“Adam’s really glad you’ve taken the full-time position, by the way, if he hasn’t already said so,” Josh told her on the drive to the bureau.

  “He has. Thanks for telling me.” Adam had only mentioned it about a hundred times. And she was glad he appreciated her for taking on Willy’s caseload.

  “It’s not just because you’re a wolf and a friend,” Josh continued as if he wasn’t getting his point across.

  She glanced at him.

  Josh’s ears turned a little red. “Uh, he’s really glad you’re not seeing that guy out of state any longer.”

  “Richard. Me too.”

  “Adam’s a great friend.”

  She smiled at Josh. And Josh was a great friend to him for trying to help her see that Adam was interested in her. She already knew that from the way Adam smiled and kidded with her. She didn’t need Josh telling her that. She loved teasing the guys. Josh was like her brother and she adored him for it.

  “You’re going boating with us on Sunday, right? My parents always had a boat when I was growing up, but I haven’t been on one in eons,” Sierra said.

  “I’ll have to check with Brooke and make sure she doesn’t have other plans. Her shop is closed on Sundays, and she likes to catch up on work at the store.”

  “Okay.” She hoped Josh and Brooke hadn’t already told Adam they were going but were now thinking of backing out because they wanted to allow her and Adam time to get to know each other.

  Josh pulled into the parking lot at the bureau.

  She got out of Josh’s vintage Ferrari, a gift from Brooke’s inheritance. All the police officers and detectives at the bureau who were either coming or going had to make a detour and check out the car.

  “Thanks for the ride, Josh.”

  “Did you need a ride home tonight?”

  “No, thanks. My car should be released to me soon.” She saw it in the parking lot. “Oh, there it is. Thanks again for breakfast too.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “And don’t you say anything to Adam about him having to keep his boat if he doesn’t feel he’s getting enough use out of it.”

  Josh smiled and then one of the officers shook his hand. “Good to see you here, showing off your Ferrari again.”

  Josh laughed and Sierra smiled, then headed for the building just as Adam and Tori were exiting it.

  “Come on, Sierra. We’ve got a job for you,” Adam said.

  “Dead or alive?”

  Tori laughed. Adam sighed.

  “Dead. Gotcha,” Sierra said. This was going to be a long day.

  Chapter 16

  That night, Adam took Sierra out for a steak dinner, since she’d had her heart set on good red meat—totally a wolf thing—and then to a movie. He wanted to really show her he could take off work and they’d have a great time. He’d even dressed up a bit, no suit since he had to wear one at work, but no jeans on his date. And Sierra was wearing a sundress and looked as pretty as could be.

  He had no intention of talking about anything work-related either.

  “This is really nice,” she said, glancing at the overhead crystal lights bouncing off the rack of wineglasses separating their booth from part of the serving area.

  “Yeah, it has the best steaks and great atmosphere, right here in Portland. I thought tomorrow night, if you’d like, we could go to that”—he leaned over and said for her hearing only—“wolf-run restaurant that has live music and dancing.”

  “Oh, absolutely. You know, I love just doing things with you at your place or mine too. We don’t always have to go out, but this is so nice.”

  “I feel the same way. I love doing either.” Adam liked doing both. Despite their busy workdays, he found going out just as relaxing with her as sitting at home and grilling dinner on the grill or ordering pizza delivery.

  He wondered if her ex-boyfriend had preferred sitting at home and just chilling with her. There was no way he was bringing up the ex though.

  Once their steaks arrived—she got the petite filet mignon, and he went for the T-bone—with glasses of red wine, they settled back and ate their meals, neither of them talking about the cases they were working on. And he was glad about that.

  “I have to tell you I’m so glad I came here to live and to join your pack, all at Brad’s insistence. He knew I would love it here. And he knew I needed to give my ex-boyfriend up to find someone else.”

  “I wanted that to happen too. Brad was always showing the guys your picture, whether you were playing with him in the surf on Galveston Island or wearing your uniform and meeting up with him when he came to visit you while he was still in the military. He had all of us interested in you way before you ever arrived here. Then here you are, but you’re still dating an out-of-state guy.”

  “Yeah, I was just having a hard time letting go and getting on with my life. I knew I needed to. And I think the fact that he would never come here to see me should have clued me in that it wasn’t going to work out between us. That I wasn’t his priority, but I was supposed to continue to see him like he was all that mattered to me.” She smiled and took a sip of her wine.

  “If you don’t mind me saying so, he was a fool to let you go.”

  “No, I don’t mind you saying so at all. Brad, and even my parents, had often said I should have ended things with him before I even left Texas. I guess I just had to finally come to terms with it and let go.”

  “Well, I’m glad for us that you did.”

  * * *

  After they finished dinner, Sierra asked, “So what did you want to see tonight at the movies?” She would have been just as happy to go home and watch something on TV, but she hadn’t been to a movie theater on a date in eons.

  “Thriller? Mystery? Horror? Animated feature? That’s all they have,” Adam said, looking up the movies. He showed them to her, and she picked the thriller.

