Alpha Lion: BBW Lion Shifter Paranormal Romance by Zoe Chant Read Free Book Online Page A

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    He kissed her gorgeous mouth one more time. “Okay, now you can go.”
    She broke into a grin. “Okay.” She turned for the door, glancing over her shoulder as she went.
    Dale held the classroom door for her, and tried not to think about how he was acting like a dumb lovesick hero in a romantic comedy.
    He just—he genuinely didn’t want to let Sam go without another kiss. Surely anyone would want to kiss that mouth as many times as possible.
    Anyone didn’t get to, though. Only him.
    That thought struck him, and he paused with his hand on his coat. If he was doing this, if he was ignoring any obstacles the pack might bring to bear and going for it, he wanted that to be true. He wasn’t the sort of jerk who led women on and then abandoned them. He wanted a relationship.
    He just hoped Sam was on the same page.
    * * *
    Sam put on her coat with a sense of unreality. She’d been so sure Dale was just being nice, that he didn’t want her to get hurt. That he couldn’t possibly be interested in someone in her situation.
    Well, he was nice, and he didn’t want her to get hurt, but she’d been dead wrong about the last one, apparently.
    And he kissed like a god. And she couldn’t wait to get his clothes off to see all those muscles she’d been able to feel back in the classroom.
    She went to go find him, and ran into Dawn at the desk. “Hi!” Dawn said.
    “Oh—hi,” she said, trying to collect herself. “Still working?”
    “Just finishing up a few things,” Dawn said. “The staff tend to stick around after the place closes. Dale and Lynn are always here late. Especially Dale. He practically lives here.”
    “Really?” She wondered what it would be like to date a man who was already married to his job. Maybe not so great.
    If Dale even wanted to date her. She still couldn’t quite believe that.
    Well, if he just wanted a fun time, that was…that was okay, she thought firmly. She’d be happy to have a fun time with someone as gorgeous and nice as Dale, and it would be a good memory in the middle of a crappy time of her life.
    She’d just have to be satisfied with that.
    She was distracted from her thoughts when Dale himself appeared from the hallway. “Hey,” he said, giving her the real, full-on version of his smile.
    She smiled helplessly back. “Hey.”
    “Hey,” said Dawn, looking back and forth between the two of them. “Dale, are you sticking around, or should I—”
    “You close up.” Dale didn’t look away from Sam. “Unless Lynn’s still here and she wants to.”
    “You got it,” Dawn said. “Have a—uh, have a nice night, you guys.”
    “Thank you,” Sam said faintly, and took Dale’s offered arm—he offered his arm —and went out the studio doors with him.
    Dale’s apartment really wasn’t far at all; she suspected that made it easier for him to mostly live at his job.
    But it wasn’t just his job, was it? It was the pride. She still knew hardly anything about them, but Dale was clearly devoted to them, and he wouldn’t want to be far if anyone needed help. And the studio seemed to be a kind of center for them, if Dale and (she was pretty sure) Lynn, and maybe even Dawn, were all lions.
    It made sense. And it was the sign of a good man.
    “Here we are,” said Dale, stopping at an apartment building. He let them in, and they went up creaky wooden stairs and into a warmly-lit, spacious apartment.
    “This is beautiful,” Sam said, a little startled. In her experience, single guys were not the best at decorating.
    “It’s mostly family stuff.” Dale gestured at the carved wooden furnishings and the pictures on the walls. “I got the plant myself.”
    “Oh?” she asked, sensing a story.
    “Lynn said I needed a friend,” he said seriously.
    Sam burst out laughing. She had a feeling that most people thought Dale was always serious and responsible, but there was a wonderful sense of humor hiding under the responsibility.
    “It looks friendly,” she said when