But Miki couldn’t relax until she was done. And since she would probably only get two or three hours of sleep anyway, killing some time at a club couldn’t hurt.

She thought about the Pack. They were all so sweet to her…except Zach. And they seemed to really love Sara…especially Zach. She got the feeling life with the old Alphas, Yates and Casey, was a little too stifling for the Pack. Zach tossed around the phrase “free choice” a lot, and Sara didn’t like to be bothered with what everybody was up to as long as the Pack remained protected.

Miki realized now she’d foolishly stayed away from her friend all these months. Being back with Sara, talking and bullshitting, was all she really needed to make her feel one hundred percent better. Now she felt ready to defend her dissertation and start her new life.

That, however was a concern for later. Right now Miki wasn’t ready to do too much of anything. So, still lying face down, she tried to kick off her shoes. Unfortunately, they were boots and she’d laced them up pretty tight. She grumbled in annoyance and for some idiotic reason kept trying to kick one off with the help of the other, feeling way too lazy to actually get up and take her shoes off like a civilized person.

But when she felt strong, firm hands wrap around her boot and begin to unlace it, she jerked in surprise. Pushing herself up on her hands, Miki looked over her shoulder. Conall was at the foot of the bed—on his knees—untying her laces. She had no idea how long he’d been standing there watching her, but her entire body got warm at the thought.

“Hey, Miki.” He didn’t look up, simply kept untying her laces. And, even though he couldn’t see the fronts of her boots, was probably taking a lot longer than actually necessary.

“Hey, Conall.”

“How’s it going? You have a good trip?”

Miki had to swallow to get the words out. “Yeah.” Okay. One word. Apparently she couldn’t manage any better at the moment. All the guy was doing was helping her off with her boots. Of course, he was on his knees doing it. She kind of liked him on his knees.

Get a grip, Kendrick.

She needed to start talking. Now. “How’s it going with you?”

He still didn’t look up; instead, watching his own big hands slowly remove one boot then start on the other. His hair, thick and almost white blonde, fell in front of his face. Like hers, it was longer than when she last saw him, just brushing across his shoulders. His hair reminded her of silk and she wondered if it would feel that way against her skin.

“Pretty good,” he murmured softly.

He slid the other boot off and placed it aside. Leaning back on his haunches, he ran his hands over her calves and feet while staring at her face. He had the lightest blue eyes she’d ever seen and they completely mesmerized her.

“Anything else you need help taking off?” he asked gruffly.

Miki almost said “everything” but caught herself. She pulled her feet away from Conall’s wonderful touch and pulled herself up to her knees. Smirking, she gave a little wave. “No. I’m fine. But thanks.” He slowly stood, his eyes never leaving her face. Still on her knees, she moved back away from him as his body kept rising. She’d forgotten exactly how tall he was. And exactly how big. In some respects, the man was a bear.

So busy staring and trying to stay away from him, Miki fell right off the bed.

“Miki?” She looked up to find him on the bed, hovering over her. “Are you okay?” He didn’t even try to stifle his laughter. Great. Now he could see exactly the level of her geekiness. It was off the charts, she knew. Well, that should convince him she was definitely not the woman for him. A guy like Conall should get some vacuous supermodel babe who couldn’t complete a full sentence or even spell sentence.

“I’m fine.” She sat up, but before she could struggle to her feet, Conall moved around the bed to stand behind her. His big hands slid under her arms and lifted her off the floor as if she weighed no more than a bag of chips.

“Uh…thanks,” she bit out as her feet touched solid ground. She tried to pull away from him, but he wasn’t letting her go. Instead, he pulled her back until he held her against his chest. His arms slid around her body and he leaned in close, gently trapping her arms against her sides. If this were anybody else, she would have completely flipped out. They’d be lucky if they had their eyes when she was done. But she couldn’t even concentrate when Conall had his hands on her.

Husky, against her ear. “I missed you, Mik.”

The man was killing her. “Conall?”

“Miki?” He nuzzled her neck as one of his—huge!—hands slid over her breast. Immediately, her nipples hardened. She blinked. When the hell did that start happening?

“I think you need to back off.” At least she was pretty sure she said that. She was having trouble concentrating. Especially with his tongue sliding up across her neck to her ear.

“You think?” His hand squeezed her breast and her back arched. “Or you know?”

Oh boy, he’s good. Miki bet that with very little effort, Conall could turn a nun into a whore. Of course, she wasn’t a nun.

She yanked her body away from his and it was as if her skin started to yell at the loss of him.

Miki backed away. “Conall. Don’t get the wrong idea.”

“And what idea is that?”

“I’m not going to sleep with you.”

He took a step toward her. “I am so not talking about sleeping.”