  “It seems it goes with our line of work.”

  He smiled. “You’d think you’d want to watch something else then.”

  “Nah, maybe we can get a clue, something we’ve missed, by watching how the other detectives solve their crimes.”

  “You know, I would have been a skeptic about that theory until it worked for me one time. A man had taken a woman hostage on an airplane so that he could get her bank president dad to open a safety deposit box the kidnapper wanted to get into. After I watched the old movie, I realized the case I’d been working on was eerily similar. So you just never know,” Adam said.

  “See there? I knew it.”

  At the theater, they had buttered popcorn and bottles of water and snuggled together. This was sure nice, and unless he objected to her being in bed with him tonight, Sierra was joining him there. The movie was great, an edge-of-the-seat thriller, and she realized he was just as tense as she was through some of the wilder scenes. And the ending was a happily-ever-after, making it the perfect movie for her.

  “That’s what I like to see. Bad guys lose, good guys win! And the hero got the heroine in the end.”

  “Yeah, now that’s the part I have to really learn how to do.”

  As they headed out to his SUV, she held onto his hand. “So far, you’re doing all the right things to make that happen.”

  “Good. You let me know if I get offtrack. So about running as wolves tonight—”

  “Let’s skip it tonight. I don’t know about you, but I’m happily tired tonight and I want to return to your house and get ready for bed.”

  Even though she’d made arrangements today to have video security installed at her home and the window had been replaced, she was staying with Adam tonight. She realized after her home had been broken into, she didn’t feel comfortable about staying there on her own. Well, and also because they hadn’t apprehended Dover’s girlfriend and the other accomplice yet.

  “That works for me.”

  When they arrived home, he had her wait out in the Hummer—just in case someone had broken into his home this time. They really needed to catch these people and put them all in jail. She saw a bunch of lights go on inside after that.

  Then Adam came out to the vehicle and she hurried to get out. “No problem?”

  “No problem.” He walked her into the house and locked the door.

  “Did you offer me your bed to sleep in tonight?” Sierra asked.

  He raised a brow. “With me in it?”

  She chuckled. “What? You think I would make you give me your bed and kick you out of it?”

  He smiled. “The bed is all yours, with or without me in it, but even better with me in it.”

  “Okay, I’ll take you up on it.”

  He appeared thrilled!

  She smiled, glad for it. “I’m going to take a shower and brush my teeth and join you in a few minutes.”

  She went to the guest room where her clothes were, grabbed her pajamas, and went into the guest bathroom to take her shower. It didn’t take her long to shower, dry off, slip into her shorty pajamas, blow-dry her hair, brush her teeth, and head into Adam’s bedroom.

  He had already showered and was in bed, under the covers, just like last night, but waiting for her this time.

  She sighed, glad she was finally going this far with Adam and not waiting any longer. Even though she hadn’t been dating him all these months, she’d worked with him, played with him and the rest of the wolves at various wolf socials, and she knew what she was doing.

  As soon as she climbed under the light covers with him, she moved in close so she could snuggle with him. As wolves, it was different for them than dating humans they knew they wouldn’t end up mating.

  They couldn’t consummate the relationship unless they were going to be mated wolves for life. So this was just working up to what might happen in the future. Near future even, if they decided they were ready for a mating. She was ready—as in wanting to settle down, have a mate and some kids. She’d really wanted that for a long time, but with Richard, it wasn’t going to happen. She felt completely different about Adam.

  She moved closer to kiss him, and he pulled her into his arms and kissed her on the mouth. He appeared to want to get this “game” underway. She was glad that he wasn’t holding back.

  He was wearing pajama shorts, and she was just working up to this. But once they began kissing, she knew this was what she wanted. Unconsummated, of course. She was open to much more as things progressed.

  He slid his hands over her buttocks, the cotton jersey pants sliding over her bottom. Hmm, she was ready to take them off and toss them aside. But she was enjoying slow and easy too. She slid her hand over his backside and felt his firm buttocks through the plaid cotton shorts he was wearing.

  They continued to kiss, his masculine lips on her mouth, firm, warm, moving with sensual caresses. And she was kissing him back with the same measured kisses, luxuriating in the feel of him, the intimacy shared between them.

  Then he slid his hand over her pajama T-shirt, and she felt her nipple erect and sensitive to the palm of his hand massaging one of her breasts. Oh, man, his touching her made her feel exquisite.

  She nuzzled his neck and throat and kissed his mouth again, her hand caressing his chest, his nipple, feeling the hardened nub against the softness of her palm.

  He kissed her again and she reached down to touch his arousal and felt it jump. She slid her hand under his waistband and wrapped her fingers around his full-blown erection and stroked. He slid his hands up her shirt and caressed her breasts. His warm skin against hers felt so good. He began to pull up her shirt and kissed her breasts, then slipped her shirt the rest of the way over her head and tossed it to the floor.

