Page 7 of Wrong Number, Right Grizzly (Dial M For Mates #7)

NIX

I pretended to be asleep when the light peeped between the ragged patches in the motel curtains, but I'd been awake for hours. Every time I'd tried to close my eyes, I scented my mate, or pictured him in his underwear, or with the towel wrapped around his body, dripping with water.

During the night when I stared at a patch of mold on the ceiling, Ronan was also awake. Not that he let on, but I picked up on the change in his breathing. Even when he was sleeping, he tossed and turned so that by morning, he wouldn’t be well rested.

I’m awake too. My grizzly was puzzled by us both being awake but not admitting it.

In the early hours of the morning, Ronan got up and a packet crinkled, followed by the unmistakable crunch of him chewing crackers. I'd kept my breathing steady and my eyes closed, not ready to deal with the bond that sounded like an alarm in my head.

In the darkness, I could put off any decision, saying Ronan was upset because of what happened in the storm and neither of us was in our own environment. But in the morning, I’d have to act or let him go and grieve his loss.

Ronan was stirring again, and though my back was to him, I sensed his eyes on me.

I kept still, wanting him to think me asleep.

He got up and walked to the bathroom. When he closed the door, I checked my phone.

It was seven thirty and there had been three missed calls from work last night.

I ignored them. Whatever crisis my boss was freaking out about could wait until Monday.

When Ronan emerged from the bathroom, I sat up and stretched, hoping my acting ability was good enough so he’d assume I’d just woken up.

"Morning.” I rubbed my eyes and peered toward the window. "How'd you sleep?"

"Great.” That was a lie. So we were both pretending. “And you?"

"Like a rock." I swung my legs over the side of the bed. "Coffee?"

"Gods, yes." He glanced around, I guessed looking for crappy coffee pods, sugar, and creamer motels provided. “From where?” This wasn’t the city with a café on every corner.

Most motels provided food of some kind, and while we hadn’t filled in our order last night, we should be able to get coffee.

But there were more pressing issues than coffee. Okay, no. I took that back. Coffee was equally important as checking the weather app.

I grabbed my phone and pulled up the weather app while Ronan got dressed. I side-eyed him as he dashed into the bathroom and checked out his butt. But I couldn’t wait to tell him what I found out, so I pressed my face against the bathroom door.

“Good news and bad news," I yelled. “Which do you want first?”

The door flung open and I almost fell onto Ronan, but my shifter reflexes righted me.

“The good news, please.”

“The storm's moved on.”

Ronan nodded and strode to his pack. “And the bad?”

“Most of the roads in the county are still closed, including the location of your vehicle.”

My grizzly squeed, thinking we’d spend the day, maybe the weekend with Ronan. You’ll be mated by Monday .

Ronan sighed. “It’s that damned tree. If I had a chainsaw, I’d go and cut it up myself.”

I shivered, thinking of him shirtless and wearing dark sunglasses, yanking the pull start while a sheen of sweat glistened on his chest.

“Nix, are you okay?”

Shit. I dabbed at the drool that pooled in the corner of my mouth. “Yeah, just wanting caffeine in my veins.”

Despite wanting to stay with Ronan and my desire for coffee, I needed a shower first, and I ducked into the bathroom and got under the steaming water. The motel might’ve been rundown, but they had decent hot water.

Ronan had the room door open when I exited the bathroom. I was pleased I’d bought all the clothes last night because it allowed us to change into a clean set of promotional shirts and sweatpants.

As we wandered to the motel office, we discussed how long it’d be before the local council cleared the tree off the road.

There was a breakfast of sorts laid out in what the motel considered a dining room. The coffee was black and strong, and I downed two cups. Ronan screwed up his face and described the brew as dark liquid pretending to be coffee.

I bit into a pastry that might have been made two days ago, but it was sweet and I needed more carbs after the lack of sleep last night.

When we got back to the room with extra danishes and coffee, I asked Ronan what he usually did when he was trapped in a motel with a stranger. He told me this was a first, and I said it was the same for me.

I looked around the room. "We've got shelter, caffeine, and questionable food." I paused. "Plus, entertainment."

I'd spotted a deck of cards on the dresser that had probably been left behind by previous guests.

"Please tell me you don’t want to play strip poker.” Ronan tried and failed to hide a smile.

Damn, I did, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. I’d played in college when we’d drunk too many beers, and I always won.

“I was thinking of gin rummy.” I shuffled the cards. "Unless you've got a better idea?"

“I’m very competitive." He sat opposite me on my bed.

“Me too.” Game on!

I dealt the cards, and we studied our hands. I checked out Ronan’s expression and his body language in case he was giving something away about what was in his hand.

"You've got a good poker face," he told me after I won the first hand. "Do you play a lot?"

"No, though I used to in college.” I did a lot of other things in college, many of which I wouldn’t tell my kids if I ever had any. I asked him if he had any hobbies because I wanted to get to know him .

"I rebuild old computers in my spare time. Making something work after it’s been broken makes me feel pretty darn good,” Ronan said proudly.

“My life’s about work, more work, and even more work. This is probably the most excitement I've had in months."

“I’d prefer not to have any more of this excitement.” He made a face.

Shit, and I thought we were getting on well.

“Not that I’m not enjoying being here with you, but last night, ummm, I’d prefer never to experience that again.”

My phone buzzed. "Road's open. The tree was cleared an hour ago."

“I guess we can get out of here." This tone was a little wistful, or perhaps that was me injecting something into the situation that wasn’t there.

I had to drive Ronan back to his truck because there was no bus service on this road. Besides, I had to figure out how and when to see him again. Unless he planned to hitch a ride with the tow truck. But I couldn’t let that happen and would have to make some excuse if he insisted.

I tossed away food wrappers while Ronan got hold of a tow truck. We were both still wearing the ridiculous outfits, and I hoped he wouldn’t change into his dirty clothes, as I wanted us to match.

My grizzly was agitated, saying we had to stay together, and I told him to cut it out.

I’ll deal with this. Trust me .

Twenty minutes later, we were back in my car and headed to Abercrombie Road. I didn’t recognize any of the surroundings because trees had been felled, the water had knocked over fences, and there were huge potholes in the road.

Ronan's vehicle sat where we'd left it, looking sad and lonely.

“The towing guy said he’d be here soon, so there’s no need for you to hang around. You must have a life to get back to.” He held out his hand for me to shake. “Thanks for everything, Nix.

But I stayed because I hadn’t summoned the courage to ask him out yet.

When the towing guy checked under the hood, he shook his head and listed all the things that were shot or broken or dead. He told Ronan it’d be three days before he could get all the parts.

This was the moment the universe gave me a break, though I’d already been given one last night when Ronan dialed my number.

“Looks like I’m giving you another ride.” He’d told me he lived about forty-five minutes north of town. We could spend the whole day together.

As we got closer to town, I suggested we stop off at my place and he could take another shower, I’d toss his clothes in the wash and we could get takeout. “Then I’ll take you home.”

He hesitated before saying, “I’d love that.”