He didn’t wait for an answer, his lips twitching as he stared me down, and right then I could see the similarity between the two of them. Damon’s hair was shorter, neater and had more blond streaks through the brown. Reed was all quiet seriousness, whereas Damon seemed anything but. He swooped in, dragging his nose through the space between us before letting out a little growl.
“You been playing with the Big Bad Wolf, little beta?” I saw his fangs poke over his lips. “I thought you were fucking hot at the bookshop, but this?”
His voice was a low purr now, something that held me temporarily under his spell until I shook my head abruptly.
“I don’t think coffee is such a good idea,” I said, putting my hand on a very taut stomach when he came closer and didn’t stop.
“On the contrary,” he replied, “I think we need—”
His hand covered mine, and he used it to slide both down the front of his jeans and towards his very big—
“Damon!” The alpha’s attention was jerked up and we both turned to see Ben was standing looking through Evie’s bedroom window, peering down at us. “Coffee date only, remember?”
Damon’s eyes glittered as he met his brother’s gaze, holding it for some seconds before finally pulling away.
“Coffee date it is,” Damon said, keeping a hold of my hand and dragging me over to what looked like a rented sedan. A door was opened and I was ushered in, the alpha even leaning over to do my seat belt up.
“Oh no,” I said belatedly. I was not up for this at all. I undid my belt and went to get out of the car when I realised the child lock was engaged. I grabbed the door handle then wrenched on it, but Damon just climbed in his side with a grin. “You need to let me out, now.”
“After all these years looking for you in the wrong places?” Damon said. “Not a chance.”
“Damon? Damon!”
He started the car, then gave it a hoon-worthy rev, before taking off at a speed that had one of my hands grabbing the ‘oh shit’ handle, the other frantically clipping my seat belt back on.
“Jesus, slow down! Is killing me in a traffic accident what passes for wooing in your neck of the woods?”
“Oh, so you want to be wooed?” Damon asked with a smirk. “Good to know.”
“No, no, no, no!”
Was I protesting this course of action or the fact we were roaring up to what I knew was a notoriously busy intersection? I couldn’t tell right now. Blood was pumping, every muscle tensing as we got closer.
“Don’t worry about it, babe,” Damon said. “I got this.”
‘I got this’ translated to stopping way too briefly, then screaming out to slot our car into the smallest possible gap in traffic, other drivers beeping in response.
“You don’t got this!” I yelped. “Let me out! Let me the fuck out!”
“We’re on the freeway now,” Damon replied, “so no can do. If you decide you want out at the airfield, I’ll let you out then.”
“The airfield!?” I yelped.
You know how in movies likeIndiana JonesorRomancing the Stone, the rakish guy always provokes the female lead into high pitched squeaking? Yeah, now I understood why. I gave Damon my patented Mummy Death Glare, and he just laughed.
“This is not coffee. This is not getting to know you. This is definitely not making me think you’re a fit person to be around my daughter,” I said.
He was almost a complete stranger, so I shouldn’t have felt a thing when I saw him go very still and quiet, the smile disappearing altogether. But I did. He dropped speed so as to be just under the limit, then flicked me a sidelong look.
“About that. I think my brother is going about this all wrong. I want to get to know the cub. I want to be her dad… She’s mine too, just as much as she’s Ben’s, but he’s all focussed on her, when he should be focussed on you. You’re our mate. She’s important, but not more than you.”
“That’s not how it—”
“I don’t give a fuck how it works. I know what I feel. It took every damn scrap of my self-control to get me walking out of that shop. When I caught sight of you, my wolf was pretty determined to take control and curl up in a ball by that nice fireplace so we could watch you all day. We’ve been searching for years for you, Lily, and now we’ve found you.”
When his eyes went back to the road, I was relieved, both because he was focussed on driving but also because I was out from under that intense gaze.
“I didn’t want to take you on a nice sedate coffee date and everything you’ve said since makes me believe my gut instinct was right. You’ve spent your youth looking after our cub on your own. If you’re anything like my mum, you’ve always had to be sensible and smart, careful and responsible. Don’t you…?” He let out a sigh, settling back in the seat, his muscular forearm straight as he steered the car. “Don’t you want to cut loose every once and a while?”