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I dropped Luca’s foot and clambered over to kiss Emiel on the forehead. “You’re going to react by being an amazing mate,” I told him. “And ofcourseI’ll be there. Just tell me where and when.”
The pair exchanged a look.
“We scheduled it for next Monday,” Emiel said. “So it wouldn’t interfere with your work schedule.”
“You could have scheduled it for the busiest day of the year, and I’d have put Shani in charge of the restaurant and come anyway.” I toed off my shoes, pulled off my work pants and shirt, then climbed into the bed on Emiel’s other side wearing my tank top and panties. “Now, can we go to sleep? I’m beat, and you two have to be up for work in a few hours.”
“It’ll be nice when we’re all on the same schedule,” Luca said sleepily, lowering himself back into Emiel’s embrace.
I pictured a future of waking up every morning in a comfortable tangle with this pack I’d come to love so dearly, ready for a day of combining my passion for cooking with a program to help make a difference for the kids Zalen and the others worked so hard to save.
“Yes,” I said, snuggling into Emiel’s shoulder. “It sure will.”
SIXTY-TWO
Luca
IT WAS STRANGE HOWfive days could drag on and on, yet also seem to go by in a flash. With everything else happening around me, I’d mostly managed to avoid hyper-focusing on what I’d agreed to do with Emiel.
Nat and Mia were getting all the legalities organized for selling the restaurant. Meanwhile, it was all hands on deck at the Hope Project as we scrambled to secure funding and start jumping through all the hoops involved in building an accredited culinary program from the ground up.
It was just possible that I’d been using those distractions as a way to keep from thinking about today. It was just possible that Emiel had been doing exactly the same thing.
But ‘today’ had still come, as inevitable as the tide. Here I was... and there was no option to ignore what was happening any longer.
“Maybe it’s too soon.” My voice sounded high-pitched and faintly hysterical to my own ears.
I was pacing around the sterile medical room, rubbing at my upper arms with both hands as though fighting off a chill. Mia was with me, sitting on the edge of the impersonal bed in the center of the room.
“Luca, you know you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.” She sounded way more put-together than I felt, but then again,shewasn’t the one about to let an alpha put his teeth around her gland and tie her to him psychically.
Even so, I could smell the growing worry beneath her summery scent.
“No,” I said, still pacing. “No, I have to do this. Iagreedto do this.”
“Hey.” She rose and intercepted me, her hands closing on my shoulders to keep me in place. “Luca, look at me.”
Jitters shook my body, urging me to break free and resume my attempts to outrun my nerves with movement. I had to force myself to meet her huge brown eyes and hold that worried gaze.
“Take a deep breath,” she said, “and let it out slowly. Now, tell me what you’re afraid of.”
I dragged in a shaky breath and held it for a count of three before it escaped explosively.
“What if it goes wrong?” I whispered.