Chapter Six
Kimberly surveyed the living room and kitchen, looking for anything out of place.
She had worked for the last couple of hours to cultivate the space to put off just the right vibe for this date, if it could be called that.
Minimal lighting, everything smelling fresh and clean, and few distractions. This evening was for them.
She glanced at the bedroom door and bit her lips together. A visit to her bed was not in her plans, but what about his? The clock reminded her that she didn’t have time to spruce up that area anyway. She shook her head. It wouldn’t go that far. It couldn’t. Her heart would be in danger if it did.
She heard Shane’s truck pull up in the complex’s parking lot, and Kimberly inspected her clothes one last time.
Her light, layered skirt reached her knees in flaps of thin, colorful fabric, and her sleeveless cotton blouse hung off her frame just right.
She didn’t see the point in putting on shoes and decided to show off her dainty, shapely feet.
She recalled something about Shane liking her feet but couldn’t remember when or the context of why he said it.
Not in a fetish way, but she never asked him for a reason.
Back then, he could have said he liked her ears, and she wouldn’t have questioned it.
Just for him to admire anything about her thrilled her.
Kimberly heard Shane make his way up the metal stairs and she detected the faint whiff of cheese and garlic.
Her stomach rumbled, and she hastened to open the door before he set foot in the breezeway.
It made her look maybe a little desperate, but she didn’t have time to check herself before doing it.
Earlier that week, she had resolved to act as if this date was their first, as if they were starting fresh, as if the past was more context than trauma.
She would have to set aside the way he had practically abandoned her in order to take full advantage of this night.
She and her wolf needed this to go well and sniping about the way things fell apart for them was not an option.
Shane conquered the last metal tread of the stairs with two pizza boxes balanced in one palm and a weighted plastic shopping bag hooked over a finger.
He dressed just as casually as her in a pair of jeans and a black skirt that hugged the curves of his muscled chest and arms. Up to now, she had only ever seen him nearly naked and in work clothes.
For her, he cleaned up nicely and she made an effort to show her appreciation.
He did the same, his gaze raking her from head to foot.
They smiled at each other and once he was close enough, she reached out to snatch away the pizza boxes. “Thanks for the dinner. Bye, now.”
Kimberly spun to race into her apartment, already feeling a bit of her old, playful self return in the comfort of his presence.
Shane chased after her before she could shut the door. “Oh no, you don’t! One of those pizzas is mine! It’s got green peppers on it.”
Kimberly turned and grinned at him. He remembered. “I happen to like green peppers now.”
He snapped his fingers. “Darn, the luck!”
They shared a laugh, and she closed the door behind him. That entire exchange nearly broke the grip of her nerves. The teasing, the smiles, the laughter. Just a week ago, she couldn’t imagine feeling anything other than animosity. Now, she wondered if restoring their friendship really was possible.
Shane looked around and his witty smile returned. “So, you’ve still got a thing for plants, huh?”
Kimberly beamed with pride at her domestic jungle of plants and flowerpots crowded atop every available table surface and hanging by hemp ropes from the ceiling.
The sliding glass doors in the living area led out onto an equally feral balcony.
It gave the apartment a rich, earthy smell, a piece of the forest she could enjoy whenever she wanted.
Her plush, white linen sofa, flanked by wicker ratan end tables, sat on the edge of a colorful rag rug.
Her television and bookcase occupied half of the opposite wall.
The shelves were packed with reference books on the proper care of all manner of flora, and chick-lit she let herself escape into every once and a while.
“Yeah. It’s kind of been my life for a while now.”
“I think I do remember you saying that you wanted to do something with flowers when you grew up.”
Kimberly’s hold on the boxes tightened. “You sure remember a lot.”
He shot her a clever look. “You’re a hard girl to forget.”
Instead of shooting him some scathing comment about how he did seem to forget her the day she and her family had to leave Warrington, Kimberly glanced down to the top of the boxes in her hands.
The generic design of a mustached Italian man in a big white chef’s hat on the top of the pizza boxes told her he had picked them up from Marco’s Pizzeria.
