Hunting Human - Amanda E. Alvarez [89]
Two birds with one stone.
“Thanks.”
“Sure.” Lucy smiled brightly and pulled the door open. “Worst-case scenario? Shove him up against the wall and kiss him. I hear that works, too.”
“Good night, Lucy.”
Chapter Twenty
Braden sat relaxed on the guest bed; ankles crossed and propped up on several pillows, completely focused on his laptop.
Beth knocked lightly on the open door. “Hey.”
“Hey.” He answered, not bothering to glance up.
Short and gruff. Great.
“Haven’t seen you much this week.”
He finally looked up, the weight of his stare pinning her in the doorway. He set his laptop aside and swung his legs off the bed.
“I had to take care of some things at work.”
“Right. Of course.” She shifted from foot to foot, tempted to retreat down the hall.
He exhaled and the lines of tension seemed to flow off his back like water. “You don’t have to hover in the doorway, I won’t bite.”
“Promise?” She sat on the edge of the bed next to him. “You seemed a little hostile at dinner.”
He dragged his hands through his hair and then scrubbed at his face. He exhaled a groan and said, “Sorry. It’s been a long week.”
His lifted his hand, pushed her hair over her shoulder and allowed his palm to slide down the length of her back. “I got things in order at work. Hopefully, I won’t need to go in again.”
It didn’t escape her notice that he left himself the option.
His hand continued to stroke her back, as though he wasn’t even aware of doing it. She forced herself to remain still under the caress, afraid if she moved, she’d shatter the peace between them. Instead, she allowed herself to enjoy the warm weight of his hand and the way he always seemed to be reaching for her, as though he couldn’t help himself.
“I missed you.” The words tumbled out before she realized she’d thought them.
His hand abruptly dropped away. “How’d it go with Chase?”
And just like that, the gulf between them reopened and swallowed the preceding minutes.
“Frustrating.” She sighed. “It’s harder than I thought it would be. I’m not making much progress.”
“The shift is going to be uncomfortable until you get used to it, but it shouldn’t be as painful as before.”
“I wish that were the problem. I haven’t been able to shift at all.”
Braden’s forehead creased in confusion and his warm hand settled back against the small of her back. “At all?”
She shook her head in confirmation.
His hand started moving in small, soothing circles. “Chase give you any idea what the problem is?”
“He thinks I’m afraid of it.”
“Of the shift?”
“Of the wolf,” she corrected. “He said I don’t have an accurate picture of what the wolf is, and that as long as I associate it solely with Rachel’s death, I’ll continue to struggle.”
“Hmm.” He moved closer, his arm snaking around her, encouraging her to lean toward him. “Let me guess. He’s been trying to get you to focus your senses.”
“Yeah.” Beth pulled away. “How’d you know?”
“Because I know Chase and he never does things the easy way.”
“There’s an easy way?” Beth asked, searching his face for an answer.
“Well, more than one way, at least.” He pulled his hand away from the nape of her neck, fingers trailing lightly down her arm, leaving a wake of goose bumps. “What’s he got you focusing on?”
Beth’s heart lodged in her throat. Braden’s stare seared through her clothing, warming her skin with a flush that spread from her chest up through her neck. His fingers continued to trail up and down the inside of her forearm, shooting dancing bolts of awareness through her. “I…” She had to stop, take a deep breath and focus on his words, rather than his fingers. “Everything. He’s not specific. Just focus, focus, focus. If I focus any harder, looks really will kill and he’ll drop dead.”
Braden laughed and curled his fingers around her forearm, keeping her from putting space between them. “Chase is excellent at the big picture. He can assimilate information from all of