Wanda giggled and kicked, and Nat cuddled her to himself. She always made his day better, no matter whether it was a good or bad one.
Then he realized that Duke was watching them. Actually, he was dragging his gaze up and down Nat’s body, head to toe, as though he was cataloging all the changes he’d fucked into Nat.
Nat blushed. Duke gave a pleased smile. Then he looked distractedly back at his phone.
Nat straightened. “Did I miss something?”
Duke shook his head. “You’re still on your break. So no, you’re fine.”
There was a faint crease on his forehead though.
“I can go get them,” Hubrie said. “But I’ll be monitoring the roof repair, and they’ll be sad because they wanted to play that new game with you.”
Duke rubbed his temples. “Damn it. I told the fire department I would lend a hand; they’re short-staffed right now with the wildfires going on. They need my help in the severe burn areas.”
“Is this something I can help with?” Nat asked hesitantly.
Duke rubbed his jaw. “Teddy and Mallie need someone to play with tonight. I don’t suppose you could...? You’ll be paid overtime, of course.”
Nat blinked. “If I can bring Wanda along, then yeah, I could.”
“You don’t have any plans for tonight?” Duke frowned.
Nat shook his head. “Most nights, I just stay home with my friends. We don’t really have money to go out. Besides, it’s...”
“It’s...?” Duke waited for him to continue.
“It’s not all that safe out there,” Nat said lamely.
Duke sighed. “Yeah. It’s not. You’ll be safe at my place, at least.”
“I’m fine with that.” Nat tickled Wanda’s chin, smiling when her furry ears sprouted on top of her head. “Aww, hon. Your ears are adorable.”
She beamed at him and sneezed.
The left side of her throat turned navy blue.
Nat froze, tugging Wanda’s clothes up to hide the discoloration on her neck. He hadn’t breathed differently, but Hubrie looked up anyway.
Had he... heard the skip in Nat’s heart? Nat tried not to squirm as Hubrie watched him carefully.
I need to distract him.
“How long will I be staying over at your house?” Nat asked Duke. “I’ve been feeding Wanda solids, but I usually prepare those myself...”
“Cook will make Wanda some food, if you ask nicely,” Duke said. “Tell her if you’re hungry as well; she’ll whip something up for you.”
He was watching Nat strangely, too. Nat pulled out his phone to make a note for himself, trying not to appear nervous.
Maybe he should just tell Duke about Wanda’s dual-species heritage. It was bound to come up at some point.
But it was no longer just about keeping his job. They’d both put in so much at this point—Duke paying for rush-order clothes, and Nat...
Nat wanted Duke to touch him more. He didn’t want Duke to find out about Wanda, and fire him because of her kidnap risk.
“I’ll do my best to entertain them,” Nat said as calmly as he could. “In the meantime, I think you should tell me more about Teddy and Mallie, so I’ll have a better idea how to make them comfortable when I’m there.”
10
