Listening to Twyla singing in the back room, Meg put aside the binder and the lists. Yes, she felt flustered, but it wasn’t really about the foods and merchandise people wanted. Worrying about things like cereal was a way to avoid the question that had been in her thoughts ever since she pulled that “romance” card from the drawer.

How much human did she want? In many ways, she counted on Simon not thinking like a human, not acting like a human. She trusted him because he wasn’t human. Could she count on him not slipping too far into being human if she wanted to explore just a little bit, just enough to see if romance might provide a different kind of euphoria?

She frittered away the afternoon, signing for a couple of deliveries, but mostly shuffling the lists without doing anything with them.

Just how human could Simon be without giving up what he was? Was there a way to find an answer without either of them getting hurt?

Nathan had left for the day, and she was closing up the office when Simon walked in, looking hot and ready to bite.

“I want to go swimming tonight,” Meg said, not sure if she was making a suggestion or issuing a challenge.

“With the female pack?”

Understandable assumption. The female pack would need permission to go to the swimming hole in the Corvine part of the Courtyard. “No, with you. Just us. Not even Sam.”

Simon cocked his head. “Not with Sam? Why?”

She swallowed hard. “I want to try skinny-dipping.”

He was so still, she wasn’t sure he was even breathing.

“That’s swimming without clothes,” he finally said.

“Yes.”

“Both of us swimming without clothes. In human form.”

“Yes. But... that’s as much as I want to try.”

“After dark?”

She couldn’t imagine doing it when she could be seen. “Yes.”

Simon scratched behind one ear. “All right. Are we going home now?”

He didn’t sound angry or upset that she didn’t want to do more. He sounded... baffled.

They finished closing up the office and loaded the BOW with her carry sack and whatever he was bringing back to the apartments. As they drove away, it occurred to her that she was just as relieved to leave the humans behind as he was.

•••

“Meg wants to go skinny-dipping?”

That Vlad sounded as baffled as he felt made Simon feel better. At least he wasn’t the only one who was confused. “That’s what she said. With me. After dark. With both of us in human form.”

“None of us wear clothes when we play in the water unless we’re giving the clothes a quick rinse without removing them.”

“I know that. But this is important to Meg. I just don’t know why.” Simon growled in frustration. She’d been upset the last time she saw him as a naked human. Why was this time different?