Tane chuckled. “My sister should be totally fine with that since she’s spent my entire life pushing my buttons.”
“Hey, I was an awesome big sister,” I objected, crossing my arms over my chest.
“I can’t argue with that.” My brother pointed at me. “Just like you can’t say you and Tabara weren’t bossy as fuck even though I’m bigger in both my human and tiger forms than either of you.”
As I came up with the perfect response to push his buttons just like he’d accused me of doing, I grinned. “It isn’t my fault that you’re the baby of the family.”
Damon’s body shook as he laughed and murmured, “Well played, kitten.”
“Kitten?” My brother grinned and rubbed his hands together. “Maybe you should keep your mate’s nickname for you in mind the next time you decide to tease me about being the baby in the family, baby cat.”
“Ugh,” I huffed at how he emphasized the last two words. “I should have known you’d be a jerk about that even though it’s so sweet.”
Damon squeezed me as he glared at Tane. “He’d better not be a jerk to you about anything while I’m around.”
My brother grinned at the threat. “Have I mentioned how much I like the two of you together?”
“Enough to still let me name the baby?” I widened my eyes and puffed my bottom lip out in a pout.
“Yes,” Calliope answered for him as she tugged him over to the door. “But only if you let me provide some input.”
“Deal,” I agreed with a triumphant grin.
She paused to glance over her shoulder at me. “I’m not sure if you’ve considered this already, but I bet you’d make a killing if you opened a restaurant in Timber Ridge.”
“A restaurant?” I echoed softly, surprised by the suggestion.
My sister-in-law turned to face me and smiled. “Just think about how many of them you’ve successfully launched for other people and what you could accomplish with your own place. You could take everything you’ve learned by risking other people’s money and put it to good use for yourself here.”
“But Timber Ridge is so small.” I’d enjoyed myself more than I had expected while Damon showed me all of his favorite spots, but my first instinct was to reject the idea of opening a restaurant here. “I can’t imagine that I’d have enough customers to make a go of it.”
“You are so wrong about that.” Calliope rushed over to take my hands in hers. “Your brother and I aren’t the only ones who are forced to drive an hour to have dinner out at a nice restaurant. Everyone in Timber Ridge has to do the same.”
I gave her hands a squeeze. “You make a good point.”
“And it isn’t just the shifters who have this problem. None of the towns closest to us have anywhere to eat that could be called fancy. You’d probably get more than your fair share of human customers, too,” she added with a smile.
My brother moved to stand next to his mate and jumped on the chance to urge me to move to Timber Ridge. “Your costs would be much lower than running a restaurant in New York City, too. Our pack owns all of the buildings downtown, so you wouldn’t pay rent. And I bet you could get a lot of your ingredients at lower prices from all the nearby farms if you dealt with them directly. And there are members of the pack who’d appreciate having a job close to home, so you wouldn’t need to pay your staff a premium to come work here. As long as you’re willing to train them, they’re already in Timber Ridge.”
The wheels started turning in my head. “That just might work, except for the chef.”
“You’re a genius when it comes to opening restaurants. I’m sure you’d be able to find a highly qualified shifter who would be interested in joining our pack,” Tane pointed out before leading his mate outside so they wouldn’t be late for their reservation. When they returned a few hours later, I was still thinking about what they’d suggested.
9
Damon
Ever since we babysat for Tane and Calliope, Trinity had seemed distracted. She hadn’t brought up the idea of opening a restaurant, but I was selfishly hoping that was because she was seriously considering it. She also hadn’t mentioned her boss’s looming deadline for returning to New York if she wanted to keep her job. With so many details about our future up in the air, my wolf was feeling even more territorial. My human side, too.
Pressing her curvy body into the mattress, I licked over my mating mark and ground my hips against hers. She twined her arms around my neck and hummed. “I love your idea of a wake-up call.”
“And I fucking love waking up to your curvy body pressed against mine.” I nibbled along her jawline and glided my palms up her body to cup her tits. “It doesn’t matter if I had you only a few hours ago. My cock is always ready to sink deep inside your tight heat before my eyes even open.”