“Nice choice,” she remarked. “The diner sells pizzas too, but they aren’t great. They’re much better at burgers.”
“Dominic suggested them when he was showing me around Tolstone.”
Kimberly set the pizza boxes on the counter. “I remember getting that grand tour.”
“How long ago was that?”
“About a year.”
Shane let out a whistle. “That’s a little long to be staying in Tolstone, isn’t it?”
She shrugged, realizing how it looked that her pack had virtually taken up permanent residence.
“It is, but we’re a small pack. There’s only me, Gage, and Declan.
We don’t take up much space, and we’ve paid back what we owe Dominic, so he doesn’t push it.
Gage has a long way to go before he’s ready to be an alpha anyway.
You want to eat off plates or straight out of the box? ”
Shane seemed contemplative, but answered, “Out of the box, of course. Like we used to.”
Kimberly slid a stack of paper plates closer to the boxes. “Some of us acquired manners with age.”
Shane came so close his chest nearly brushed her shoulder. “And some of us still like to live a little.” He reached in front of her and picked up one of the boxes.
His voice turned husky and thick, and she wondered if he was talking about more than just table manners.
His scent made her insides quiver with want, but he moved toward the living room and to a safe range.
The moment passed so quickly, yet her whole body seemed to linger in that shiver of lust for just a little longer.
“You work for Ferrin, right? How was work this week?” she asked, throwing herself into a new train of thought.
Shane dropped on the sofa and slid the pizza box on the clean glass coffee table. “Good. We got the framing done on the house we started last week, and we’ll be moving on to another until it’s ready for the trim phase. And your work? How’s the flower rack thing working out for you?”
Kimberly moved around to the fridge to pull out two chilled cans of pop. “It’s been a hit. It’s been used several times already. But the bulk of what I’ve been doing is getting ready for a wedding that’s coming up in a couple of weeks.”
“That must be a lot of work.”
And just like that, Kimberly felt as if she were talking with a good friend and not the guy who ghosted her ten years ago. The conversation came easier with each passing moment, and she wondered if it was just as easy for him.
She shrugged. “Bouquets, garland, and centerpieces. It helps when the bride knows what she wants, and she does. Ashley told me she’s been planning this since she was a teenager.
It’s going to be a real big pack affair too.
I’m doing the flowers, Gwen and Jaime are catering, Dominic’s mate is doing the photography … Have you met Erica?”
He nodded and accepted the soda she offered. “A couple of times. Must be a strong woman to stay with a guy like Dominic.”
Kimberly went back to the counter to pull two slices of pepperoni and mushroom pizza onto her plate.
She thought of what Erica had done for Tolstone, and indirectly for her.
With a single shot of a silver bullet, she killed Nathan.
Kimberly would never have to wonder if he’d be out there in the wild harassing and attacking other women.
“She is, but I think they balance one another. They’re so cute together. ”
He huffed. “Yeah, her balancing trick would have been nice yesterday.”
She went still, fingers pinching long tethers of warm cheese that connected the slice to the whole pie. “What do you mean?”
Shane popped the top on the can and turned his gaze to the television screen, reflecting its dark depths. “Dominic paid me a visit at the job site.”
Kimberly turned, plate in hand. If the Prime Alpha took time away from his shop to visit a shifter, it was a big deal. Something that couldn’t be settled with a phone call or text. “And?”
Shane took a sip of the pop and his nose wrinkled, whether at the fizz of the drink or the recollection of the meeting.
“Just alpha stuff…” He glanced at her and must have thought better about being vague by the worried look in her eyes.
“He gave me a list of places to check out and told me about a fight one of my pack started the other night.”
A shot of icy chill ran down her back. Shane was looking at new homes for his pack already.
Well, of course he would. Any alpha looking to rehome his pack should jump into the task.
So, why did it come as a shock? More than that, she so wanted to know the details.
What places? How far away were they? Did he choose already?
When would he leave? What about the fight?
Was it with anyone she knew? How did Shane feel about Dominic, of all people, confronting him about these things? Did he do anything about them yet?