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I hoped he didn’t have a mate already because minute by minute, I became more attached to him.
“I think you’re right. A treat does sound nice.”
He wasn’t talking to you, bear, I called out to my animal as he rumbled inside me.
“I’m sorry you had to come here at night. Perhaps I can walk you home?”
Antoine snorted and got up to put his cup in the sink. “Like that? West, you’re bound to cause a riot in this small town with no shirt on. I have to go and you need your rest. Tomorrow is a big day for the both of us.”
“Will do. Good night, Antoine.”
I walked him to the door but before it shut, he looked over his shoulder. The man was so sexy when he did that. “I can’t wait to see you naked, alpha.”
Shoot! I should have offered him cookies with his coffee.
Chapter Nine
Antoine
So he was the West who was getting up a shaved ice business. I probably should have asked if he was doing snowballs, but Roy would just have to wait and see.
I’d felt like a bit of a stalker when I followed West home, although I told myself that the only reason I had done it was to be sure he made it okay. The beating up a drug dealer thing? Yeah, that would not have happened. I’d have called the authorities and let them handle it. Or come up with another plan. My fox was more of a lover than a fighter and without a single alpha characteristic.
Which made my and his determination to protect this alpha completely out of character. I hadn’t had a lot of relationships, and none serious, and my fox had been very disinterested in any of them. But since I opened my door to see those green eyes and the billboard image of his other assets popped into my mind, my animal had been aware, alert, and full of advice.
Unfortunately, the alpha was not interested in us beyond the contract we had between us. And that was fair enough. He did not need harassment from the artist hiring him. That happened all too often, or so I’d heard from the models I worked with in the past.
My fox had never even noticed any of them, and they’d all been hot. Of course, beyond enjoying their aesthetic beauty and the fact that I was privileged to paint their likenesses, I had no interest in them physically either.
I baked again, last night. Scones, this time, drizzled with a maple glaze. He claimed he never ate carbs, but he enjoyed the muffins so much, I couldn’t resist.
The knock came at five to seven, a little early, and I let West in and into the kitchen for breakfast again.
“I shouldn’t do this,” he protested. “If I eat, I’ll have a pooch.”
“And if you don’t eat, you won’t have the stamina to pose all day.” I already had an egg casserole in the oven and set it on a trivet next to the scones. “Don’t worry about your belly, paint is way more forgiving than the camera, at least in my experience.”
He protested again but managed to do justice to the food and finish two cups of coffee and a glass of orange juice before pushing back from the table and patting his tummy. “I hope you’re right about the paint because otherwise, you’re going to have to title the work Pregnant Alpha in the Nude.”
I laughed, but the idea of one of us being pregnant took root. I’d long ago thought I’d be single forever and therefore never have a child of my own, but I could easily imagine carrying this alpha’s babe. Something I needed to push right out of my mind and get down to business. “All right. Let’s work.”
I’d decided not to use the living room, wanting to get right to the poses I was interested in. I had moved an old chaise that used to be in my dad’s bedroom from the attic and set it in the middle of the dining room.
“Now, I know I said paint was more forgiving and so is charcoal, but I am going to start with some photographs. They help me to work when you’re on a break or not here. Are you all right with that?”
“Of course. You know I’m used to that anyway.”
“Sure.” I got the camera ready. “I could probably just use my phone, since the cameras are so great, but I’ve had this one for a long time.”
“Does it use film?” He tilted his head, trying to get a look.
“No.” I chuckled. “I’m not sure where I’d even get film developed. Or how long it would take. They haven’t had those one-hour places I remember hearing about in a long, long time. If you’d go ahead and get undressed, we can begin.”
He began to take off his clothes, but he looked a little unsteady, shaking? “West, is something wrong? You were an underwear model…did you not want to do this?”
“I do want to do this, but that time in my life was traumatic, for many reasons, and I never planned to do it again.”
“Then you don’t have to.”
