whew!

“Actually, I was thinking I’d like to take you and Mr. Smith back to our apartment and I’d make you breakfast instead, Miss Darla. I have a car waiting for us downstairs.” Mated only a few days and he was already so comfortable making Dee-Ann part of his life without missing a beat. How long had he loved her? Probably longer than Dee-Ann would ever realize.

“That sounds lovely. If you wouldn’t mind, with all the cooking you have to do and everything.”

“Not at all. I love cooking. It’s what I do. And I don’t know if Mr. Smith mentioned it to you, but I’m also closing the restaurant down tonight and having a little party, very casual, for some friends and associates. It would be wonderful if you would both come.” She smirked. “He neglected to mention that.” Damn Smith males. You had to be dang Matlock to know what was going on with any of ’em. “I’ll definitely be there, Ulrich, and I’ll see if I can talk Eggie into it.”

“Talk me into what?”

Darla jumped, then turned and slapped at her mate’s arm. “Don’t do that!”

“All these years and you still can’t tell when I’m right behind you? How’s that my fault?”

“That’s it,” she snapped. “We’re going to dinner tonight at Ulrich’s restaurant.”

“Not paying all that money for a dang steak, Darla Mae.”

“It’s a casual get-together,” Ulrich clarified. “On me.”

She saw her mate sneer a little. “Get-together? Is that girly speak for—”

“Eggie.”

“Fine. We’ll be there.”

“Excellent,” Ulrich stated, ignoring the fact that Eggie was being dang difficult.

Darla knew her mate liked the young wolf, but he’d never make it easy on him. It was a Smith male thing and she refused to worry about it.

“But first . . . breakfast. At our place,” Ric said.

“Can’t we just eat here?”

“Must you be so difficult?” Darla demanded.

Dee-Ann whispered something to her father. Honestly, the pair of them. Thick as thieves. Just like Darla had been with her daddy all those years ago.

“Waffles, huh?” Eggie grumbled.

“With blueberries,” Ulrich added.

“Canned?” Eggie asked and Darla adored the brave and annoyed snarl that comment brought out from the young wolf.

“Did you say something to him?” Ulrich demanded of his mate and the way Dee was laughing, Darla would bet that she had.

“Not a word,” Dee-Ann replied. The little liar.

“Not canned,” Ulrich informed Eggie with a sudden stiffness. “Fresh and only fresh.”

“Fine then.”

Lord, the man acted like he was being forced to eat dog food from a bowl.

“I have a car waiting for us outside.”

“A car?”

“Eggie.”

“Fine.” Muttering, he stormed to the door. “Don’t see the point payin’ money for a car that you’re only going to use for five minutes. Maybe ten. Seems like a dang waste to me.” Dee-Ann followed her father, not even bothering to hold her laughter in. As she passed young Ulrich, Darla watched the boy watch her daughter. His eyes lit up and the warmest love flowed right through him. Darla could see it the way she could look out the window and see the morning sun.

In fact, the young wolf looked the way Darla had always felt once she’d realized she loved Eggie Smith. She almost felt sorry for Ulrich in a way. To love someone so much who would never be easy to love.

“You just adore her, don’t you, son?” she asked him softly.

And, without even a pause, “Like my next breath.”

“I used to worry, you know? Worry that she’d never find someone who understands her. Who would try and tame her. She’s so much like her daddy. . . .”

“The only thing I want, Miss Darla, is to love her and feed her. She’s too skinny,” he whispered.

“After all she does in a day, she needs to come home to a good, solid meal. Made by me.” Yep, she liked the boy more and more. But he needed to be clear. He needed to understand.

“She ain’t no socialite, Ulrich. She’ll always have that damn bowie knife on her and the willingness to use it. She’ll wander off on you sometimes and if something moves by her too fast, she’s liable to look at it like prey. She’ll make a great mother, but Lord help anyone who crosses her child. And it’ll probably be best that you go to any parent-teacher conferences because she’ll just disturb the parents and teachers.

You do understand all that?”

“I understand that I can’t imagine my life without her.” He shrugged. “Or without her big bowie knife.”

The boy had a sense of humor. Thank goodness! That was a necessary part of getting through any day when dealing with Eggie Smith or Eggie Smith’s little girl.

“Are you two comin’?” Eggie barked from the next room. “Or are me and my Sugar Bug going to just starve out here waitin’ on y’all?”

Ulrich tucked Darla’s arm around his own and together they headed toward the front door.

“Sugar bug?” Ulrich softly asked.

“There are some things you don’t question, Ulrich. But instead, you simply accept it. Sugar Bug is one of those things.”

“I will keep that in mind, Miss Darla.”