Kodiak's Claim by Eve Langlais Read Free Book Online Page A

leaves my mother too much time to meddle in my life and to Google advice as well as crimes against single women.”
    “So you are unattached?”
    “Oh yes and staying that way,” was Tammy’s vehement reply as she spooned some of the heated pie dripping in melted vanilla ice cream into her mouth.
    Was she humming again? Such a soft sexy sound of pleasure that—
    A sharp elbow to his kidney brought his attention back as his grandmother said, “Bad experience?”
    “Depends on your definition of bad. My ex-boyfriend was a lying, cheating jerk who thought I should eat a salad at every meal.”
    Reid couldn’t help but retort, “You dumped him because he wanted you to eat like a rabbit?”
    “It’s not a meal if there isn’t protein on the plate.”
    Reid almost applauded. Too many women nowadays were obsessed with weight, mainly the not gaining of. He appreciated a woman who held a different view and, even better, lived it. The pie plate was clean when Tammy handed it to his grandmother.
    “You also said something about cheating?” his ursa inquired as she rinsed off the plate.
    “Apparently, he was under the mistaken impression that he didn’t have to practice fidelity with me. He thought wrong.”
    “Reid here doesn’t cheat. Although, he does have a temper. Why, one might say he turns into a bear when riled.” His grandmother shot him a smirk as she said it.
    Tammy, however, didn’t catch the pun. Why would she? Humans didn’t believe in shapeshifters and the clans saw no reason to change that.
    “Nothing wrong with getting mad so long as it’s justified,” Tammy said.
    “Like punching people for supposedly sneaking?” Reid interjected.
    “That wasn’t out of anger, but self-preservation.”
    So would throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her up to his room then fall into the realm of self-preservation? Because he was beginning to wonder about his mental state. It sure harbored some interesting visuals about what they should be doing, and didn’t include hanging out with his grandmother in a kitchen tearing apart men and discussing the best forms of revenge.
    “I should get to my office,” he announced.
    “Office, but it’s dark,” Tammy observed.
    “Welcome to the north. You just missed the daily dose of daylight.”
    “What time is it? Last time I checked it was almost suppertime.”
    “You slept right through the night and the morning. It’s actually just after two o’clock in the afternoon.”
    “Two? You mean I slept practically a whole day?”
    He shrugged. “I guess you were tired.”
    “I was drugged.”
    “Not that much.”
    She glared at him.
    His grandmother chuckled. “Now, now children. No sense bickering over it. What’s done is done. Let’s move past that.”
    That worked for Reid. Especially since instead of riling his temper with her verbal challenge, the city girl roused other things. “I’m going to grab some stuff from my office then head over to my headquarters.”
    “You work from home?”
    “Not usually, although I do have a home office. I should have gone in to work this morning, but I didn’t want you to wake alone while my grandmother ran some errands, so I offered to babysit.”
    “I’m a big girl. You could have left me a note.”
    “But a note wouldn’t have fed you or given you the answers you needed.”
    “Thank you then, I guess.” Grudgingly given, but he preferred that to gushing insincerity.
    “Since you’re awake now, and Ursa is back, I’ll head over to the office. There are some things I need to check on.”
    She scrambled off the stool. “If you’re leaving, I should come with you. You know, to get a look at your base of operations. Maybe talk to some staff.”
    Did she not understand he was looking for an excuse to escape her, not get closer? The worst part? He couldn’t tell her no because she’d probably accuse him of hiding something.
    Yeah, a major boner.
    Before he could think of a plausible excuse, his