Bonded by Nicky Charles Page A

complete
idiot.
    He chuckled
softly. “I’m glad it’s you. I wondered if you’d call.”
    Brandi felt her
knees weaken and she was glad she had a tree behind her for
support. He was glad it was her! Licking her lips, she explained
the delay. “I wanted to call earlier, but I had a meeting scheduled
with my faculty advisor and—”
    “No need to
apologize, darlin’. How’d it go?”
    He’d called her
darling! Her heart rate picked up speed and she had to force
herself to focus on his question. “It went very well! I—”
    “Wait. Are you
free for coffee? You could tell me your news in person.”
    “Sure.” She stood
up straight, feeling a grin spreading from ear to ear. Reno Smith,
of all people, really did want to see her again!
    “Where are you
now?”
    She explained and
they made arrangements to meet at a small coffee shop just down the
road from where he was.
    “I’ll cut across
campus and be there in about fifteen minutes, okay?” Brandi
mentally calculated the route she’d take. It was only a ten minute
walk but the extra time would allow her to fix her hair, maybe put
on some lip gloss...
    “Sure. See you
then.”
    Brandi snapped her
phone shut and gave a happy twirl turning her face up to the sky.
The sun was shining, the birds were singing... Well, no, not
really. A rather large cloud was actually starting to cover the
sun, but she didn’t care. To her it had to be the most perfect day
she’d ever experienced. She quickly programmed Reno’s number into
her phone and slipped it into her purse before setting out for
their meeting spot.
    Reno was already
seated at a table when she arrived. A waitress was eyeing him with
interest and Brandi smiled thinking, ‘look, but don’t touch. This
one’s mine.’ And God, he was so touchable. It was barely past noon
and the stubble was already showing on his jaw, and his hair... Her
fingers twitched remembering how it had felt to clutch it.
    He turned from the
view he’d been studying and saw her, an easy smile breaking out
over his face. She smiled back in return and tried not to walk too
quickly towards him. Don’t appear too eager, she reminded herself.
You’re not some little girl on her first date after all.
    When she reached
the table, he stood and placed a soft kiss on her cheek. The brush
of his lips over her skin had butterflies taking a quick flight
about in her stomach and she pressed a hand to her midriff to try
to quell the feeling.
    “Hey, you look
happy.” He pulled her chair out and then sat down across the table
from her. “I ordered you a coffee and a bagel. I hope that’s
okay?”
    “Thanks. I haven’t
eaten yet today.”
    “Long
meeting?”
    “Sort of. My
advisor went over my test results. I graduated top of my class.”
She struggled to keep from sounding too boastful.
    “Great.” A crooked
smile adorned his face and he seemed to be studying her carefully,
his gaze drifting over her face, her hair...
    “It gets even
better.” Brandi took a deep breath to compose herself before
delivering her news. “She had a job offer for me from Lycan Link. I
start next week!”
    “Congratulations!”
He reached out and took her hand, squeezing it gently, but didn’t
let go immediately afterwards. Instead, he lazily rubbed his thumb
across the back.
    Brandi stared at
their point of connection. Little electric tingles were running up
her arm and down to her core while her heart began to beat an
excited tattoo in her chest. Her wolf was murmuring in pleasure as
well and she exhaled slowly, trying to ignore the feelings building
inside her. Honestly, where was her self-control? She’d just had
sex with the man less than twenty-four hours ago. Surely, that
should hold her over for a while.
    She forced herself
to draw her hand away and focus on talking about her new job. “I
have so much to do. I won’t even have time for a trip back home
before I have to fly to Lycan Link Headquarters.”
    “So, we won’t be
seeing each other