She’s smiling, eyes twinkling. “Well that’s good news. Although I have to admit it was fun pushing your buttons. Now I get why you always rose to the occasion. You had a big old crush on me, didn’t you?”

“The biggest fucking crush of my life. Also the most inconvenient.” I kill the ignition. My cock is screaming, and I want to show Julia exactly how insane my attraction to her is. “Do you forgive me?”

“I do,” she says. “I get why you acted the way you did. Doesn’t excuse it, but I appreciate the apology nonetheless. Thank you for that.”

I look at her. Heart thudding inside my chest.

“Come to bed.”

She grins. A soft, wicked thing. “Only if the no-clothes policy is still in effect.”

“Sweetheart, that policy will be in effect from now until forever as long as it’s you in my bed.”

I turn to open my door, but Julia catches me, giving my hand a tug.

“And thank you,” she says. “For telling me. I know that wasn’t easy.”

My throat—my cock—they’re all swelling now, and I can’t fucking stand it. She makes me wild. The werewolf in me yawning awake inside my skin.

“Thank you for not running. For seeing the good in my bad.”

“I’ve never been afraid of your werewolf side. Your growling. What made you think I was going to be afraid now?”

I laugh. “Good point.”

“Shadows come with the light. You can’t have one without the other. And you have to know by now that I believe they make the other more interesting. It’s our shadows that give us depth. Literally and figuratively,” she says, reaching up with her other hand to trail her thumb over the indent in my chin. “I like your depths. Same as you like mine.”

It’s rare that I’m rendered speechless.

But right now—

Fuck, I don’t know what to say.

I do know that shit just got real. We don’t have to talk about it yet. But I’m in this now. For the long haul. I promised Julia I’d be a real partner in raising the baby. Now I want to be her partner, period. In all things.

I want to grow a family with her. Grow old together. Is this happening fast? Yes and no. I was done for the second she and I met. I couldn’t stay away from her, no matter how hard I tried. It’s part of the reason why I showed up to all her meetings, whether or not I actually had to be there. I just wanted to see her. Soak up her laugh, her lust for real life.

Her way of being.

She’s already made me a better man. A more honest one. I could never talk to Cameron the way I talk to Julia. Openly. Without fear of judgment. She hides nothing and neither do I.

I want to be the man she deserves. One who’s real. Who takes care of his own and provides for his family.