Page 10 of Brazen
Wes hoisted her up, spun her around, and plopped her onto the top of the half-door, his hands on her waist. He leaned down, so they were eye to eye. “What do you mean you know him, baby?”
“He’s in my class at school.”
“How come he smells funny? Does he have a cat at home or something?”
She shook her head hard, her curls flying again. Then she tapped her chin in a way I’d seen Wes do a time or two when he was thinking. “No. He smells like… Lily. But better. Like… I don’t know, Daddy. Something special.”
Lily was Becky and Clint’s little girl.
“You mean JT’s a shifter?” Wes prodded then flicked a glance my way.
Remy scrunched up her face as she thought. “I don’t know. He doesn’t even go on top of the jungle gym, and I’ve been doing that since I was two.”
Wes smiled and booped her nose. “You sure have, but you know you gotta be nice and play in ways your other friends can keep up.”
“I know, Daddy.”
He lowered her to the dirt packed floor when she started to wiggle, clearly done with our conversation. “Time to run up to the big house. Marina’s waiting for you to make cookies.”
“Yes!” She pumped her fist in the air.
I couldn’t help but grin at how spunky she was.
“Ask her if she’s still okay working the bake sale at your school’s Fall Festival on Friday!”
“Okay!” She took off out of the barn like a streak, knowing she didn’t have to hide her speed here on the ranch.
“Straight to the house. No going near the creek!” Wes called as he followed her out of the building at a slower pace. When we got outside and had a clear view of Remy and the house, he tucked his hands in his jeans pockets.
“So you found your mate, and she’s got a kid?” he asked. “Didn’t hear there was a new shifter joining our pack.”
News like that would have spread, especially on a ranch run by the pack alpha. They’d have been welcomed in, and with the good weather we’d had, they probably even would have hosted a barbecue or something.
“Um, yeah. The kid’s part shifter. Definitely.” I thought of him up on those rafters. I had a feeling he skipped the top of the monkey bars on purpose. “But Clio’s not.”
We watched as Marina came out the back door and waited for Remy, hands on hips. When the five-year-old got to her, she got a hug. Before they went inside, Marina waved down to us, knowing Wes would be watching for it.
“You sure she’s not a shifter?” he asked. “Maybe all the oil and grease fumes blocked her scent. Clint didn’t know Becky was his mate because he had his nose busted.”
I touched my nose instinctively. “Not a chance,” I replied. “I picked up her scent right away.”
So had my wolf. And my dick. Cinnamon and sugar. She’d smelled like heaven.
Both were pissed that we’d driven away from our mate because I couldn’t have claimed her then and there. I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell my boss I’d pulled off the road on the way back to the ranch because I couldn’t wait a second longer to come. I’d moved the seat back, opened my jeans, and wrapped my Clio-scented hand around my rock hard dick and made myself come.
I definitely wasn’t telling him it had taken me just seconds to explode. Talking about her now made my jeans tight.
He touched his chin as he commented, “She must’ve been with a shifter.”
“Obviously.”
He crossed his arms over his broad chest. “And has to know her son’s a shifter.”
“Maybe. He climbed up onto the rafter over the shop.” I grinned. “Sneaky and quick.” I raised my hand to stop the questions that he was dying to ask. “I don’t have any answers. All I know is that I can’t have a mate and a kid and live in the bunkhouse. I need to get to that rodeo and work the connections I made to get more orders.”
Orders for semen straws, semen collected from my prized bull that I sold to ranchers to inseminate their animals and produce quality stock for the rodeo. Prized bulls were big money.
Wes nodded. “‘Bout time you got a fire under you. Your business is going to take off if you put some time into it. While I’m sure Boyd has a number of connections, let me know if you need any help from me or mine.”
