Hunting Grounds by Layla Nash

Author:Layla Nash
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Layla Nash

CHAPTER 23

OPHELIA

I hardly knew what to do with myself when Deirdre and Mercy drew me out of the office and to a quiet alcove on the first floor where no one would overhear. Mercy dry-washed her hands and didn’t make eye contact. “So here’s the problem. We only have the one guest room, since every other room is taken.”

I nodded. “Okay?”

“You’re in the guest room,” Mercy said slowly. She glanced at Deirdre, who watched me with amusement, then back at me. “And we need the guest room for Henry’s sister and her friend.”

I frowned and looked between them. “I’m not tracking. What’s the issue? They can have the room, but where am I going to sleep?”

“Normally you would be sleeping with your mate,” Deirdre said. “Which is what Nola and Fran will expect—if you do not sleep in Henry’s room, they will know something is amiss. We certainly will not require you to cohabitate with him, even for a night, but it might raise some eyebrows. It’s just a question of whether he cares.”

Of course. My cheeks heated. “Uh... right. I can stay at the warehouse. I won’t cause any trouble there. That might be easier. I don’t want to encroach...”

“He won’t mind,” Mercy said quickly.

Too quickly, maybe. My eyes narrowed as I studied the two women, and suspected that maybe Deirdre’s matchmaking had gone beyond tricking us into lunch. The other witch just smiled serenely and folded her hands together at her waist. “It’s true. I doubt that he would mind. He might even offer to sleep on the floor—he’s that much of a gentleman. Unless you feel like inviting him…in.”

My face burned more. But what was there to say? She was right. I could already see Henry insisting that he should sleep on the floor, and me insisting that he share the bed, and then... all kinds of trouble. Delicious, sweaty trouble. I struggled to find my dignity. “Maybe we should ask him. It’s his room and his sister, after all.”

“And you’re his mate,” Mercy said cheerfully. She turned and bolted up the stairs before I could formulate a response.

Deirdre followed her at a statelier pace, though she kept her voice low so no one would overhear. “We can pack your stuff up and move it to his room in preparation. If it makes you uncomfortable, we can just make Henry patrol all night.”

I really didn’t want them to send him away or make him work all night just to go along with the ridiculous story for his sister. But my insides shivered in excitement at the possibility of spending the night with Henry. I wanted him. I wanted to feel what it was like to lie next to him, to press my face against his chest or shoulder, to be warm and safe in the sheets with him.

But I tried to keep up the front of at least some misgivings as Mercy and Deirdre helped me surreptitiously move my stuff from the guest room at one end of the hall to the other side of the house and Henry’s room.

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