’m a browser.” She kissed his chin. “I will drive you insane.”
Then it wouldn’t be much different than any other day. “I’m coming with you.” Until the Remy situation was over, she wasn’t going anywhere alone.
She exhaled heavily. “If you’re sure.”
“You’re not going to argue that you don’t need my protection?”
“I never did understand those book and movie heroines who insist on facing danger alone. There’s being capable of protecting yourself, and there’s being plain stupid. In a one-to-one fight, I wouldn’t need you to step in. But against a group of extremists, I could do with a little help.” Their prior attack on her had quite clearly shown her that. “And I know being away from me while I’m a target would make you crazy. I don’t want to do that to you.”
She understood him well.
“And, hey, maybe we could pick you up some stuff too.” His “no thanks” grunt made her smile. “I’ve seen your wardrobe. It’s comprised of three brands at most, and you wear the same stuff over and over.”
“Because I know they fit and they’re comfortable.” That was all Ryan required from the things he wore.
“But you only wear dark colors.”
“I only like dark colors.”
“Whatever. It’s clear that you can’t be helped. Now, are you positive that you want to come along? Because you will be bored, and you will become exasperated, and you will want to cry. I could ask Jaime and Taryn to come along instead; then I wouldn’t be alone.”
“I want to go with you.”
“All right, but don’t say you weren’t warned.”
Four hours later, Ryan was fast losing the will to live. At first, shopping with his mate hadn’t been so bad. He liked seeing her enjoying herself, liked seeing her relaxed and carefree. Also, he’d foolishly thought that she wouldn’t take too long, even though she’d told him she was a browser. Why? Because just before they left, he’d caught her scribbling things on a sheet of paper. When he’d asked what she was writing, she’d replied, “I always make a list of the things I need. Then I promise myself I won’t deviate from that list. It’s stops me from buying shit I don’t need and then spending too much.”
The practical rule had surprised and impressed him. What he hadn’t considered was that her determination to not waste money would make the shopping trip even longer. If she were on the fence about anything, she’d leave it. If she weren’t 100 percent happy with the color, texture, fit, and price, she wouldn’t buy it.
So off they’d go to another store. And he was the mule.
He’d quickly learned that his mate loved bargains. If there were a sale on, she was right there. Not that she bought things just because they were on sale. No, she didn’t buy something unless she would have bought it if it hadn’t been a bargain. That didn’t stop her from checking every rack, every shelf, and every floor. And where did she get all these coupons?
Then there were the times she asked for his opinion. Didn’t she understand he didn’t have the credibility to comment on clothing that all looked the same to him anyway? Didn’t she see the sweat building on his forehead at the prospect of saying the wrong things and hurting her feelings? And why ask his opinion when it was clear she’d already made up her mind on what she wanted?