This was Lucas. My Lucas. I knew him. He was kind and generous and thoughtful.

He still made me nervous, though. No one had right to be so handsome.

I set down my coffee and busied myself with uncovering the dishes. Eggs, bacon, toast, potatoes, roasted tomatoes, yogurt, granola, a bowl of fruit, and a basket of pastries. I laughed. “You really did get everything.”

He shrugged, and if I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought his cheeks had a little more color. But Lucas wouldn’t blush. Would he? “Better safe than sorry,” he said.

I met his gaze. Those twin dark pools. I bit my lip as I considered him. I hadn’t known him long—days really—but he’d hooked me from the beginning. “Thank you.” I took a bite of fruit. “So, what’s next? What did I miss?”

He crossed his arms over his chest, and I couldn’t help but stare at the shirt that was stretched so thin over his biceps, I was half-convinced it’d rip any second. “Your brother is doing better. Adrian has us all booked on an afternoon flight to Texas.”

“You’re coming?” I almost winced. That came out wrong. I wanted him to come, but I wasn’t sure if he wanted to. Or if he was even able to. He had a pack to take care of, and I… Well, I had at least one more fight ahead of me.

“Of course I’m coming.” He frowned. “Do you not want me to come?”

“No. I want you to come, I just thought—you have a pack and responsibilities and I know we’re mated—”

“I was wondering if you caught that.” He grinned, and my cheeks caught fire.

“I did catch that.” I cleared my throat. “But I don’t really know what it is that it means… What you want and everything. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do or what’s expected of me.”

His shoulders relaxed, and I felt his relief through the bond. “Don’t worry. There’s nothing expected except for you to just be you. We jumped into the deep end, and it’s going to take time for us to settle into who we are as a couple.” He grinned and I couldn’t help the blush that spread across my face. “I know I said it before, but we were rushed and I want you to know that I wasn’t planning on doing it this way. I wanted to get to know you. For you to get to know me. To consider your options. But…” He shrugged. “So, now, where you go, I go. We’ll take this as fast or as slow as you want, but as for what I want—I want to be with you.”

Now it was my turn to be relieved. “I want you to be with me, too.”