6. Nate

Chapter 6

Nate

Why didn't I hire personal security sooner?

Garin was gorgeous and so much sweeter than I expected an alpha wolf to be. I'd only met a few wolves in the past and they were always cocky, as if I wasn't also an apex predator. But alphas were just like that. At least, that's what I thought.

I guess I assumed he would be condescending and only in it for the paycheck, but Garin looked at me like he actually cared about my safety.

It was nice.

"Okay, the doors and windows are all secured, so as long as no one knows you're here, we should be fine."

I swallowed hard as I looked up at him. Every time his eyes caught mine, my throat went dry and I forgot how to breathe. "Yeah, I don't have a lot of people in my life, so no one will come by to check on me, if that's what you mean."

Garin frowned as he cocked his head. "No family? Friends?"

"No, my parents were kinda old when I was born, so they've both passed, and I was an only child." I waved toward the floral sofas and drapes in the sitting room. "Hence my grandma-chic look. I haven't bothered to redecorate."

He looked around the room and smiled when his gaze caught on the photos lining the mantle. "Is this you?"

"Ugh. My mom was big on portraits… Even through my awkward stage." I chuckled at that. "Not that I ever really grew out of that."

He turned his attention away from the photos and looked right at me. "You're anything but awkward, Nathan."

"You can call me Nate. When I was a kid, that's what my friends used to call me."

"All right, Nate." He slipped his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. "Is there anything you need to get done today? Errands? Chores? Lightbulbs that need to be changed." He winked when he said that, but I could tell he was being serious.

"Sorry, but this is probably gonna be a pretty boring job. I just couldn't trust a human to have the instincts that…well, that you have."

His eyes locked with mine. "I'm glad to be here. I wouldn't trust any random human with your life either."

My breath hitched, and I could almost feel him undressing me with his eyes. Was I slicking? I sniffed to the side, testing the air as discreetly as possible, but I didn't scent anything out of the ordinary. "Um, I do have some client work I can do. Did you bring a book or tablet or anything?"

"Yep, I can entertain myself. My day job is programming, so I can work from anywhere." He stepped toward the window and looked out. "Did you hear something?"

"No." I crept toward the window, standing just behind Garin as I peeked around him. "Is someone out there?"

He scanned as much of the yard as he could see from where we were standing. "Not sure, but I want to go out and double-check." He glanced at me. "As my wolf. Will any of the neighbors be freaked out?"

I just shrugged. "I don't really know my neighbors, but the lot is big enough that I don't think they'll notice if they see an exceptionally large dog running around." I meant that as a joke, but the way Garin tilted his head and raised an eyebrow seemed like he was warning me to watch myself.

"A wolf."

"Sorry, wolf." I cleared my throat and took a step back when I realized I was just inches away from his chest now that he had turned to me. "You can get undressed in the kitchen and go out the back door, if you'd like. I'll, um, wait in here."

Garin's lips slowly pulled into a smile. "Okay, you're a shy bear. Noted."

"I haven't spent a lot of time around other shifters." I shrugged then threw my hands up in defeat. "Like I said, my parents were old, and we don't have any family out here. I shift a few times a year because my bear gets antsy and wants to stretch his legs, but for the most part, I'm just boring ol' Nate."

He reached up and cupped the side of my neck with his palm. "There's nothing boring about you, Nate. I'll be back in a minute." He dropped his hand and took a step back before he looked at me again. "And if you don't wanna catch an eyeful of alpha, you should stay in here."

As he was walking away, he lifted his shirt up over his head before disappearing down the hall.

"And what if I want to…" I whispered under my breath.

"Then, by all means, come get some, because I'm definitely not shy."

I stood there with my jaw hanging open, tempted to follow him. But that was wrong. I hired him to protect me, not so I could peep at him while he was doing his job. As hard as it was to resist, I dropped into the armchair and forced myself to stay there.

Something fluttered in my belly, and my bear seemed to come out of hibernation all of the sudden. No way. We were not doing that right now. I had bigger things to worry about than letting my bear run.

Garin appeared a few minutes later wearing just his pants, but holding his T-shirt in his hands. "Are there any other shifters that live around here?"

"No. I go on walks almost daily, and I've never scented anything other than human."

His eyes narrowed, and he seemed to be contemplating something. "Pack a bag, Nate. We need to get out of here."

I stood up, panic clenching my heart. "Why? What's going on?"

"There were definitely a few cats out there recently. Like…very recently." He grabbed my hand and dragged me toward the staircase. "Just grab a few things that you absolutely need. We can buy the rest as we go."

I ran up the stairs with Garin hot on my heels.

He pulled his phone out while I grabbed T-shirts and underwear and threw them into my overnight bag. Garin stepped into the hall but was still within my line of sight. He was on the phone for a while, clearly arguing with the person on the other line. But the last thing I heard him say before he hung up was, "We'll pick you up. Be ready in ten."

"Where are we going?" I pulled out my travel toiletries bag which already had stuff for a few days away.

"Somewhere safe." He held out his hand. "Give me your phone."

