With Caution

and tall in his seat. His eyes were still closed, like he was trying to regain composure too. “Long. I kept thinking about you.”
    Jake groaned.
    They sat there for several minutes. Neither of them said a word, but Remi was even more aware of Jake’s presence. He could smell Jake’s arousal. Oh wow , he could tell the difference. Jake smelled…muskier, warmer, kind of spicy. He probably tasted wonderful right now. Shit. “Hey, Jake.”
    “Yeah?”
    “It’s not working.”
    “What’s not working?”
    “Trying to ignore each other to get our minds off of fucking. I’m sitting here wondering how you taste right now.”
    Jake half laughed, half groaned. “Remi?”
    “Yeah?”
    “Shut up and put your seat belt on.” Jake started the engine.

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    “Okay.” As Jake put the SUV in gear and began backing out, Remi reached for his belt. He got it buckled and Jake slammed on his brakes, making Remi bounce against the seat.
    “Son of a bitch. Where the hell did he come from?”
    Huh? Adjusting the belt, Remi looked out the back.
    A scraggly old man walked past the parking lot. He glanced up at them, then kept going, slow as you please.
    “Beats me. Sure have been a lot of them around here lately. I hate to sound like an old fart, but I’m beginning to agree with my neighbor, Mr. Morris. The neighborhood is going to hell in a handbasket.”
    Jake chuckled and got them moving again. “Well, if you promise not to run children off the lawn and complain about the newspaper not making it all the way to the porch, you can move in with me.”
    “Really?” Damn, damn, damn. He hadn’t meant to say that out loud. He’d been surprised. He hadn’t thought about moving in with Jake, but logically he supposed he should have. Jake was his mate. Oh, man, that really sounded good. If he moved in with Jake he could see him every day.
    “Yes, really.” Jake looked both ways at the apartment exit and drove out. “We can even turn my office into a bedroom for Sterling. I don’t use it much, I do most of my work at the office or on my laptop. Eventually we’ll have to move, but for now, there isn’t any reason for you to have to keep the apartment, unless you want to.”
    Whoa. Remi blinked. His stupid eyes were all watery. None of the women he’d dated had ever understood his relationship with Sterling. They tended to be jealous, but Jake got it. Remi wasn’t sure why he was surprised. Jake was always thinking of Remi’s needs. He truly was the perfect match for Remi. If he hadn’t recently discovered werewolves, he might have laughed at the idea of soul mates, but now he wasn’t so sure it wasn’t a very real possibility. “I’ll think about it.” Lots of people had roommates.
    There was nothing unusual about that. He’d be moving to a better neighborhood and into a house. Dirk couldn’t really say much about it. Wait. Did Jake say—? “Why will we 158
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    With Caution
    have to move? I thought the house was yours. I mean I thought you were buying it, not renting.”
    “Eventually we are going to have to move the pack, pup.” Jake reached over and squeezed his thigh. “We need to go somewhere where no one has the least inkling you’re different. I don’t want to risk one of John Carter’s pack deciding you should submit to them.”
    Remi glanced over at him, watching the business lights and streetlamps cast moving shadows across his face. Jake was concentrating on the road, but Remi wasn’t fooled.
    Jake was focused on him. Why was Jake concerned? “Jake, I can’t leave Sterling. Even if Dirk is out of the picture, I’m not leaving Sterling here and moving off someplace. I can handle myself against other wolves. And besides, I seriously doubt my mom can handle things on her own when Dirk is gone. She’s…” broken. And she would be even more without Dirk.
    “I know you can take care of yourself, but I’d rather not chance it. But don’t worry about it right now. We’ve got time. We’ll get your mom to move. I promise you, we won’t leave Sterling. Something tells me your mom is going to need our help too.” Jake turned onto a residential street.
    Jake sounded so sure Remi decided to let it go for now. But it worried him. What if John Carter wanted them gone sooner than later?
    “Here we are.” Jake pulled into the drive of a two-story stone home.
    It was in a newer subdivision, with fairly large houses. Remi was