Sweeter than Sweets {M/M} (Dogs, Bats & Monkey Series, Book III)

Chapter 10

"I was bored," he said, simply, as if that was a valid explanation.

I gaped at him, my fists loosening in my astonishment.

He was bored?

He broke into people's homes, because he was bored?

I should report him.

No.

I should arrest him. Right here, on the spot.

Arrest him for breaking and entry, and for that God awful, devilish smirk he was aiming my way. And while I was at it: arrest him for that pair of skinny black jeans. They were so tight, they were obscene.

There had got to be a law against that!

There wasn't, of course, and I realized I was being irrational for everything but the breaking in. Still, I wished to punish him, to show him that he couldn't always get away with doing as he pleased.

And apparently, what pleased him right now was to look pointedly at the area below my belt, which, with me standing and him half lying on my couch, was at about his eyelevel.

I cleared my throat and put some distance between us, taking a couple of steps back. Here I was, flustered and blushing again in his presence.

I'd promised myself not to do that. I'd promised myself to build an immunity against that hellish charm, even if that meant...

I huffed.

Even if that meant spending time with him.

And here he was, giving me the opportunity to do just that.

The Sentinel in me demanded that I cuffed Alec and drove back to HQ with him in the back of my car; the me who was tired of being ashamed of my knees going week when the hybrid was around insisted that I invite him to dinner.

That was when I remembered the instant meals. Turning around, I found them where they'd fallen: under the still opened front door. I walked away from Alec, picked them up, and headed for the kitchen area.

"How about I make us dinner and we watch TV?" I asked, not looking back at him as I was unfortunately still too disconcerted to meet his eyes.

Baby steps, I told myself as I put the paper bag on the counter next to the large feline. I'd planned to nudge the animal so it would jump down, but now that I was close to it, my courage failed me again.

The cat and Alec didn't look alike - species aside, their color scheme was different with the feline having a silver coat and vivid green eyes, and the guy almost white blond hair and very pale grey blinkers - but they both exuded superiority and one had the unsettling feeling in the pit of their stomach that either of the two could pounce on you at any given moment, simply because they felt like it.

A low whimper came from the direction of my feet and I lowered my gaze to Bear, who kept switching his attention from me to the cat, one paw extended forward in a plea.

Did he want me to bring the feline down so he could play with it or to remove it from his territory?

Bear being Bear, it had to be the former.

And damn it, this was my kitchen! If I didn't want a cat on my counter - which was most definitely the case - then there should be no cat on my counter.

I lightly pushed the feline, vaguely noting that its coat was far smoother than Bear's, and painfully aware that the creature didn't move an inch.

It just gave me the same arrogant look as I was used to getting from its owner and once again I was struck by how much the two were alike.