It was definitely too soon to fully trust this guy, but I handed over my unlocked phone anyway. "What are you doing to it?"

"Securing it. I wrote an app that's kinda like a secure VPN service for phones. It ensures that your location can't be triangulated." He tapped around for a long moment before finishing that thought. "I would tell you just to leave it here, but if you suddenly drop off the map, and I suddenly drop off the map, that's almost more suspicious than us pretending to be going about our lives in our own homes—without us actually being there."

"So it'll look like I'm at home if someone tries to track me?"

He looked at me and grinned. "Exactly. We have a satellite we connect to, and it locks in any location in the world as the point of contact. I'm setting yours to be here, and we'll need to make a stop at my place, and I'll lock myself in there." He did whatever he needed to do to the phone and then slipped his arm behind my back and walked me down the stairs as if someone were about to jump out at any moment.

To make sure I wasn't missing something in the air, I inhaled deeply, but there was nothing unexpected in my house. Just a whole lot of alpha wolf that almost made me swoon.

As soon as we were outside, I realized I didn't have my keys. "Should we take my car?"

He glanced at the four-car garage and looked at me. "Let me guess? A Rolls?"

"Bentley." My cheeks heated up, and I cringed. "I can't believe I'm so predictably pretentious." I shook my head. "But in my defense, it was my dad's car. I don't drive much, so I never bothered to get a new one. I should've just let it get towed last night."

As we kept walking toward his BMW, I could hear the amusement in his voice. "Towed?"

"Long story, but I had to pay off a morally gray meter attendant last night to let me drive my car away. Honestly, if I'd left it there, we wouldn't be in this situation at all right now."

Garin opened the door to his car and held my hand as I slipped onto the passenger seat. "Well, then I have a certain meter attendant I need to thank." Then he rolled his eyes as if catching himself. "After we survive all this, obviously."

"Obviously." Was he flirting with me? It seemed unlikely, but I continued to contemplate that possibility as he put his car in gear and we drove away. Garin was going in random directions, backtracking several times as if he either didn't know where he was going or wanted to make sure we weren't being followed.

After a while, I finally had to ask. "Are you still trying to think of a place to go? There's a nice hotel my company uses a lot."

"No. My roommate's family has a house we can use. A cabin, really. Out in the mountains. But we have to make a stop at my place first. "

I stared straight ahead, imagining what it would be like at a mountain cabin with my gorgeous wolf bodyguard. And then I quickly stopped imagining that because I was getting hard and was afraid I might give myself away if I got too excited.

The worst part about being an omega was that it was practically impossible to hide your arousal from an alpha. They always knew, and I was sure a wolf's sense of smell would be even stronger than a human's.

Time for a little topic change in my mind to keep me dry. "So, your roommate's coming? Is he also a wolf?"

Garin grimaced as he shook his head. "No, and I shouldn't even be involving him in this, but he insisted on coming with us, and… it's hard for me to say no to him."

"Oh. Is there something going on between you guys?"

"No. I mean, not really." He glanced at me and smiled. "Would you buy that it's complicated?"

I had to laugh because I was thinking the same words to describe how I was feeling for Garin. "I'll allow it. For now."

My protector looked over at me with a raised eyebrow. "An attorney?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"You don't need to be in court or anything, right?"

"No, nothing like that." Thankfully. "Mostly contract law, so I spend hours and hours reading contracts and making sure my clients have the best and most advantageous terms."

"Nice." Garin glanced at me again while we were stopped at a light. "I could tell you were smart, but now I know for sure."

"It's easy to be smart when you don't have friends or any kind of social life."

He just shook his head as he finally turned into a residential neighborhood. "I still find it hard to believe you don't have lots of friends. You're so sweet and cute."

Fuck . I squeezed my ass, making sure no slick was seeping out. "Thank you," I said quietly.

"I'll be honest, this is my first job with Shifter For Hire. I don't really know what I'm doing, so if that was inappropriate or over the line, I'm sorry."

"No, it wasn't." I quickly glanced at him and then looked away before I had a chance to show all my cards. "It was nice to hear."

A few minutes later, we pulled into a driveway and a guy ran out with a backpack, several grocery bags, and a duffel. He was tall, so I immediately released my seatbelt and reached for the handle to open the car door.

Garin reached across the center console and placed his hand against my chest, holding me in place. "What are you doing?"

"I'll get in the backseat. Your friend can sit in the front."

"No way. You're not moving."

Just then, the other ridiculously handsome man—about the same height as Garin but slightly slimmer—slid into the backseat, stopping in the center.

I glanced over my shoulder and caught him inhaling a deep breath. Fuck. He scented me. How embarrassing.

His eyes went wide and locked on mine. "Hi. I'm Trig."

"Nate." I bit my lip and glanced over at Garin.

He smiled and placed his hand on my shoulder. "Trig is my best friend and the one who got me involved with Shifter For Hire. He's been working at Alpha For Hire for a while now and has excellent reviews. You couldn't be in better hands with him."

Instinctively, my eyes snapped down to Trig's palms and a shiver ran through me. What was it they said about big hands…