Page 31

“Harold mentioned that, but he pointed out you can’t.”

I had to stop him because if we were to be mates, and that was still a huge if, it had to be because he wanted it, not to do with any guilt.

I gripped his arm and faced him. “Forget me, think only of yourself.”

He tilted his head. “Problem is, I can’t get you out of my head.”

“Maybe we should ask Booker for help. His fox can chase any thoughts of me away.”

Joss guffawed. “Him rushing in was the most bizarre incident of my life until you shifted, and then it paled in comparison.”

He removed my hand from his arm and squeezed it, and I returned the favor. “I can’t speak to the instinct that draws you to me, but I don’t want to live without you.”

I tossed what remained of my coffee in a nearby trashcan and wrapped my arms around him.

“Watch the coffee.” He lifted it above his head.

I glanced up. “Is this the business consulting equivalent of mistletoe?”

My mate’s chest shook with laughter, and I removed the cup from his hand.

“Just kiss me, please.”

I pressed my lips to his, inhaling his scent and savoring his taste. He put a hand to my butt and a passerby commented to the person at his side, “Why don’t we fondle one another in public any more?”

“Maybe we should take this inside? You have a reputation to uphold,” he said.

Perhaps this wasn’t the moment to explain that most of the companies in the area were run by shifters and mates often stuck their tongues down each other’s throats in public.

“I need to know that you’re in this 100%.”

“I am.” Joss took the coffee from me and got rid of it. “And to prove it, I want you to mark me.”

“That’s the final step.” For me. He could walk, though the mating bond was strong even in humans, I suspected.

“I understand, and I want to show the world, or the shifters in it, that we are mated. We belong to one another.”

My fox was overjoyed, he jumped around until I reminded him about my dodgy belly.

Sorry, but I don’t care. This is the best news.

“How do we do this?” Joss whispered in my ear. My dick responded, and I had to gather my thoughts together before answering.

“Not in public.”

“Shame, I expected us to get naked on the street.” His wicked grin was a sign he was jerking me around.

“Even shifters are not that brazen, though I wouldn’t put it past Booker.”

“Your place or mine?”

I sighed because we both had a job to do, and that had to come before we mated.

I pointed upward. “We have to go back to the office, and this evening we’ll do something that’s a very human experience.”

He frowned. “I thought you’d introduce me to the shifter world.”

“That will happen eventually.” Baby steps. “But for now, let’s try going on a date.”