  Then she was sliding his shorts down his hips and he kicked them aside. Before he removed her shorts, he cupped her buttocks and pulled her close and kissed her lips again, her breasts pressed against his bare chest, and she felt heavenly. What a lovely way to end the lovely evening she’d spent with him.

  He slid his hands beneath the waistband of her shorts and held onto her bare buttocks in a possessive, endearing way, then he removed her shorts and they were both perfectly naked.

  He just held her close for a moment, their mouths kissing again, enjoying the nakedness of their bodies pressed together. Then he skimmed his hand down her body to begin stroking her feminine nub and she was caught up in the moment, the way his fingers caressed her, the way he kissed her forehead, her mouth, her chin, her throat. She soaked in the heady feeling as he continued to stroke her. She caressed his arms, the muscles taut as he smiled down at her, his eyes lust-filled, the musky scent of their sex adding to the intimacy. Pheromones were busy at work, telling them to take this all the way, to boldly go where they’d never gone before.

  And she was so glad they were doing this now. He gently bit her lip, and she nuzzled his mouth with hers and then tongued him and he tongued her back, the whole time continuing to caress her nubbin. She felt the end coming, but she was certain it would only be the beginning between them.

  “Oh, damn, yeah,” she cried out as the feeling of ecstasy washed over her, ripples of climax still pulsing through her, making her feel as though the earth had moved for her.

  Then she pushed him onto his back and kissed and licked his nipples. She settled onto his thighs and began to stroke his arousal. He caressed her thighs with his hands, drawn under her spell, his face showing the need to finish this, concentration, tension, pleasure. She kept up her strokes, increasing the firmness and speed until he was striving for the end like she had been. And then he exploded, and she smiled. She continued to stroke him until he was blissfully spent. She planned to get off him and let him clean himself up, but he pulled her against him and got her all wet and sticky.

  “Now why did you do that?” she asked, smiling at him.

  “You know why.”

  She chuckled. “You are afraid to be alone in the shower tonight.”

  “You are so right.”

  He kissed her and she kissed him back. He was fun to be with, even when he was finished making love to her.

  She went with him to his bathroom this time, and they showered together, though they didn’t wash their hair this time. She helped him dry off while he was drying her off. He made everything intimate and exciting between them, she realized.

  Now it was time to snuggle with him before work started all over again.

  She cuddled next to Adam, thinking this was truly a new beginning for her in all ways. She was looking forward to going to Tori’s house and helping her unpack boxes in three days. She hoped she and Adam could really make a difference for her. And boating on Sunday. But tomorrow night, they would go to the wolf dance club, and they’d have to come up with some plans for Thursday and Friday nights too.

  Before she was ready for it, the alarm went off and she and Adam had to go into work. She was glad he hadn’t had to go in early this morning, and they had been able to wake up together. They had breakfast and then drove to the bureau in their separate vehicles.

  * * *

  “What time did you want us to drop by on Saturday to help you unload your boxes?” Adam asked Tori as they returned to the bureau after a long, exhausting hump day.

  “Let’s make it eleven. We can start unpacking, order meals, have lunch, and unpack some more. There’s no sense in everyone having to get up so early. Oh, and Ethan, Josh and Brooke, and our coroner said they would drop by to help. Josh’s brother, Maverick, said he would too.”

  Adam shook his head. “Don’t tell the whole pack, or you’ll have all the bachelor males at your place trying to outdo each other.”

  Tori laughed. “That’s the good thing about having more bachelor males in the pack. There are more to choose from.”

  Sierra joined them outside. “Don’t tell me you have more work for me.” She looked done in.

  “No, we were just talking about what time we need to drop by Tori’s place on Saturday.” Adam told Sierra who all was coming.

  Sierra smiled at Tori. “That sounds like a lot of fun.”

  “You bet. See you tomorrow at work,” Tori said, waved at them, then headed for her car.

  “I’ll follow you home so you can pack up some more clothes that you might need,” Adam said to Sierra.

  “I was thinking that maybe I would be all right at home—”

  “You’re coming home with me.” The words slipped out of Adam’s mouth before he could stop himself.

  Thank God she laughed and wasn’t annoyed at his knight-defending-the-damsel declaration. “All right then,” she said, still smiling as she got into her car.

  At least Tori hadn’t heard him say that, or he was sure she would have given him a lecture.

  He followed Sierra to her house and hoped she hadn’t had anyone break in again. He parked behind her car in the driveway, then hurried to get out of his Hummer to go inside her home first and make sure everything was safe.

  She unlocked the door, then stepped aside for him while he had his gun in hand and moved quietly into the house. He didn’t think anyone would be inside her house right now, but it was better to be safe than run into trouble, especially since Sierra was unarmed.

  He checked all the rooms, one by one, recalling when he had been wearing only her sweatpants while they were having a steak dinner when her boyfriend arrived. He smiled, glad the guy was out of the picture. Richard hadn’t known when he had a good thing. He sure as hell didn’t deserve Sierra.

  Adam finished looking through all the rooms and found that Sierra’s laundry room window had already been replaced. He didn’t smell any new smells. He went out back and no one new had been out there either.