But she could wait for him.

She looked at all the desserts she’d made. She’d need to cover most of these and wondered if Eggie had any plastic wrap. Or, more appropriately, if his mother had left him any plastic wrap.

Going into one of the cabinets she hadn’t explored yet, Darla found some already seasoned cast-iron pans, which meant she could make some of her delicious cornbread for breakfast tomorrow; a couple more Mason jars of’shine, making a total of six she’d found so far; a roll of much-needed foil; and another snub-nosed .38. Sighing, she grabbed the foil and the weapon. The foil she put on the table with the desserts for later, the gun she took to the growing pile on the kitchen counter. The wolf had hunting knives and guns all over his dang kitchen. Who needed that many weapons in a town with wolves? Well, wolves that were family anyway.

About to place the gun down, Darla sensed someone behind her and looked over her shoulder, expecting to see Eggie. But, instead, she saw a stranger, a handsome, clean-shaven young man with wet brown hair. She immediately panicked and swung the .38 still clutched in her hand at the intruder, yelling out, “Eggie! Eggie, get down here!”

The man held his hands up and growled out, “I’m standing right in front of you, woman!”

Darla blinked. “Eggie?”

“Just put the gun down, Darla. Everything’s fine.”

“But . . . Eggie?”

“Darla, put the gun down!”

“Oh!” She put the gun on the weapons pile and turned back to the man who sounded like Eggie Ray Smith.

Fascinated, she walked up to him. “Is that really you?”

“Well . . . yeah.”

She leaned in closer, his wet hair smelling nice from whatever shampoo he’d used. “Really?”

“Yes, really!”

Darla took a quick step back. “Oh. You just look . . . so . . . different.”

“All I did was shave.”

But what a difference a shave made. Still, she had to ask, “Why?”

He shrugged. “I saw that fancy table and figured it would be nice.” He looked down at the jeans and Led Zeppelin concert T-shirt he had on. “Didn’t really have anything fancier than this to wear, though. So I shaved instead.”

Darla smiled. “You didn’t have to do that for me. I liked your beard.”

“Thought a little effort couldn’t hurt.”

“Well, I really appreciate it.” Darla went up on her toes and kissed Eggie’s cheek. She heard him swallow, saw those bright wolf eyes turn toward her.

That’s when she realized she was hoping he’d kiss her back. Not just on the cheek either. She might be a virgin, but she was hardly a nun. But he didn’t kiss her; he simply said, “Hope I didn’t ruin dinner taking solong.”

“Not at all.” She took his big hand in hers. “Let’s go eat.”

The food was good. The lemon meringue pie astounding. But it was her smile that was making him kind of a mess.

Eggie wasn’t used to feeling this way about anything. He was the wolf that Packmates and the Marine Corp called on to handle dangerous situations. He could sneak in anywhere, kill anybody, and get back out again without anyone noticing. He’d been known to sit in a tree for three days straight waiting for the right moment to take his shot. Unlike others who might snap from the pressure, Eggie never snapped. He never had nightmares or woke up in a cold sweat. He never lost his temper or went up into towers so he could shoot the unsuspecting populace.

So why this pretty little gal was making him all kinds of nervous and, to be honest, a little sweaty, he didn’t rightly know.

Even stranger, he didn’t know why he kind of liked feeling that way. He shouldn’t. It wasn’t normal for a wolf to feel weak and sort of helpless because a She-wolf had dimples. Honestly, just the cutest dimples. Dimples she kept flashing at him while they ate and she talked and he occasionally grunted. The fact that he wasn’t much of a talker didn’t seem to bother Darla, she just kept chatting away. Normally all that chatter would annoy Eggie something awful, but he liked the sound of her voice. He found it kind of soothing.

“Pecan pie? Cherry? Boston Cream?”

“You sure did a lot of baking.”

“It’s what I do when my sisters get on my nerves.”

“Must explain why your pies are so damn good.”

That smile returned. “Thank you. Janie may think her pecan pie is better than mine, but she can choke on it.”

“She’s just protective of you. It’s the Alpha in her. She’ll make a good mate for Bubba.”

“Does that bother you?”

“I don’t care who he picks as a mate.”

“No, no. I mean . . . everyone assuming he’ll be Alpha of the Smithtown Pack one day.”

Eggie picked up his glass of milk. “Why should it bother me?”

“You’re older . . . stronger . . . have wider shoulders.”

Eggie choked a little on his milk, and quickly grabbed a paper napkin to wipe his chin. “Uh ... I don’t really want to be in charge. Not of a Pack. Don’t mind handling a team or even a squad but anything other than that is more damn people than I want to deal with. I mostly like being on my own.”

She winced. “Then I’m sorry I took over your house . . . or at least your kitchen.”

“Don’t mind. I like having you around. You smell nice.”

You smell nice? Really? You idiot!