“Yes.” His voice was breathy and powerful, all at once. The sound of it made Selene shiver.
Jett was just that good. He could make her feel all kinds of things with one word. She held her breath, wondering what to do next. She wanted to kiss him, but that hadn’t turned out so well for her earlier. She felt a little wild. Like she should kiss him again. Like this time, he would let her. Like this time, it would lead to more.
So much more. Selene wanted that. She wanted to know what it would be like to press herself close to him. To feel her naked breasts against him. Selene clenched her core, hoping to dampen her sudden need to jump on Jett.
“Selene?” he asked, his voice still low and his eyes still dark.
Before she could even say anything else, he was standing and going to the kitchen, his steps long and purposeful.
“Please tell me you like steak,” he said, swinging the fridge door with so much force, she was sure it would come off its hinges.
His sudden shift in mood made Selene wonder if shifters could also alter their moods. She was too confused. She was positive they had been on the brink of sharing a moment, but instead of leaning into it, like she was ready to do, he had fully walked away.
To talk about meat.
By god, did this man spend every waking hour just thinking about his next meal? The puffed rice squares were still churning away in her stomach, and she had low-blood sugar. Maybe Jett needed medical attention.
Or maybe, just maybe, he was using cooking food as a way to distract himself from the connection that sparked between them. Selene wasn’t crazy. She knew it was there. It would have been pretty great if Jett could see it, too. She had a feeling it wasn’t enough for mates to be friends. After all, mate was another term for fucking. Selene thought maybe Jett was purposefully distancing himself from her. She wasn’t about to give into any thoughts that it was because he wasn’t attracted to her.
Sure, she was on the curvy side, but she wore those like nobody’s business. And the way he looked at her, like she was a juicy steak, was all she needed to know there was something to this mate thing.
“Do you like steak?” Jett repeated the question as he rifled through his fully stocked fridge.
Selene watched him closely, looking for any sign that his resolve was wavering. That he would turn around, lift her onto the kitchen counter and make a meal out of her. Oh, wow. What was with her? Jett had managed to turn her into a sex-craved woman with only a couple of kisses.
“What would you do if I said no?” she asked to see what his answer would be. She was also teasing him, hoping to keep the tension between them alive and well.
“I don’t know, offer you something else. But I’m a wolf shifter. I need my meat.”
“I’m just messing with you.” She sighed. He wasn’t biting on the playful banter. Damn. “I love steak, so long as it doesn’t bleed on my plate.”
“Oh, man,” he shook his head, “that’s the best part. A nice rare steak is my favorite.”
“Yikes.” Selene was almost gagging at the thought of a barely cooked steak. “I’m going to need mine to be more on the well-done side.”
Jett turned to face her, his mouth wide open. “That is seriously messing with the integrity of the cut. It burns away all of the most delicious things about steak.”
“Well, can I ask you something then? Do you like your steak rare because it pleases the wolf inside of you?” There it was, that spark was back. Fan it, lady. You’ve got this.
“Huh,” Jett answered. “I hadn’t thought of it that way. But he sure likes it.”
Well, shit. Flirting was a hell of a lot more complicated to do when she was trying to be all covert about it. Her lack of skills was seriously bugging her.
“Right,” she said, floundering. “And do you eat animals when you’re in your wolf shape?”
Selene wasn’t too comfortable with knowing the answer. She didn’t want to imagine Jett as a wolf eating a rabbit. What if he accidentally ate Bugsy one day? Yup. This was all out sexy talk.
“I mean, I do eat animals in my wolf shape. That hunt of a prey is half the fun. But I don’t eat rabbit anymore. I have a hard time looking at those furry creatures and not thinking of Bugsy.”
She couldn’t resist her smile. It was like Jett had read her mind. More than that, he also made sure not to eat his pet’s kin. That was kind of sweet. Jett liked to pretend that he was this big, badass wolf who wasn’t emotional, who didn’t need anyone but himself, but with only one day with him, Selene was already starting to see beyond that.
He was the sweet man who had rescued her. He had even brought her a cheese Danish when she had been on the verge of passing out. He remembered little things and that spoke to a kind nature. He made treats while playing cards and drizzled chocolate in fancy patterns.
He was a man with many different layers, a lot of them soft and gooey like the melted chocolate. Though Selene suspected he had to keep that away from the other wolves. As enforcer, he probably had a specific image he wanted to portray. That didn’t include baking, probably.
She liked to think he only did that for her.
Chapter Fifteen
Selene
Selene and Jett cooked dinner, working in tandem again. While he manned the grill, because the man had an actual grill top on his stove, Selene took care of the sides. As she cut up potatoes and turnips, she did everything she could to brush up against him. She didn’t miss that he always leaned into the touch before moving away. He even mumbled to himself a few times. She could only catch a few words, but it had mostly been nuts, and hard, and mate. She could only hope that the rest of those sentences were the dirty kind.
“This is ready,” he said, pointing to her steak. The other one, which was much larger, was still uncooked.
She gave him a pointed look, but he smiled and gave her a wink. “By the time we get the sides onto our plates, that will be ready.”
Selene didn’t even try to stop her shudder. “That’s practically still mooing.” She gasped.
Jett chuckled, his hand going to her waist. “Hardly,” he said as he moved around her.
The touch was light, but it was enough to make her entire body sing. Selene had to distract herself by stirring the vegetables frying in a pan. She dished some onto two plates, acutely aware that Jett was standing very close to her.
“Are you making sure I do this right?” she teased.
“Yup.” He laughed. “I sure am.”
A few moments later, when the steaks were cooked—basically raw for him and nice and charred for her—they sat down to eat. Again.
“I feel like all we do is eat,” she mused, taking a sip of water.
“It’s a shifter thing. Sorry. I figured you’d get it because of the low-blood sugar thing.”
“Right. I guess I do. It runs in my dad’s family, like I said. But my twin didn’t get it. Good thing I’m the responsible one. I can’t imagine what would have happened to Astra if she had to keep track of what she eats. She’s wonderful, but she’s a little bit of a scatterbrain.”
“So you two are very close, right?”
“Oh, yeah. The closest. But it’s not just us two. Our cousins Raven and Cerise are practically sisters to us."