He reached out to grab her wrist. “You’re not jealous, are you?”
“Why would I be jealous? I have nothing to be jealous over. Excuse me.” She turned on her heel and walked away. He didn’t understand it.
Closing the front door, he stared up the stairs, wondering what the hell he should do. There was nothing he could think of.
He went to the kitchen and put the box of cookies on the counter. Lana had always been a flirt with him. She never tried to cover up her want for him, even though he’d made it clear to her more than once that he had no desire for her.
The cookies were horrible. Wrinkling his nose, he tossed them into the trash, put the container in the sink, and made a note to get Connie to take it back.
Then he opened the fridge about to make himself something to eat even though cooking was the last thing on his mind. His cell phone rang.
Seeing it was William, he picked it up. “Hello.”
“Hey, man, I hate to be a pain in your ass. I know you’re busy, but can you stop by the building site tomorrow? We’ve hit another snag, and to be honest, I think the company that’s been selling us supplies is fucking with us.”
“How come?”
“Shit looks cheap. You know I’m not the kind of guy to complain, but we’re talking houses here for our pack, and the guys are all constructing it legally, but I don’t know, I’m not happy.”
“I’ll stop by. Get a good look at it. I won’t pay for stuff that is not up to specs.”
“Great. You’re the best.”
“Wait, before you go…” Gage stopped as he rubbed the back of his head. Glancing toward the entrance of the kitchen, he frowned. “Er, you’re married.”
“Yes. Perfectly mated as well.”
“When it is your female’s time of the month, do you, does she, I mean, is there any difference?”
Silence met his question.
“You know what, don’t answer that. I’m way out of line.”
“Why don’t you tell me what is going on? Is this about Constance?” William asked.
“I picked her up from work, and she’s, I don’t know, she’s not her usual self. Lana gave me some cookies, and I was going to take Connie to the diner, and—”
“Back up, Lana gave you cookies?”
“Yeah. She’s done that for years.”
“There’s your problem.”
“What? How can that be my problem? There is clearly something upsetting Connie, and I figured it might be that time of the month.”
William began to laugh.
Gage wasn’t amused. “Why are you laughing?”
“Dude, okay, fine. I won’t laugh. You seem to have an answer for everything. Nothing is too difficult for you, and yet, you can’t seem to understand that Connie is jealous.”
“Of what? I know Tanner and Tiffany are here.”
“No, not of them. You said her behavior happened before she even got to the house, so that’s not the problem. You will find she doesn’t even care about them, at least not right now. Her interest is in the fact another pack female gave you cookies.”
“I’m always being given food.”
“But you didn’t take in a rejected mate before. There is a lot going on emotionally and physically. Bear in mind Constance has only gone through her first transition. She was rejected by her mate. His dad is the one coming to her rescue. The same man who has another woman giving him cookies.” There was silence. “Okay, let’s put this another way where you will completely understand. What if it was a guy giving her food?”
A growl fell from his lips before he could stop it.
“We have a winner, people. She’s acting the same way but all of this is new to her. She doesn’t know where she stands with everything. Go and talk to her, make her see that the cookies mean nothing because so far, they mean a lot.”
He hadn’t thought of it like that, and now he felt like a giant dick for not seeing it her way. Gritting his teeth, he said his goodbyes, hanging up the phone.
The container still in the sink, he took the steps toward Connie’s bedroom. Once he was outside, his hand perched ready to knock.
Hands clenched into a fist, he took a step back.
No.
He couldn’t allow her to think this was more than what it was.
Annoyed with himself, he stepped right up to her door, and before he could stop himself, he knocked.
The sound seemed loud to him, almost too loud.
Seconds passed.
No answer.
He knocked again.
No answer.
Turning the doorknob, he opened the door and didn’t see Connie in her bedroom. The noise of the shower alerted him. He closed the door and moved quickly toward the bathroom, stepping inside, then came to a stop.
The shower ran, and the extractor fan was on, taking all the steam out of the room and giving him a clear view of heaven. There was no other way of describing it. The glass marred the view a little bit, but not too much.