—most likely fueled by her anger at being confined. Now it had become a battle of wills between them. A battle that Jaime had to win.
When it came to the end of her shift, Jaime sat with Ben for a while as she always did. As usual, it was a few minutes before he relaxed enough around her to lie on her lap. It took even more minutes before he finally fell asleep. Even asleep he was restless, and she wondered if he had nightmares just as she did, wondered if they were flashbacks to a time that had changed him on such a fundamental level that he was no longer the animal he once was.
“What’re you doing?” asked a confused voice.
Oh, Dante had to come along when she stank of dog muck, didn’t he?
Jaime slowly raised her head, finding him standing there, looking as gorgeous as ever. Just like always, her wolf immediately stirred at his presence and his amazing scent. The ear protectors should have made him look at least a little stupid, but no. He arched an eyebrow, waiting for her answer.
“Ben always shakes like crazy when he’s nervous and anxious. I’m just trying to settle him a bit.”
Dante felt his brow arch even higher. “You’re sitting in a cage…because he’s nervous?”
“You’re watching me sitting in a cage…because, what?” For that matter, why was he even there at all? He’d never visited her at work before. He’d always purposely avoided her in general.
The sound of someone approaching snatched both their attention.
“Oh h-hi,” stammered Riley, staring at Dante with lust-filled eyes. Did she want Jaime to bitch slap her, was that it? Not that Jaime blamed her. Because of his size, females tended to have a conflicting reaction to him, feeling both intimidated and captivated. Who wouldn’t be intimidated by someone who looked as though nothing in the world could faze or scare him? Dante simply gave Riley a nod.
Carefully Jaime returned Ben to his little spot on the floor. When she turned back, it was to see that Dante was holding out his hand to her. She slipped her hand into his, and he helped her stand upright. “Thanks,” she uttered, wondering if he felt the surge of heat that she did when their hands touched. Going by his frown, probably not.
“I just wanted to ask if you were able to give Neo his shot?” asked Riley, referring to the Neapolitan mastiff that had recently arrived at the sanctuary. Blushing an unattractive beet-red color, she repeatedly glanced nervously at Dante.
“Yeah, he was fine.” Jaime locked Ben’s cage before placing the keys on the hook. “Pissed, but fine.”
“Great. That’s all, so I’ll, um, see you tomorrow, I guess.” With that, she scuttled away. No doubt her inner lioness was nervous around Dante, too.
“So, is there a problem or something?” Jaime asked him as they walked toward the exit, her body very much aware of him.
“I came to take you to lunch.”
And interrogate the hell out of you, he wisely didn’t add.
Although he’d be lying if he said that he wouldn’t enjoy spending time with her.
Okay, that had been totally unexpected, in which case she couldn’t help feeling both suspicious and anxious. “Why?” He gave her one of his crooked grins that never failed to do interesting things to her body.
“That’s not usually the reaction I get when I offer to take a female to lunch.”
“Well, we both know you aren’t offering to take me on some kind of date. So what’s this really about?”
“I want to talk to you.”
Uh-oh. That did not sound good. “About…?” she prodded as they reached the exit. She took both sets of ear protectors and placed them on the shelf beside the doors.
“I’ll tell you when we get to the restaurant.” He opened the main door but held up his hand, gesturing for her to remain where she was.
Jaime almost laughed at the way he scanned his surroundings, checking for any signs of a threat. Very Beta behavior. Once he stepped aside, she headed to the main building. “I would have thought you were too busy for this.”
He was, but this was important. She was important. “I have to eat like everyone else.”
“Fine. I just need to go change and grab my backpack.” He gave her a short nod.
The entire time she washed and changed, she wondered how she could get out of this pickle.
Spending time with the guy she was trying to get over was counterproductive. It would be like a recovering alcoholic sitting in a bar. Also, she was a little nervous about whatever it was he wanted to discuss. Not that she thought he could break her. Jaime was used to keeping secrets; she’d been doing it for a long time. But she wasn’t feeling great today. The last thing she needed was an interrogation.
As she exited the building, Dante’s eyes perused her body and a devilish smile surfaced. He knew that he should wipe it off his face, but it didn’t seem to be going anywhere. She looked both surprised and confused, and may have been about to comment when they were both distracted by the sound of someone calling her name. Turning his head, he saw the guy from the diner jogging toward them. A low growl poured out of Dante. “Oh look, it’s your human,” he said with fake delight.
Jaime gave him a look that said “behave,” but she knew there was no getting Dante to do anything he didn’t want to. “Hi,” she said when Shawn was up close.
“Hi. Um, who’s your friend?” Shawn glanced nervously at him—which was understandable, since Dante was looking at him like he wanted to peel off his flesh like an onion.
“Yes, introduce us,” drawled Dante.
She had to resist releasing a cautioning growl as Dante entered her personal space like he had every right to. “Dante, this is Shawn. Shawn, this is my Beta.” They exchanged stiff nods. To Shawn’s credit, he tried not to falter under Dante’s unblinking stare. He tried.
Finally, Shawn returned his attention to her. “I wanted to check if we’re still on for tonight.” They’d agreed to meet up at one of the local bars. “Yeah, sure.” Another low growl from Dante, who was suddenly even closer. She gave him a reproachful elbow-nudge, but the big lug didn’t even seem to feel it.
“Great. Oh and—”
“This conversation will have to wait,” interrupted Dante, knowing that if he didn’t move away from Pretty Boy soon, it was highly likely that he’d punch him. Not that it would be so bad, but he was quite sure that Jaime wouldn’t like him bringing trouble to her place of work. “We don’t want to be late for lunch, do we, Jaime?” He smirked at Pretty Boy, ignoring the voice in his head that told him his reaction was a little irrational. He didn’t want Jaime dating a human and risking the trouble that came with it. Okay, so he didn’t want her dating anyone. Or, more accurately, his ego didn’t. But that wasn’t the point.